The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 2 partially meet the expectation that anchor texts (including read aloud texts in K-2 and shared reading texts in Grade 2 used to build knowledge and vocabulary) are of publishable quality and worthy of especially careful reading/listening and consider a range of student interests.

Some texts such as the Super Magazine articles are high quality, including rich language and engaging content. Accompanying illustrations in these articles are high quality as well, supporting students' understanding and comprehension of the associated text.

Examples of anchor texts that are rich and high quality include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 1, Lesson 2, the informational text, “New Moves” (author unknown) is used. This article contains engaging content about skateboarding. The text includes photographs of children doing different skateboarding tricks with colored text to describe each photograph.
• In Unit 15, Lesson 2, the article, “Friends in the Wild” (author unknown) is used. The article is engaging, includes photographs, and short paragraphs with direct picture support. The text contains rich language and is written about a high-interest topic.

Example of student readers that are not of publishable quality include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 5, Lesson 6, the teacher uses the Reader story, “A List for the Trip” (author unknown). This is a short story and has little meaning in isolation. The text is part of five stories in the chapter and students must read the entire story in order for it to make sense.
• In Unit 12, Lesson 4, the teacher uses the story, “The Squat Shot” (author unknown). This is a short story in the Superkids Reader. It is part of five stories that continue the topic of tall and small in week 1 of Unit 12. The students must read the entire story in order for it to make sense. It has little meaning in isolation.
• In Unit 14, Lesson 1, the Reader story “Persuasion” (author unknown) is used. This is a short story in the Superkids Reader. The story is not high interest and does not contain strong vocabulary.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria for materials reflecting the distribution of text types and genres required by the standards at each grade level.
Materials provide engaging fiction and informational texts for daily reading and practice. Students read an on-level fictional Book Club text during even-numbered units. Students read informational articles in the SUPER magazine during odd-numbered units. There are a total of eight SUPER magazines. A Student Reader is available during each semester and is aligned with the Word Work Books. The students read a short, two-page story written around the Superkids characters from the Student Reader each day.  The publisher provides a list of suggested Read Alouds for each unit that contains collections of high-quality trade books, however, those titles are not included in the daily lesson plans.  There are 16 fictional Book Club titles used during Small-Group reading spanning genres including: realistic fiction, fantasy, fairy tales, mystery, and historical fiction.
Examples of informational texts include, but are not limited to:

• Unit 1: Flight by Robert Burleigh
• Unit 1: Wish:  Wishing Traditions Around the World by Roseanne Thong
• Unit 3: “The Many Faces of Masks” author unknown
• Unit 5: What’s New? author unknown
• Unit 7: “Fly Butterflies” author unknown
• Unit 9: Color Crazy author unknown
• Unit 11: “Deep Down” author unknown
• Unit 13: Splish Splash! author unknown
• Unit 15: “That’s Wild” author unknown

Examples of literary texts include, but are not limited to:

• Unit 1: The Highest Number in the World by Roy MacGregor
• Unit 1: Lucky Monkey, Unlucky Monkey by James Kaczman
• Unit 1: Titanicat by Marty Crisp
• Unit 1: Someday by Eileen Spinelli
• Unit 1: Ruby’s Wish by Shirin Yim Bridges
• Unit 1: I Wish I Could Draw by Cary Fagan
• Unit 2: Mercy Watson Fights Crime by Kate DiCamillo
• Unit 3: “A Frog for Mrs. Blossom” author unknown
• Unit 8: “Hot Rod Messes Up” author unknown
• Unit 8: “Wagon Wheel” author unknown
• Unit 10: Ivy and Bean Break the Fossil Record by Annie Barrows
• Unit 12: Lowji Discovers America by Candace Fleming
• Unit 12: “Shrimps” author unknown
• Unit 15: “Mud” author unknown
• Unit 16: What Really Happened to Humpty? by Jeanie Franz Ransom

The instructional materials reviewed for Superkids Grade 2 partially meet the expectation that anchor texts (including read-aloud texts and some shared reading texts used to build knowledge and vocabulary) have the appropriate level of complexity for the grade level according to quantitative analysis, qualitative analysis, and a relationship to their associated student task.

Some texts are inappropriate for students as anchor texts because they are labeled to be used as a whole class read-aloud, but are not consistently above the level students can read independently. The Superkids Readers range from Lexile 170-780L, indicating some selections are appropriate for this use, while others are not. The Superkids Readers are used daily. The Program Guide recommends that these texts are read-aloud daily by students during whole group instruction and provides suggestions such as echo reading and asking students to read silently first, and then call on students to read parts of it aloud.

Other texts are at the appropriate level of rigor for Grade 2 students. For example, each unit contains a SUPER Magazines which are informational texts consistently above the level students can read independently. These texts are also used daily.

Book Club books range from AD350 (independent 260L) to 760L. These texts are used as an addition to the Small Group texts. However, these small group reading texts do not consistently match the intended reading level targets and do not meet the expectation of this indicator.

Examples of texts that are above grade level and appropriate include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 6, “The Bears on Hemlock Mountain”
• Quantitative: Lexile Level 590
• Qualitative: This text includes rich vocabulary and engaging pictures.
• Reader and Task: The teacher guides students through discussing this on-level text during small group instruction.

In Unit 14, Book Club, “Keena Ford and the Second-Grade Mix Up”

• Quantitative: Lexile Level 620
• Qualitative: This text includes rich illustrations and engaging content.
• Reader and Task: The text is used with the challenge readers and is in the second half of the year.

In Unit 15, SUPER Magazine, “That’s Wild”, “Friends in the Wild”

• Quantitative: Lexile level 680
• Qualitative: The article includes engaging photographs of chimpanzees and contains rich vocabulary. The text is broken up into paragraphs describing each photograph which makes the text more engaging and easier to read.
• Reader and Task: The teacher guides students through identifying the main idea and details of the text during small group instruction.

An example of an anchor text that is below grade level includes:

• In Unit 12, Superkids Reader, “The Squad Shot”
• Quantitative: Lexile Level 270
• Qualitative: The text is a two-page story with moderate vocabulary and picture support.
• Reader and Task: The teacher guides students through decoding and fluency practice for whole group instruction.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 2 partially meet the criteria for materials supporting students’ literacy skills (comprehension) over the course of the school year through increasingly complex text to develop independence of grade level skills (leveled readers and series of texts should be at a variety of complexity levels).

The instructional materials provide opportunities for students to increase their literacy skills by using informational SUPER Magazines and Book Club books during small group instruction, decodable fiction Readers, Book Club Journals connected to each Book Club book.  Also, Superkids Online Fun where students can reread Reader stories, Daily Read-Alouds, and SUPER Magazine articles which are accessible at school and at home. Only a suggested list of Read-Alouds is available for each Unit, so they are not assured to be used. Teacher instructional guidance for daily Read-Alouds is a non-text specific routine. Other lessons in the Teacher Guides contain more explicit instructions for teachers to guide students’ comprehension growth. Lessons do not include appropriate scaffolds for students to become more involved in questioning and participating in discussions. Questioning sequences are similar throughout the year and do not have a consistent increase in complexity. Questioning is teacher-led and lacks both depth of knowledge questions and text-based questions throughout the years worth of instruction.

• In Unit 4, Lesson 2, the teacher uses the Reader story, “Left Out a Second Time,” to help students understand characters by asking, “Does Hot Rod like Lily’s idea for an ice-skating board?,” “How do you know?,” and “Why doesn’t Hot Rod want to work on the ice-skating board?”
• In Unit 8, Lesson 2, the teacher uses the Reader story, “It Isn’t Fair!,” to help students sequence events by asking, “What happened in the soccer game that Icky also thinks is not fair?”
• In Unit 12, Lesson 2, the teacher uses the Reader story, “A Note for Alec,” to help students understand cause and effect by asking, “Why does Tic say ‘good shot’ to Alec?” and “Why would she like Alec for her team?”
• In Unit 12, the on-level group and in Unit 4 the challenge group uses the Book Club text, “Lowji Discovers America,” to identify problem and solution. In Lesson 5, page 35, the teacher asks the following questions:
• “What new problem does Landlady Crisp hear about on the radio?"
• “How does Landlady Crisp plan to solve this problem?”
• “What does Lowji suggest to solve the problem?”
• In Unit 13, Lesson 1, page 8, using the Reader story, “Springing Spring,” students read and discuss the story. The teacher calls on different groups to read aloud parts of the story while reminding students to pay attention to dialogue and think about how the character would say the words. The teacher uses the following comprehension questions to discuss the story:
• “What does Ms. Blossom mean when she says, “Spring is beginning to spring”?”
• “How does she know this?”
• “Why is Tic springing up and down?”
• “Why does Tac fall off her chair and say, ‘I’m a falling fall’?”
• “Why does Toc march and say, ‘I’m a marching March’?”
• “Why does she think the girls have spring fever?”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 2 partially meet criteria that anchor texts and series of texts connected to them are accompanied by a text complexity analysis and rationale for purpose and placement in the grade level.

The publisher provides quantitative information for the Super Magazines and Readers including word count and Lexile levels; however, no qualitative analysis is provided. Super Magazines relate to the unit topic by continuing to build vocabulary; however, no additional rationale is provided. The publisher provides the genre for each of the Book Club titles, a summary, and information about the author and illustrator, as well as Lexile levels, but no qualitative analysis is provided. Additionally, at times, qualitative features are provided within the lesson plans; however, no rationale for placement within lessons is consistently provided.

Examples of how the materials provide inconsistent text complexity analysis and rationale include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 3, Super Magazine Teacher Guide, the teacher introduces, “Leaf Me Alone,” but no rationale is provided other than to discuss text features and guide comprehension.
• In Unit 4, Lesson 10, page 41, The Superkids’ Book Club Teacher Guide, the teacher is directed to, “Help children sound out decodable words. Use the comprehension questions to prompt discussion of the text and its vocabulary. Encourage children to ask questions too.” There is no additional rationale provided.
• In Unit 10, The Superkids’ Book Club Teacher Guide, student objectives of Vocabulary and Comprehension are provided for the Book Club book “Ivy + Bean Break the Fossil Record”. This title is in Unit 10 for on-level students and Unit 2 for above-level students. According to the Book Club Overview, “Included for each title are ten lessons of guided reading, comprehension, and vocabulary instruction.” No additional rationale is provided.
• In Unit 15, Super Magazine Teacher Guide, the teacher introduces, “Friends in the Wild” with Lexile of 680, but no additional rationale is provided other than to discuss vocabulary and guided reading.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria that support materials for the core text(s) provide opportunities for students to engage in a range and volume of reading to support their reading at grade level by the end of the school year.

Instructional materials clearly identify opportunities and supports for students to engage in a variety of reading and read-alouds to become comprehenders and independent readers. The Superkids Reading Program contains a Warm-Up unit along with 16 units. Each unit has two weeks or 10 days of instruction. Each lesson has 30 minutes of word work and 60 minutes of reading instruction. Word work is taught whole group, but reading is taught in small ability group arrangements. Independent work is completed when the student’s small group is not meeting with the teacher. Instructional materials include SUPER Magazines, Readers, and Book Club books including review, easy, on-level, and challenging texts for small group instruction.

Examples of opportunities for students to engage in a range and volume of reading include, but are not limited to:

• The Student Reader provides fluency practice throughout the units.
• The Superkids Book Club books  are intended for small group instruction and include authentic trade-book fiction in a variety of literary genres. There is one book per level (Easy, On-level, and Challenging) per unit.
• The SUPER Magazines provide additional opportunities for shorter, non-fiction, magazine-style articles.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria that most questions, tasks, and assignments are text-based, requiring students to engage with the text directly (drawing on textual evidence to support both what is explicit as well as valid inferences from the text).

Tasks require the student to go back into the text to answer both explicit and inferential questions as they listen to the story being read aloud. During guided whole group time, teachers support students as they read and discuss texts together. Comprehension questions prompt in-depth discussions of the text and vocabulary terms. Students are motivated and becoming more independent throughout the year as they engage with texts, develop their own inquiries and utilize Reader pages.

Examples of text-based questions, tasks, and assignments that require students to engage with the text include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 1, Lesson 7, page 61, Fluency, students read and discuss the story to understand picture-text relationships. The teacher asks, “What are the Superkids pretending to be?" Students respond "plants." The teacher then asks, "The stem is the long, green part of a plant. A bud is what you call a flower before it opens up and spreads out. What part of their bodies are the kids pretending is the stem?" Students respond "Their backs." The teacher asks, “What parts of their bodies are they pretending are buds?" Students respond, “Their fists."
• In Unit 4, Lesson 9, page 80, Teacher's Guide, students read the text, “No Cupcakes” and are asked, “Who says ‘Let’s make the best of it’ on page 80?”, “What do you think she means?”, “Why are the third graders arriving in Ms. Blossom’s class?”, and “Why do Cass and Ettabetta want to become invisible?”. Students are asked to go back into the text to answer these explicit and inferential questions.
• In Unit 7, Lesson 4, pages 37-38, Fluency, the teacher guides student practice while reading sentences of varying lengths. Students make inferences. The teacher asks, “Why do you think he mentions this instead of talking about other things, like the goal Hot Rod scored?”
• In Unit 8, Lesson 3, students read “Hot Rod Messes Up”. After reading, students are asked, “What does Icky think is a disaster?”, How can you tell Hot Rod feels bad about messing up his lines?”, and "What does Icky do about his problem with Hot Rod?”, and “What does Ms. Blossom say he needs to do to solve the problem?”. Students need to go back into the text to answer these explicit and inferential questions.
• In Unit 15, Lesson 7, pages 50-51, Super Magazine Teacher’s Guide, students are asked to understand text features using the article, “Survive in the Wild” from the Super Magazine. Students are asked, “What information is in the sidebar?”, “This article uses colored headings to separate the text into sections”, and “How is the information in the sections organized?”. Students are required to use the text to discuss and support their answers.
• In Unit 16, Lesson 1, pages 76-77, The Super Kids Take Off Teacher’s Guide, Small-Group Reading of Literary Text, “Maybelle in the Soup” the teacher asks, “Who is Maybelle, and what is she like?”, “Where does Maybelle live?”, “With whom does Maybelle live?”, “What is her dream?”, “Why does Henry tell Maybelle not to even think about eating food from a plate?”, and “What example does he give from his own life?”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 2 do not meet the criteria for materials containing sets of high-quality sequences of text-based questions with activities that build to a culminating task which integrates skills to demonstrate understanding (as appropriate, may be drawing, dictating, writing, speaking, or a combination).

The instructional materials contain sequences of text-based questions; however, these text-dependent questions do not build towards a culminating task. Opportunities are missed for students to integrate skills to demonstrate understanding through the completion of a culminating task. Students display their knowledge, of texts read, through drawing and writing as prompted by reader response exercises in the independent activities. However, independent activities do not develop into a culminating task that demonstrates students’ learning over the course of a unit.

Examples of questions that do not build to a culminating task include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 8, Lesson 3, students read Hot Rod Messes Up. After reading students are asked, “What does Icky think is a disaster?”, How can you tell Hot Rod feels bad about messing up his lines?”, “What does Icky do about his problem with Hot Rod?”, and “What does Ms. Blossom say he needs to do to solve the problem?”. These are examples of high-quality sequences of text-based questions, as well as an after reading discussion. However, there is no culminating task after the book discussions.
• The Book Club book “Stink: The Incredible Shrinking Kid”, is used with below level readers in Unit 12 and on-level readers in Unit 4. Students need to go back into the text to answer explicit and inferential questions when reading the Book Club texts. Some examples include Lesson 4, “What does Stink win?”, “How does the illustration support what is happening in the story?”, “How does Stink feel about putting Newton in with Teddy”, and “How do you know?”. Students complete the Book Talk Mini-Journal for that book by writing answers to questions about the book they are reading.
• In Unit 13, Lesson 10, students read Super magazine article “After School” and complete the Independent Activities, “Reader Response: Have children think about their desk, locker, or area where they sit in the classroom. Have them imagine what their school items or supplies do at night, similar to the poem. Have them write three or four sentences explaining what they imagine their school items do at night.” Also, “Practice Page 20: Have children complete the SUPER comprehension page.” Students also read the anchor text, “Babies”; however, there is no culminating task. They also take an end of unit assessment, p.79.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 2 partially meet the criteria for materials providing frequent opportunities and protocols for evidence-based discussions (small groups, peer-to-peer, whole class) that encourage the modeling and use of academic vocabulary and syntax.

While the materials provide frequent opportunities for students to discuss the texts that are being read aloud to them, there is a lack of guidance or protocols for evidence-based discussions. The Daily Read-Aloud Routine contains a list of comprehensions questions to ask students for fiction and informational texts; however, this guide does not contain explicit protocols for students to engage in discussions in small groups or in pairs, with most discussions occurring as the teacher asks questions and the students respond as individuals within a whole group.

The Teacher Guide provides comprehension questions within each unit for the teacher to ask students who typically respond orally to these questions when they are called upon by the teacher. Opportunities are missed for students to engage in evidence-based discussions with peers or within small groups using protocols to guide discussions.

Examples of how students engage in speaking and listening work include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 1, Lesson 1, the students use the story, “The Best on the Planet” to understand the vocabulary words: planet, rotten, skidded, and panted. The teacher explains that a planet is a big, round world and all people live on the planet Earth. The teacher asks, “When Frits says, “Last kid to class is a rotten egg,” does he really mean someone will turn into an egg?, “What does he mean?”
• In Unit 11, Lesson 4, the teacher introduces the story and displays Reader pages 58 and 59. Students use the title and pictures to predict what this part of the story will be about. The teacher discusses and models how to observe typographical clues (underlining) and asks students how these words should be read (a little louder or emphasis).
• In Unit 14, Lesson 1, after reading the story “Persuade” in their Superkids Reader, students respond about a time they tried to persuade someone to do something.  A sentence frame is provided to assist students with academic language when answering, “I tried to persuade _______ to _______ .”  However, most units did not provide this scaffold.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 2 partially meet the criteria for materials supporting students’ listening and speaking about what they are reading (or read aloud) and researching (shared projects) with relevant follow-up questions and supports.

Before, during and after reading, students respond to both text-dependent and text-independent questions. Over the course of the year, students interact more with the teacher in a listening/speaking format than with other students.  Opportunities are missed for students to share ideas with each other regarding texts read or listened to. Some speaking and listening work requires students to use evidence from texts and sources.

Examples of how materials partially support students' listening and speaking include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 5, Lesson 10, the teaching notes state, "Have children read and discuss the story. Call on different groups to read aloud. Remind them to emphasize words that are underlined in the text. Then discuss the story."
• In Unit 7, Lesson 5, students read and discuss the story Fly Butterflies!, from SUPER Magazine. After reading page 17, the teacher does a Think Aloud to model how to find words that describe time and explains how this can help to provide a sequence for the story.
• In Unit 8, Lesson 9, students read, “Hot Rod Saves the Day.” After reading the teacher asks questions where the students need to cite evidence from the story. For example, “What does it mean that Hot Rod saved the play?  How do we know the people in the audience think the show is good?”. However, there is no explicit instruction in listening and speaking to guide students to increase their independence, nor teach students how to go back into the text to find text evidence.
• In Unit 11, Lesson 3, students read Super Magazine articles, “Inside the White House!” and “Kid Talk”. Students read the articles with partners or in groups and complete a practice page involving comprehension by matching people in the article to their dreams.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria for materials including a mix of on-demand and process writing grade-appropriate writing (e.g. grade-appropriate revision and editing) and short, focused projects, incorporating digital resources where appropriate.

The instructional materials focus each unit on one genre of writing including: narrative, informational, and opinion writing. All genres of writing are revisited throughout the year. During narrative writing tasks, students select topics, edit sentences for capitalization and end marks, generate story ideas. Within informational and opinion writing, students engage in reviewing facts and introducing and supporting opinions. Writing prompts and checklists are available to support and grow students’ writing skills. Both on demand and process writing tasks are included throughout a the year. On-demand writing addresses a variety of text types and purposes, including: descriptive, opinion, explanatory, and narrative. There are multiple opportunities for students write, draft, revise, and edit their writing assignments. Instructional materials include short and longer writing tasks and projects, appropriate for the age. Digital resources are used where appropriate.

Examples of age-appropriate writing include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 1, Lesson 7, the teacher has students begin writing their letters and provides copies of Resource Page 3. The teacher tells students to write a “What’s New” letter to a family member or friend. The teacher points out to students they should pick two or three new things in their lives to tell about and their letters should include five parts: date, greeting, body, closing, and their name. The teacher reminds students that it is nice to begin the body of the letter with a question or sentence about how you hope the person you are writing to is doing.
• In Unit 3, Lesson 1, the teacher uses an informational text or internet article describing about how frogs hop and uses cards cut from copies of Resource Page 1. Students write about their opinions and share their opinions with others. "The teacher points to a picture and has students give a thumbs-up if they like this thing, thumbs-down if they don’t like it, or point a thumb to the side if they don’t feel strongly about it." The teacher helps students give an opinion and a reason to tell how they feel and why. As needed, the teacher prompts students to complete sentences frames.
• In Unit 4, Lesson 3, the focus is informational writing. The teacher provides mini-lessons throughout the process and the students write daily. The teacher is reading an article about blue whales and modeling a think aloud to demonstrate note taking. The teacher uses questions generated by the students the day before in Lesson 2 to guide the research note taking.
• In Unit 5, Lesson 7, the teacher tells students this week they will write a new poem about an animal of their choice. The poem will include a simile and will also include noise words. Students will describe their animal and tell where it lives and what it does. The poem should include noise words for the sounds the animal makes and sounds heard in the place where it lives. The teacher distributes copies of Resource Page 8 and reminds students to write the following information about their creature: its name, at least three describing words, a simile to describe it, at least one word for a noise the animal makes, a few words for actions this animal does, where the animal lives, at one word for noises you might hear where this animal lives, or noises it makes moving around in this place.
• In Unit 12, Lesson 5, students write a research report about African animals using a graphic organizer to organize their note taking with the five writing headings: Description, Habitat, Eating, Predators, and Family Life. In Lesson 6, pages 55-56, Teacher’s Guide, the teacher reviews how to take research notes and models note taking about what an aardvark looks like and what it eats. Students begin their research note taking. Several students share their note taking with the group. In Lesson 9, pages 77-78, Teacher’s Guide, students begin their draft and talk about skipping lines so students can revise later.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 2 partially meet the criteria for materials providing opportunities for students to address different text types of writing (year long) that reflect the distribution required by the standards.

In the Materials and Resources for Teachers, writing lessons cover: informative, explanatory, opinion, narrative, descriptive, correspondence, and poetry writing. Materials provide informal opportunities for teachers to monitor progress of writing skills, but few formal opportunities to monitor progress in writing skills are present throughout the year. While there are in-the-moment guidance points for teachers to respond to students' writing development, to assure students have robust practice with the writing types, teachers will need to supplement.

Examples of opportunities to practice different writing types include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 1, Lesson 3, students write a get-to-know-me letter. The teacher provides copies of Resource Page 3 (Letter Template) and tells students to write their get to know me letters including these five parts: date, greeting, body, closing, and their name. Students can use the teacher example as a reference. The teacher reminds students to write complete sentences and use good handwriting so their letter can be read easily. When finished, a few students take a turn sharing one thing they wrote or plan to write about in their get-to- know-me letter.
• In Unit 3, Lesson 2, students write sentences connecting an opinion with reasons. The teacher tells students to write at least four sentences like the one they just wrote. Each sentence should tell their opinion about something shown on Resource Page 1 and give a reason explaining why they feel the way they do. The teacher reminds students to write “because” after the opinion and then write the reason. Students are told that if there are animals, activities, or foods they really like or dislike that aren’t shown, they can write about those topics instead.
• In Unit 4, Lesson 10, students edit their informational paragraphs. The teacher tells students they will edit their informational paragraphs using Resource page 8 (Editing Checklist). After modeling the process, students check their writing for each of the items on the Editing Checklist. Dictionaries are on hand so students can check and correct their spelling. Students are paired up with others who wrote about different animals and they take turns reading their paragraphs aloud and show their drawings. Partners give positive feedback and if they finish before the lesson is over, students can share with another partner. The teacher invites a few students to share their writing and drawings with the class. Listeners are invited to give positive feedback and ask questions. The teacher displays the paragraphs and drawings on the wall in the classroom or hallways.
• In Unit 5, Lesson 8, students write an Animal Poem. The teacher makes sure students have the plans they wrote in Lesson 7. Handwriting paper is distributed and the teacher tells students to reread their plans and make sure the plan is complete and includes good noise words for sounds the animal makes and sounds heard where it lives. The teacher explains if they need to add or change anything, they can do so before they write. Students are reminded that each section of the planner corresponds to 1–2 lines in the poem.
• In Unit 11, Lesson 4, students draft the beginning of a narrative story. The teacher distributes handwriting paper and has students take out planning completed in an earlier lesson on Resources pages 2, 3, and 6. Students are reminded that the beginning of their story will describe both the main character and the setting, but either can come first. The teacher reminds students to indent the first line of a new paragraph, skip every other line and refer to the descriptive details in their planning as they write. The teacher invites a few students to share one to two sentences from their story.
• In Unit 16, Teacher’s Guide, p. 100, a rubric for Informative Writing is provided. The rubric covers the areas of: Completion of tasks, Content/organization, Writing process, and Conventions. The teacher evaluates the student as: advanced, exceeds expectations; proficient, meets expectations; or emergent, isn’t meeting expectations.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 2 partially meet the criteria for materials including regular opportunities for evidence-based writing to support recall of information, opinions with reasons, and relevant information appropriate for the grade level.

Frequent writing opportunities are presented to learn, practice and apply writing types, but do not always require using text-based evidence. Writing opportunities do not require students’ recall of information to develop opinions from reading closely and working with evidence from texts and sources.

Examples of some opportunities for evidence-based writing include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 4, Lesson 1, students are reminded that in the last unit "they wrote about their opinions, so they could share their thoughts and feelings about things." The teacher and students discuss how facts are different from opinions. The teacher displays the first issues of SUPER and discusses the articles, “What’s New?” and “It’s Tricky” with the students. The teacher points out the articles teach facts about animals. In small groups, students find and write animal facts. Some groups use copies of “What’s New?” and two cards from Resource Page 1a, other groups use copies of “It’s Tricky” and two cards from Resource Page 1b. Groups read aloud the parts of SUPER that tell about the animals on their cards and then write a few interesting facts about those animals on the cards.
• In Unit 14, Lesson 1, students are reminded they read about how Ms. Blossom’s class will write persuasive paragraphs about favorite foods. The teacher points out Ms. Blossom’s assignment is an example of opinion writing, because the Superkids state their opinion about what food they think is best and give reasons to persuade others to agree with them. The teacher tells students they, like the Superkids, will write their opinions about a topic during this unit and will present their opinion to the class as a speech. They may even persuade their classmates to agree with them. The teacher introduces possible topics for the student opinion speeches and tells students in their opinion speech they will give their opinion, and reasons to answer a question they feel strongly about. The teacher displays the prepared list and explains each question is a topic they could write an opinion speech about.
• In Unit 16, Lesson 1, the teacher tells students the next article they’re going to write for their magazine is an “Ouch!” advice column. The teacher displays the first page of “Ouch”! from SUPER “That’s Wild!”. The teacher reminds children an advice column usually shows a letter from a reader asking for advice, followed by a letter from the writer giving advice. Students are to discuss the letters asking for advice. The teacher is directed to display Resource Page 1. The teacher tells students they will choose one of the letters and write an answer for it in their own “Ouch!” column.

The instructional materials reviewed for Superkids Grade 2 partially meet the expectation that materials include explicit instruction of the grammar and conventions standards for grade level as applied in increasingly sophisticated contexts, with opportunities for application both in and out of context.

The materials include instruction in grammar and conventions standards. All grammar and conventions standards are addressed throughout the year-long materials. Reflexive pronouns and collective nouns are addressed through the the use of Memory Words or spelling words, but not applied in student writing. The teacher provides instruction and modeling; however, student application is limited to practice items on a worksheet, often filling a word in a blank. Additionally, the materials lack opportunities for students to learn and apply grammar and conventions standards in increasingly sophisticated contexts. Materials include instruction of all grammar and conventions standards for the grade level.

Students have opportunities to use collective nouns (e.g., group). For example:

• In Unit 3, Lesson 6, Word Work, the students write the word people as one of their spelling words.

Students have opportunities to form and use frequently occurring irregular plural nouns (e.g., feet, children, teeth, mice, fish). For example:

• In Unit 11, Lesson 8, Word Work, the teacher provides instruction on irregular plurals through Word Work Book p. 35. The teacher reminds students that plural nouns name more than one thing. Students write words with irregular plural forms from the choices given on the page.

Students have opportunities to use reflexive pronouns (e.g., myself, ourselves). For example:

• In Warm-Up Unit, Lesson 3, Word Work, the teacher previews Memory Words. Yourself is included as a Memory Word. The teacher points out students learned the first part of the word in Grade 1. The teacher puts a finger over self, and students read your. The teacher lifts her finger, and students read self.

Students have opportunities to form and use the past tense of frequently occurring irregular verbs (e.g., sat, hid, told). For example:

• In Unit 11, Lesson 3, Word Work, the teacher reviews past tense verbs and introduces irregular verbs through Word Work Book p. 29. Students write present and past tense verbs to complete sentences.

Students have opportunities to use adjectives and adverbs, and choose between them depending on what is to be modified. For example:

• In Unit 10, Lesson 3, Word Work, students learn about adverbs and complete Work Work Book p. 17. The teacher reminds students an adverb describes a verb by telling how the action was done. Students read each sentence, decide which adverb choice is correct, and write the adverb on the line.

Students have opportunities to produce, expand, and rearrange complete simple and compound sentences (e.g., The boy watched the movie; The little boy watched the movie; The action movie was watched by the little boy). For example:

• In the Warm Up, Lesson 3, Writing, the teacher instructs about how to add adjectives to a sentence using Resource p. 6. Students complete Resource p. 6 by expanding and rearranging sentences to include details describing where or when and how something looks or acts.

Students have opportunities to capitalize holidays, product names, and geographic names. For example:

• In Unit 5, Lesson 2, Word Work, the teacher provides instruction on the use of commas in dates and place names.

Students have opportunities to use commas in greetings and closings of letters. For example:

• In Unit 1, Lesson 3, Writing, the teacher reviews the parts of a friendly letter as students prepare to write a get-to-know-me letter. The teacher models how to write a get-to-know-me letter and where to place a comma. Students then write their letters.

Students have opportunities to use an apostrophe to form contractions and frequently occurring possessives. For example:

• In Unit 9, Lesson 8, Word Work, the teacher provides instruction about contractions with pronouns using Word Work Book p. 10. The teacher guides students through the page by asking what letters the apostrophe takes the place of when they come up with the new word. The teacher reads the contraction with students and has students tell which two words were put together to form it.

Students have opportunities to generalize learned spelling patterns when writing words (e.g., cage → badge; boy → boil). For example:

• In Unit 3, Lesson 1, Word Work, students learn to encode /s/ and /z/ words. The teacher reviews the letter-sound correspondences s/s/, ss/s/, z/z/, zz/z/, and s/z/ using Word Work Book p. 32. The teacher explains some of the words under the directions have the hissing sound, /s/, and some words have the buzzing sound, /z/. Students complete the page, then read and spell aloud the words they wrote under the snake and the bees.

Students have opportunities to consult reference materials, including beginning dictionaries, as needed to check and correct spellings. For example:

• In Unit 1, Lesson 8, Writing, the teacher provides instruction on how to use a dictionary to check the spelling of a word.

Students have opportunities to compare formal and informal uses of English. For example:

• In Unit 2, Lesson 6, Word Work, the teacher models how to read a song rhythmically. The teacher asks what words rhyme and which words are repeated several times. The teacher explains that ‘em isn’t really a word, but a short way of saying them.

The materials reviewed for Superkids Grade 2 meet the criteria for materials, questions, and tasks directly teach foundational skills to build reading acquisition by providing systematic and explicit instruction in the alphabetic principle, letter-sound relationships, phonemic awareness, and phonological awareness (K-1), and phonics (K-2) that demonstrate a transparent and research-based progression for application both in and out of context.

In the instructional materials, students have opportunities to learn phonics and word analysis skills to decode words. Students receive instruction in: distinguishing long and short vowel sounds, decoding words with common prefixes and suffixes, knowing spelling- sound correspondences for common vowel teams, identifying words with inconsistent yet common spelling-sound correspondences, and decoding two-syllable words with long vowels. Instruction occurs during Word Work, and students have opportunities to independently complete activities during the Reading Block, Daily Routines, and Ten-Minute Tuck-Ins. Materials have a cohesive sequence of phonics instruction to build toward application.

Examples of opportunities to learn grade-level phonics skills while decoding words (e.g. distinguish long and short vowel sounds, apply spelling-sound relationship on common words, decode two syllable words with long vowels) include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 8, Lesson 2, Word Work, students decode long i and long o words. Students use Word Work Book page 104, to read aloud words with long i and long o then draw a line matching long i words together and long o words together.
• In Unit 10, Lesson 7, Word Work, students decode and distinguish between long a and long e words. Teacher reviews different ways to spell the long /e/ and long /a/ sounds. Students read and distinguish between words with long /e/ and long /a/.
• In Unit 5, Lesson 6, Word Work, students decode oi /oi/ and oy /oi/ words.
• In Unit 6, Lesson 2, Word Work, students learn to associate oo, ew, and ue with /oo/. Teachers review letter-sound associations for /oo/ using Word Work Book page 78. Students identify words with /oo/. Students complete the maze by drawing a line from one word with this spelling to another.
• In Unit 10, Lesson 2, Word Work, students decode, encode, and sort /ā/ words with ange, ay, eigh. Teachers review letter-sound correspondences ay /ā/, eigh /ā/, and ange /anj/ using Word Work Book page 16. Students decode /ā/ words with ay, eigh, and ange to complete sentences with two-syllable words including: birthday, eighteen, and stranger.
• In Unit 7, Lesson 3, Word Work, students learn to decode words with the prefixes un- and re-.
• In Unit 9, Lesson 3, Word Work, students learn to decode words with the suffixes -ful and -less using Word Work Book page 4.
• In Unit 3, Lesson 4, Daily Routines, students read aloud words with s and z from the Big Book of Decoding. The teacher asks which words have the buzzing sound and which words have the hissing sound. Students are provided with 10 words for practice.
• In Unit 11, Lesson 3, Word Work, the teacher explicitly teaches verb tenses for irregular verbs. Teachers review past-tense verbs and introduce irregular verbs, using Word Work Book page 29. Students write present-tense and past-tense verbs to complete sentences, ie. sit-sat, say-said.

Examples of cohesive sequence of phonemic awareness and phonics instruction to build toward application include, but are not limited to:

• Unit 1: digraphs ch, sh, th, wh
• Unit 2: blends le and ng; long e and long i (y)
• Unit 3: /s/ and /z/ words; past-tense verbs; plurals -s and -es; syllabication
• Unit 4: r-controlled vowels; associate ear, ar, and or with /ėr/; decoding words with different spellings for /ėr/; comparative and superlative adjectives
• Unit 5: /ô/ words ; ay words; oi/oi/ and oy/oi/ words; ou/ou/, ow/ou/, and ow/ō/ words; Tag along e
• Unit 6: oo, ew, ue words; soft c and g
• Unit 7: kn/n/ and wr/r/ words; distinguishing homophones with kn/n/ and wr/r/; prefixes un- and re-; igh/ī/, aught/ôt/, and ought/ôt/; ph/f/ and gh/f/
• Unit 8: -ind, -old, -ild, -ost; long i and o words; compound words; -tion, -ture
• Unit 9: ff, ss, ll, dd; -en, -on; -ful, -less; contractions with pronouns
• Unit 10: ay, eigh; ange; -ey, ie, ei; ine
• Unit 11: -ing, -ed; long-vowels with open-syllable patterns
• Unit 12: Tricky w words; compound words; singular and plural pronouns
• Unit 13: Long e and a words; homophones
• Unit 14: Long i and o words; irregular comparative and superlative adjectives; -ness
• Unit 15: Super e; ui, ue, ou, oo, ew; air, ear, are, err, ar; -able
• Unit 16: ir, er, ur, or, ar, ear; or, ore, oor, our, oar, ar

The instructional materials reviewed for Superkids Grade 2 meet the criteria for materials, questions, and tasks provide explicit instruction for and regular practice to address the acquisition of print concepts, including alphabetic knowledge, and directionality (K-1), structures and features of text (1-2).

The materials include explicit instruction throughout the units requiring students to identify text features and text structures within a text. The teacher models different types of text structures including: main idea and details, sequence of events, problem and solution, compare and contrast, and cause and effect. Graphic organizers are used with the SUPER magazine stories for student practice of text structures. Text features are taught in SUPER magazine lessons and Superkids Book Club lessons. The teacher models how to identify and use text features to help understand the content of the text. The teacher also asks probing questions to guide student use of text features.

Examples of when students have frequent and adequate opportunities to identify text structures (e.g., main idea and details, sequence of events, problem & solution, compare and contrast, cause and effect) include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 1, Lesson 3, Reading, the teacher explains main topic and details. The teacher models how to identify the main topic and details of a portion of the SUPER magazine. Students help the teacher identify the main idea of the text and the supporting details using a graphic organizer.
• In Unit 2, Lesson 5, Reading, the teacher begins by reviewing Chapter 2 of the text, focusing on plot development. The teacher has students identify the problem and potential solutions. As students continue to read, the teacher asks probing questions to frame the class discussion around the plot and problem/solution.
• In Unit 5, Lesson 6, Reading, the teacher discusses what it means to compare and contrast. Students name jobs they have read about so far and tell one way the jobs are alike. The teacher models how to use a chart to compare and contrast two jobs. Students work with a partner to complete the second column of the chart with details about an air traffic controller’s job.
• In Unit 11, Lesson 2, Writing, students are guided to recognize plot through analysis of problem and solution. Students identify the problem and solution in a story.

Examples of how students have frequent and adequate opportunities to identify text features (e.g., title, byline, headings, table of contents, glossary, pictures, illustrations) include, but are not limited to: 

• In Unit 1, Lesson 2, Reading, the teacher discusses the purpose of the content’s page. The teacher reads the heading aloud and explains the content’s pages are at the beginning of a magazine and lists the names of the articles in the magazine. The teacher explains the page numbers are listed for each article. Students locate information on the content’s page based on teacher questions.
• In Unit 5, Lesson 2, Reading, the teacher shows students a sidebar and tells students a sidebar provides extra information related to the main article.
• In Unit 12, Lesson 1, Reading, the teacher points to the three stars at the top of page 8 of the easy level text, “Stink: The Incredible Shrinking Kid,” and that small pictures or symbols can separate one section of text from another.

The instructional materials reviewed for Superkids Grade 2 partially meet the criteria for instructional opportunities are frequently built into the materials for students to practice and gain decoding automaticity and sight-based recognition of high-frequency words. This includes reading fluency in oral reading beginning in mid Grade 1 and through Grade 2.

The materials contain opportunities for students to purposefully read texts, learn reading strategies, and practice reading fluency. Materials provide a review unit of Memory Words from Grade 1 and irregularly spelled words are sometimes a part of weekly spelling lists; however, opportunities are missed for students to receive explicit instruction in irregularly spelled words. Materials contain questions for teachers to ask students to monitor reading with purpose and understanding. Fluency practice is provided in several units. The teacher models how to read fluently, focusing on phrasing, expression, and rate. Students are also provided fluency practice opportunities. The use of context clues is supported by the teacher asking questions about texts. Opportunities are missed for students to receive explicit instruction in reading strategies, such as rereading and self-correction.

Students have multiple opportunities provided over the course of the year for students to purposefully read on-level texts. For example: 

• In Warm-up, Lesson 10, Reading, the teacher introduces new memory words before the students read, “Exploring the Amazon”. The teacher models how to read with appropriate phrasing and expression. Students then practice reading the story.
• In Unit 2, Lesson 1, Reading, the students reread, “Ms. Blossom’s Flag” and practice pausing when they get to a punctuation mark.
• In Unit 2, Lesson 2, Reading, students reread the text in pairs by reading each paragraph aloud. The teacher reminds students to read the uppercase words in a louder voice.
• In Unit 8, Lesson 1, Reading, the teacher points out the first sentence is spoken by a character and emphasizes the use of quotation marks. The teacher reminds students to look for quotation marks when reading and read the words as if someone is speaking.

Students have opportunities provided over the course of the year in core materials for students to demonstrate sufficient accuracy, rate, and expression in oral reading with on-level text and grade level decodable words. For example:  

• In Unit 2, Lesson 5, Word Work, teacher models how to read underlined words with appropriate stress.
• In Unit 4, Lesson 3, Word Work, the teacher reviews how to read with natural phrasing. The teacher points out how some sentences start on one line and end on another. The teacher reviews how readers do not stop but keep reading until they are at the end of the sentence, not the end of the line. Students practice by reading, “A New Boy”.
• In Unit 6, Lesson 1, Word Work, the teacher tells students words that are underlined should be read with a stronger voice. Students identify the underlined words in the story.  The teacher models how to stress the word rains when reading a sentence.
• In Unit 14, Lesson 3, Word Work, the teacher reminds students to pay attention to the use of quotation marks and characters speaking. The teacher tells students they should change their voice when different characters are speaking. The teacher models reading aloud from the text. Students identify places where the teacher changed their voice to show different characters speaking.  

Materials provide limited support in reading of texts with attention to reading strategies such as rereading, self-correction, and the use of context clues. For example:

• In Unit 9, Lesson 2, Word Work, the teacher helps students determine a word’s meaning based on context. Students review sentences with multiple meaning words. The teacher reads a sentence aloud and asks what a word means and how students know. Students think of sentences using the word in a different context.
• In Unit 10, Lesson 2, Word Work, the teacher asks students what the word "smeared" means.

Examples in the materials where students have limited opportunities to practice and read irregularly spelled words include, but are not limited to: 

• In Unit 2, Lesson 8, Word Work, the teacher asks students what sound y makes as a consonant at the beginning of words read aloud. The teacher then reads aloud the tips and the example words with y as a vowel. Student trace letters and write y to complete the word. Students write i in the circle to show the sound y stands for. The teacher discusses why y stands for /i/ in fry.  Sound spelling cards are used to remind students of the two sounds for y.
• In Unit 5, Lesson 1, Word Work, the teacher displays a page from the Word Work Book.  The teacher reads the tips aloud. The teacher asks what sound students hear at the end of the word "caw" and what letters make that sound. The teacher tells students they will learn about the /o/ sound spelled with aw and other letters. Students listen for the /o/ sound as the teacher reads words aloud. Students then sort and encode words with /o/. 

The instructional materials reviewed for Superkids Grade 2 partially meet the criteria for materials, questions, and tasks providing systematic and explicit instruction in and practice of word recognition and analysis skills in a research-based progression in connected text and tasks.

The instructional materials provide opportunities for students to practice word recognition and analysis skills in connected texts and tasks. SUPER Magazine and Book Clubs provide additional opportunities for students to apply decoding skills. However, skills used in the texts are not necessarily tied to what has been explicitly taught. Materials provide frequent opportunities for students to read irregularly spelled words in tasks. Additionally, students have limited opportunities to encode in context.

Examples of how materials support students’ development to learn grade-level word recognition and analysis skills (e.g apply spelling-sound relationship on common words, decode regularly spelled two-syllable words with long vowels, decode words with common prefixes and suffixes) in connected text and tasks include, but are not limited to: 

• In Unit 2, Lesson 7, Word Work, the teacher reviews the rules for long vowels. The teacher points out the marks for long and short vowels (straight line for long and curved line for short). Students complete page 26 independently by marking the long and short vowels for each word.
• In Unit 3, Lesson 3, Word Work, students divide words into syllables using Word Work Book page 35.
• In Unit 5, Lesson 7, Word Word, students decode and encode words with ou/ou/, ow/ou/, and ow/ō/. Students complete the sentence with a missing word that has either the /ou/ sound or the /ō/ sound. Students read the words aloud and describe how they are alike or different to complete Word Work Book page 69.
• In Unit 7, Lesson 3, Word Work, the teacher introduces un- and re-. The teacher explains how un- means not and when added to ‘happy’ it forms unhappy, meaning not happy. The teacher continues this for the prefix re- by looking at the picture and explaining how the meaning of the word changed (rebuild). Students fill-in the complete each sentence using the correct prefix on page 92 of the Word Work Book.
• In Unit 7, Lesson 8, Ten-Minute Tuck-In, students complete a sentence with an incomplete word in it. Students are asked which pair of letters should be used to complete the word (gh or ph). Then students say and spell the word aloud.
• In Unit 8, Lesson 2, Ten-Minute Tuck-In, students work with letter cards for long o and short o on a table. Teachers show the word cards one at a time in random order. For each word, children tell whether the o is long or short.
• In Unit 9, Lesson 3, Ten-Minute Tuck-In, students fold a piece of writing paper in half to make two columns and write words with -ful in one column and words with -less in the other column. Students choose from the list of words with -ful and -less as suffixes and read the words in each column and discuss their meanings.
• In Unit 9, Lesson 6, Ten-Minute Tuck-in, students practice their spelling words with a-/ŭ/, -en/ŭn/, and -on/ŭn/ by playing Go Fish. Students create their playing cards by putting a word on each card. Students play the game looking for pairs of words.  
• In Unit 10, Lesson 3, Daily Routine, students read aloud two-syllable words with long vowels like, daytime and hayride, from the Big Book of Decoding.
• In Unit 11, Lesson 3, Ten-Minute Tuck-In, students practice irregular past tense verbs using cards with present verbs on one side and past tense verbs on the opposite side.
• In Unit 13, Lesson 2, Ten-Minute Tuck-In, students read one-syllable words with many different spellings of long /e/ on sticky notes displayed on a board out loud. Students place each word under the appropriate column heading: ee, ea, ei. When all the words have been placed, students reread the words in each column.

Examples of instructional materials providing frequent opportunities to read irregularly spelled words in connected text and tasks include, but are not limited to: 

• In Unit 1, Lesson 2, Word Work, the teacher explains Trickers are words that are tricky to read or spell because they don’t follow the rules. The teacher asks children what is the same about how such, much, rich, and sandwich are spelled. During Ms. Blossom's Pleasant Pointers, Trickers are explained as exceptions to watch out for, "Point out that these words are tricky to spell because they don’t follow the rule about when to use -tch. Tell children that when they complete the words in boxes 13 and 14, they can look at the words in the Trickers box to check their spelling."
• In Unit 3, Lesson 7, Word Work, students learn the doubling rule for adding -ed and -ing to CVC words. Students complete Student Work Book page 41-42.
• In Unit 11, Lesson 3, Ten-Minute Tuck-In, students practice irregular past tense verbs.  Using cards with present tense on one side and past tense on the opposite, students choose a card, read aloud the past-tense verb written on it, and then say the present-tense form of the verb. Then students turn the card over to check the word. If the word written on the other side of the card matches what the student said, he or she gets to keep that card.

Examples of how lessons and activities provide students with opportunities to learn grade-level word recognition and analysis skills while decoding words (reading) in connected text and tasks, but have limited opportunities for students to practice encoding in context include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 7, Lesson 1, Word Work, students encode wr and kn words by writing the correct word on the blank.
• In Unit 11, Lesson 10, Ten-Minute Tuck-In, students write the correct way to spell long vowel words with open syllables by reading a sentence and correcting word spellings.
  

The instructional materials reviewed for Superkids Grade 2 partially meet the criteria for materials supporting ongoing and frequent assessment to determine student mastery and inform meaningful differentiation of foundational skills, including a clear and specific protocol as to how students performing below standard on these assessments will be supported.

Formal and informal assessment opportunities are included in the instructional materials curriculum. Formal assessments include: beginning, mid-, and end-of-year tests as well as unit progress tests. The Progress Tests align to content taught throughout the Superkids curriculum. Daily lessons include multiple opportunities for informal assessment through: Daily Routines, completion of student skill work from Student Books, Practice Pages, independent activities, and observation during Ten-Minute Tuck-ins. While there are reinforcement and extension activities provided for differentiation at the end of most lessons, there is not a clear or specific protocol as to how students performing below standard on the assessments will be supported. Assessments are used to identify students struggling in foundational skills, but next steps for instruction are not provided.

Examples of how multiple assessment opportunities are provided over the course of the year in core materials for students to demonstrate progress toward mastery and independence of foundational skills include, but are not limited to:

• In the Beginning of Year Test, Phonics Section, the student looks at a picture and the teacher states the picture name. Students look at the given letters and fill in the circle below the letter that represents the sound at the beginning of the picture name.
• In the Unit 5 Progress Test, Fluency section, the teacher gives the student a page of informational text. The student reads aloud for one minute. The teacher circles any words the child misreads or omits. The student stops reading at one minute, and the teacher marks the last word read. The student then retells the importance of what was read.
• In Unit 8, Lesson 4, the Daily Routines provides an informal assessment in decoding, spelling, and writing. For decoding, students read aloud rows one and two from page 36 of the Big Book of Decoding. For spelling, students write dictated words and a sentence. For writing, the teacher reads the sentence starter. Students copy and complete it as an Independent Activity.
• In Unit 10, Lesson 1, Phonics and Decoding, students complete a page in the word work book by writing the word from the top of the page matching each picture.
• In the Unit 16, End of Year Test, Decoding section, the focus is on decoding words with different spellings for /oo/, /ar/, /er/, /or/. The teacher says a word and the students review three words on their paper and select the word the teacher said. Fifteen words are included.

Examples of assessment materials providing teachers and students with information of students’ current skills/level of understanding include, but are not limited to:

• In the Materials section, Formal Assessments are available online or in the Assessment Book. A formal Beginning of the Year test assesses students’ acquired knowledge of phonics, decoding, fluency, comprehension and writing. The test is divided into several parts including: associating letters with sounds, decoding words with consonant digraphs, long vowels, r-controlled vowels, and variant vowels, reading and comprehending a literary text, reading Memory Words, reading a literary text with fluency and understanding, and writing a few sentences to tell about themselves.
• In the Materials section, Formal Assessments used for progress monitoring are available online or in the Assessment Book. The Progress Tests help measure students’ mastery of specific objectives and plan for reinforcement activities. The Progress Tests are available after each unit, 1 through 16.

The instructional materials reviewed for Superkids Grade 2 partially meet the criteria for materials, questions, and tasks providing high-quality lessons and activities that allow for differentiation of foundational skills, so all students achieve mastery of foundational skills.  

Suggestions for differentiation are included for English Learners, students performing below grade level, and students performing above grade level. Opportunities for differentiation in the Superkids materials is provided through small group instruction, Ten-Minute Tuck-ins, and the Superkids Skill-Building Book. Ten-Minute Tuck-ins are included with every lesson to support students who have not yet mastered the current skill of the lesson. Gradual release of responsibility is used within the instructional plans for teachers; however, lessons do not include consistent, targeted opportunities for foundational skill differentiation specifically for students lacking previous foundational skills. While differentiation opportunities can provide differentiation of learning, some opportunities are accommodations or additional practice opportunities. For example, in the Program Guide, for differentiating Work Work, it states: “... work with struggling students individually or in a small group to complete the page. Read words and sentences on the page aloud with children.” Acceleration opportunities and teacher guidance for acceleration are limited. For example, in the Program Guide, for differentiating Work Work, it states: “After initial whole-class instruction with the “We do” items on the Word Work book page, allow both on-level and above-level students to complete the “I do” items independently.”

Examples of instructional materials providing high-quality learning lessons and activities for every student to reach mastery of foundational skills include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 1, Lesson 1, students practice decoding and encoding sh and ch words. Students use the Word Work Book to identify the letters s, h, and c, h. The teacher reminds students when two letters are together, they sometimes make one sound. Students identify where sh and ch are located in a list of words from the Word Work Book and then read the list together. Students practice encoding the word list on the Word Work page.
• In Unit 7, Lesson 7, students practiced decoding and encoding words with igh, aught, and ought. Students read from a word list together from the Word Work Book and then complete a crossword puzzle with words from the word list.
• In Unit 13, Lesson 8, students practice reading with expression using the reader, “A Little Uncomfortable”. The teacher models reading a sentence with dialogue and an exclamation point without and with expression. Students discuss why the second reading with expression was better than the reading with no expression. Students practice reading the story aloud with expression.

Examples of how materials provide guidance to teachers for scaffolding and adapting lessons and activities to support each student’s needs include, but are not limited to:

• In the Core Materials, a Differentiated Instruction for Guided Reading guide is included for teachers. The guide reviews routines for the students reading below-level, on-level, and above-level. In the below-level group, the teacher reads aloud the text to the student, asking comprehension questions. The teacher identifies difficult words and helps students decode. Finally, students follow along while the teacher rereads the text, then reading a part chorally or individually for the group.
• Materials include an assessment correlations chart related to standards. The chart identifies each standard addressed on the individual assessments and informs teachers where to find additional targeted skill practice for students not mastering standards and those needing challenged within the Superkids Skill-Building book.
• In Unit 12, Lesson 1, Phonics and Spelling, an option for ELL support is provided to teachers. The teacher is reminded to provide additional practice for students distinguishing between the sound /a/ makes in words, such as was and water, making sure to allow for time to develop pronunciation skills.

Examples of students having limited practice opportunities with each grade-level foundational skill component in order to reach mastery include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 3, Lesson 6, Ten-Minute Tuck-In, instruction for decoding words with -ed endings is provided for students needing additional reinforcement.
• In Unit 4, Lesson 3, Ten-Minute Tuck-In, instruction for adding an -er ending to words is provided for students needing additional reinforcement. The teacher reviews the rules for adding -er to words and practices with students by having them apply the rules to CVC and CVCe words.
• In Unit 5, Lesson 2, Ten-Minute Tuck-In, the teacher reinforces aw /o/ and au /o/ by saying August and awful. The students identify the beginning sound in both words, the teacher writes each word on the board explains the spelling the that sound (aw, au). The teacher displays a list of words on the board, and the students put a thumbs up if the word is spelled correctly or thumbs down if the word is not spelled correctly.
• In Unit 13, Lesson 5, Ten-Minute Tuck-In, the teacher reinforces decoding and encoding the long /e/ by writing sentences on the board including words with the long /e/ sound. Students are to underline the words they find with long /e/ and discuss why they chose those words, “Alf takes a seat near Tac’s desk.”
• In Unit 16, Lesson 5, Ten Minute Tuck, an extension lesson in encoding words with different spellings for /ōr/ is provided for students needing an additional challenge.

The instructional materials reviewed for Superkids Grade 2 meet the criteria that texts are organized around a topic/topics to build students knowledge and vocabulary which will over time support and help grow students’ ability to comprehend complex texts independently and proficiently.

The instructional materials including: the Superkids Reader story, SUPER Magazine, and the suggested Teacher Read-Alouds, are centered around a topic. There is sufficient prompting and support to explore, listen to, and read beginning texts. Lessons provide scaffolding for differentiating instruction using Ten-Minute Tuck-ins. The Ten-Minute Tuck-Ins when used reinforce vocabulary and provide extra support. The Teacher’s Guide provides scaffolding and differentiation among texts for English Language Learners. The materials provide opportunities for students to actively listen and read to each other, display vertical articulation of literacy skills and exhibit a higher level of academic vocabulary growth.

Over the course of a year, the instructional materials support and grow students’ ability to comprehend complex texts independently and proficiently. Examples of topics and connected texts include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 3, the topic is frogs and amphibians. Students read, “A Frog for Mrs. Blossom”, “The Saddest Story”, and Super Magazine (p. 2, p. 5). The suggested Teacher Read-Alouds are: “999 Frogs and a Little Brother”, “Frog Song”, “Too Many Frogs!” and “Hip-Pocket Papa”. Following the reading of, “Duck Doc!”.
• In Unit 4, the topic is friendship. In Lesson 1, students read “Lily’s Left Out”. In Lesson 2, the Superkids story continues in, “Left Out a Second Time”. The suggested Teacher Read-Alouds are: “Worst of Friends: Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and the True Story of an American Feud”, “Teammates”, “The Beatles Were Fab (and they were Funny)”, and “Footwork: The Story of Fred and Adele Astaire”. 
• In Unit 6, the topic is fall. The suggested Teacher Read-Alouds are: “Fletcher and the Falling Leaves”, “Why Do Leaves Change Color?”, “Pumpkin Jack”, and “Apples”. In Lesson 1, the Superkids Reader story, “Big Backpacks”.
• In Unit 15, the topic is springtime. Students read, “Testing Begins”, “Magic”, “The Big Contest”, “Click on Send”, and “Babies” in their reader. The suggested Teacher Read-Alouds are: "How Do We Know It Is Spring?", "Madame and Mole: Fine Feathered Friends", "Raven and River, and Groundhog Weather School".

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria that materials contain sets of coherently sequenced questions and tasks that require students to analyze the language (words/phrases), key ideas, details, craft, and structure of individual texts in order to make meaning and build understanding of texts and topics.

Student tasks are differentiated for below and on-grade level learners to build skills needed to understand texts and topics. Students are asked to analyze: words/phrases, key ideas and details, structure, and craft, using read-aloud texts. Small-group reading consists of questions and tasks in which students are asked to: comprehend, analyze picture-text relationships, connect events, draw and support conclusions, compare and contrast, retell details, understand the author’s reasons, connect text to self, make predictions, give and support opinions, understand vocabulary, and grasp text features, and examine word play.  Throughout the school year, components such as language, word choice, key ideas, details, structure and craft continue to be taught, reinforced, and embedded in students’ work. The materials contain extensive vocabulary instruction and teaching of text features using a variety of genres including fiction, nonfiction and poetry.

• In Unit 1, Lesson 3, pages 27-28, Small-Group Reading of an Informational Text, Independent Activities.  Students complete a SUPER comprehension page after meeting with their small group.  The SUPER comprehension page focuses on main idea and details.
• In Unit 3, Lesson 1, page 8, Teacher's Guide, the teacher asks, “When Tac says they should catch the frog, Doc says, 'You got to be kidding!'. What does Doc mean?”, “What else does Doc say that tells us she doesn’t like frogs?”, and “How do you think Doc felt when the frog shot out of the bush?”
• In Unit 6, Lesson 9, page 79, Teacher’s Guide,  students read “Wild Goose Chase”. Students analyze the text for craft using the questions, “What words tell the sound Tac’s shoes make? Squish, squish”, “What words tell the sound Oswald’s pants make? Slap, slap”, and “Why do their shoes and pants make that sound?”
• In Unit 7, Lesson 8, page 78, The Superkids Hit Second Grade Teacher’s Guide, students are asked to understand vocabulary in the story “Act 1: Recyle”. Students are introduced to the word fling and asked about its use in the story.  They are also introduced to the words moan and gasp and asked, “Why do the trees moan? Why do the kids gasp after the trees fall?”
• In Unit 11, Lesson 8, page 64, Super Magazine Teacher’s Guide, students are asked to understand text features for the article "Inside Tut’s Tomb".  Students are asked, “What information does the sidebar give? How is the information connected to the article?”
• In Unit 12, Lesson 7, page 60, Teacher’s Guide, students read the text, “Thursday” from their Readers. Students are asked to analyze the text structure problem and solution using the question, “What creative solution does Mr. Kumasi have for the kids who don’t know what day they are born on?”. Students use context clues to determine meaning with using the question, “The Superkids feel discombobulated when they have to figure out what day to stand under,  What do you think this means? What helps you understand this word?”
• In Unit 15, Lesson 10, page 56, Super Magazine Teacher’s Guide, students are asked to discuss the rhyme and rhythm in the poem, “After School”.  Students are introduced to the concept of rhyming couplets.

The instructional materials reviewed for Superkids Grade 2 partially meet the criteria that materials contain a coherently sequenced set of text-dependent questions and tasks that require students to analyze the integration of knowledge and ideas across both individual and multiple texts.

The instructional materials contain questions for both during and after reading; however, students are not asked to analyze the integration of knowledge and ideas across multiple texts. Text-based questions that lead students through the comprehension and main ideas of the text are only provided during the actual reading of the text.

There are very few tasks that ask students to demonstrate knowledge gained from a text or across multiple texts. Additionally, the major tasks are not always text-based. Students respond to their readings with self-to-text connections and write about topics without text support. Some questions involve higher-level analyzing skills, although the level of questioning varies greatly.

Examples of sequenced questions asked include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 4, Lesson 9, students read the text, “No Cupcakes”. Students are asked, “Who says ‘Let’s make the best of it’ on page 80?”, “What do you think she means?”, “Why are the third graders arriving in Ms. Blossom’s class?”, and “Why do Cass and Ettabetta want to become invisible?”. Students analyze the text to answer these explicit and inferential questions.
• In Unit 8, Lesson 3, students read, “Hot Rod Messes Up”. After reading students are asked, “What does Icky think is a disaster?”, “How can you tell Hot Rod feels bad about messing up his lines?”, “What does Icky do about his problem with Hot Rod?”, and “What does Ms. Blossom say he needs to do to solve the problem?”.  Students need to reference only this text to answer these explicit and inferential questions.
• In Unit 11, Lesson 1, students are asked what the photo on page 2 shows for the first Super Short. To check comprehension for the second Super Short, students are asked what is the article is about.  Additionally, students tare asked what a piñata is and where you usually see a piñata.
• In Unit 12, Lesson 4, students reference the text to answer explicit and inferential questions when reading. For example, “What does Stink win?”, “How does the illustration support what is happening in the story?”, “How does Stink feel about putting Newton in with Teddy” and “How do you know?”
• Students complete the Book Talk Mini-Journal for this text writing answers to questions about the book they are reading.
• In Unit 13, Lesson 5, students are asked,“What is inside each kernel?”, “What happens to the water in the kernel when the kernel gets hot?”, and “Why does the steam make the kernel pop?”
• In Unit 15, Lesson 2, students are asked, “Why can’t Oswald go outside at recess?”, “Why are there so many mud puddles on the playground?”, and “Why does Hot Rod have Shark dive into the mud again and again?”. In Unit 15, Lesson 3, page 39, Teacher’s Guide, students are asked, “How does your nose stop germs?”, “What happens first when you breathe?”, “What happens next?”, “How do tears help us fight germs?”, “How does your skin act as armor?”, “How does your stomach protect you against germs?”, and “How does your body fight germs that get into your body? White cells kill germs by eating them.”

The instructional materials reviewed for Superkids Grade 2 do not meet the criteria that the questions and tasks support students’ ability to complete culminating tasks in which they demonstrate their knowledge of a topic through integrated skills (e.g. combination of reading, writing, speaking, listening).

The teacher is prompted to ask questions before, during, and after reading to monitor student comprehension. Mini-books, Reader Responses, Practice Pages and Comprehension pages provide opportunities for students to display knowledge through writing, speaking, and listening; however, culminating tasks are not present in the instructional materials for students to demonstrate comprehension and knowledge of a topic or topics. Tasks are extensions of the unit theme and focus mainly on speaking by retelling and vocabulary work, rather than supporting students' demonstrating knowledge.

Examples include, but are not limited to: 

• In Unit 3, Lesson 10, students read SUPER magazine article “Ouch!”. After reading, the teacher points out the tips on page 36 for getting “un-mad”. Students write other ideas on what kids can do to keep angry feelings from growing. Students complete the SUPER comprehension page. Students also read the anchor text, “Partners and Pals”, but no culminating task is provided. Students take an end of unit assessment, found on page 88. The Writing lesson on page 87 is editing one of two opinion paragraphs which students wrote in prior lessons in this unit. When finished, a few students take turns telling about errors they found, corrections made, and then they will read their corrected paragraph aloud.
• In Unit 14, Lesson 10, after reading “And the Winner Is…”, the teacher has students think of other ways to show people you care about them, even if you cannot be with them for a special occasion. The teacher tells students to think about a time they did something where they showed someone they cared and write and illustrate a sentence about it.
• In Unit 15, Lesson 1, students begin writing their own version of SUPER Magazine using copies of the magazines as a guide. Students will write four different articles, create a front cover, and contents page for their own SUPER magazine.
• In Unit 16, Lesson 2, students plan an informational article.  In Lesson 3, page 27, students write an introductory paragraph for the informational article. In Lesson 4, page 35, students write a paragraph for the informational article. In Lesson 5, page 45, students add a sidebar to their informational article.  In Lesson 6, page 57, students write a title and caption for the informational article. In Lesson 7, page 64, students edit the article. In Lesson 8, page 71, students make a cover for the magazine. In Lessons 9 and 10, pages 78 and 88, students put the magazine together and create a contents page. Whole group sharing time is provided, followed by time to get everyone in the class to autograph their SUPER page.

The instructional materials reviewed for Superkids Grade 2 partially meet the criteria that materials include a cohesive, year-long plan for students to interact with and build key academic vocabulary words in and across texts.

Instructional materials provide year long vocabulary development. Specific vocabulary words are listed for each unit and Words to Know cards are provided with a picture and word for each vocabulary word. Attention is paid to vocabulary essential to understanding the text and to high value academic words. Often, different vocabulary words are emphasized in the SUPER Magazine, Readers,  and Book Club lessons within the same unit. Questioning associated with the vocabulary words help to build academic vocabulary, although academic vocabulary is not strengthened across multiple texts. Some guidance for the teacher to use the Student Readers to build vocabulary through discussion is provided during vocabulary introduction lessons before reading the text. Follow up lessons are provided for some vocabulary words, but the teacher will have to supplement to assure all key vocabulary practice occurs. Some assessments do not include a vocabulary section.

Assessments with vocabulary sections do not cover the Words to Know or most of the story vocabulary, but is more focused on patterns such as adverbs, antonyms and synonyms. Vocabulary is repeated before texts, in texts, and after texts, but lacks support across multiple texts or units.  Reading and speaking support vocabulary learning, but most writing tasks do not explicitly support building vocabulary skills.

Examples of how vocabulary development is year-long, but lacks consistent instruction include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 1, Lesson 1, students are introduced to four words. In Lesson 6, pages 68-69, the words are reviewed. The teacher discusses the Words to Know cards, and the words are reinforced in Lesson 10, pages 110-111. In Lesson 10, the teacher asks students to tell the meaning of the word and use it in a sentence. If needed, the teacher will define the word for students and provide a context sentence.
• In Unit 6, Lesson 2, students are introduced to the Unit 6 Words to Know: prepare, courage, encourage, and embarrassed. These are Tier II words and are explicitly taught. Each word has a word card with a picture on it as a visual representation of the word. Students repeat each word and the teacher gives the definition and uses each word in a sentence. This routine is used in each unit. Teacher language for a think aloud of each word card is provided to support the teacher during this process. Words are reinforced in Lessons 5 and 10.
• In Unit 11, Lesson 2, the teacher uses the Reader story, “100 Pine Cones” pages 54–55, to understand vocabulary and context clues. The teacher says, “Ms. Blossom suggests that instead of ice-cream cones, which cost money, the children bring in 100 free things. What does it mean to say something is free?”.  Students respond by saying, “You don’t have to pay money to get it.”
• In Unit 13, Lesson 5, the Reader story used is, “To Bee or Not to Bee”, to help students understand vocabulary terms. The teacher says, “Shot off means went away quickly. Why does Toc shoot off to get Tic?” Students respond by saying, “So she can see the bee before it flies away.”
• In Unit 14, Lesson 1, using the Book Club book “Tornado”, the teacher introduces the vocabulary before reading by saying each word, providing the definition, and using it in a sentence. On page 2, during guided reading the teacher prompts discussion throughout by asking, “What is she unsure about? Think about a time you hesitated. What caused you to hesitate?”
• In Unit 15, Lesson 1, using the Reader story “Roboticons,” the teacher helps students understand vocabulary terms by saying, “Oswald wants to destroy, or wreck, Thunderbolt. What do Hot Rod and Oswald do to accomplish this?” Students respond by saying, “They crash into him and knock him down with Shark and Speedster.”
• In Unit 15, Lesson 2, using the Reader story “Shark to the Rescue,” the teacher helps students understand vocabulary by saying, “Hot Rod makes Shark dive into a puddle and carry Speedster safely to shore. What do you think shore means?” Students respond by saying, “Dry land.”

The instructional materials reviewed for Superkids Grade 2 partially meet the criteria that materials contain a year-long, cohesive plan of writing instruction and tasks which support students in building and communicating substantive understanding of topics and texts. school year.

The instructional materials include writing instruction aligned to the standards for the grade level and writing instruction supports student growth over the school year. Materials include lesson plans with teacher modeling; however, protocols are not in place for teachers to implement and monitor students’ writing development. Student expectations are not explicit and are often inferred by the teacher. Many lessons focus on conventions, rather than craft.

Writing rubrics lack detailed indicators to determine next steps in order to improve student writing development. Writing tasks do not always require students to reference the text, therefore, students do not gain a substantive understanding of texts through writing. Materials do include supports for students working above and below grade-level expectations.  

Examples of how materials include instruction aligned to standards, but do not monitor writing development nor consistently require students to reference texts include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 2, Lesson 6, the final expectation is a personal narrative of about 12 sentences with matching illustrations. It is inferred through the lesson, teacher example, and resource pages, the narrative should have a beginning, middle, and end with transition words to indicate order of events. The rubric on page 102 states a child is proficient if they “told about an event in child’s life; organized logically with beginning, middle, and end; used sequence words; the end included thoughts or feelings; illustrations showed important parts of the story”.
• In Unit 3, Lesson 5, students finish writing their opinion paragraphs. The teacher reminds students they should have at least two reasons telling why they like the activity. The teacher asks students to reread their notes and look at any pictures in their plans to help them remember their reasons. Students raise a hand when they are ready to write the ending. Students are put in pairs, and partners take turns discussing different ways they can retell the opinion they wrote in the first sentence. The teacher reminds students when they retell an opinion it should express the same feelings, but use different words. Students choose and write the sentence they like best at the end of the paragraph.
• In Unit 4, Lesson 7,  a story planning chart graphic organizer is provided to help students organize their writing. The teacher reviews how to plan a story using the graphic organizer. Students choose story topics and the teacher reminds them that they should write about one time they did something. Students share their story plans in the small group. The teacher models writing the story using the planner and then the students begin writing their stories.
• In Unit 14, Lesson 1, the teacher introduces the story and displays Reader pages 114 and 115. Students turn to the pages and read Chapter 27 and the title. The teacher asks how the picture relates to the title and explains persuasion is the act of convincing someone else to believe or do something. Students predict what the story is about and write and illustrate a sentence about a time they tried to persuade someone else to agree with them or to do something. The teacher provides this sentence frame, “I tried to persuade ____________ to ____________.”
• In Unit 15, Lesson 3, students begin writing their story using resource pages 3 and 4. The teacher points out on resource page 3 where students should write their name as the author and explains they should write their story on the lines below the author line. The teacher tells students that in the next lessons, they will illustrate their story in the boxes on the pages and write a title at the top of the first page. Students review their plans and start writing the beginning and middle of their story. The teacher explains that their story should have at least three paragraphs, one for the beginning, one for the middle, and one for the end. The teacher points out that students might want to use sequence words in the middle paragraph to clarify the order in which things happened.

The instructional materials reviewed for Superkids Grade 2 partially meet the criteria that materials include a progression of focused, shared research and writing projects to encourage students to develop knowledge and understanding of a topic using texts and other source materials.

While there is evidence to support a progression of writing projects that scaffold writing skills, encourage students to develop knowledge, and understanding of a topic, there is insufficient evidence of students engaging in shared research and writing projects utilizing texts and other source materials throughout the school year. Most tasks involve the use of one text, even though students may have options of multiple text from which to choose. The materials provide writing instruction, but there is a lack of evidence to support explicit writing instruction in shared research, writing skills, and tasks. No evidence was found to support research projects being built into contexts and culminating tasks. The materials do not provide opportunities for both short and long projects. Research topics were only found in Units 2, 4 and 12. Evidence of explicit writing instruction was found, but there is a lack of evidence to support explicit writing instruction of research skills and no evidence of research projects leading to culminating tasks.

Examples of how research and writing projects use one text, are not culminating tasks, and lack support for teachers include, but are not limited to: 

• In Unit 4, Lesson 1, students use the SUPER magazine to find and write animal facts in small groups. In Lesson 2, students work with a partner to write research questions about blue whales and the teacher writes them down to use in the next lesson. In Lesson 3, the teacher reads aloud, “Blue Whale” and does a think aloud about how the information answers one of their questions and writes answers under their questions on the chart paper. In Lesson 4, the teacher explains what an informational paragraph is and how using notes will help them write an informational paragraph about blue whales. The teacher models writing the paragraph giving a main idea and adding details. The students then rewrite the two sentences and finish the paragraph. Below-level students are given sentence stems to scaffold their writing. In Lesson 5, the teacher models how to combine sentences. During week 2, Lessons 6 through 10, more practice is provided with research and writing on a new topic.
• In Unit 9, Lesson 10, students use completed poetry books created in Lessons 8 and 9. Prior to the poetry presentations, an area is created in the classroom for students to use when presenting their poems. An area is also created where the poetry books can be displayed over the next few weeks so students can peruse the work of others. Today, students will show their books to the class and read just one of their poems aloud. The teacher reminds the students about presenter and audience expectations.
• In Unit 11, Lesson 9, students publish their stories as books. The teacher tells students that when they finish assembling pages and are ready to fasten them into a book, they should raise their hands to let you know. The teacher monitors student work and assists them as needed in making decisions about pagination and illustration.
• In Unit 12, Lesson 1, the teacher displays picture cards and discusses different African habitats. In Lesson 4, students look at research books and choose a topic for their report. In Lesson 5, the teacher directs students to look for important and interesting information they will want to include in their report. The teacher discusses five topics students need to find information about and tells students what to look for under each category. In Lesson 6, the teacher reviews the concept of note-taking and models note-taking about aardvarks. Students then begin taking notes on their topics. In Lesson 7, the teacher and students discuss using pictures to gather information and students continue taking notes. In Lesson 8, the teacher models how to use an index. In Lesson 9, the teacher models writing the first paragraph of an informational report and students begin writing their first paragraphs.
• In Unit 15, Lesson 1, students learn to make their own SUPER magazine. The teacher reviews the themes of the issues on display and points out the articles in each magazine related to the theme. The teacher tells students the theme of their SUPER magazine will be their second grade school year. In Lessons 2, 3, and 4, students begin planning and drafting their magazine story and adding illustrations based on something they did in second grade. The teacher does not use the magazines as a reference. In Lesson 5, the teacher uses SUPER “That’s Wild!” and discusses the title of the magazine and titles of the articles in the Table of Contents. Students then write a title for their story.

The instructional materials reviewed for Superkids Grade 2 partially meet the criteria that materials provide a design, including accountability, for how students will regularly engage in a volume of independent reading either in or outside of class.

Throughout the lessons, there is evidence to support independent reading. The instructional materials support independent reading and aid both teachers and students with occasional built in supports and scaffolding opportunities to foster independence; however, there is a lack of evidence to support students reading across a wide span of texts. Most texts are not organized with built in supports and scaffolds to foster independence. The materials lack opportunities to support a balance between in-class and out-of class time for independent reading. Procedures are not found in lessons for consistent independent reading besides an occasional mention of students reading Readers independently. There is not a system for the teacher or student to monitor and track independent reading.  

Examples of how materials do not include independent reading opportunities nor teacher supports include, but are not limited to:

• According to the Level 5 (2017): The Superkids Hit Second Grade Read-Aloud Book List, “Reading aloud every day is part of the Superkids Reading Program. Use the information here to help you establish a daily read-aloud routine. You can choose fiction and informational texts from the list of suggested read-aloud books provided for each week in your Whole Class Teacher’s Guides. Reading aloud models fluent reading; develops children’s understanding of text structures, features, and genres; builds their vocabulary and comprehension skills; and fosters a love of reading.” The Program Guide states, reading instruction should be 60 minutes of small-group rotation. Odd number units use a SUPER Magazine and Even number units use a Book Club book. Thirty minutes of work in the Student Reader should also be completed daily. On page 22, each day children read a short, one to two page story from the Reader. Homework can be assigned, but it is not longer additional reading. Each week, four Backpack Pages include students practicing fluency and spelling at home. Page 29 provides detailed information about when to introduce the Book Club books. Student are expected to read eight titles from the Book Club selections by the end of the year, although the titles differ based on ability levels. Page 30 gives more guidance, during even-numbered units, the teacher meets with each small-group and teaches the lessons for the book the group is reading. For independent work, “At the end of odd-numbered lessons, introduce the two pages from the Book Talk Journal that relate to the day’s reading. Have children write their answers to the questions as an Independent Activity. Review children’s responses with them next time you meet with their small group.”  
• In the Superkids Program Guide, page 34, as a suggested Independent Activity, “children reread the part of the Book Club book or SUPER magazine that they read in their small group.”
• In Unit 4 Lesson 2, partners reread “Left Out a Second Time”, taking turns reading each paragraph aloud. The teacher reminds students to read to the end of long sentences, without stopping at the ends of lines. During Book Club, partners reread the part of their book which was read in their small group.
• In Unit 6, Lesson 1, Independent Activities, partners reread “Big Backpacks”, taking turns reading each paragraph aloud. The teacher reminds students to read the underlined words with a stronger voice. During Book Club, partners reread the part of their book read in their small group. During Book Talk Journals, students write answers to the questions in their Book Talk Journal. In Lesson 8, page 74,  partners reread “Embarrassed,” taking turns reading aloud each paragraph. The teacher reminds students to try to read Ms. Gibson’s words the way she would have spoken them. During Book Club, partners reread the part of their book read in their small groups.
• In Unit 8, Lesson 2, students partners reread “Hot Rod Messes Up”, taking turns reading each paragraph aloud. The teacher reminds students to try to read aloud each character’s words the way the character would have said them. Another choice is for partners to reread the part of their book they read in their small group. In Lesson 6, under suggested Independent Activities, in the Superkids Reader, partners can reread “The Day of the Play”, taking turns reading each paragraph aloud. The teacher reminds students to read the sentences straight through without stopping until they reach the end mark. Another choice is provided, partners reread the part of their book they read in their small group.
• In Unit 13, Lesson 1, partners reread “Springing Spring”, taking turns reading each paragraph aloud. The teacher reminds students to pay attention to quotation marks, so they know when to read words sounding like a character speaking. In the Super  magazine Splish, Splash!, partners read the Super Shorts after meeting in their small groups. During Small-Group Reading, below-level students read, “Make Way for Ducks!”. The on-level students read, “More than Meets the Eye”, and the above-level students read, “Rub-a-dub-dub” and “Body of Water”.
• In Unit 14 Lesson 2, partners reread “Ms .Blossom’s Idea”, taking turns reading each paragraph aloud. The teacher reminds students to read with expression to show how Cass is feeling in the story.
• In Unit 16 Lesson 1, partners reread “Golly on the Road”, taking turns reading each paragraph aloud. The teacher reminds students to read at an appropriate pace. During Book Club, partners reread the part of their book they read in their small group. During Book Talk Journals, students write answers for the questions in their Book Talk Journals. In Lesson 5, partners reread, “‘Oh, No!’”, taking turns reading each paragraph aloud. The teacher reminds students to read the underlined words with appropriate stress. In Lesson 8, partners reread “The Superkids’ Float”, taking turns reading aloud each paragraph. The teacher reminds students to read dialogue with expression. In Lesson 10, partners reread “Goodbye”, taking turns reading each paragraph aloud. The teacher reminds students to read aloud with accuracy.