The materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria of Indicator 1a.

The materials include high-quality anchor texts that are worthy of careful reading. The texts consider a range of student interests, contain rich language, and engage students. The materials include texts that are culturally diverse with multi-dimensional characters. The images and illustrations extend the meaning of the text and support academic vocabulary. 

Anchor texts are of high quality and consider a range of student interests, are well-crafted, content-rich, and engage students at their grade level. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 2, Week 1, students listen to Baby Bears by Bobbie Kalman. The text describes how baby bears are like their parents and includes many text features, including photos with captions and a diagram with labels. Bobbie Kalman is an award-winning author of more than 400 non-fiction books.

• In Unit 3, Week 1, students listen to the text, Biblioburro: A True Story from Columbia, by Jeaneette Winter. The narrative nonfiction teaches students about a library in a Colombian community. 

• In Unit 4, Week 3, students listen to the poem “April Rain Song” by multi-award winning-author Langston Hughes. The poem uses repetition and sensory words to help the students understand and visualize the poem. 

• In Unit 6, Week 1, students listen to Big Red Lollipop by Rukhsana Khan, which provides information about how different cultures celebrate their birthdays, specifically in Pakistan.  

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria of Indicator 1d.

Throughout the year, the complexity of the texts that students read increases, supporting students’ literacy growth over the course of the school year. At the beginning of the year, the quantitative range of texts is 390L–640L, and by the end of the year, the range increases to 600L–910L. The qualitative features of the texts slightly increase, with the majority at the beginning of the year being slightly complex. By the end of the year, the majority of the texts are moderately complex. In Unit 1, six of the 12 texts are slightly complex, and the remaining are moderately complex. By Unit 6, two of the 18 texts are slightly complex, but 16 of the 28 texts are moderately complex. While the complexity of the associated tasks ranges from slightly complex to moderately complex throughout the year, students are expected to show increased independence as the year progresses. The Teacher Edition provides suggestions for teacher prompts and appropriate scaffolds to build background knowledge and facilitate depth of knowledge.

The complexity of anchor texts students read provides an opportunity for students’ literacy skills to increase across the year, encompassing an entire year’s worth of growth. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 1, the quantitative measures range from 390L–640L, with six texts being slightly complex and 13 being moderately complex qualitatively. In Unit 1, Week 1, students listen to “Dinner at Alejandro’s” (author not cited), which has a Lexile of 570L. The associated task requires students to discuss how Alejandro’s family is the same and different from their own family, which is a low complexity task. Students also practice retelling with their peers. For example, in Unit 1, Week 1, students use the shared reading text, “Maria Celebrates Brazil” (author not cited), to work with a partner and retell the selection orally. 

• In Unit 5, the quantitative measure ranges from 510L–820L, with qualitative features ranging from slightly complex (two texts) to very complex (one text). Many of the associated tasks meet expectations for complexity. For example, students listen to “A Hero On and Off the Skis” (author not cited) in Week 1, which has a Lexile of 820L and is appropriate for a read-aloud. The associated task requires students to discuss why people consider Diana Golden a hero. 

• In Unit 6, the quantitative measures increase slightly to 600L–910L, with the majority of the texts being moderately complex (16). The read-alouds continue to be below the Lexile stretch band for the grade. In Week 1, students listen to “Keep the Change!” (author not cited), which has a Lexile of 700. Students continue to practice retelling, a lower complexity skill. In Unit 6, Week 1, students use King Midas and the Golden Touch (author not cited) and work with a partner to retell the story. 

As texts become more complex, appropriate scaffolds and/or materials are provided in Teacher Edition (i.e., spending more time on texts, more questions, repeated readings). Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the Teacher’s Manual, boxes are included throughout the units to help teachers make complex texts accessible to students. The Access Complex Text boxes include scaffolded instruction for seven elements that may make a text complex. 

• In the Teacher’s Manual, the materials indicate to the teacher when to use the Scaffolded Shared Read routine, though the routine remains the same throughout the year. 

• The Close Reading Routine remains the same throughout the year to help students access complex texts, though students are expected to show more independence as the year progresses. The routine begins with reading the text, identifying important ideas and details, and retelling. Then students reread and discuss craft and structure. Lastly, students make text-to-text connections and engage in a Show Your Knowledge task.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria of Indicator 1e.

The materials provide opportunities for students to engage in a variety of texts including a range of topics and diverse cultures and opinions. Units are organized around three text sets. Set 1 covers weeks one and two, Set 2 covers weeks three and four, and Set 3 is completed in week 5. Each two-week cycle is focused on a genre study with an essential question. During small group instruction, students complete independent work, including self-selected reading tasks. Resources in the Teacher Tools section provide recommendations for allotting additional time for daily independent reading, an independent reading log, sample lesson plans, and a parent letter. Teacher resources provide instruction to help students develop skills to monitor learning and check progress. Throughout each week, students read and listen to anchor texts, paired texts, decodables, leveled readers, and shared reading. Students engage with literary and informational texts, including myths, fables, drama, poems, biographies, science, and history texts. The program includes a clear routine for independent reading with accountability. 

Instructional materials clearly identify opportunities and support for students to engage in reading a variety of texts. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 1, Text Set 2, students read the Anchor Text, HELP! A Story of Friendship by Holly Keller, a fantasy text. Students also read several other fantasy texts and a folktale in this unit.

• In Unit 3, students read and listen to a variety of texts, including narrative poetry, realistic fiction, biography, fantasy, folktale, and informational texts. In Text Set 1, students read the Anchor Text, Biblioburro: A True Story from Colombia by Jeanette Winter, a narrative nonfiction text.

• In Unit 5, students read a variety of texts, including a biography, a fairy tale, realistic fiction, an opinion piece, narrative nonfiction, and informational texts. In Week 4, students read the paired text, “Meet the Insects” (author not cited).

• In Unit 6, Text Set 2, students read the Anchor Text, The Contest of Athena and Poseidon by Pamela Walker, which is a drama and myth. Students also read another play and two other myths. 

Instructional materials clearly identify opportunities and support for students to engage in a volume of reading. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 1, students engage with Interactive Read Alouds, Paired Selections, and Anchor Texts over the course of nine texts organized into three text sets spanning 30 lessons. Students also read leveled readers and listen to read-alouds that align with the topic. 

• In Unit 3, students read and listen to nine texts organized into three different text sets spanning 30 lessons through the use of Interactive Read Alouds, Paired Selections, and Anchor Texts. There is also a Classroom Library Read Aloud selection and additional texts that the teacher can use in the unit.

• In Unit 6, students read and listen to Interactive Read Alouds, Paired Selections, and Anchor Texts in 13 texts organized into three text sets spanning 30 lessons. There are also leveled readers, read-alouds, and a bibliography of additional readings that are appropriate for the teacher to use or for the students to read in the unit. 

There is sufficient teacher guidance to foster independence for all readers.(eg. Proposed schedule, tracking system for independent reading, independent reading procedures are included in the lessons.) Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• The Instructional Routines Handbook includes routines for independent reading and recommends 10 - 20 minutes a day for students in Grade 2. It suggests that independent reading be a part of the center rotation. The Handbook also prompts teachers to teach the routine so students can choose books and read independently while the teacher works with small groups. 

• The Independent Reading Routine, found in the Instructional Routines Handbook, includes selecting a book that is interesting, reading the book during independent reading time, recording what they read on the provided reading log at the end of each session, sharing opinions of the text with a friend or writing a review when finished with a book, and beginning again. 

• The Instructional Routines Handbook includes a list of resources to support independent reading. These include independent reading selections in the Literature Anthology, TIME for Kids online digital articles, leveled readers, and classroom library trade books with online lessons and activities for each text. 

• The Instructional Routines Handbook includes a procedure for conferencing around independent reading. The procedure is not specific but gives information such as, “Make a positive observation about the student’s reading or book choice” and “Regularly conferring with students about their independent reading is a great way to informally assess their progress, model social-emotional learning skills, build your classroom culture, and instill habits of learning.” 

• Independent reading guidance is also found in the Differentiated Instruction section of the units. The guidelines are relatively similar across each unit and level. For example, in Unit 6, Week 2, the guidance includes “help children select an illustrated fiction story for independent reading. Encourage them to read for twelve minutes … ”

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria of Indicator 1f.

Throughout the materials, students have many opportunities to answer both text-specific and text-dependent questions and complete tasks that are grounded in the text to help them make sense of the texts being studied. This occurs for all texts, including Anchor texts, Shared Reading, and even decodable readers that are independently read during the fourth and fifth day of the week. Prompts are found throughout the student readers to help students find text evidence to answer text-dependent and text-specific questions, and graphic organizers are provided for students to collect evidence when discussing literary items such as perspective. Students also complete written responses and engage in small group and partner discussions of text-dependent and text-specific questions. 

Text-specific and text-dependent questions and tasks support students in making meaning of the core understandings of the text being studied. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 1, Week 1, Lesson 2, students reread “Maria Celebrates Brazil” (author not cited) and all of the questions are text-specific and text-dependent. When teaching plot structure, the teacher asks, “What problem does Maria have at the beginning of the story?” Then the students work with a partner to find text evidence about how Maria’s feelings change in the middle and end of the story. Guiding questions include, “How does Maria feel about practice after her father talks with her? How does Maria feel about practice when she’s in the parade?” Students also work on craft and structure and are asked questions such as “Why does the author use Portuguese words in the story?” and “Why does the author describe Maria’s thoughts?” At the end of the lesson, students write about how Maria’s parents help her to make a good decision and do the right thing.

• In Unit 2, Week 1, Lesson 2, students reread “Eagles and Eaglets” (author not cited). When teaching about craft and structure, the teacher asks, “What evidence shows the author is using description on page 13? How does the author help you picture the size of the eagle’s nest?” and “How does the author point out an important detail in the illustration?” At the end of the lesson, students write about why eagles need to take care of the offspring and analyze text evidence in their writing. 

• In Unit 3, Week 3, Lesson 1, students read “Starry Night” (author not cited) in shared reading. While reading aloud, the teacher asks text-dependent questions such as “Who are the characters?” and “What new event happens?” After reading, students work in pairs and reread page 44 and describe what people can see through a telescope. Then students focus on character perspectives and are asked questions such as, “Read the first paragraph. Look for clues about Ling’s perspective. What does she say? What does the narrator say she is thinking about?” Finally, students talk about the sequence of events of the story and use a graphic organizer to record what happens in sequential order in the story. 

• In Unit 4, Week 1, Lesson 2, students reread “Happy New Year!” (author not cited) in shared reading. The teacher asks questions such as “What is one custom the girl and her family celebrate on New Year’s Eve at Grandma’s house?” and “What do the dancers who are wearing this costume do?” At the end of the lesson, students write in response to the question, “Why does the author show that people in China and the United States celebrate the Year Year differently?” 

• In Unit 5, Week 5, Lesson 3, students read the decodable reader “Stay Out of Trouble” (author not cited). After students read the text, there are several comprehension questions asked of students, including “What do the boy’s mom and dad tell him to do?”, “What does the boy say about trouble?”, and “What does the boy say about his parents at the end of the story?”

• In Unit 6, Weeks 3, Lesson 2, students reread “The Starry Asters” (author not cited) in shared reading. The teacher asks questions such as, “What do we know about Aster so far?” and “How does the author use stage directions to help you visualize the characters?” At the end of the lesson, students write in response to the prompt, “How does the theme of the play develop from the diagnosis of the characters?” 

Teacher materials provide support for planning and implementation of text-based questions and tasks. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• There are several graphic organizers that support the implementation of text-based questions and tasks. For example, there is a character perspective graphic organizer, where the student writes the character name, the clue (evidence from the text), and then the perspective. In addition, in Unit 2, Week 1, Lesson 2, students identify the central idea and relevant details of the shared reading text “Eagles and Eaglets” (author not cited) by filling in a graphic organizer with details that connect to provided topics. Similarly, in Unit 4, Week 1, Lesson 2, after rereading “Happy New Year!” (author not cited), students use a graphic organizer to determine the similarities and differences between how New Year is celebrated in the United States and China. 

• In Unit 1, Week 6, there is a Connect to Content section. Students first take notes while reading “Taking Care of Freddy” and “Busy Bees” (authors not cited), and then students fill in a chart to cite evidence with the details that describe what people and animals do in both texts. 

• While engaging in the Shared Reading, there are opportunities for students to pause and underline evidence to support answers to text-dependent questions. For example, in Unit 3, Week 3, on page 45 of the student book, it tells students to “Circle what Josie’s dad says the girls can do now.” Then students answer the question, “What do the girls want to do?”

• The Instructional Routines Handbook includes a Finding Text Evidence Routine. First, the teacher explains the routine and what text evidence means. Then the teacher models locating text evidence. The teacher then engages in guided practice with the students before they work independently or in small groups to identify and cite text evidence.

• The Instructional Routines Handbook includes a Response to the Text Routine to help students answer rigorous questions about the text. The routine includes reading the question and talking about it with a partner before going back into the selection of the text, rereading, and finding evidence to support thoughts and ideas. Then the students use a graphic organizer to record their responses. 

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria of Indicator 1g.

There are several protocols to support students in their speaking and listening. The Instructional Routines Handbook includes a detailed section on Collaborative Conversations, a broad protocol for speaking and listening, including what it looks like, why teachers should do it, the research to support it, and the criteria for success. Throughout the program, students engage in various Collaborative Conversations such as “Turn and Talk,” “Ask and Answer Questions,” and “Add New Ideas.” The program also includes brief and practical reminders about being an active listener. Students are also provided with support by orally retelling stories throughout the entire program. 

Materials provide varied protocols to support students’ developing speaking and listening skills across the whole year’s scope of instructional materials. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the Instructional Routines Handbook, there is a protocol called Collaborative Conversations, which are “rich, structured conversations around grade-level topics and texts.” Collaborative conversations occur at the beginning of the week when the essential question is introduced, every time students engage in the Close Reading Routine, during guided and independent practice, when students respond to texts they are reading, and when students write about text.

• Students are reminded of discussion rules throughout the program, which include focusing on the topic, listening to others carefully, asking and answering questions, and speaking when recognized. 

• The “Take Turns Routine” occurs during partner, small-group, or whole-group discussions. The rules are to wait for a person to finish before they speak, quietly raise their hand when they want to speak, and ask others to share their ideas and opinions. 

• The “Add New Ideas” protocol helps students add knowledge to an anchor chart. Whether students are working in partners, small groups, or in a whole group discussion, students are reminded to stay focused on the topic, build on the ideas of others, and connect their personal experiences to the conversation. 

• The “Be Open to All Ideas” protocol, which is a Collaborative Conversation, has students respect the opinions of others, ask questions if something is unclear, and offer opinions, even if they are different. 

• Students are also reminded of the rules to “Listen Carefully,” which include waiting for the person to finish speaking before they speak, not speaking over others, and repeating others’ ideas to check for understanding.

• The “Ask and Answer Questions” protocol encourages students to ask questions about ideas that are unclear, wait a few seconds after asking a question to give others time to respond, and answer questions using sentences. 

• Students engage in retelling a story throughout the program. The routine for this includes introducing students to concept of  retelling by displaying the Interactive Read Aloud cards; using the retell questions to guide children to recall the basic events and contents of the text; using words like beginning, middle, and end to help guide students’ retelling; and asking higher-level questions that prompt students to summarize story concepts. 

• There are Oral Language Sentence Frames to support students in expressing information and ideas, asking and answering questions, persuading others, evaluating language choices, and engaging in dialogue. For example, the “Asking and Answering Questions” sentence stem includes, “How do you ______? I know ______ because ______”. 

Speaking and listening instruction includes facilitation, monitoring, and instructional support for teachers. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• The Collaborative Conversation Routine begins with the teacher introducing the topic they will discuss and then reviewing any relevant guidelines to support student participation. Then the teacher gives specific information on what students should be doing, such as how much time they have to discuss, who they are talking with (i.e., partner, small group, whole group), and what the teacher expects them to do as a result of the conversation (i.e., take notes, write a reflection, share with the larger group). Then the teacher monitors student conversations and provides corrective feedback if necessary. To close out the conversation and routine, the teacher highlights positive behaviors and contributions. 

• There is a Collaborative Conversations logo in the Teacher’s Edition each time a collaborative conversation is recommended. There is instructional support on the “Talk About It” page at the start of each genre study or week and on the Peer Conferencing pages.

• In the Instructional Routines Handbook, there is a section that explains what successful Collaborative Conversations look like including being “able to make statements and ask questions related to the focus.” 

• In the Instructional Routines Handbook, there are additional strategies for teaching collaborative conversations including role-playing a collaborative conversation to model the routine. There are also sentence starters such as “I’m wondering” and “Can you point to text evidence that shows?”

• There is a Collaborative Conversations Video to help with the facilitation. The handbook suggests that the teacher stop at certain points and use a checklist to discuss how the teacher helps the group prepare for their collaborative conversation. At the end of the video, the students work with a partner and discuss what they see students doing and what they could be doing better. 

• In the Instructional Routines Handbook, there is an anchor chart for the teacher to display on “How to Have a Collaborative Conversation.”

• In the Instructional Routines Handbook, there is a section on how to provide corrective feedback during discussions. Teachers are encouraged to point out what students are doing right, redirect discussions that may have gotten off track by suggesting statements or questions that will refocus the discussion, and encourage students to build on one another’s exchanges.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria of Indicator 1h.

Students have many opportunities to listen to a text and answer questions. Collaborative Conversations are found throughout the program and help students with agreed-upon rules for discussions and presentations. Students present and converse with partners, small groups, and the class. Students also have the opportunity to evaluate their presentations, and peers are prompted to ask for clarification and further explanation. 

Students have multiple opportunities over the school year to demonstrate what they are reading through varied speaking and listening opportunities. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions (e.g., gaining the floor in respectful ways, listening to others with care, speaking one at a time about the topics and texts under discussion). Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 1, Week 3, Lesson 1, students are reminded to follow discussion rules as they share information. The rules are to focus on the topic, listen to others carefully, ask and answer questions, and speak when recognized. 

• In Unit 6, Week 1, Lesson 1, students review the expectations for asking and answering questions. These expectations include “Ask questions about ideas that are unclear. Wait a few seconds after asking a question to give others time to respond. Answer questions using sentences, not one-word responses.” 

• The Instructional Routines Handbook outlines expectations for listening to a presentation. This includes listening actively, thinking about the presentation, and sharing feedback with the presenter. 

• The Instructional Routines Handbook outlines expectations for Collaborative Conversations. A video shows students how to participate and engage in a group discussion.  

• Create audio recordings of stories or poems; add drawings or other visual displays to stories or recounts of experiences when appropriate to clarify ideas, thoughts, and feelings. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 2, Lesson 1, Week 1, students create a picture book to show the knowledge built about how young animals change and become adults. Students add drawings or other visual displays to help clarify ideas, thoughts, and feelings. 

• In Unit 3, students write a personal narrative. Students then present it to the class. They can include illustrations or other visuals in their published work. 

• Online materials provide an Audio Recording Tool that can be used for students to record their reading. 

Speaking and listening work requires students to utilize, apply, and incorporate evidence from texts and/or sources. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Build on others' talk in conversations by linking their comments to the remarks of others. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 2, Reading and Writing Companion, students talk with a partner about vocabulary words from the text and answer questions together, utilizing text evidence.

• In Unit 6, Reading and Writing Companion, students talk with a partner about vocabulary words from the text and answer the questions together, utilizing text evidence. 

• Ask for clarification and further explanation as needed about the topics and texts under discussion. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In writing, students ask questions during peer review. The steps for that include listening carefully and asking questions that will help better understand anything that is unclear. The sentence starter is, “I have a question about...” 

• Recount or describe key ideas or details from a text read aloud or information presented orally or through other media. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 2, Week 1, Lesson 1, students build knowledge using the essential question, “How are offspring like their parents?” Students watch a video and then discuss with a partner how the lion cub and baby penguin are similar to their parents. 

• In Unit 5, Week 1, Lesson 2, after reading and listening to “Cesar Chavez” (author not cited), students work in pairs to summarize the text. They discuss with a partner before writing the summary. 

• Ask and answer questions about what a speaker says in order to clarify comprehension, gather additional information, or deepen understanding of a topic or issue. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 6, the Reading/Writing Companion, students review their writing draft during a peer conference. Partners share what they like about the draft and utilize sentence starters to discuss their partner’s writing. One of the sentence starters is “I have a question about...” 

• Tell a story or recount an experience with appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details, speaking audibly in coherent sentences. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 5, Week 1, Lessons 3 -6, after listening to Brave Bessie by Eric Velasquez, students retell the selection orally, using their notes and charts to recount in their own words the central idea and relevant details.

• The Retelling Routine asks students to describe people, places, things, and events from the story. 

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria of Indicator 1i.

Materials contain numerous opportunities for students to engage in grade-appropriate writing that includes both on-demand and process writing. On-demand writing occurs throughout the year while students are reading since questions are asked in the margin of Shared Read to support comprehension and after reading each text in the Reading/Writing Companion. Each unit also has two extended writing projects that span anywhere from ten lessons to 20 lessons. Each writing project walks students through the steps of the writing process with explicit lessons and includes opportunities for revising and editing. The Extended Writing section includes digital resources, like models, graphic organizers, and videos, to enhance instruction. 

Materials include on-demand writing opportunities that cover a year’s worth of instruction. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 2, Week 1, Lesson 2, students write about the shared read after reading “Eagles and Eaglets” (author not cited). The prompt asks, “Why do eagles need to take care of their offspring?” Students work with a partner, using their notes and text evidence to discuss the prompt before writing their response.  

• In Unit 3, Week 2, Lesson 6, students write about the anchor text, Biblioburro: A True Story from Colombia, by Jeanette Winter. In their Reading/Writing Companion, students respond to the question, “Why is it important for Luis to travel to faraway villages each week?

• In Unit 4, Week 1, Lesson 2, students write about the shared reading after reading “Happy New Year!” (author not cited). The prompt asks, “Why does the author show that people in China and the United States celebrate the New Year differently?” Students work with a partner, using the sentence starters in the Reading/Writing Companion to write about the differences between the two celebrations. 

• In Unit 6, Weeks 1–2, Lesson 2, students write about the shared reading after reading“The Life of a Dollar Bill” (author not cited). The prompt asks, “How does the selection help you understand the life of a dollar bill?” Students work with a partner, using the sentence starters in the Reading/Writing Companion to focus on how the author organizes information to help readers understand the life of a dollar bill.

Materials include process writing opportunities that cover a year’s worth of instruction. Opportunities for students to revise and edit are provided. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 1, students spend up to 20 lessons writing a realistic fiction story about a family. Lessons 1–10 include mini-lessons on writing craft, sequence, and details. Lessons 11–20 have lessons on revising for strong openings, peer conferencing, editing, and publishing. There is a bank of lessons for teachers to choose from based on the pace and needs of the class. 

• In Unit 3, students spend up to two weeks writing an expository essay that tells about the music of a musical instrument. Lessons include looking at a model text, drafting, revising to make strong openings, peer conferencing, editing, and publishing. 

• In Unit 5, students spend several weeks writing an opinion essay that explains whether second graders should volunteer in the community. Students begin by analyzing the prompt, planning their essays, and drafting with relevant evidence. Then students spend several days revising, including with a peer and publishing. 

• In Unit 6, students spend up to two weeks writing an expository text that combines information from three sources. Throughout the lessons, students analyze the rubric, student model, prompt, and sources and plan and draft with a focus on academic vocabulary. Students revise with peers and work on writing a conclusion. 

Materials include digital resources where appropriate. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• The Unit 1 Writing Project 1 suggests that students publish their writing in print or digitally, and students can illustrate their stories or record an audio/video presentation of their writing. 

• In Unit 3, digital resources include digital graphic organizers, videos on different writing types, a video on how to write for your audience, a video on how to create a story map, model student writing samples, and digital copies of a peer conferencing checklist.

• In Unit 4, Weeks 1–2, Lesson 1, students retell the story “Happy New Year!” orally, then write a retelling in their reader’s notebooks. The Teacher’s Edition states that “Children may decide to digitally record presentations of retellings.”

• In Unit 5, there are several video resources that the teacher can share with students, including one on the revision checklist, one on peer conferencing, and one on the peer conferencing checklist.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria of Indicator 1j.

Students have opportunities to engage in narrative, expository, and opinion writing throughout the Grade 2 materials. In each unit, students write two process writing pieces. In Unit 1, students write a realistic fiction piece and an expository essay. In Unit 2, students write a research report and a rhyming poem. In Unit 3, students write a personal narrative and an expository essay. In Unit 4, students write a realistic fiction piece and a free verse poem. In Unit 5, students write two opinion essays. In Unit 6, students write two expository essays. It is important to note that opinion writing only takes place in Unit 5. 

Materials provide multiple opportunities across the school year for students to learn, practice, and apply different genres/modes/types of writing that reflect the distribution required by the standards. For example: 

• Percentage or number of opportunities for opinion writing:

  • 17% of process writing opportunities are opinion writing. Opinion writing only takes place in Unit 5. 

• Percentage or number of opportunities for informative/explanatory writing:

  • 58% of process writing opportunities are informative. Informative writing takes place in all units except unit 5.

• Percentage or number of opportunities for narrative writing:

  • 25% of process writing opportunities are narrative. Narrative writing takes place in Units 1–4.

• Explicit instruction in opinion writing:

  • The Unit 5 materials include mini-lessons to support students in writing opinion pieces. Lessons include using facts, reasons, and quotes to support an opinion, how to write a strong introduction, and how to restate the opinion in the conclusion. 

• Explicit instruction in informative/explanatory writing:

  • The Unit 1 materials include mini-lessons to support students in writing informative pieces. Lessons include how to ask the 5W and how questions, how to add facts, and how to use quotations, definitions, and examples in writing.

• Explicit instruction in narrative writing: 

  • The Unit 1 materials include mini-lessons to support students in writing narrative pieces. Lessons include how to focus on an event, how to use a third-person point of view, how to describe a setting, how to combine sentences, and how to add dialogue. 

Different genres/modes/types of writing are distributed throughout the school year. For example: 

• Students have opportunities to engage in opinion writing. 

  • Write opinion pieces in which they introduce the topic or book they are writing about, state an opinion, supply reasons that support the opinion, use linking words (e.g., because, and, also) to connect opinion and reasons, and provide a concluding statement or section.

    • In Unit 5, Project 1, students write an opinion essay about whether second graders should volunteer in the community. Instruction focuses on providing a clear opinion statement, relevant evidence, and reasons to support the opinion and has a conclusion. 

    • In Unit 5, Project 2, students write another opinion essay, but this time combining information from two sources. Lessons also focus on using transitional words. 

• Students have opportunities to engage in informative/explanatory writing. For example: 

  • Write informative/explanatory texts in which they introduce a topic, use facts and definitions to develop points, and provide a concluding statement or section.

  • In Unit 1, Project 2, students write an expository essay about workers. They tell facts about the jobs to help readers understand what workers do to help the community. Instruction focuses on text features, details, and a clear ending.

  • In Unit 3, Project 2, students write an expository essay about a favorite kind of music or musical instrument. Lessons focus on evaluating sources, writing paragraphs, and using strong openings. 

  • In Unit 6, Project 1, students write an expository essay using information from three sources. Students write an essay that explains why agriculture, or farming, is an important business. 

• Students have opportunities to engage in narrative writing. For example: 

  • Write narratives in which they recount a well-elaborated event or short sequence of events, include details to describe actions, thoughts, and feelings, use temporal words to signal event order, and provide a sense of closure.

    • In Unit 1, Project 1, students write a realistic fiction story. Instruction focuses on characters’ actions and words; words that indicate sequence; a beginning, middle, and end; and how the characters solve a problem. 

    • In Unit 3, Project 1, students write a personal narrative. Lessons focus on sequencing and concluding. 

    • In Unit 4, Project 1, students write a realistic fiction story about a character who has visited two places. 

Where appropriate, writing opportunities are connected to texts and/or text sets (either as prompts, models, anchors, or supports). For example: 

• In Unit 1, Text Set 3, after reading the Shared Reading, “Families Work!” (author not cited), students respond to the prompt, “How does the Young family decide how to spend their money?” 

• In Unit 4, Text Set 3, students use the poems “April Rain Song” by Langston Hughes and “Rain Poem” by Elizabeth Coatsworth to write about how the poets feel about the rain. 

• In Unit 5, Week 1, Day 5, students write an opinion piece after reading “The Problem with Plastic Bags” (TIME for Kids). Students write about whether plastic bags should be banned.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the expectations of Indicator 1k.

Throughout the program, students have the opportunity to learn and apply evidence-based writing. Students have the opportunity to watch the teacher model thinking about and collecting evidence prior to doing it independently. During direct instruction, the teacher often tells students where to find the evidence and asks guiding questions to help students use evidence effectively in their responses. 

Materials provide frequent opportunities across the school year for students to learn, practice, and apply writing using evidence. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 1, Week 4, Lesson 6, after reading the anchor text, HELP! A Story of Friendship by Holly Keller, students respond to the question, “What does Mouse learn about listening to gossip?” The teacher asks numerous guiding questions to help students find text evidence, including pointing out which page to find the answer to the question. 

• In Unit 2, Week  2, Lesson 6, after reading the anchor text, Baby Bears by Bobbie Kalman, students answer the question, “Why do baby bears need to stay with their mothers?” The teacher helps students by asking them to turn to specific pages and asks guiding questions such as, “What details here can help you explain why baby bears stay with their mothers?” 

• In Unit 6, Week 1, Lesson 1,  students read “The Life of a Dollar Bill” (author not cited) and summarize the text. The teacher begins by directly teaching how to summarize a nonfiction text. The teacher explains that students should first identify the most important details and goes over how to identify if the detail is the most important. The teacher then models how to summarize one page of the text before students work in partners to summarize another page of the text. 

Writing opportunities are focused around students’ recall of information to develop opinions from reading closely and working with evidence from texts and sources. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 1, Week 3, Lesson 2, after reading the Shared Read, “Little Flap Learns to Fly'' (author not cited), students answer the question, “Why does Little Flap share the worm with his friends at the end?”

• In Unit 3, Week 2, Lesson 6, after listening to the Anchor Text, Biblioburro: A True Story from Colombia by Jeanette Winter, students answer the question, “Why is it important for Louis to travel to faraway villages each week?”

• In Unit 5, Week 2, Lesson 6, after listening to and reading Brave Bessie by Eric Velasquez, students respond to the question, “How does Bessie’s story show what it means to be a hero?”

• In Unit 6, Week 5, Lesson 1, while reading the poem, “What Story is This?” by Trevor Renyolds, the margin of the text asks students to underline what the speaker says you can do with crayons and then asks students, “Why does the speaker say, ‘None of us are us today?’”

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria of Indicator 1m.

Materials include teacher guidance for instructional routines for vocabulary development and strategies for teaching vocabulary. Oral vocabulary is repeated through discussions guided by the essential question. These vocabulary words are not repeated across multiple texts; however, the Words in Context academic vocabulary words are taught across the text set and found in multiple texts. Vocabulary words are marked clearly in texts. 

Materials provide teacher guidance outlining a cohesive year-long vocabulary development component. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• The Instructional Routines Handbook states, “The vocabulary lessons in Wonders focus on high-frequency words for early elementary students and include direct instruction on low-frequency words to support all students on the path to acquiring reading strength. Students at all grade levels have multiple encounters with new words. In Grade 2, there are direct instruction vocabulary mini-lessons. 

• The Instructional Routines Handbook includes additional strategies for teaching vocabulary. The materials provide guidance for choosing words for instruction, building oral vocabulary, making the most of the Build Your Word List, and using word squares. 

• After each Shared Reading, students find interesting and important words and keep track of them in a dedicated vocabulary or writing notebook. Students follow the routine, Make the Most of the Build Your Word List, including collecting the words, recording the word and sentence, separating the word into bases and affixes, thinking of related words, and studying the word using a dictionary.

• The Instructional Routines handbook includes a section on Teaching Academic Vocabulary. The handbook states that “Vocabulary is linked to concept development. Vocabulary is learned in context. Vocabulary is not about teaching just words. Vocabulary instruction is deep and generative. Vocabulary instruction involves the study of morphology, the structure of words.” However, little evidence was found on morphology. 

• There is a vocabulary pre- and post-test for each unit. The assessments list questions for students containing the vocabulary for each week and require an understanding of the vocabulary word to respond appropriately. 

• Teacher resources include visual vocabulary cards for each unit. 

• Each lesson focuses on a key vocabulary strategy, such as context clues, prefixes, suffixes, or root words. 

Vocabulary is repeated in contexts (before texts, in texts) and across multiple texts. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Each text set has a Words in Context section that introduces the students to the academic vocabulary words that will help them understand and discuss the text set. These words are found throughout the text set. 

• Materials provide students with practice worksheets for vocabulary and digital resources. 

• In Unit 2, Week 1, students are given the essential question, “How are offspring like their parents?” and are taught oral vocabulary words to use when discussing the answer to that question. The words are guide, leader, protect, provide, and separate. As students read texts, they add words related to parents and offspring in the Build Knowledge pages in their notebooks. 

• In Unit 3, Week 5, Day 1, academic vocabulary is presented in the Expand Vocabulary: Connect to Words lesson. The words include adventure, delighted, dreamed, enjoyed, grumbled, moonlight, neighbor, and nighttime. The word grumbled is also taught in the previous text set. Students respond to questions using the target vocabulary words. Then the teacher analyzes the suffixes in each word. 

• In Unit 4, Week 1, the vocabulary words are highlighted across multiple contexts, including the Building Background section, Shared Read, the Anchor Text, the Paired Selection, and Show Your Knowledge. The vocabulary words are common, costume, customs, favorite, parades, surrounded, travels, and wonder. 

Attention is paid to vocabulary essential to understanding the text and to high-value academic words. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 2, Weeks 1 and 2, the vocabulary words adult, alive, covered, fur, giant, groom, mammal, and offspring are essential to understanding the texts in the text set. 

• In Unit 4, Weeks 1 and 2, the vocabulary words students need to understand texts in the text set are common, costume, customs, favorite, parades, surrounded, travels, and wonder.

• In Unit 6, Weeks 1 and 2, the essential vocabulary words for the text set are invented, money, prices, purchase, record, system, value, and worth. 

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria for 1n.i.

Materials provide teachers with systematic and explicit instruction in phonics. The lessons within the materials often use an I do, We do, You do sequence. Lessons provide teachers with systematic and repeated instruction for students to hear, say, encode, and read each newly taught grade-level phonics pattern. The lessons provide modeling using a variety of materials, including word-building cards, sound/spelling cards, phonics/fluency practice charts, and practice books. Students are provided explicit instruction in phonics through lessons in Phonics and Structural Analysis.

Materials contain explicit instructions for systematic and repeated teacher modeling of all grade-level phonics standards. For example:

• Distinguish long and short vowels when reading regularly spelled one-syllable words:

  • In Unit 2, Week 2, Day 6, the teacher teaches the long u spelling using the words cube and mule. The teacher tells students the middle sound in cube is /u/, which can be spelled with the letters u_e, but the e is silent. The u and e work together to make the long u sound. Students practice connecting the letters u_e to the long u sound through writing. The teacher models blending sounds to read the word fun. 

  • In Unit 3, Week 2, Day 7, the teacher models how substituting a new sound for the medial or final vowel sound in a word can form a new word. Students listen to the sounds in the word pie. Students listen as the teacher substitutes, or changes, the vowel sound in pie from long i to long a, forming the new word pay. The teacher continues changing the medial or final sound in these pairs: sleigh/sly, tray/try, mend/mind, and low/ lie. 

  •  In Unit 5, Week 2, Day 8, students listen to some words that have one sound that is different. The teacher displays Word-Building Cards for diphthongs /oi/ spelled oi and oy, as well as for short e; long o spelled o, oz-e, ow; long a spelled a_e, ai, ay; and diphthong /ou/ spelled ow. The teacher reviews and says each vowel sound, pointing to the letter or letters that can represent it. 

• Know spelling-sound correspondences for additional common vowel teams:

  • In Unit 3, Week 2, Day 6, the teacher displays the five Sound-Spelling Cards. The teacher tells students the long i sound is spelled i as in idea; y as in fly, igh as in high, and ie as in pie. The teacher reviews that long i can be spelled i, y, ie, or ight. Students practice connecting the letters i, y,igh, and ie to the long i sound by writing them. The teacher models, and then students practice blending words with various spellings of long i. Students read words with long i spellings from the Phonics/Fluency Practice chart Students read sentences with long i words. 

  • In Unit 5, Week 3, Day 1, the teacher introduces the /u/ sound spelled oo as in the word spoon. The teacher uses the words flu, tune, grew, blue, you, juice to show the different ways to spell the u sound. Students practice reading words with oo, u, u_e, ew, ui, and out for the sound. 

• Decode regularly spelled two-syllable words with long vowels:

  • In Unit 1, Week 5, Day 3, the teacher models blending the word like. The teacher reminds students that the e is silent and the i and e act as a team. The teacher models with the words size, time, lid, fin, and mix. 

  • In Unit 6, Week 1, Day 1, the teacher models reading the word exit, reminding students that words can be divided into syllables and that each syllable must have a vowel sound. The teacher claps the syllables in the word, drawing a line between the syllables, and underlining the first syllable. The teacher tells students when a syllable ends in a consonant, the vowel sound is usually short. The teacher presents the word tiger, divides the word, and tells students when a syllable ends in a vowel, the vowel is usually long. Students practice decoding open and closed syllables with words: inspect, tennis, habit, ticket, defend, secret, and token. Students write the words and draw lines between syllables. Students practice reading open and closed-syllable words using the Phonics/Fluency Practice Chart. 

• Decode words with common prefixes and suffixes:

  • In Unit 1, Week 4, Day 6, the teacher writes and reads the words pick and picked, underlining the ed. The teacher tells students that adding -ed to a verb makes it tell about something that has already happened. The teacher reads the words add/added, blame/blamed. The teacher presents the words pick and picking, explaining that adding -ing to a verb makes the verb tell about something that is happening right now, in the present. Students read the following word cards: camp, hand, last, ask, spill, and help. Students practice adding -ing and -ed to the word and using the word in a sentence. 

  • In Unit 4, Week 1, Day 1, the teacher writes the words repack, unhappy, and disobey and underlines the prefix in each word. The teacher explains that a prefix can be added to the beginning of a word to make a new word. The prefix re-means “again,” the prefix un- means “not,” and the prefix dis- means “opposite of.” The teacher models how to define repack, unhappy, and disobey based on each prefix and base word. The teacher uses the same procedure with the words hopeful and spotless to discuss the suffixes -ful (full of) and -less (without). The teacher writes the following words: useful, unmade, painless, disagree, rewrap, and asks students to read each word, identify the prefix or suffix, and tell the meaning of each word. 

• Identify words with inconsistent but common spelling-sound correspondences:

  • In Unit 3, Week 1, Day 5, the teacher presents the words bacon, train, play, tame, weight, prey, and break. Students read and say the words. The teacher reminds students to segment the word and blend sounds together. Students follow the Word Building Routine to read the words steak, stay, stray, tray, trail, nail, neigh, way, hay, hey, and they. Students then write the words. 

  • In Unit 4, Week 2, Day 6, the teacher displays the Shirt Sound-Spelling Card. The teacher teaches the /ûr/ spelled ir. The teacher says, “This is the Shirt Sound-Spelling Card. The sound is /ûr/. The /ûr/ sound can be spelled with the letters ir. I’ll say /ûr/ as I write the letters several times. Listen: /ûr/. The sound in the middle of the word shirt is /ûr/.” The teacher repeats for the /ûr/ spelled er, ur, and or using er in the word fern, ur in turn, and or in worm.

• Lessons provide teachers with systematic and repeated instruction for students to hear, say, encode, and read each newly taught grade-level phonics pattern. For example:

  • In Unit 2, Week 3, Day 5, the teacher writes the words: stage, face, rice, badge, and bulge. Students read and say the words. Students then follow the Word-Building Routine with the Word-Building Cards to build dance, range, mice, page, digit, grace, since, and huge. When students have built the words, the teacher dictates the words to students, and they write the words. 

  • In Unit 3, Week 3, Day 5, the teacher writes the words: pro, boat, own, and woe Students read and say the words Students follow the Word-Building Routine with the Word-Building Cards to build so, sow, sown, grown, grow, row, road, toad, toast, coast, coat, and boat When students have built the words, the teacher dictates the words to students, and they write the words. 

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria for 1n.iii.

Materials provide students with systematic and explicit instruction in phonics. The Teacher Edition shares weekly and daily phonics lessons throughout ten units of study and includes a variety of methods to promote students’ practice of grade-level phonics. The methods and materials used to teach phonics include Sound-spelling cards, Photo cards, Response boards, Word building letters, Practice books, Videos, and decodable readers. There is a clear research-based scope and sequence of phonics skills presented throughout the program. The materials clearly delineate a scope and sequence with a cohesive, intentional sequence of phonics instruction and practice to build toward the application of skills. Materials also include Leveled Readers, which may distract from the use of decodable readers, as small group lessons include the use of Leveled Readers. 

Lessons provide students with frequent opportunities to decode (phonemes, onset and rime, and/or syllables) phonetically spelled words. 

• Decode regularly spelled two-syllable words with long vowels.

  • In Unit 2, Week 2, Day 6, students read words with CVCe Syllables. The words include confine, combine, ignite, incline, dictate, unlike, and episode. 

  • In Unit 6, Week 2, Day 6, students read words with CVCe Syllables. The words include: excite, excuse, describe, vibrate, confide, stampede, inflate, and compute.

• Decode words with common prefixes and suffixes. 

• In Unit 4, Week 1, Day 2, students read words with prefixes and suffixes re-, dis-, un-, -less, and -ful. The words include joyful, unsold, childless, dislike, and reread. 

• In Unit 6, Week 2, Day 6, students decode words with prefixes re-, un-, dis-, and suffixes -ful, -less. Students work with a partner to read and write the words: unsafe, replay, dislike, thankful, and harmless. 

• Identify words with inconsistent but common spelling-sound correspondences.

  • In Unit 4, Week 2, Day 6, students use the shirt Sound-Spelling Card and practice connecting the letters er, ir, ur, and or to the /ûr/ sound by writing them. Students repeat the letters er in fern, ur in turn, and or in worm and practice reading words with /ûr/er, ir, ur, or using Practice Book page 243. 

  • In Unit 5, Week 3, Day 4, students blend and decode words with variant vowels. Students read the following words: flu, stew, moonbeam, truthful, groups, fruit, good, could, and pull, as well as toothpaste, youthful, news, unglued, cruel, suit, and butcher.

Lessons provide students with frequent opportunities to read complete words by saying the entire word as a unit using newly taught phonics skills. 

• In Unit 2, Week 2, Day 6, students practice the newly taught short u and long u_e sound spellings to blend sounds and read complete words. The words include run, use, cube, cute, mute, flake, us, puff, mole, and fuse.

• In Unit 4, Week 5, Day 1, students practice the newly taught sound spelling/ar/ spelled are as in stare. Students blend sounds to read the whole words dare, square, aware, rare, and share.

Lessons provide students with frequent opportunities to decode words in a sentence.

• In Unit 3, Week 3, Day 1, students read words with long o spelled o, oa, ow, and oe. Students read the following sentences: Moe ate toast and oats. The coach told Joan she made a goal! Joe put on his coat to go out in the cold snow. 

• In Unit 6, Week 5, Day 1, students read words with ar spelled ar. Students read the following sentences: “The waiter put the carton on the counter. Marcus is a cartoon artist. I got a purple parcel with a curly ribbon for my birthday.”

Lessons provide students with frequent opportunities to build/manipulate/spell and encode words using common and newly-taught sound and spelling patterns.

• In Unit 3, Week 4, Day 7, students use the Word Building Cards to build words with long e: e, ee, ea, ie, y, ey,e_e. Students spell the word me and replace the m with w and repeat with we and then change w to sh and repeat with she. Students continue to build, manipulate, and spell with the following word sets: sheet, sheep, sleep; deep, peep, peel; field, yield, shield, shriek; chief, thief, grief, brief, belief, relief. Students read the words, write the words, and check their spelling with a partner.

• In Unit 6, Week 2, Day 7, students use Word Building Cards to build the word amuse and then replace the u with a and s with z and repeat with amaze. Students continue to build, manipulate, and spell with recite, reside, inside, invite, invade; homework, homesick; compute, compete, concrete, confuse. Students read the words, write the words, and check their spelling with a partner.

Materials contain a variety of methods to promote students’ practice of previously taught grade-level phonics.

• In Grade 2, the teacher uses variety of  methods to explicitly teach and opportunities to practice phonics skills. The methods and materials to teach phonics include:

  • Sound-spelling cards

  • Photo cards

  • Response boards

  • Word building letters

  • Practice books

  • Videos

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

• In Wonders “Grade 2 Foundational Skills Scope and Sequence”, Phonics scope and sequence includes:

  • Unit 1: short o; short i; two letter blends: r blends (br, cr, dr, fr, gr); s blends (sc, sk, sl, sm, sn, sp, st, sw); t blends (tr, tw, nt); l blends (bl, cl, fl, gl, pl, lk, lt); short i; long i - i_e

  • Unit 2: short o, long o - o_e; words with soft c and g; three letter blends: scr, spr, str, the, spl, shr.

  • Unit 3: long a - a, ai, ay, ea, ei, eight, ey; long o - o, oa, ow, oe; long i - i, y igh, ie; long e - e, ee, ea, ie, y, ey e_e; long u - u_e, ue, u, ew.

  • Unit 4: silent letters wr, kn, gn, mb, sc; r controlled vowels - er, ir, ur, or, ore, oar, ar, are, air, ear, ere, eer.

  • Unit 5: Diphthongs ou, ow, oy, oi; variant vowels oo, u, u_e, ew, ue, ou, ui, oo, ou, u; Short vowel digraphs ea, ou, y.

  • Unit 6: open and closed syllables; words with CVCe syllables; final stable syllables le, el, al; vowel team syllables; words with r-controlled vowel syllables.

Materials have a clear research-based explanation for the order of the phonics sequence. 

• In the Wonders Research Base Alignment document, the materials include information to address: What is phonics? What is systematic and explicit phonics? Why is phonics instruction important? Who benefits from Phonics Instruction? Example Phonics Milestones by Grade level; Research recommendations and Wonders alignment; 

• In the Wonders Research Base Alignment document, research cited includes Duff & Clarke, 2011; McGuinnes, 2004; NICHHD, 2000, pp. 2-11; Treiman, 2018, Ehri, Nunes, Stahl, & Willows, 2001; Stuebing, et al., 2008; Henbest & Apel, 2017; International Literacy Association, 2018; White, 2017; Berninger, Abbott, Nagy, & Carlisle, 2009; Suggate, 2010; National Literacy Panel, 2006; Slavin et al., 2011.

• The Wonders Research Base Alignment document states that well-designed phonics instruction is a necessary component of effective reading programs (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 2000; Slavin et al., 2011). In Wonders, Grade 2 phonics instruction follows a systematic scope and sequence intended to build students’ skills, so they build automaticity in decoding and word recognition. Wonders phonics instruction builds on and extends what students have learned about sound-spelling relationships in Kindergarten and Grade 1. 

Materials provide sufficient opportunities for students to develop orthographic and phonological processing.

• In Unit 3, Week 1, Day 1, students practice connecting the letters ai to the sound /ā/. Students write the letters ai as they say the /ā/ sound. Students repeat the same for the sound spellings a, ay, ea, and ei. Students independently practice long a: a, ai, ay, ea, ei using Practice Book page 153.

• In Unit 6, Week 5, Day 1, students listen as the teacher blends each syllable and then blends the syllables to form the words: morning, further, and thirsty. The teacher shows the Phonics/Fluency Practice chart and reads each word with students, blending sounds. Students blend each word with the teacher. Students read the text, sounding out the decodable words. Practice words include thorny, market, carton, purchase, cartoon, artist, and waiter. 

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria for 1.n.iv.

Materials include multiple opportunities for students to decode and encode common vowel teams over the course of the year. The Teacher Edition contains weekly and daily phonics and spelling lessons throughout each unit. Lessons are explicitly and systematically taught through explicit instruction with teacher modeling and include student-guided practice using various materials. Students decode and encode long and short vowel sounds when reading regularly spelled one-syllable words and decode and encode additional common vowel teams. 

Materials include multiple opportunities over the course of the year for students to decode and encode common vowel teams. 

• Distinguish long and short vowels when reading regularly spelled one-syllable words.

  • In Unit 1, Week 4, Day 10, students use Word-Building Cards to practice blending and reading words with short a and long a: a_e. Students blend the sounds of the words fat, fate; Sam, same; tap, tape; van, vane. Students repeat the blending routine with the words: flag, take, yam, grasp, flake, pant, jazz, daze, flame, grape, fast, and crafted, and distinguish the short and long vowel sounds.

  • In Unit 2, Week 1, Day 4, students practice blending words with short o and long o: o-e using Word Building Cards. Students blend not and then add the e to the end of the word and read note. Students repeat the blending routine and distinguish long and short vowels when reading the words: rob, robe, cod, code, rod, rode.

  • In Unit 4, Week 1, Day 3, students contrast Vowel Sounds using Word-Building Cards for short and long vowels. Students blend the words: knock, neck, note, knight, knob, nap, write, wrote, knot, net, and distinguish the short and long vowel sounds.

Materials include multiple opportunities over the course of the year for students to decode and encode additional vowel teams. 

• Know spelling-sound correspondences for additional common vowel teams.

  • In Unit 3, Week 1, Day 5, students review words spelled with long a: ai, ay, ea, ei, eigh, ey and use Word Building Cards to build and read the words: steak, stay, stray, tray, trail, nail, neigh, weight, way, hay, hey they. The teacher dictates words, and students write them. 

  • In Unit 5, Week 1, Day 5, students read and say rebound, amongst, growling, and shower. Students follow the Word-Building Routine with Word-Building Cards to build and read the word scout, shout, pout, pound, hound, bounce, pounce, power, powder, chowder. The teacher dictates words, and students write the words. 

  • In Unit 6, Week 4, Day 6, students blend and decode words with vowel team syllables: daydream, poison, galley, withdraw. Students practice blending, reading, and writing additional words with vowel-team syllables. Students independently practice writing vowel-team syllables with the words window, outlaw, toenail, raincoat, beaver, pillow using Practice Book page 423.

Materials include opportunities for students to review previously learned common and additional vowel teams. 

• In Unit 1, Week 5, Day 2, students review the sound short i makes using the words six and big and the sound long i makes using the word five. The students practice connecting the letter to the sounds and write the letter as they say it. Students play Concentration using words featuring three or more sound patterns. 

• In Unit 3, week 5, Day 2, students review the long u sound /ū/ spelled u_e, and ue using the words cute and cues. Students practice connecting the letters and sounds. The students play Concentration with a partner, placing all the cards facedown, then taking turns choosing two cards at a time to collect pairs with the same sound-spelling pattern. 

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria for 1o. 

Materials include frequent, adequate lessons and tasks/questions about the organization of print concepts. Students have opportunities to identify text structures and text features. Students have opportunities to learn concepts of print, text features, and structures through whole-group shared reading, paired reading, and differentiated small-group reading.

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).

• In Unit 2, Week 1, Day 3, students find the central idea and identify the relevant details of the text “Opossums” (author not cited). Students engage in a facilitated discussion about how each paragraph has its own topic related to the main topic of the text. The students identify relevant details in the rest of the text and complete the online Central Idea and Relevant Details Graphic Organizer. 

• In Unit 4, Week  3, Day 3, the teacher has the students recall that expository texts give facts and information about a topic. The teacher reminds students that authors can show causes and effects to explain why or how something happens. Students identify characteristics of expository text. Students look for characteristics of expository texts as they read “Earthquakes” (author not cited).

• In Unit 5, Week 2, Day 2, students work in pairs to identify the beginning, middle, and end of the story “A Difficult Decision” (author not cited) after the teacher reviews characteristics of realistic fiction, including that the text has a beginning, middle, and end and the events in each part help readers understand the characters.  

Materials include frequent and adequate lessons and activities about text features (e.g., title, byline, headings, table of contents, glossary, pictures, illustrations).

• In Unit 1, Week 3, Day 2, students identify the genre of “Little Flap Learns to Fly” (author not cited). The teacher says, “I can tell this story is fantasy because things happen that do not happen in real life. For example, the birds in the story talk to each other. In real life, birds do not talk to each other.” The teacher focuses on the illustrations and says, “What does the illustration show that is like real life? What does the illustration show that could not happen in real life? How does the illustration help you know that the story is a fantasy story?” The teacher has the students add information to the Fantasy anchor chart.

• In Unit 2, Week 1, Day 2, students work in pairs to discuss and write about the information they learned about bald eagles by looking at the diagram and reading the labels. The teacher reviews characteristics of expository text, including “text features that help readers learn additional information about a topic. Text features common to expository text include photo, captions, headings, and diagrams with labels.” The teacher models identifying and using text features on page 15 of “Eagles and Eaglets” (author not cited). The teacher points out the diagram of the bald eagle and explains that “diagrams help give a picture of what something is, what features something has, or how something works.” The teacher explains that labels “explain important information shown in a diagram.” 

• In Unit 4, Week 4, Day 8, students use the titles and headings in “To the Rescue” (author not cited) on pages 348-349 of the Literature Anthology to identify the topic and details. Students work together to find details for the second heading, “Animal Rescues,” and record them on the chart. 

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria for 1p.

Materials provide multiple opportunities over the course of the year for students to purposefully read on-level text during interactive read-alouds, shared reading, and differentiated instruction lessons. Multiple opportunities are provided in materials for students to demonstrate sufficient accuracy, rate, and expression in oral reading. Materials include systematic and explicit instruction of irregularly spelled words and include a sufficient quantity of new grade-appropriate irregularly spelled words to support students’ development of automaticity. 

Multiple opportunities are provided over the course of the year in core materials for students to purposefully read on-level text.

• Read grade-level text with purpose and understanding.

  • In Unit 1, Week 1, Day 1, students read the text, Maria Celebrates Brazil (author not cited), to understand how families around the world are the same and different. Students engage in a teacher-led Think Aloud about the character Maria, the problem, and life in Brazil. Students reread and discuss the text with partners and then gather text evidence to answer the essential question.

  • In Unit 5, Week 3, Day 3, students read the text, The Food Crew (author not cited), to understand the Essential Question, “What do Good Citizens Do?” Students use the Character Perspective Graphic Organizer 9 as they read to note how characters feel about the main events in the story. After reading, students answer the Analytical Writing prompt using textual evidence to show their understanding of the perspectives of the characters Ben and Sonja in relation to the food drive. 

  • In Unit 6, Week 1, Day 2, students read the text, How to Be a Smart Shopper (author not cited). Students use a copy of the online Topic and Relevant Details Graphic Organizer 4 as they read to record the central idea of the selection and relevant details that support the central idea. 

Multiple opportunities are 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.

• Read grade-level text orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression on successive readings.

  • In Unit 1, Week 4, Day 11, the teacher models reading the text, A Bicycle Built for Two (author not cited), focusing on reading with intonation by changing the tone of voice when they read to show the meaning of words and to reflect punctuation in a story. Partners reread the pages and meet with the teacher for oral reading fluency progress monitoring to demonstrate reading with accuracy, rate, and expression.

  • In Unit 4, Week 2, Day 9, the teacher models reading the text, Dear Primo: A Letter to My Cousin by Duncan Tonatiuh, and focuses on the rate, the speed of words read and how that can vary from slowing down at a sad part or speeding up for an exciting part. Partners reread the pages with expression to bring the story to life and show the characters' emotions. The teacher observes and provides feedback on reading with accuracy, rate, and expression.

  • In Unit 6, Week 2, Day 9, the teacher models reading the text, Money Madness by David A. Adler, and focuses on fluency and phrasing to convey a sense of what the words and sentences mean. Partners reread the pages with natural and correct phrasing as the teacher observes and provides feedback on reading with accuracy, rate, and expression.

Materials provide opportunities for students to hear fluent reading of grade-level text by a model reader.

• In Unit 3, Week 2, Day 9, students listen as the teacher models fluent reading of the text, Helping Out in the Community (author not cited), using appropriate expression. The teacher models changing rate and using proper intonation.

• In Unit 4, Week 1, Day 2, students listen as the teacher models reading character dialogue with appropriate intonation in the text, Giving Thanks Two Times (author not cited). The teacher points out that quotation marks tell the reader the words the characters say and how to change the rate when you read with good intonation. 

Materials include systematic and explicit instruction of irregularly spelled words.

• In Unit 1, Week 3, Day 1, the teacher guides students to read the high-frequency words: boy, by, girl, he, here, she, small, want, were, what. The teacher models using the Read/Spell/Write routine to teach each word and points out irregularities in the sound-spellings.

• In Unit 4, Week 4, Day 6, the teacher guides students to read high-frequency words: again, behind, eyes, gone, happened, house, inside, neither, stood, and young. The teacher models using the Read/Spell/Write routine to teach each word and points out irregularities in the sound-spellings.

Students have opportunities to practice and read irregularly spelled words in isolation.

• Recognize and read grade-appropriate irregularly spelled words.

  • In Unit 2, Week 2, Day 8, students read the High-Frequency Word Cards: change, cheer, fall, five, look, open, their, won, and yes. 

  • In Unit 5, Week 1, Day 5, students read the High-Frequency Word Cards: answer, been, body, build, head, heard, minutes, myself, pretty, pushed. 

Materials include a sufficient quantity of new grade-appropriate irregularly spelled words for students to make reading progress.

• High Frequency words taught in Grade 2 include:

  • Unit 1: could, find, funny, green, how, little, one, or, see, sounds, another, done, into, move, now, show, too, water, year, your, all, any, goes, new, number, other, right, says, understand

  • Unit 2: because, cold, family, friends, have, know, off, picture, school, took, change, cheer, fall, five, look, open, should, their, won, yes, almost, buy, food, out, pull, saw, sky, straight, under, wash, baby, early, eight, isn’t, learn, seven, start, these, try, walk, bird, for, field, flower, grow, leaves, light, orange, ready, until

  • Unit 3: about, around, good, great, idea, often, part, second, two, world, also, apart, begin, either, hundred, over, places, those, which, without, better, group, long, more, only, started, three, who, won’t, after, before, every, few, first, hear, hurt, old, special, would, America, beautiful, began, climbed, come, country, didn’t, give, live, turned

  • Unit 4: below, colors, don’t, down, eat, many, morning, sleep, through, very, animal, away, building, found, from, Saturday, thought, today, toward, watch, ago, carry, certain, everyone, heavy, outside, people, problem, together, warm, again, behind, eyes, gone, happened, house, inside, neither, stood, young, among, bought, knew, never, once, soon, sorry, talk, touch, upon

  • Unit 5: answer, been, body, build, head, heard, minutes, myself, pretty, pushed, brought, busy, else, happy, I’ll, laugh, love, maybe, please, several, air, along, always, draw, during, ever, meant, nothing, story, strong, city, father, mother, o’clock, own, questions, read, searching, sure, though, anything, children, everybody, instead, paper, person, voice, whole, woman, words

  • Unit 6: door, front, order, probably, remember, someone, tomorrow, what’s, worry, yesterday, alone, became, beside, four, hello, large, notice, round, suppose, surprised, above, brother, follow, listen, month, soft, something, song, who’s wind, against, anymore, complete, enough, river, rough, sometimes, stranger, terrible, window, afternoon, ahead, anyone, everything, pretended, scientist, somehow, trouble, wherever

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria for 1q.

Materials provide frequent opportunities for students to read high-frequency words in connected text and tasks. Lessons and activities provide students with opportunities to learn grade-level word recognition and analysis skills while encoding in context and decoding words in connected text and tasks. The scope and sequence provides direct correlations of the phonics, high-frequency words, and spelling lessons linking to the decodable text opportunities providing students with immediate opportunities for the application of skills and concepts taught. 

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.

• Distinguish long and short vowels when reading regularly spelled one-syllable words.

  • In Unit 1, Week 5, Day 4, students read the decodable reader, “A Site on Vine Lane,” which includes words with short i and long i: i_e.

  • In Unit 2, Week 1, Day 4, students read the decodable reader, “At Home in a Pond,” which includes words with short o and long o: o_e. 

• Know spelling-sound correspondences for additional common vowel teams.

  • In Unit 3, Week 1, Day 1, students read the decodable reader, “Ray Saves the Play,” which includes long a words spelled with a, ai, ay, ea, and ei.

  • In Unit 5, Week 1, Day 1, students read the decodable reader, “Out of String Beans!” which includes diphthongs ou and ow. 

• Decode regularly spelled two-syllable words with long vowels.

  • In Unit 3, Week 2, Day 7, students read the decodable reader, “High in the Sky,” which includes two-syllable words with long vowels.

  • In Unit 4, Week 5, Day 2, students read the decodable reader, “The Caring King’s Fair Wish,” which includes two-syllable words with long vowels. 

• Decode words with common prefixes and suffixes.

  • In Unit 5, Week 3, Day 1, students reread the decodable reader, “A Difficult Decision,” which includes words with the suffixes -tion and -sion.

  • In Unit 2, Week 3, Day 2, the teacher models adding the prefixes re-, un-, and dis- to the beginning of a word and determining the meaning of each word. Students add the prefixes re-, un-, and dis- to a list of words.  Students read each new word and use it in a sentence. Students independently practice reading and writing words with the prefixes re-, un-, and dis- using Practice Book page 110. Students read sentences and match each sentence to a word with a prefix. 

Materials provide frequent opportunities to read irregularly spelled words in connected text and tasks.

• Recognize and read grade-appropriate irregularly spelled words.

  • In Unit 2, week 2, Day 6, the teacher displays the High-Frequency Word Cards and uses the Read/ Spell/Write routine to teach each word. The teacher points out sound spellings students have already learned as well as any irregular sound- spellings, such as /u/ spelled o in the word won. The students identify the high-frequency words in connected text and blend the decodable words.

  • In Unit 3, Week 3, Day 1, students read the decodable reader, “Three Goats and a Troll,” which includes high-frequency words better, group, long, more, only, our, started, three, who, and won’t.

  • In Unit 5, Week 3, Day 1, students read the decodable reader, “Soon the North Wind Blew,” which includes high-frequency words air, along, draw, during, ever, meant, nothing, story, strong.

Lessons and activities provide students many opportunities to learn grade-level word recognition and analysis skills while encoding (writing) in context and decoding words (reading) in connected text and tasks. 

• In Unit 2, Week 5, Day 1, the teacher models using the Word-Building Cards to display the word spring. The teacher explains, “This is the word spring. When the consonants s, p, and r come together in a word, their sounds blend together.” The teacher writes the blends scr, spr, str, points to each three-letter blend, and blends the sounds: /skr/, /spr/, /str/. The teacher uses the Read/Spell/Write routine. Students use the Read/Spell/ Write routine to write the words five times to practice encoding. The teacher introduces the decodable text, “Mrs. Sprig’s Spring Flowers,” and students sound out the decodable words and read the high-frequency words quickly.

• In Unit 6, Week 5, Day 1, the teacher displays the High-Frequency Word Cards and uses the Read/Spell/Write routine to teach each word: afternoon, ahead, anyone, everything, pretended, scientist, somehow, throughout, trouble, and wherever. Students use the  Read/Spell/Write routine to write the words on their Response Boards. The teacher introduces the decodable folktale, “How Bird Was Lured Away from Fire.” Students sound out the decodable words and read the high-frequency words quickly.

Materials include decodable texts that contain grade-level phonics skills aligned to the program’s scope and sequence.

• In Unit 4, Week 2, Day 6, students read the decodable reader, “Shirl and Her Tern,” which includes words with r-controlled vowels.

• In Unit 5, Week 1, Day 1, students read the decodable reader, “Out of String Beans!” which includes words with diphthongs ou and ow. 

Materials include decodable texts that contain grade-level high-frequency/irregularly spelled words aligned to the program’s scope and sequence.

• In Unit 5, Week 2, Day 6, students read the decodable reader, “Let’s Join Joy’s Show!” which includes the high-frequency words: brought, busy, else, happy, I’ll, laugh, love, maybe, please, and several. 

• In Unit 6, Week 1, Day 1, students read the decodable reader, “Clever Doggy,” which includes the high-frequency words: door, front, order, probably, remember, someone, tomorrow, what’s, worry, and yesterday.

The materials reviewed for Kindergarten meet the criteria for 1r.

Materials include ongoing and frequent assessments to determine students’ mastery of foundational skills. Assessments include unit tests, diagnostic assessments, progress monitoring assessments, and lesson assessments. The skills tested are outlined for each assessment, along with suggested responses to guide teachers in scoring. The Assessment Handbook guides teachers’ use of the assessment data by giving key recommendations on how to use the data to group students, provide intervention for students, and reteach skills for students as appropriate. 

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.

• Materials include assessment opportunities that measure student progress of phonics and decoding. 

  • In Unit 4, Assessment, the materials include five phonics questions about silent letters and r-controlled vowels.

  • In Unit 6, Assessment, the materials include five phonics questions: open and closed syllables, CVCe syllables, final stable syllables, vowel team syllables, and r-Controlled vowel syllables.

• Materials include assessment opportunities that measure student progress of word recognition and analysis.

  • In Grade 2 Benchmark Assessments, Overview, the materials include two benchmark assessments. Benchmark Assessment 1 focuses on skills taught in Units 1-3, and Benchmark Assessment 2 focuses on the entire year. Each Benchmark assessment includes five multiple-choice items assessing high-frequency words, five multiple-choice questions assessing vocabulary, and four multiple-choice questions assessing structural analysis. 

  • The Fluency Assessment Book includes a sight word fluency assessment. Students are given a list of words. The teacher asks the student to read as many of the words on the list as possible in one minute. Students receive a point for each correct word.

• Materials include assessment opportunities that measure student progress of fluency. 

  • The Grade 2 assessments include an Oral Reading Fluency Application. The Oral Reading Fluency Application can be used to administer oral reading fluency assessments in person or asynchronously. It provides a quick and easy way to capture students’ scores for words per minute (WPM) and accuracy (number of errors). 

  • In the Foundational Skills Assessment booklet for Grades 2-3, the Oral Reading Fluency assessments can be found. These assessments allow the teacher to have students read passages and determine student words correct per minute, word reading accuracy, and data on student prosody. On pages 196-243, there are 22 reading passages that include narrative and expository text for students to read and the teacher to use to gather data on fluency.

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

• The Benchmark Assessments component reports on the outcome of students’ learning. The results of the Benchmark Assessments serve as a summative assessment by providing a way to measure students’ progress through the curriculum. The results of the assessments can be used to inform subsequent instruction, aid in making leveling and grouping decisions, and point toward areas needing reteaching or remediation. The focus of the Benchmark Assessments is on key areas of English Language Arts—comprehension of literary and informational text, phonics and decoding skills, and recognition of high-frequency words.

• In the Assessment Handbook, Unit Assessments (K-5), the text states, “these assessments provide information to make instructional decisions and to place students into small skills-based groups.” Information on interpreting the scores is also included, “The goal of each unit assessment is to evaluate student mastery of previously-taught material. The expectation is for students to score 80% or higher on the assessment as a whole. Within this score, the expectation is for students to score 75% or higher on each section of the assessment.”

Materials support teachers with instructional adjustments to help students make progress toward mastery in foundational skills.

• The use of Progress Monitoring Assessments uses the assessment results in conjunction with observations to gather the formative information to better understand each student’s performance and help guide decisions about individualized instructional and intervention needs. The expectation is for students to score 80% or higher on each assessment. For students who do not meet this benchmark, the teacher must assign appropriate lessons from the relevant Tier 2 online PDFs. The teacher refers to the Progress Monitoring pages that follow each text set in the Teacher’s Editions for specific lessons. Information gathered by evaluating the results of these tests also can be used to diagnose students’ specific strengths and weaknesses. 

• In the Assessment Handbook: Using Assessment to Guide Instruction booklet, pages 36-48, provide teachers with guidance on how to use the assessment screening data to make instructional adjustments for students. The handbook provides suggestions for teachers on how to group students for instruction, address student strengths and weaknesses on skill development, modify instruction, and review and reteach concepts.

• In every unit, week, and day, there are Small Group Differentiated Instruction lessons for students placed in Approaching Level, On Level, and Beyond Level and English Language Learners for phonemic awareness, phonics, and high-frequency words.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria for 1s.

Materials provide ample support for speakers of languages other than English, special populations, and students beyond their current grade level to learn, use strategies, and receive support to meet or exceed grade-level standards. The materials include lessons with differentiated instruction options for students approaching grade level, at grade level, beyond grade level, and English Language learners. Differentiated instruction addresses phonemic awareness, phonics, high-frequency words, comprehension, and writing. Decodable readers are also included to support the varying needs and levels of students. Within the Differentiated Instruction lessons in the Teacher Edition are lessons specifically identified for English language learners. These lessons intentionally foster oral language and background knowledge before having students engage in reading text, using phonological awareness and phonics skills and writing. The teacher is cued to use visuals, gestures, modeling, and questioning to support student learning. 

Materials provide strategies and supports for students who read, write, and/or speak in a language other than English to meet or exceed grade-level standards.

• The Wonders K-6 Instructional Routines Handbook describes several ways that teachers can give MLLs multiple opportunities to speak in the classroom that will “motivate English language learners to participate in class discussions and build oral proficiency. These basic teaching strategies will encourage whole class and small group discussions for all English language learners.” They include repetition, elaboration, wait time, etc.

• The Wonders K-6 Instructional Routines Handbook provides a chart that supplies sentence frames so that MLLs can participate more fully in Collaborative Conversations: “The chart provides prompt and response frames that will help students at different language proficiency levels interact with each other in meaningful ways in partner, small group, and class discussions.” 

• The Wonders K-6 Instructional Routines Handbook supports teachers to see first language as an asset: “These English language learners are not ‘blank slates.’ Their oral language proficiency and literacy in their first languages can be used to facilitate literacy development in English. Systematic, explicit, and appropriately scaffolded instruction and sufficient time help English language learners attain English proficiency and meet high standards in core academic subjects.”

• The materials include a separate Language Transfers Handbook, which provides cross-linguistic transfer analysis to help teachers understand the language of the learners: “The Sounds and Phonics and the Grammar Transfers Charts in the Language Transfer Handbook, are designed to help you anticipate possible transfer errors in pronouncing or perceiving English sounds, and in speaking and writing in standard English.”

• The materials include poems, rhymes, or songs. Each is connected to the theme of the week. A visual chart is provided, as is an audiotrack. For example, in Unit 2, the read-aloud is “Grey Goose,” a poem by Julia Larios. Students learn about rhythm and rhyme and later write their own poems.

Materials provide strategies and supports for students in special populations to work with grade-level foundational skills and to meet or exceed grade-level standards.

• In Unit 1, Week 5, Day 4, the lesson plan includes a differentiated instruction option for Approaching Level students. One section addresses phonemic awareness with a focus on phoneme categorization. The teacher explains that they will be categorizing phonemes and models how to categorize them. The teacher says three words and asks students to identify the word that does not belong. 

• In Unit 5, Week 3, Day 3, the lesson plan includes a differentiated instruction option for Approaching Level students. One section addresses structural analysis with a focus on contractions. The teacher writes and reads would not and wouldn’t, telling students that wouldn’t is a contraction for would not. The teacher reviews what a contraction is. The teacher writes the words could not and invites students to read the words aloud. The teacher prompts students to shorten the words to form the contraction couldn’t. Students work with partners to write contractions for should not. The students use the contractions wouldn’t, couldn’t, and shouldn’t in sentences.

Materials regularly provide extensions and/or advanced opportunities to engage with foundational skills at greater depth for students who read, write, speak, and/or listen above grade level.

• In Unit 1, Week 4, Day 7,  the lesson plan includes a differentiated instruction option for Beyond Level students. One section addresses comprehension with a focus on theme. The teacher reviews the theme with students and models identifying the theme using the first few sentences of “A Bicycle Built for Two” (author not cited). Students identify clues to the theme in the rest of the passage as they independently fill in a theme graphic organizer. Students work with partners to explain the theme of the story.

• In Unit 5, Week 4, Day 6, the lesson plan includes a differentiated instruction option for Beyond Level students. One section addresses comprehension with a focus on character perspectives. The teacher reminds students to identify the characters’ perspectives while reading fiction. Students read page B1 of “The Lost Kitten” (author not cited) in the Beyond Level: Differentiated Genre Passages. The teacher asks open-ended questions to facilitate discussion. Students identify characters’ perspectives as they complete the character perspectives graphic organizer.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria of Indicator 2a.

The texts are connected by a topic. Each text set provides students with the opportunity to read and listen to texts while simultaneously building knowledge. While unit topics are broad, each week is guided by an essential question related to the unit topic, which contributes to students’ knowledge-building of the overall unit topic. It is important to note that in some units, texts are connected each week, but weekly topics loosely connect to the overall topic of the unit. While knowledge is built each week in these units, knowledge is not built across the entire unit. 

Texts are connected by a grade-appropriate cohesive topic/line of inquiry. Texts build knowledge and the ability to read/listen and comprehend complex texts across a school year. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 1, there are three text sets. Text Set 1 is about families around the world, Text Set 2 is about friends helping friends, and Text Set 3 is about families working together. The essential question in Text Set 1 is, “How are families around the world the same and different?” Students read and listen to texts about this topic, including “Dinner at Alejandro’s” (author not cited), “Maria Celebrates Brazil” (author not cited), Big Red Lollipop by Rukhsana Kahn, and “A Look at Families” (author not cited). Leveled Readers in Unit 1 also connect to the topic such as Music in my Family, Happy New Year! and I’m Down Under (authors not cited). 

• In Unit 3, students read three text sets. Text Set 1 is about ways people help, Text Set 2 is about looking at the sky, and Text Set 3 is about expressing yourself. Text Set 1 has an essential question, “How can people help out their community?”. Texts to build knowledge toward this question include “Lighting Lives” (author not cited), Biblioburro: A True Story from Colombia by Jeanette Winter, and “Landing on Your Feet” (author not cited). 

• In Unit 4, students engage with three text sets about our world. Text Set 1 is about how culture makes us special, Text Set 2 is about how Earth changes, and Text Set 3 is about poems in nature. Text Set 1 builds knowledge around how culture makes people special. Students read and listen to texts to answer the essential question, “How are kids around the world different?” Texts include “My New School” (author not cited), “Happy New Year” (author not cited), Dear Primo: A Letter to My Cousin by Duncan Tonatiuh, and “Games Around the World” (author not cited). Leveled Readers also build knowledge around this topic and include, Sharing Cultures, A New Life in India, and Akita and Carlo (authors not cited). 

• In Unit 5, students engage with three social studies text sets. Text Set 1 is about being a hero. Text Set 2 builds knowledge about being a good citizen, and Text Set 3 builds knowledge about rights and rules. In Text Set 3, students’ knowledge builds to answer the essential question, “why are rules important?” Texts include “Towns Need Rules!” (author not cited), “The Problem with Plastic Bags” (TIME for Kids), A Call to Compost (TIME for Kids), and “Should Students Wear Uniforms? (TIME for Kids). Students read Do People Need Rules? for Leveled Readers, which come at above level, on level, below level, and a text for ELL.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria of Indicator 2b.

Throughout the materials, while students are reading or listening to a text, and after reading or listening to a text, students respond to questions that require them to analyze key ideas and details and/or craft and structure. Texts focus on various skills, including analyzing craft and instruction on identifying text details. 

For most texts (read-aloud texts K–1 and anchor texts Grade 2), students analyze key ideas and details (according to grade-level standards). For example: 

• In Unit 1, Week 5, Lesson 2, students reread “Families Work!” (author not cited) and focus on the topic and relevant details. Students find details with a partner about the topic and complete a graphic organizer while rereading the text. 

• In Unit 4, Text Set 3, Week 1, Lesson 3, students read “Rain Poem” by Elizabeth Coatsworth. Students evaluate information while reading, analyzing key ideas and details through questions such as, “What do you see on the windowsill? What does this tell you about the mouse and the rain? How does the poet feel about the rain?” Later in the lesson, students compare and contrast the details in “April Rain Song” and “Rain Poem” by responding to the question, “What is similar about the way the poets present details in the poems? What is different?”

• In Unit 6, Text Set 1, Week 1, Lesson 1, students read “The Life of a Dollar Bill” (author not cited) and analyze key ideas and details through questions such as, “Why does the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing replace the old bill?” Students then discuss what might happen if there weren’t enough bills for everyone who wants them.

For most texts, students analyze craft and structure (according to grade-level standards). For example: 

• In Unit 1, Week 4, Lessons 3–6, students read the anchor text Help! A Story of Friendship by Holly Keller, and students answer questions about craft, such as “What does the dialogue tell readers about Mouse and Hedgehog? How does the author show Mouse’s feelings after he is rescued?” and “How does dialogue and an illustration show that Mouse is thankful and no longer afraid?”

• In Unit 3, Week 4, Lessons 3–6, students read the anchor text Mr. Putter & Tabby See the Stars by Cynthia Rylant and respond to questions about craft, such as, “How does the repetition of the word she on page 247 help you understand how Tabby feels about the night?” and “Why does the author end the story with a new note on a new day?”

• In Unit 5, Week 1, Lesson 2, students read the Shared Read, “Cesar Chavez” (author not cited). They then reread the text to learn how the author wrote the selection. Questions asked include, “Reread the first paragraph on page 13... What kind of sentence is the first question? What is the question? Who does the author describe immediately after? To whom is he a hero?” Additional questions include, “How does the timeline help you understand Cesar’s work and accomplishments?” and “Why does the author ask a question at the conclusion, the end, of the biography?”

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria of Indicator 2c.

Materials ask students a series of questions after each text that help build knowledge within individual texts and across multiple texts. In Lesson 3 of every week, students compare two texts to integrate knowledge and ideas. When students initially listen to or read the texts, teachers ask questions that support students in comparing the two texts and ask guiding questions to support students with the comparison. 

Most sets of questions and tasks support students’ analysis of knowledge and ideas. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 2, Week 1, Lessons 3–6, students read Baby Bears by Bobbie Kalman.  Students answer questions to build knowledge, such as, “How does the author use photographs and captions to help you understand bear families? What do mothers teach cubs? What did we learn about bears who live in cold places?” and “Why do baby bears need to stay with their mothers?”

• In Unit 4, Weeks 3–4, Lessons 3–6, students read Volcanoes by Sandra Markle. Students answer questions to build knowledge, such as, “Why does the author use a quotation to help you understand a volcanic eruption? What did the farmer’s wife see, hear, feel, and think? How does the author use text features to help you understand the effects of a volcanic eruption?” and “What two shapes are volcanoes?”

• In Unit 5, Week 1, Lesson 1, students read “Cesar Chavez” (author not cited) and build knowledge about the leader through questions such as “What did Cesar Chavez’s family teach him?” What happened to Cesar at school?” and “What happened when the landowners lost money?”

Sets of questions and tasks provide opportunities to analyze across multiple texts as well as within single texts. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 1, Week 2, Lessons 3–6, after reading the anchor text, Big Red Lollipop by Rukhsana Khan, students compare what they learned about families from the anchor text and “Maria Celebrates Brazil” (author not cited). Students compare how the characters interact with their families. Before this, students are asked questions to help them analyze the two texts. While reading Big Red Lollipop, students respond to questions about the family dynamic, such as, “How does the author show the way Rubina feels when Sana and Ami do not understand her problem?” and “When Sana east Rubina’s lollipop, Rubina reacts with anger. She says Sana is greedy. How does Ami react differently?” When reading “Maria Celebrates Brazil,” students respond to questions such as, “Why does Pai say Maria can see Ana anytime?”

• In Unit 2, Week 1, Lesson 5, students compare what they learned about animals and their offspring in the texts Baby Bears by Bobbie Kalman and “Eagles and Eaglets” (author not cited). Students work with a partner to discuss the similarities in how the adult animals help and teach their offspring. 

• In Unit 6, Weeks 1–2, Lesson 5, students compare texts using the prompt, “What is similar about the way information is presented in ‘The Life of a Dollar Bill’ and Money Madness? What is different between the two selections?”

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria of Indicator 2d.

At the end of each week, students engage in a Show Your Knowledge activity. This culminating task requires students to integrate what they learned from the week’s texts, Build Knowledge Anchor Chart, and vocabulary words. Students begin by discussing the topic of the week and reviewing their notes on the topic. Then students engage in an independent or partner writing task about the topic. Each writing task must include text evidence and vocabulary from the week. The writing tasks vary and include picture books, text-to-self connections, and an article. The materials include a Show Your Knowledge Rubric. Rubric information includes how many texts a student should synthesize knowledge from, how many vocabulary words must be included, and whether they should include text evidence. 

Culminating tasks are evident and varied across the year and they are multifaceted, requiring students to demonstrate mastery of several different standards (reading, writing, speaking, listening) at the appropriate grade level, and comprehension and knowledge of a topic or topics through integrated skills (reading, writing, speaking, listening). Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 2, Week 2, Lesson 10, students integrate their knowledge across the text set by making a picture book that shows how young animals become adults.  Students discuss the prompt with a partner, and then students create a picture book that describes how three young animals learn and grow. Students include drawings or photographs of each animal with captions. Students use new vocabulary from the text set and examples from at least three texts.

• In Unit 3, Week 2, Lesson 10, students show how they built knowledge across the text set by writing an article that explains how people help out in their community. After discussing the knowledge from the unit, students write an article that tells how three people they read about in the text set help out in their community. Students must use vocabulary words in their articles and include a title and illustrations. The materials suggest that partners share their articles when finished. 

• In Unit 6, Week 4, Lesson 10, students integrate their knowledge across the text set by writing journal entries describing how they feel about the lessons the characters learned in the myths they read. Students discuss the prompt with a partner, then write a journal entry about three of the myths they read, focusing on the lessons the characters learned. Students use new words they’ve learned from reading and examples from at least three texts. 

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria of Indicator 2e.

Throughout the year, materials include a cohesive, year-long plan for students to achieve grade-level writing proficiency. Students have numerous opportunities to learn and practice various writing skills. In addition to regularly responding to a text with the teacher, a partner, or independently, students also receive explicit instruction in narrative, opinion, and expository writing through one- or two-week process writing lessons; lessons also address editing and revising writing, and students have the opportunity to share and evaluate their writing. The materials include a variety of mini-lessons for the teacher to choose from to meet the needs of students. In addition, there are rubrics and checklists for each type of writing, and students can view student examples as they learn. 

Materials include writing instruction aligned to the standards for the grade level and supports students’ growth in writing skills over the course of the school year. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:  

• According to the Instructional Handbook, students have weekly opportunities to write in response to what they read, engage in research and inquiry, learn about and practice genre writing, and write to multiple sources. 

• Throughout the year, students engage in various one- or two-week process writing tasks. Students learn to analyze an expert model and examine the specific genre characteristics. There are a variety of mini-lessons provided to support them as they engage in planning, drafting, and revision.

• According to the Instructional Handbook, students “write about what they read. They read texts closely and use text evidence to support their ideas and conclusions about the text.” 

• Students receive explicit instruction on the three types of writing; however, most explicit instruction is for expository writing, and one unit focuses on opinion writing. 

• Each unit includes daily writing lessons that follow a similar model of drafting, revising, peer conferencing, editing and proofreading, publishing, presenting, and then evaluating. Examples include:

  • In Unit 3, Week 2, Lesson 6, students use the Literature Anthology text, “Landing on Your Feet” (author not cited), to help them learn how to write a personal narrative. Then in Lesson 7, students use a sequence chart to plan their ideas sequentially. Then in Lessons 8–10, the teacher uses the text to model a writing skill that students implement in their writing. 

  • In Unit 6, Week 1, Lesson 3, students analyze a rubric and use it to evaluate a student model. In Lesson 4, students receive direct instruction on ensuring their expository writing has a central idea. By the end of the unit, students write two expository essays. 

Instructional materials include a variety of well-designed lesson plans, models, and protocols for teachers to implement and monitor students’ writing development. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following: 

• There are a variety of digital tools to support students in writing, such as graphic organizers, student models, checklists for editing and peer conferencing, and videos for writing skills. 

• Students write in response to what they read regularly. There is an Analytical Writing Routine to support students with this. Students begin by analyzing the prompt, then they discuss the prompt and use sentence starters, if appropriate, to create a topic or opinion. Students then go back into the text to find evidence to support their ideas. 

• For each writing process assignment, the materials include a rubric. Teachers are expected to review the rubric and use a student model or an anchor paper to analyze the rubric. Then students use the rubric and student model or anchor paper while drafting, editing, and revising their pieces. Lastly, the teacher uses the rubric to evaluate student writing.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria of Indicator 2f.

Students engage in a Research and Inquiry project in the second lesson of every text set. Each project follows the same five steps. First, the students set a goal and identify sources. Then, students find and record information before they organize and combine information. Finally, they create and present. In the earlier units, there is more direct instruction, such as teaching students how to use keywords in an online search. Each research project occurs over two weeks, and many are done in partnerships. 

Research projects are sequenced across a school year to include a progression of research skills that build to mastery of the grade-level standards. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question.

  • In Unit 2, Week 5, Lesson 2, the teacher models how to generate questions and use formal and/or informal inquiry to gather information, using digital and print resources, including books, websites, magazines, and newspapers.  

  • In Unit 4, Week 5, Lesson 2, the teacher models how to write a list of questions about the water cycle and decide on research questions, then students gather information from books, websites, magazines, and newspapers. 

  • In Unit 5, Week 1, Lesson 2, the teacher models how to generate research questions, then students choose a hero and decide what information they want to know about the hero. 

Materials support teachers in employing projects that develop students’ knowledge on a topic. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 1, Week 1, Lesson 2, students use the research process to create a poster about food brought to America by people from another country. Students decide on a food or dish for their poster and then use keywords in an internet search to find facts and details about the food.  

• In Unit 3, Week 1, Lesson 2, students use the research process to create a history picture book. Students complete research on an important person and the history of their town or state over two weeks. 

• In Unit 5, Week 3, Lesson 2, students work with a partner to research what a certain type of government leader does in office. Students can choose a city mayor, state governor, or US president. 

Materials include shared research projects to help develop students’ research skills. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Participate in shared research and writing projects (e.g., read a number of books on a single topic to produce a report; record science observations).

  • In Unit 1, Week 5, Lesson 2, students use the research process to conduct an interview. The teacher first explains what an interview is and discusses the importance of taking careful notes to record the answers. Then the teacher supports partners through each step in the research process. 

  • In Unit 3, Week 3, Lesson 2, students use the research process to write a report about seasonal weather. Students spend two weeks researching. At the start, the teacher models how to use keywords when searching for information. Students work with partners to complete the project. 

  • In Unit 5, Week 5, Lesson 2, students use the research process to make a recycling chart. They work with a partner to find information about what items in their home can be recycled. The teacher gives the students a Research Roadmap as a guide.