2nd Grade - Gateway 1

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 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 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 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 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.