1st Grade - Gateway 2

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

The Level 1 Fundations materials include a general scope and sequence for phonological awareness for segmenting and blending. To determine the exact focus of the phonemic awareness part of the lesson, the teacher must look at specific lessons.  The scope and sequence references the phonemic awareness hierarchy as outlined by Marilyn Adams; however, the materials present phonemic awareness activities inconsistently with elements of phonics. Phoneme segmentation is taught through marking words and/or using Sound Cards. Opportunities are missed to isolate and pronounce initial, medial vowel, and final sounds in spoken single syllable words.

Materials contain an evidence-based explanation for the expected hierarchy for teaching phonological awareness skills. For example:

• In the Level 1 Fundations Teacher's Manual, Scope and Sequence, page 21, the text details what students will be able to do by the end of Level 1. The topic listed related to phonemic awareness is:  
• Segment syllables into sounds (phonemes) - up to 5 sounds

Materials do not contain a phonemic awareness sequence of instruction and practice based on the expected hierarchy. For example:

• In the Level 1 Fundations Teacher's Manual, Scope and Sequence, page 22, the text details what topics are covered in each of the 14 units. Phonemic awareness is listed in:
• Unit 2 (2-4 weeks): Phonemic awareness skills: sound manipulation (initial, final, medial)
• Unit 3 (2 weeks): Phoneme segmentation
• Unit 10 (3 weeks): Segmenting and blending up to 5 sounds
• Unit 12 (3 weeks): Concept of syllables in multisyllabic words

Materials have a limited cohesive sequence of phonemic awareness instruction based on the expected hierarchy to build toward students' application of the skills. Examples include: 

• In the Level 1 Fundations Teacher's Manual, Unit 2, Week 1, Day 2, Introducing New Concepts, pages 108-109, finger tapping is taught to read words utilizing the sound cards for /s/, /a/, /d/. Instructions direct students to say each sound separately, blend the sounds together by tapping their index finger to their thumb for each while saying each individual sounds.  Then students blend sounds and say the word as they drag their thumb across their fingers.
• In the Level 1 Fundations Teacher's Manual, Unit 8, Week 1, Day 3, page 278, digraphs and r-controlled vowel sounds are presented as one sound for the letter combination on the sound cards and the R-controlled vowel poster. Students orally practice digraphs and r-controlled vowel sounds as one sound with visual cues.
• In the Level 1 Fundations Teacher's Manual, Unit 9, Week 1, Day 1, Introduce New Concepts, pages 302-303, closed syllables are taught with short and long vowel sounds. Standard sound cards are used to form the word to blend.

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

The Level 1 Fundations materials include some decodable texts for students to read. There are six decodable books included in the Fundations Level 1 Fundations Teacher Kit. The Teacher's Manual does not include explicit instruction when to use the illustrated readers except the inside cover directions state: “Use this book for repeated reading practice--paired reading or individual practice focusing on accuracy and then reading aloud with expression.” Each book includes decodable words from several Units. On the Prevention/Early Intervention Learning Community (PLC), there are 12 decodable passages to use with students during Storytime. The Storytime Learning Activities begin in Unit 3 (approximately 4-7 weeks into the year) and are included once a week on Day 5. Storytime activities included on Day 5 have teachers using either a projected story of a few sentences or ask the teacher to select a separate book. During Storytime activities, students read silently and then students echo back. Choral reading follows echo reading. There are opportunities to teach students how to supply phonics skills with chart stories during Storytime activities. Some Storytime chart stories align to the Fundations Level 1 Scope and Sequence, but others do not. 

Materials include decodable texts to address securing phonics.

• In the Level 1 Fundations Teacher's Manual, Unit 3, Week 1, Day 5, Storytime, page 141, the teacher writes “Cod Fish” onto chart paper, scooping phrases. The teacher asks students to read the title silently, tapping out if needed. The students read one sentence silently and then the teacher selects a student to read a sentence aloud. The class repeats the sentence. After reading the story, the class reads it chorally together. Students are asked to mark capital letters and underline digraphs.
• In the Level 1 Fundations Teacher's Manual, Unit 5, Week 1, Day 5, Storytime, page 192, the teacher writes “Pam and Dan” on chart paper.  The teacher asks the students to read the title silently, tapping if needed. Students read the story, one or two sentences at a time, silently at first followed by one student reading aloud to the class with the class repeating. When finished, the class reads the whole story chorally. Students mark quotation marks, glued sounds, and bonus letters.

Decodable texts contain grade-level phonics skills aligned to the program’s scope and sequence.

• In the Level 1 Fundations Teacher's Manual, Unit 7, Week 1, Day 5, page 244, new sounds are introduced (ang, ing, ong, ung). The decodable story “King Sam” is introduced also on Day 5 includes three words using one of the new spelling patterns. 
• In the Level 1 Fundations Teacher's Manual, Unit 8, Overview, page 270, blends and r-controlled vowels are introduced. In Unit 8, Week 1, Day 5, Storytime, pages 282-283, the charted story, “The Pink Dress,” includes three words with blends.

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

• In the Level 1 Fundations Teacher's Manual, Unit 4, Week 1, Day 5, Storytime, pages 166-167, the teacher writes “The Big Mess” passage on chart paper. The teacher has students read the title silently. The teacher discusses the title with students, and students predict what they think the story is about. The teacher shows students the exclamation point at the end of the first sentence. The teacher lets students know how an exclamation point changes the voice expression. Students read silently. The teacher selects a student to read a sentence or two aloud while using Baby Echo to point to the words. The class repeats the sentences. After the first reading of the passage, the class reads the passage chorally. The teacher asks questions about the characters, the setting, and the main events. 
• In the Level 1 Fundations Teacher's Manual, Unit 12, Week 2, Day 5, Storytime, page 423, the teacher displays the passage, “Jackson.” The teacher has students read the title silently. The teacher has a student retell the story. The teacher and students read the passage chorally. After every two to three sentences, the teacher stops for students to “make a movie” in their head, practicing the skill of visualization. After finishing the story, the teacher models retelling. 

The materials reviewed for Grade 1 partially meet the criteria for materials include decodable texts with high-frequency words/irregularly spelled aligned to the program’s scope and sequence.

The Level 1 Fundations materials include some decodable texts with irregularly spelled words for students to read. Storytime activities that begin in Unit 3 (approximately 4-7 weeks into the year) may include Trick Words (high-frequency/irregularly spelled words) that relate to the program’s scope and sequence and are included once a week on Day 5. Storytime activities included on Day 5 have teachers using either a projected story of a few sentences or ask the teacher to select and identify a text. The teacher is required to self-select an appropriate decodable text that relates or aligns to the program’s Trick Words (high-frequency/irregularly spelled words) scope and sequence. During Storytime activities, students read silently, and then students echo back what another teacher reads. Choral reading follows. There are opportunities to practice Trick Words with chart stories during Storytime activities, but the opportunities do not consistently align to the Fundations Level 1 high-frequency/irregularly spelled words (Trick Words) Scope and Sequence. The Fundations materials include six illustrated readers for students to read in book form. The Teacher's Manual does not include explicit instruction when to use the illustrated readers except the inside cover directions state: “Use this book for repeated reading practice--paired reading or individual practice focusing on accuracy and then reading aloud with expression.” Each book includes Trick Words from several units.

Materials include decodable texts that utilize some irregularly spelled words. For example:

• In the Level 1 Fundations Teacher's Manual, Unit 6, Week 1, Day 5, Storytime, page 209, the chart story, “Mack and Bugs” contains only one of the eight introduced Trick Words for Unit 6. The Trick Words, were, are, who, what, when, where, there, and here, are introduced in the unit. Only the word there is included in the text. 
• In the Level 1 Fundations Teacher's Manual, Unit 7, Week 1, Day 5, Storytime, page 245, the chart story, “King Sam” does not include any of the high-frequency/irregularly spelled words (Trick Words) introduced in the current unit: why, by, my, try, put, two, too, very, also, some, and come.

Decodable texts contain some grade-level irregularly spelled words aligned to the program’s scope and sequence. For example: 

• In the Level 1 Fundations Teacher's Manual, Unit 9, Week 1, Day 5, Storytime, page 310, the chart story, “Fred the Frog” is used. The text has the following Trick Words: the, to, and, over, he, is, two, I, do, where, now (which is not introduced until Unit 10), between and see (which are current Unit 9 words.) The trick words say, says, and each are Unit 9 Trick Words, but are not contained in the text.

Materials include detailed lesson plans for repeated readings of decodable texts to address securing reading irregularly spelled words in context. For example: 

• In the Level 1 Fundations Teacher's Manual, Unit 10, Week 1, Day 5, the decodable passage is read aloud by different students 2-3 sentences at a time. The teacher asks questions about the characters, setting, and main events. Students make words, but not the Trick Words. Trick Words in “The Skunk” from Unit 10 include out and down.
• In the Level 1 Fundations Teacher's Manual, Unit 10, Week 2, Day 5, the decodable passage, “The Skunk,” is read aloud chorally. After 2-3 sentences, students "make a movie" in their heads. Students read in pairs to practice fluent reading.
• In the Level 1 Fundations Teacher's Manual, Unit 10, Week 3, Day 5, the decodable passage, “The Skunk” is used to remind students about a narrative. The passage is a cold-read.

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

The Level 1 Fundations program does not explicitly assess print concepts. There are missed opportunities for explicitly teaching print concepts and monitoring the acquisition of these early reading skills through progress monitoring and ultimate student mastery assessment. Materials provided by the program do not measure student progress of print concepts. According to the scope and sequence in Level 1, Units 2, 3, and 4 include instruction in distinguishing features of a sentence. However, those unit tests, do not assess print concepts. The Unit 1 Test does include assessment of students’ skills to write/form the lowercase letters of the alphabet.

Materials do not regularly and systematically provide a variety of assessment opportunities over the course of the year to demonstrate students’ progress toward mastery and independence of print concepts and letter formation.

• In the Level 1 Composition Book, beginning on page 79, boxes are provided for Unit Test Grading Grid for capitalization and punctuation on unit tests, but those skills are not included in the actual grade and not tracked in the Unit Test Trackers.
• In the Level 1 Fundations Teacher's Manual, Unit 9, Week 2, Day 5, on page 321, there is an indication that it is important to check student mastery of skills such as legibility, capitalization, punctuation, and phrasing of sentences, although those skills are not scored on the Unit 9 Test.
• In the Level 1 Fundations Teacher's Manual, Unit 1, page 99, the Unit 1 Test includes a section where the teacher dictates letters, and students write the letters in their Composition Books. The Unit Test 1 recording form includes all 26 lower case letters. The Teacher's Manual indicates that if students do not score at least 80% on letter formation, the student will need additional assistance with the assessed skill. 

Assessment materials provide teachers and students with information concerning students’ current skills/level of understanding of print concepts and letter formation (only in Unit 1 and lowercase letters). Print concepts is not assessed in Level 1.

• In the Level 1 Fundations Teacher's Manual, Unit 1, page 99, the Unit 1 Test includes students forming the letters in their Composition Books. The Unit Test 1 recording form includes all 26 lower case letters. The teacher manual indicates that if students do not score at least 80% on letter formation, the student will need additional assistance with the assessed skill. 

Materials support teachers with general instructional suggestions for assessment-based steps to help students to progress toward mastery in print concepts and letter formation.

• In the Level 1 Fundations Teacher's Manual, Unit 1, page 99, the Unit 1 Test includes students forming the letters in their Composition Books. The teacher's manual indicates that if students do not score at least 80% on letter formation, the student will need additional assistance with the assessed skill. 

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

The Level 1 Fundations materials include limited opportunities to measure student progress of all grade-level phonics taught. Assessment questions for students to write dictated sounds and words are included on unit tests. Students are asked to encode sounds, combinations of letters, and words. Assessment opportunities do require students to decode and read phonetically-based words. Through the online companion, the Prevention/Early Intervention Learning Community (PLC), progress monitoring probes are included to address decoding of words. The Teacher's Manual indicates that any student scoring below 80% on a given skill should meet with the teacher individually for additional support, but the materials do not detail what support should be provided. The unit tests do not include a full assessment of all phonics taught. Assessments do not provide a complete measure of student progress. 

Materials provide resources and tools to collect ongoing data about students’ progress in phonics. Examples include:

• In the Teacher's Manual, there are Unit Tests, Unit Test Answer Keys, and student testing paper.
• In PLC, the Fundations Progress Monitoring Tool for Level 1 includes the following components:
• Teacher Guide: Directions for Progress Monitoring and Guidelines for Instruction (one per teacher)
• Teacher Record (one per student is needed)
• Student Probes (one copy re-used for all students)
• In PLC, Unit Test Assessments, there are Test Recording Forms, Whole Class Test Trackers, and Individual Test Trackers.

Materials offer assessment opportunities to determine students’ progress in phonics that are implemented systematically. Examples include:

• In the Level 1 Fundations Teacher's Manual, Unit 5 Test, page 193, students are asked to write given words (quick, man, fan, shell, ham). 
• In the Level 1 Fundations Teacher's Manual, Unit 7 Test, page 265, students write the following sounds: /ank/, /z/, /ung/, short /e/, and /ink/. Students write words with /ank/, /ink/, /ing, and /ong/. 
• In the Level 1 Fundations Teacher's Manual, Unit 10 Test, page 357, the teacher dictates sounds, and students write in composition books (/sh/, /ks/, short /e/, /onk/, /am/). Students write five words (slant, twist, slumps, blended, trusting). 
• In the Level 1 Fundations Teacher's Manual, Unit 14 test, page 499, the teacher dictates sounds, and students write in their composition books (/ong/, /b/, long /e/, /ch/, /kw/). Students write five words (admit, thrilling, clockwise, expected, dislikes). 

Multiple assessment opportunities are provided regularly for students to demonstrate progress toward mastery and independence with phonics. There are 14 Unit assessments with opportunities for students to write letter sounds and phonetically- based words.

Assessment materials provide teachers and students with some information about students’ current skills/level of understanding of phonics. Examples include:

• In the Level 1 Fundations Teacher's Manual, Unit 1 Test, the teacher learns if a student knows the following letter sounds: f, m, h, l, p, t, i, v, a, z.
• In the Level 1 Fundations Teacher's Manual, Unit 6 Test, the teacher learns if a student can encode the following words: tells, ships, chins, quits, walls.
• In the Level 1 Fundations Teacher's Manual, Unit 11 Test, the teacher learns if a student can encode the following words: mule, brave, joke, grades, smiles.

Materials support teachers with limited instructional suggestions for assessment-based steps to help students to progress toward mastery in phonics. Examples include:

• In the Level 1 Fundations Teacher's Manual, Unit 2, Unit Test, page 125, the manual states to extend the time in the Unit if 80% of the class does not demonstrate 80% mastery on the unit test. If an individual student does not score at least 80% on any given item, this student will need additional assistance with the assessed skill. The teacher is instructed to meet with struggling students individually to discuss errors and explain areas that need to be further practiced. 
• In the Level 1 Fundations Teacher's Manual, Unit 7, Unit Test, page 265, the manual states to extend the time in the Unit if 80% of the class does not demonstrate 80% mastery on the unit test. If an individual student does not score at least 80% on any given item, this student will need additional assistance with the assessed skill. The teacher is instructed to meet with struggling students individually to discuss errors and explain areas that need to be further practiced. 
• In the Level 1 Fundations Teacher's Manual, Unit 12, Unit Test, page 433, the manual states to extend the time in the Unit if 80% of the class does not demonstrate 80% mastery on the unit test. If an individual student does not score at least 80% on any given item, this student will need additional assistance with the assessed skill. The teacher is instructed to meet with struggling students individually to discuss errors and explain areas that need to be further practiced.

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

The Level 1 Fundations materials provide limited opportunities for assessment of word recognition and analysis. Students are asked to write high-frequency words in dictated sentences and are able to reference Student Notebooks for assistance. Students are asked to identify different word parts in written words/sounds. There are no unit assessments that include students reading high-frequency words and applying word analysis skills to decode words. Assessments have students writing sounds, words, and sentences. Progress monitoring probes are included to address sight word knowledge in the Prevention/Early Intervention Learning Community (PLC). Materials provide limited explicit support to teachers in regards to instructional adjustments to help students make progress. Level 1 assessments do not require students to read all of the learned high-frequency words addressed in the Level 1 materials. 

Examples of materials regularly and systematically provide a variety of assessment opportunities over the course of the year to demonstrate students’ progress toward mastery and independence of word recognition (high-frequency words or irregularly spelled words) and analysis include:

• In the Level 1 Fundations Teacher's Manual, Unit 2, Unit Test, page 125, the teacher dictates two sentences to students. Sentences include five Trick Words (his, and, a, is, the). The teacher places Sentence Frames for the sentences and circles those that will have a Trick Word. Students are able to use their Student Notebooks as a reference.
• In the Level 1 Fundations Teacher's Manual, Unit 6, Unit Test, page 229, the teacher dictates five sounds and five phonetic words with bonus letters, digraphs, and suffix -s. For the five phonetically based words (tells, ships, chins, quilts, walls), students underline the base word, circle the suffix, star bonus letters, and box the glued sounds. For the sentences, the teacher places the Sentence Frames and circles the Frames that contain the Trick Words (who, said, where, are, your).
• In the Level 1 Fundations Teacher's Manual, Unit 13, Unit Test, page 471, the teacher dictates five sounds and five phonetic words with suffixes to students. Students are asked to scoop the syllable into multisyllabic words, to underline base words and circle suffixes. Students write two dictated sentences, which contain Trick Words (they, that, little, their, has, new).

Examples of assessment materials provide teachers and students with information concerning students’ current skills/level of understanding of word recognition and word analysis include:

• In the Level 1 Fundations Teacher's Manual, Unit 5, Unit Test, page 193, the teacher dictates five sounds and five words to students. Students record the sounds and words. Students are asked to circle the “buddy letter” with its best buddy. Students are also asked to put a box around the glued sounds and underline digraphs. Finally, students are asked to put a star above the bonus letters. Students are then asked to write two dictated sentences, which contain Trick Words they, from, the, of, does, she, have, for. 
• In the Level 1 Fundations Teacher's Manual, Unit 10 Test, page 357, students write five words (slant, twist, slumps, blended, trusting). Students underline blends with two lines, underline base words, and circle suffixes. Students record two dictated sentences, which contain Trick Words (how, could, I, about, the). 
• In the Level 1 Fundations Teacher's Manual, Unit 14 Test, page 499, students write five words (admit, thrilling, clockwise, expected, dislikes). Students underline or scoop syllables, circle suffixes, and mark all closed and v-e syllables.

Materials support teachers with limited instructional suggestions for assessment-based steps to help students to progress toward mastery in word recognition and word analysis. Examples include:

• In the Level 1 Fundations Teacher's Manual, Unit 3, Unit Test, page 152, the manual states to extend the time in the unit if 80% of the class does not demonstrate 80% mastery on the unit test and if an individual student does not score at least 80% on any given item. If  a student does not score 80%, this student will need additional assistance with the assessed skill. The teacher is instructed to meet with struggling students individually to discuss errors and explain areas that need to be further practiced. 
• In the Level 1 Fundations Teacher's Manual, Unit 9, Unit Test, page 321, the manual states to extend the time in the unit if 80% of the class does not demonstrate 80% mastery on the unit test and if an individual student does not score at least 80% on any given item.  This student will need additional assistance with the assessed skill. The teacher is instructed to meet with struggling students individually to discuss errors and explain areas that need to be further practiced. 
• In the Level 1 Fundations Teacher's Manual, Unit 13, Unit Test, page 471, the manual states to extend the time in the unit if 80% of the class does not demonstrate 80% mastery on the unit test and if an individual student does not score at least 80% on any given item. This student will need additional assistance with the assessed skill. The teacher is instructed to meet with struggling students individually to discuss errors and explain areas that need to be further practiced. 

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

The Level 1 Fundations curriculum and materials include a publisher-produced alignment document that states the standards and where in the program those standards are addressed, including material/unit/page number through the online companion, Prevention/Early Intervention Learning Community (PLC). Standards are not listed in the daily lesson plans or teacher materials. Beyond reference in the Preface, the standards are not identified throughout the Teacher's Manual. The Level 1 Fundations materials do not provide a clear identification of the foundational skills standards featured within the program provided assessments. The unit tests list general topics as part of the assessment with no standards denoted. The teacher must determine which part of each assessment relates to a standard. There is a Common Core alignment guide provided with the Publisher’s documents, but the alignment document does not include the assessments. The Level 1 Fundations Teacher's Manual, where the program’s assessments are found, does not include an alignment to the standards. 

Materials do not include denotations of the standards being assessed in the formative assessments.

Materials do not include denotations of standards being assessed in the summative assessments.

• In the Level 1 Teacher's Manual, page 100, the Unit 1 assessment does not provide alignment to CCSS.
• In PLC, Level 1 Unit Test Trackers (Class) do not contain alignment documentation to CCSS.

An alignment documentation is provided for some tasks, questions, and assessment items. For example:

• In the Level 1 Teacher's Manual, Preface, page VI, “Fundations provides specific measurable learning objectives which are aligned to the College and Career Ready Standards (Common Core State Standards CCSS).”

Alignment documentation contains specific standards correlated to specific lessons. For example: 

• In PLC, Printable Resources, Getting Started, there is a Common Core Standards for English Language Arts Correlations for Levels K-3 document. The document reviews how Fundations addresses Common Core State Standards and Foundational Skills. Standards are listed, per grade level, with material/unit/page number where the standard is addressed in the program.

The materials reviewed for Grade 1 partially meet the criteria for materials regularly provide all students, including those who read, write, speak, or listen in a language other than English with extensive opportunities for reteaching meet or exceed grade-level standards. 

The Level 1 Fundations materials provide some differentiated instructional guidance for teaching students who are English Learners (EL). The introductory Student Success section of the Teacher's Manual provides research, a rationale, and principles appropriate to teaching EL students. Materials provide limited differentiated instruction suggestions described for EL students and less additional materials provided for EL students to be successful. The Teacher's Manual suggests that teachers provide additional supports in vocabulary and background knowledge by showing students pictures or using props and gestures.  This creates opportunities for students to practice new vocabulary as well as use open-ended questions. These suggestions are unmet with examples and therefore cannot be guaranteed for consistency nor quality. The text states that EL students benefit from principles of instruction built into Fundations, including the teacher modeling and multi-sensory approach. There are missed opportunities for daily plans to identify specific suggestions for English Learners.

Materials provide limited support for EL students. For example: 

• In the Level 1 Fundations Teacher's Manual, Student Success, Differentiated Instruction, page 12, “ELs, as well as students with language-based learning disabilities, may have more difficulty retrieving the words to express concepts during the lesson. They may need to be given a choice of responses (such as ‘Is this a digraph or a blend?’) instead of asking open-ended questions (such as ‘What is this called?’). 

General statements about EL students or few strategies note at the beginning of a unit or at one place in the teacher's edition are then implemented by the materials throughout the curriculum.

• In the Level 1 Fundations Teacher's Manual, Student Success, Differentiated Instruction, page 12, states that the key principles in Fundations critical for EL students are:
• Integration of listening, speaking, reading and writing
• Explicitly modeled skill and strategy instruction
• Verbal explanation for concepts enhanced by visual, physical and kinesthetic involvement
• Opportunities for student interaction in supportive groups
• Procedures that ensure student engagement with hands-on activities
• Clear and consistent directions and cueing systems
• Ample opportunities to reinforce skills
• Scaffolded instruction
• Repetition of vocabulary, including vocabulary of word structure (such as digraph, short vowel)
• Assessment of current knowledge that is performance rather than language-based

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

The Level 1 Fundations materials provide some opportunities for extensions and advanced opportunities for students who are working above grade level. The Fundations Teacher's Manual shares brief suggestions for how to differentiate learning activities used throughout the program materials as well as ideas for differentiating each unit. The instructional suggestions shared are brief and do not involve the student going beyond the material presented. Opportunities are missed for advanced students to dive deeper into grade-level standards. Differentiation ideas for advanced students are not included in daily lesson plans.

Materials provide some opportunities for advanced students to investigate grade-level foundational skills at a greater depth. Examples include:

• In the Level 1 Fundations Teacher's Manual, Student Success, Engaging Students in Rigorous Work, page 11, teachers are directed to engage students in rigorous work by asking questions to guide higher-order thinking and to use the guidelines for differentiation to challenge more advanced students.  
• In the Level 1 Fundations Teacher's Manual, Learning Activity Overview, Drill Sounds/Warm up, Differentiation, page 38, the teacher is directed to make the advanced student a drill leader and select more challenging sounds. Additionally, the teacher could ask the student to tell about selected sounds.  
• In the Level 1 Fundations Teacher's Manual, Unit 3 Overview, Differentiation, page 128, advanced students can be challenged with additional sentences and can independently read them with fluency. The teacher can assist with tapping and phrasing as needed.
• In the Level 1 Fundations Teacher's Manual, Unit 10, Overview, Differentiation, page 324, the teachers are directed to offer differentiation options for advanced students throughout Unit 10. The text states that teachers should be sure advanced students can segment all sounds, but they do not have to tap these words if they can read them with automaticity.
• In the Level 1 Fundations Teacher's Manual, Unit 13, Introduction-Differentiation, teachers are directed to challenge advanced students with word meanings that can be both plural and action words such as the word, brushes.

There are some instances of advanced students simply doing more assignments than their classmates. Examples include: 

• In the Level 1 Fundations Teacher's Manual, Unit 3, Introduction, Differentiation, page 128, it suggests: “Advanced students can be challenged with additional sentences and can independently read them with fluency.”