1st Grade - Gateway 1

The instructional materials reviewed for Superkids Grade 1 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 anchor texts, such as the Super Smart digital read-alouds, are high quality, including rich language and engaging content. Accompanying illustrations are high quality as well, supporting students' understanding and comprehension of the associated text. However, some anchor texts, such as the student readers, are not of publishable quality. The student readers used as read-alouds do not meet the expectations of this indicator.

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

• In Unit 4, Lesson 5, students read the digital informational text, “The Pyramids” by Judy Woodburn. This informational read-aloud is interactive to help engage students. There is strong content and academic vocabulary, as well as text features such as a map and labels. The text is sequential describing how to build a pyramid and is worthy of reading.
• In Unit 11, Lesson 5, students read the digital informational text, “How People Learned to Fly” by Charna Simon. The text is engaging and filled with interactive animation elements explaining the history of flight. The text contains photographs and illustrations.
• In Unit 16, Lesson 9, students read the Super-Duper informational mini-magazine, “Who Am I” author unknown. Academic language is rich and content is of high-interest for reading.

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

• In Unit 6, Lesson 1, students read the Superkids Short, “When the Superkids Pretend” (author unknown). This poem lacks strong content and academic vocabulary. This poem is low-interest and has low-quality illustrations.
• In Unit 8, Lesson 1, students read the Superkids Short, “Lily’s Little Boat” (author unknown). This story lacks strong content and academic vocabulary. This story is low-interest and has low-quality illustrations.
• In Unit 11, Lesson 1, students read the Superkids Short, “It’s So Hot” (author unknown). This is a short play lacking strong content and academic vocabulary. It does have a detailed illustration, but only one. The play is two pages long and is incomplete.
• In Unit 16, Lesson 1, students read the Superkids Short, “The Superkids Like Books” (author unknown). The story lacks strong content and academic vocabulary. It is written like a list and the teaching focus is for fluency practice, rather than building content knowledge.

The instructional materials reviewed for Superkids Grade 1 partially meet the expectation that 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 in the program are at a level of rigor appropriate for Grade 1 students. The Library books are leveled readers span Easy level ranges from 140-680L, On-level ranges from 120-650L and Challenging level ranges from 230-710L. Super Smart Digital Read-alouds are at a level appropriate for Grade 1 students. These informational texts are mostly above the level students can read independently and are used daily.

Other texts are inappropriate for students as anchor texts because they are labeled to be used as a read aloud, but are not above the level students can read independently. The Superkids Readers range from Lexile Beginning Reader (BR) to 1270L, indicating some selections are appropriate for this use while others are not. These texts are also used daily.

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

• In Unit 1, Super Duper Informational Mini-Magazine, “Fix It!”
• Quantitative: unknown
• Qualitative: This text contains strong content and academic vocabulary (i.e. communicate, powerful, and balanced), rich language, and powerful illustrations.
• Reader and Task: The teacher previews vocabulary, story words, and decodable words and then guides students through fluency practice by modeling fluency. The teacher guides students through connecting events in an informational text during small group.
• In Unit 11, Super Duper Informational Mini-Magazine, “Making Waves”
• Quantitative: Lexile Level 620
• Qualitative: The text includes colorful photographs including some of children in boats. It also has a labeled diagram and colorful photographs including some of children in boats. The text also has a labeled diagram of a cruise ship and some humorous pictures of boats. The text contains rich vocabulary and figurative language.
• Reader and Task: The teacher previews vocabulary, story words, and decodable words and then guides students through fluency practice by modeling fluency.  The teacher guides students through retelling during small group.
• In Unit 14, Super Duper Informational Mini-magazine, “Muscles”
• Quantitative: Lexile Level 440
• Qualitative: The informational text is an interactive read-aloud including strong content, rich language, and vibrant photographs.
• Reader and Task:  The teacher previews vocabulary, story words, and decodable words and then guides students through fluency practice by modeling fluency. The teacher guides students understanding picture and text relationships during small group.  

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

• In Unit 11, Student Reader story, “It’s so Hot”
• Quantitative: Lexile Level 80
• Qualitative: The decodable text is a play with 13 parts including simple content.
• Reader and Task:  The teacher first reads the text in small group as Reader’s Theatre and then reads aloud to model fluency.

The instructional materials reviewed for Superkids Grade 1 partially meet the expectation that materials support 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 Super Smart Digital Informational read-alouds used in Lesson 5 of each Unit, decodable short and long Student Readers stories, Super Duper Mini-Magazines, Leveled Libraries used to extend comprehension during Lesson 5 of each Unit, and Daily Read Alouds. Only a suggested list of Read Alouds is available for each Unit. Teacher instructional guidance for daily read alouds is a non-text-specific routine. Other lessons 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 an increase in complexity. Questioning is teacher-led and lacks both depth of knowledge questions and text-based questions throughout the year's worth of instruction.

Examples of how materials partially support literacy growth include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 2, Lesson 9, the teacher uses the Super Duper Magazine article, “Pet Clinic," to help students draw conclusions by asking, “How do you think this vet feels about pets? What makes you think so?”
• In Unit 12, Lesson 5, using the Super Smart, “How Your Body Works," the teacher helps students draw conclusions by asking saying, “Joints between bones help parts of your body move in different ways. Why do you suppose our hands have so many joints?”
• In Unit 16, Lesson 5, the teacher uses the Super Smart, “Busy Ben:  A Biography of Benjamin Franklin," to help students draw conclusions by asking, “Do you think Ben Franklin was a good writer? Why?”
• In Unit 14, Lesson 7, after reading “The Lost Mitt,” the teacher helps students understand problem and solution by asking, “How might the story have changed if Ettabetta had told Frits about losing his mitt right after she looked for it?”

The instructional materials reviewed for Superkids Grade 1 partially meet the expectation 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 qualitative information for the Super Smart Digital Informational Read-Alouds that includes text structure, text features, and key vocabulary; however, no quantitative analysis is provided. For the Superkids Library, the publisher provides quantitative analysis that includes genre and informational topics, word count, Guided Reading Level, and Lexile levels. Publisher documents are located in the Materials Resources tab; however, no information is provided for Student Books, which are part of small group lessons. Student Reader information includes word count and Lexile levels; Super-Duper Mini Magazine information includes curriculum area and topic. In some parts of the materials, qualitative features are provided within the lesson plans, but no rationale for placement within lessons is consistently provided.

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

• In Unit 2, students listen to the Super Smart Informational Digital Read-Aloud, “Money.” The publisher provides qualitative information including the following: "Text structures, description with main ideas and supporting details; Text features, interactive activities: sort needs vs. wants, earn, spend, or save, photo inserts, labels; and Key vocabulary, earn, choices, needs, wants, carefully, decisions." No qualitative information or rationale for placement is provided.
• In Unit 5, the text, “The Big, Bad Blob” is introduced, but no rationale is given. On page 4, suggested teacher Read-Alouds, four books are suggested on topics of space, but no additional rationale is provided.
• In Unit 10, Lesson 5, the teacher introduces the Super Smart story, “Storms Ahead!”. The informational text is an interactive read aloud. The qualitative features provided include: "Text structure, description with main ideas and supporting details; Text features, weather maps, animations, videos, speech balloons; Key vocabulary, meteorologist, hail, cumulonimbus, sleet, produce, disturb, tornado, hurricane." The Teacher Guide connects this story to the fictional story, “In Case of Rain,” where students read about projects to do on a rainy day. There is no Lexile Level given for this selection.

The instructional materials reviewed for Superkids Grade 1 partially meet the expectation that materials provide 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 discussions. The Daily Read-Aloud Routine contains a list of comprehension 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. Students interact more with the teacher in a listening/speaking format than with other students. Opportunities are missed for students to engage in 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:

• Unit 1, Lesson 6, the teacher reads a poem aloud to model fluency. The teacher displays, “Ettabetta’s Radish Patch” or has students turn to it in their Readers. The teacher explains that poems often have a rhythm, or beat, like a song and models as the poem is being read aloud. When finished, the teacher asks the students, “What does Ettabetta do with the radish seeds? What does it means when the radishes pop up?” 
• In Unit 4, Lesson 1, after reading the story, “The Best Sandbox Ever” from the Superkids Reader, a sentence frame is provided to assist students with academic language, “When I was little, I  _______ .” However, not all units provided this type of support.
• In Unit 4, Lesson 9, students read the nonfiction magazine Super-Duper: Pick It Up. Before reading, the teacher asks what might be used to pick something up, besides their hands, and students discuss. The teacher then introduces what a forklift is before reading.  
• In Unit 7, Lesson 2, the teacher guides students in small groups as they read aloud and discuss, “The Very Best Gift.” Students listen to others read in small groups and help sound out decodable words. The teacher reminds children how to say Story Words and Memory Words as needed. Additionally, the teacher uses comprehension questions to prompt a discussion of the story and its vocabulary.

The instructional materials reviewed for Superkids Grade 1 partially meet the expectation that materials support 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.  Some speaking and listening work requires students to use evidence from texts and sources.However, opportunities are missed for students to share ideas with each other regarding texts read or listened to.

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

• In Unit 2, Lesson 1, the teacher asks questions about what a speaker says in order to gather additional information or clarify something that is not understood. The students are directed to practice and apply what they have been taught. In this case, students ask questions about an object, using who, what, where, when, why, and which questions. There are no guidelines for creating supports to ensure students can speak about what they are reading and researching or listening to others talk about the same topic.
• In Unit 7, Lesson 3, students are directed to, “Discuss how a pattern can help us know what is next in a text.” The teacher asks students if they knew after the first few pages that they’d probably see more gifts and thank-you notes. The teacher points out how noticing the story’s pattern often helps them figure out what might happen next. The teacher tells students the pattern in the story helped them figure out that they’d read about more gifts and thank-you notes. The teacher asks students if they knew for sure what the next gift would be or where it would come from and points out that not knowing those things for sure helps make the story more interesting.
• In Unit 12, Lesson 5, the teacher reads and discusses the Interactive Read Aloud, “How Your Body Works.” Discussion questions are provided, “Do you think the author wrote this Super Smart to tell kids a fun story or to help kids learn something? How can you tell?”. These questions do not require comprehension of the text. 

An example of text-based questions that do elicit comprehension of the text includes: 

• In Unit 14, Lesson 5, the teacher leads the discussion with some students responding using questions, “What does 'Wild About Birds' teach us about? What is one kind of bird you learned about? Retell details. What did you learn from the text about how to be a birdwatcher? Do you think the author wants us to think birdwatching is fun or not? Did she get you to believe birdwatching could be fun? Why or why not?”

The instructional materials reviewed for Superkids Grade 1 partially meet the expectation that materials provide 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 students/teachers to monitor progress in writing skills, but few formal opportunities are present to monitor progress in writing skills. 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 3, Lesson 2, students write opinions. The teacher tells students to write a sentence giving their opinion about one of the picture cards. Students are reminded to begin their sentence with "I like", "I do not like", "I think", or "I do not think." Students can look at the sentences on the board for help spelling "like", "are", and "do." In Lesson 7, page 71, student plan reasons to support their opinion. The teacher displays Resource Page 3, Web Starter or draws it on chart paper explaining how the outer circles support the middle circle. Following the modeling, the teacher distributes copies of the Web Starter for students to select their favorite season and write at least two reasons why it is their favorite.
• In Unit 4, Lesson 4, after teacher modeling, students write a narrative based on a topic they chose. Students use the graphic organizer to plan their writing and then write their draft. When finished writing they draw a picture to go with their writing.
• In Unit 7, Lesson 5, students write a reply to a message. The teacher distributes copies of Resources Pages 2a and 2b. Students write their partners name under “To” and their name under “From” and write a message to their partner. The teacher reminds students to write an answer to the questions their partner asked and then write something else nice and friendly. Students are encouraged to write sentences neatly so their partner can read their writing. Below-level students may need help framing a response to the question asked and others may have trouble formulating an additional sentence to write. The teacher can explain that the student can write something more about themselves or say something nice about their partner. Above level students are encouraged to write a message to a family member telling them about something that happened in school. When partners are finished, they exchange replies and take turns reading them to each other. Positive feedback is given to writers for providing good details about themselves and asking or answering a question clearly.
• In Unit 10, Lesson 4, students write a how-to text. The teacher prompts students by asking them to “Choose a topic that is easy to explain in a few steps, such as how to build a snowman.”
• In Unit 12, Lesson 7, students write a descriptive paragraph. Directions prompt students “To describe a fun activity they would have done or would like to do.”
• In Unit 15, Lesson 8, the teacher reminds students after they finish copying their sentences they need to edit their pages using the Editing Checklist on Resource Page 8. When students finish editing, they need to illustrate their books. The teacher reminds students pictures are very important because they help readers better understand the information and labels by the pictures can teach other facts not included in the sentences. The teacher models this process and then students edit their books. When finished, a few students take turns sharing how they drew and labeled a picture in their books. The teacher gives positive feedback for including pictures and labels that help readers better understand the information and invites listeners to give feedback and ask questions.

The instructional materials reviewed for Superkids Grade 1 partially meet the expectations that materials include 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 they 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 6, Lesson 1, students are reminded the Super-Dupers and Super Smarts they have read aloud are all informational texts containing facts. The teacher writes a fact and an opinion about something, such as apples, on the board and reads both sentences aloud. Students identify which is an opinion and label it with an "O" and which is a fact and label it with an "F". The teacher points out if something is a fact, students can usually check an informational text or the Internet to see if it is true. Students tell any facts they know about apples and the teacher lists them on the board.
• In Unit 14, Lesson 1, students are reminded they have read several poems in their Reader this year, such as “A Gift I Like” and “My Happy Rainy Day”. The teacher points out poems can be written for many reasons. Today students will practice choosing adjectives and precise verbs to complete a poem. The teacher explains this will give students practice using adjectives and precise verbs when they write their own poems.

The instructional materials reviewed for Superkids Grade 1 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 includes instruction in grammar and conventions standards. There are frequent opportunities for students to print lowercase and uppercase letters. All grammar and conventions standards are addressed over the course of the year in the materials; however, students have limited opportunities to apply new skills to their own writing. At times 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 print all upper and lowercase letters. For example:

• In Unit 2, Lesson 1, Word Work, the teacher dictates words and sentences. Students write the provided words and sentences. The teacher then writes sentences on the board and reads the sentences aloud. Students copy the sentences as an independent handwriting activity.
• In Review, Lesson 2, Word Work, the teacher guides students’ formation of Ll, Ss, Tt. The teacher models the formation of the uppercase and lowercase letters on the ice cream paper describing to students the strokes made when forming the letters. Students trace the letters on their ice cream paper.

Students have opportunities to use common, proper, and possessive nouns. For example:

• In Review, Lesson 13, Word Work, the teacher explains possessive nouns using Word Work Book p. 30. The teacher reminds students an apostrophe can take the place of a letter when two words are combined, as in "let’s". The teacher explains an apostrophe can also show ownership. When an apostrophe and the letter s are placed at the end of a noun, as in "robin’s", it tells who has or owns something. The teacher tells students the robin’s nest means that the nest belongs to the robin. Students trace "robin’s". Students write possessive nouns to complete p. 30.

Students have opportunities to use singular and plural nouns with matching verbs in basic sentences (e.g., He hops; We hop). For example:

• In Unit 3, Lesson 2, Writing, the teacher provides instruction on using "is" or "are" to match with a singular or plural noun. The teacher explains "are" is a verb used when telling about more than one of something, such as dogs. The teacher explains how to use "is" when telling about just one of something, such as one dog. The teacher helps students choose the correct verb when they write their sentences.

Students have opportunities to use personal, possessive, and indefinite pronouns (e.g., I, me, my; they, them, their, anyone, everything). For example:

• In Unit 1, Lesson 3, Word Work, the teacher provides instruction about pronouns and models using the following pronouns using Word Work Book p. 5: she, her and he. Students trace the pronouns on the handwriting lines.

Students have opportunities to use verbs to convey a sense of past, present, and future (e.g., Yesterday I walked home; Today I walk home; Tomorrow I will walk home). For example:

• In Unit 4, Lesson 3, Word Work, the teacher provides instruction on forming words with -ed ending. The teacher reviews using an -ed ending with Word Work Book page 50. The teacher reminds students -ed added to the end of a verb, or action word, means the action has already happened. Students trace the blue word and add -ed to the end, so the verb tells what already happened.

Students have opportunities to use frequently occurring adjectives. For example:

• In Unit 5, Lesson 1, Writing, the teacher guides students through how to describe an object. The teacher uses Resource Page 2 to show words can be used to tell how something feels when it is touched, such as: soft, fuzzy, or hard. During the Grammar Focus, the teacher explains that words can describe what something looks, feels, or acts like and they are called adjectives. The teacher states simple sentences with adjectives, and students name the adjective in each sentence.

Students have opportunities to use frequently occurring conjunctions (e.g., and, but, or, so, because). For example:

• In Unit 5, Lesson 8, Word Work, students are taught conjunctions "and" and "or". The teacher explains "and" is a word joining two or more things together. The teacher explains "or" is used to show a choice between two or more things. Using Word Work Book p. 73, students are guided to underline "and" in the first sentence and "or" in the second sentence. Students answer questions by circling a picture and writing the picture name on the lines to practice "and" and "or".

Students have opportunities to use determiners (e.g., articles, demonstratives). For example:

• In Unit 2, Lesson 8, Ten-Minute Tuck-In, the teacher gathers pairs of related objects. The teacher explains when we have two things, we can use the words "this" and "that" to tell about one of the things and help others know which thing we’re talking about. The teacher models with a nearby object, describing it using "this". The teacher then points to an object far away and describes using "that".

Students have opportunities to use frequently occurring prepositions (e.g., during, beyond, toward). For example:

• In Unit 12, Lesson 5, Writing, the teacher discusses how to use prepositional phrases to add interesting details to sentences. The teacher writes two pairs of sentences telling about the same activity, but the sentences are not detailed. The second pair of sentences is similar, but uses a prepositional phrase. The teacher reads both pairs of sentences aloud and asks which pair gives more information. The teacher underlines the prepositional phrase and points out adding a phrase is a good way to add descriptive detail. The teacher guides students to use prepositional phrases to add details to sentences. The teacher provides a sentence starter, and students suggest a phrase that could be added to complete the sentence. Students practice writing prepositional phrases to add details to sentences using a Resource Page with sentence starters.

Students have opportunities to produce and expand complete, simple, and compound declarative, interrogative, imperative, and exclamatory sentences in response to prompts. For example:

• In Review, Lesson 6, Writing, the teacher instructs and models sentences are complete when they include a noun and a verb. The teacher models completing simple sentences with a verb. Students complete sentences on Resource Page 4. Students produce simple, declarative sentences by filling in the blanks.
• In Review, Lesson 7, Writing, the teacher reviews different end marks sentences can have, and students complete Resource Page 5 by writing the three different types of sentences.

Students have opportunities to capitalize dates and names of people. For example:

• In Unit 2, Lesson 6, Writing, the teacher explains writing a friendly letter. When reviewing the parts of a friendly letter, the teacher tells students the greeting often starts with "Dear" and is followed by the person’s name and a comma. The teacher tells students "Dear" and each word in the name begin with an uppercase letter.

Students have opportunities to use end punctuation for sentences. For example:

• In Unit 3, Lesson 10, Writing, the teacher guides students through editing their writing. The teacher reminds students to check the end of each sentence for an end mark: period, exclamation mark, or question mark.

Students have opportunities to use commas in dates and to separate single words in a series. For example:

• In Unit 10, Lesson 8, Writing, the teacher discusses steps in the editing process. The teacher reviews how to use the Editing Checklist, which includes the statement: I used commas correctly. Students use the editing checklist to edit their writing.

Students have opportunities to use conventional spelling for words with common spelling patterns and for frequently occurring irregular words. For example:

• In Unit 3, Lesson 2, Word Work, the teacher uses the Word Work Book p. 33 to introduce the following Memory Words: do, have, show, how, me, a. Students follow along as the sentences are read aloud and then trace the Memory Words. Teachers and students read and spell the Memory Words together several times.

Students have opportunities to spell untaught words phonetically, drawing on phonemic awareness and spelling conventions. For example:

• In Unit 1, Lesson 1, Word Work, students encode words with final "ch". Students use their Super Secret Reader to complete Student Work Book p. 2. Students trace the word matching the picture and ending with a "ch". Students read and spell the words they make out loud with the teacher.

The instructional materials reviewed for Superkids Grade 1 partially meet the expectation that 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 opportunities to learn phonological awareness, phonemic awareness, and phonics, including: decoding long and short vowels, blends, and digraphs. The opportunities occur during Daily Routines, Word Work, and Ten-Minute Tuck-Ins. However, opportunities are missed for students to receive explicit instruction in orally producing single syllable words by blending sounds and segmenting single syllable words into a complete sequence of individual sounds. Students receive instruction in sound-spelling correspondence in Units 1-4. Instruction in the use of final "e" and common vowel conventions for representing long vowel sounds, occurs throughout Daily Routines and Ten-Minute Tuck-Ins. Knowledge that every syllable must have a vowel sound to determine the number of syllables in a printed word is addressed in Units 10, 12, and 15.

Examples of adequate opportunities to learn and understand phonemes (e.g. distinguish long and short vowels, blend sounds, and pronounce vowels in single-syllable words), but limited opportunities to segment single-syllable words include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 1, Lesson 1, Word Work, the teacher states nine words aloud. Students are asked to make a sneezing sound when they hear a word that begins with /ch/. The teacher says the word "reach" and asks students what sound they hear at the end. The teacher repeats the process with the other eight words.  
• In Unit 1, Lesson 1, Ten-Minute Tuck-In, the teacher uses sound boxes to show students how to isolate letter sounds. The teacher models with the word "chip" by saying the word and asking students how many sounds they hear. The teacher says the word again and asks students how to spell the first sound. The teacher places the word cards in the box as students identify the sounds. The teacher identifies "chip" as having three sounds. This process is repeated for five additional words.
• In Unit 6, Lesson 1, Word Work, the teacher explicitly teaches vowels having short and long sounds. Students trace long vowel-marks and identify picture names with long-vowel sounds on a worksheet. Students orally identify which long vowel sound the name has and which letter stands for the identified sound.

Examples of opportunities to learn grade-level phonics skills while decoding words (e.g. spelling-sound correspondences of digraphs, decode one-syllable words, know final-e and long vowels, syllable and vowel relationship) include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 1, Lesson 6, Word Work, students learn about the letter sound correspondence for sh /sh/. The teacher explicitly tells students sometimes two letters can make one sound. Having students identify the character on the page is making a “shhhh!” sign to be quiet and emphasizing the “sh” with “Shhhhh!” The teacher explains when the letters "s" and "h" are together they make one sound /sh/.
• In Unit 3, Lesson 1, Daily Routines, students read words from the Big Book of Decoding. Students identify and read words with the -itch ending and the -ash ending.
• In Unit 4, Lesson 1, Daily Routines, students read words aloud from the Big Book of Decoding. Words are from the -ing and -umble word families.
• In Unit 4, Lesson 1, Word Work, students learn about words ending in -ed.
• In Unit 5, Lesson 1, Word Work, students learn the rule for adding -ed and -ing endings onto words. The teacher explains the rule, and students apply to the rule to Word Work Book page 61, after reading the new words with the inflectional endings aloud.
• In Unit 6, Lesson 6, Word Work, students are introduced to the CVCe word pattern and are taught to decode and encode CVCe words.
• In Unit 6, Lesson 10, Daily Review, students use the Big Book of Decoding to read CVCe words aloud from a list.
• In Unit 7, Lesson 8, Word Work, the teacher reviews if there is only one vowel and one consonant before the ending of a word, the vowel is usually long. Students practice by reading words aloud and drawing lines to matching pictures.
• In Unit 12, Lesson 3, students practice identifying and counting vowel sounds to determine the number of syllables in a word.
• In Unit 15, Lesson 8, Word Work, the teacher reviews syllables with students. The teacher reminds students separating long words into syllables can make it easier to read. The teacher reminds students each syllable should have a vowel sound. If there are two consonants in the middle, the word is usually divided between them. Students practice dividing words into syllables.

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

• Students receive phonemic awareness and phonics lessons daily through Skills Lessons and Daily Routines:
• Units 1-4: students receive instruction in sound-spelling correspondence
• Unit 5: -ing/-ed CVC/CVCC words
• Unit 6: CVCe words
• Unit 7: CVCe words with -s, -ing, -ed
• Unit 8: CVVC words with ai, oa, ea, ee, ue, ie
• Unit 9: contraction n’t
• Unit 10: associate y with /ī/, associate y with /ē/, associate ay with /ā/; add -er and -est to words ending in y
• Unit 11: contractions with is, are, will; long vowel Tricksters (open syllables)
• Unit 12: associate all with /ôl/, associate aw with /ô/; syllabication
• Unit 13: associate ar with /är/, associate or with /ôr/, associate er, ir, and ur with /ėr/
• Unit 14: associate oi and oy with /oi/, associate c with /s/, associate g with /j/
• Unit 15: associate ow with /ou/, associate ou with /ou/, associate ow with /ō/; prefix re-; syllabication
• Unit 16: vowel team /oo/; Tag-along e words

The instructional materials reviewed for Superkids Grade 1 partially meet the expectation that 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 in recognizing the distinguishing features of a sentence in the review unit at the start of the year. Lessons include instruction about first words, capitalization, and ending punctuation. Throughout other units, students are provided an Editing Checklist and encouraged to edit and revise their writing to ensure sentences begin with an uppercase letter and end with appropriate punctuation. Students learn about the nuances of sentence structure and text structure through literary and informational text analysis and writing. Students are asked questions while reading about main idea, cause-effect, and problem-solution of fictional and informational texts. Students compare and contrast elements of stories throughout the units. Questions are included throughout the units to address text features and structures; however, opportunities are missed for students to receive explicit instruction in text features with adequate student practice.

Examples of how materials include frequent, adequate lessons and tasks/questions about the organization of print concepts (e.g., recognize features of a sentence) include, but are not limited to:

• In Review Unit, Lesson 4, Word Work, the teacher points out the words in the speech balloons are a sentence. The teacher tells students a sentence is a group of words always beginning with an uppercase letter and ending with a mark to show where the sentence ends.
• In Unit 1, Lesson 5, Writing, the teacher models editing for capitalization and ending punctuation through reviewing the purpose of beginning uppercase letters and ending marks. The teacher uses a short story with editing needs and guides student editing for beginning uppercase and ending marks.
• In Unit 7, Lesson 8, Writing, the teacher guides students in editing simple errors in beginning uppercase letters and ending punctuation in their own friendly letter.
• In Unit 16, Lesson 7, Writing, the teacher reviews an editing checklist which includes capitalization and ending punctuation. The teacher explains students should use this checklist for their Memory Book. Students practice editing and revising their Memory Books using the Editing Checklist.

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

• In Unit 2, Lesson 5, Reading, students engage in reading literary Student Reader stories and a Super Smart Informational paired text. In this lesson, students learn about main ideas of informational text. Students also compare and contrast how bills and coins are alike and different.
• In Unit 2, Lesson 10, Reading, the teacher discusses how main idea is the big idea and how the main idea is supported by key details. The teacher asks the students what “Pet Clinic” is about. The teacher displays a main idea and details horizontal chart to complete with the students. Students identify a detail from page 3 with support from the teacher. The routine continues on pages 4-6.
• In Unit 5, Lesson 8, Reading, the teacher models cause and effect using a T-chart with the headings, “What happened?" and "Why did it happen?”. The teacher writes what happened and students discuss how it happened in the story, “Yuck! Yuck!” The teacher writes student findings on the T-chart.
• In Unit 12, Lesson 3, Reading, students identify sequence of events during small group instruction. The teacher explains how stories have a beginning, middle, and end. The teacher models the events from “Play Ball”, by adding beginning events under the heading, "Beginning". The teacher continues this process for the middle and end events.

Materials include limited lessons and activities about text features (e.g., title, byline, headings, table of contents, glossary, pictures, illustrations). Opportunities are missed for students to receive explicit instruction in text features with adequate student practice. For example:

• In Unit 2, Lesson 9, Reading, students read and discuss the informational text, “Pet Clinic”. Students learn about picture-text relationships and understand picture insets.
• In Unit 3, Lesson 9, Reading, the teacher asks questions about the use of diagrams in an informational text. The teacher asks how a specific diagram helps the reader gain additional meaning about a text.
• In Unit 12, Lesson 5, Reading, students read and discuss the informational text, “How Your Body Works”. Students learn about photographs with labels in order to learn more information from the text feature.

The instructional materials reviewed for Superkids Grade 1 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. 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 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 these assessments should 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 Adventures of the Superkids Beginning of the Year test - Phonemic Awareness section, the teacher tells the students to look at the picture and then circle the picture that begins with the same sound (three choices).
• In the Adventures of the Superkids Unit 5 Progress Test, Fluency section, teachers work one-on-one with students. Students read words in the box in order and the teacher marks any words read incorrectly or take more than a few seconds to read.
• In the Unit 8 Mid Year Test, Spelling section, students are asked to spell words with sound spelling patterns that have been taught. The teacher reads a word, provides a sentence using the word, and repeats the word. Students write the spelling word on their papers.
• In Unit 14, Lesson 10, Daily Routines, the teacher informally assesses students in decoding, spelling, and handwriting. In decoding, the teacher changes one word to the next by changing letters cards. Students read aloud each word and identify which letter was changed.
• In Unit 16 End of Year Test, Decoding section, the teacher states a word aloud. Students read words in a box and fill in the circle next to the word the teacher said. Fifteen words are identified.

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 is used to assess students’ knowledge of phonemic awareness, phonological awareness, fluency, and comprehension. The test is divided into several parts including: identifying spoken words that begin or end with the same letter-sound, identifying rhyming words, associating letters with sounds, reading Memory Words with accuracy and automaticity, and reading and comprehending literary text.
• In the Materials section, Formal Assessments 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.
• Individual Student Record Form includes observation date/notes for teacher to record notes as students work. Core instruction areas include phonics and structural analysis, spelling, comprehension, vocabulary, fluency, and writing. Student record form for formal assessment includes space to record test results and plans for instruction for each assessment.

The instructional materials reviewed for Superkids Grade 1 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. 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: “Above-level students may finish Word Work Book pages quickly, before the rest of the class is ready to move on. Make sure they always have meaningful work they can do when they finish, such as reading a book, writing in a journal, or doing independent activities suggested in the lessons.”

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 2, Ten-Minute Tuck-In, a phonics and vocabulary reinforcement for decoding and acting out words with ch and tch is provided for students needing additional instruction. Teachers display a card with an underlined ch-, -ch, and -tch word. Students read the word aloud. Then teachers use the word in a sentence that children can act out.
• In Unit 2, Lesson 2, Reading, during small group reading while the literary text, “What Can You Get With a Nickel?” Students performing below grade-level are reminded they can sound out longer words, such as problem and nickel, the same way they do shorter words by blending the sounds for the letters from left to right. The teacher is to prompt students to run a finger under the letters as they sound out longer words.

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 below-level, on-level, and above-level groups. In the below-level group, the teacher reads aloud the text to the students, asking comprehension questions. The teacher identifies difficult words and helps students decode. Finally, the students follow along while the teacher rereads the text, then students read 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 11, Lesson 1, Section 2, ELL support is included. Materials include guidance for students after they complete pages 35 and 36. The teacher says each sentence twice, once using the two words above the handwriting line and then again using the contraction. The teacher points to words when saying them aloud. Students repeat each sentence and the teacher points to the words.

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 12, Lesson 6, Reading, the lesson provides a differentiation tip to help students who need additional practice in fluency. The teacher models how to read with expression and prompts students to read showing how the characters feel based on what happened in the story.
• In Unit 15, Lesson 7, Reading, the lesson provides a differentiation tip on allowing readers above-level practice reading with expression by reading, “Alf’s and Fritts” with a partner. While reading, students practice reading with anger to show the character’s feelings.