2nd Grade - Gateway 3

The instructional materials for Zearn Grade 2 meet the expectation of the underlying design of the materials to distinguish between problems and exercises.

Every lesson includes problems and exercises.

• Problems are included in Teacher-Led Instruction during Small Group Lessons and Whole Group Word Problems.
• Exercises are built into the Teacher-Led Instruction during Whole Group Fluency and Assessment, which can be found in most lessons.
• Independent Digital Lessons include a variety of activities for students to engage with exercises. During Number Gym students solve exercises to build fluency.
• Optional Homework consists of problems and exercises, depending on the content of the mission and/or lesson.

The instructional materials for Zearn Grade 2 meet the expectation the design of the assignments is not haphazard, and the exercises are given in intentional sequences.

• The sequence of topics within each mission is intentional, going from working with a variety of concrete and pictorial representations to more abstract work.
• Progressions are clear, as in focusing on adding and subtracting with 100 before adding and subtracting within 1000.
• Concepts are developed in Teacher-Led Instruction. These may be extended into Independent Digital Lessons.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the expectation that there is a variety in what students are asked to produce. Students are asked to produce a variety of products in digital and written form.

Students are asked to demonstrate:

• Multiple representations through models, arrays, number lines, equations, etc.;
• Justification of their thinking on Optional Problem Sets and Assessments;
• Completion of timed fluency activities in Teacher-Led Instruction Whole Group Fluency and Independent Digital Lessons;
• During Independent Digital Lessons students solve problems using virtual manipulatives.

For example, in Mission 3, Teacher-Led Instruction Lesson 15, students describe and explain why their solutions demonstrate their understanding, using words, pictures or numbers. The Independent Digital Lesson 15 also encourages students to engage with material to use manipulatives and drawing.

The instructional materials reviewed for Zearn Grade 2 meet the expectation that manipulatives are faithful representations of the mathematical objects they represent and are appropriately connected to written methods. Manipulatives are embedded in both Independent Digital Lessons and Teacher-Led Instruction to represent mathematical ideas and build conceptual understanding. Examples include place value disks, Unifix cubes, and craft sticks. They are often connected to written representations.

For example, in Mission 4, Independent Digital Lesson 9 Learning Lab, students use place-value charts to add 2 two-digit numbers and to add a two-digit number and a three-digit number. The students take notes in their student workbook and model the equations using place-value charts.

The instructional materials reviewed for Zearn Grade 2 meet the expectation of supporting teachers in planning and providing effective learning experiences through quality questions.

The teacher notes within the Teacher-Led Instruction Small Group Lessons provide teachers with guiding questions to elicit student understanding and discourse to allow student thinking to be visible. Discussion questions provide a context for students to communicate generalizations and patterns and to draw conclusions. Debriefing Questions are located at the end of each lesson that provide teachers with quality questions that check for the students' understanding of concepts.

In some lessons, questions are sequenced in such a way as to build student understanding of the mathematics. For example:

• In Mission 7, Teacher-Led Instruction, Lesson 10, teachers are prompted to ask:
  • “With your partner show 50 cents in two ways.”
  • “Turn and talk with a partner group near you. How did you make 50 cents?”
  • “If we were giving someone 50 cents, which combination of coins do you think they would rather have?”
• In Mission 4, Teacher-Led Instruction, Lesson 24, teachers are prompted to ask:
  • “What number should I model?”
  • “Turn and talk. Why do I only need to model 122 and not 80?”
  • “Can I subtract zero ones from two ones?”
  • “I need more tens. What should I do? Turn and talk.”

The instructional materials reviewed for Zearn Grade 2 meet the expectation of materials that include a teacher’s edition with annotations and suggestions on how to present the content in the student material.

The teacher materials are found in links within Teacher-Led Instruction and include Whole Group Fluency, Small Group Lessons, and Whole Group Word Problems. Guidance is provided to teachers on multiple means of engagement, representation, action/expression, and vocabulary support. On the homepage for each Mission, there is a link to the entire Engage NY program upon which Zearn is based. This is where teachers can find additional information on how to use the materials.

Digital materials are a significant part of the learning in Zearn. The Independent Digital Lessons are student-facing lessons aligned to the Teacher-Led Instruction with an emphasis on mastering fluency and providing different representations of the concepts. The Lessons are comprised of four components: fluency, guided practice, independent practice, and bonus (in applicable lessons).

The Help Tab on the home page contains an “Implementation Resources” tab that provides help for instruction. The Implementation Resources section contains a “Getting Started Checklist,” “Zearn Recommended Schedule,” and “Classroom Anchor Charts.” These resources explain how to use the digital and print materials together.

The instructional materials reviewed for Zearn Grade 2 partially meet the expectation that materials provide strategies for gathering information about students' prior knowledge within and across grade levels.

In Small Group Lessons the materials note where the content is building on from prior knowledge, whether it be within the grade or from previous grades. This information, as well as regular reports from Independent Digital Lessons, can be utilized as students begin the program and progress toward mastery for each Mission. Informal observation is included in the teacher notes for a lesson and is also used to gather information regarding a student’s prior knowledge. During Small Group Lessons students are regularly asked to comment and share with each other and the whole group by responding to question prompts from the teacher. Information from the daily Exit Tickets that students complete give the teacher an opportunity to check for prior knowledge, review, and provide feedback.

"Independent Digital Lessons include embedded remediation throughout that address gaps in knowledge from both the current and prior grade levels; all students begin on the first Mission of their grade and progress through their grade level sequence at their own pace.", according to page 6 of Zearn Math's Teaching and Learning Approach.

The Zearn Grade 2 instructional materials meet expectations for ongoing review and practice, with feedback, for students in learning both concepts and skills.

The materials provide many opportunities for review and practice. Teacher-Led Instruction and Independent Digital Lessons include:

• A fluency section to practice and review what has been learned.
• Guided instruction for students to practice new concepts or skills.

The Independent Digital Lessons provide instant feedback to students if they get a problem right or wrong. When a student misses a problem they are given a second chance to get the problem correct. If their second attempt is still wrong, the answer is provided to the student. Students also have a digital notebook which is reviewed by teachers.

In Teacher-Led Instruction, students work with partners to share feedback regarding the instruction for the day.

The materials reviewed for Zearn Grade 2 meet the expectation of assessments clearly denoting standards that are being emphasized. Summative assessments are offered in the middle and at the end of each Mission. Each assessment is followed by a rubric indicating the standards assessed and the progressive indicators for mastery.

For Independent Digital Lessons, formative assessments are offered throughout the online lessons, with reports sent to the classroom teacher on each student’s progress towards mastering the standards.

The materials reviewed for Zearn Grade 2 meet the expectation of assessments including aligned rubrics and scoring guidelines that provide sufficient guidance to teachers for interpreting student performance and suggestions for follow-up. Each assessment includes a 4-step rubric indicating the standards assessed and the criteria and indicators for mastery. A Progression Toward Mastery is provided to describe steps that illuminate the gradually increasing understandings that students develop on their way to proficiency. This rubric provides a 4-step process that goes from 1, which shows “little evidence of reasoning without a correct answer,” to a 4, which is “evidence of solid reasoning with a correct answer.” The assessment also includes exemplars of student work.

Although there are no rubrics for activities in the Independent Digital Lessons, the teacher can access information on the digital component of the system at any time. In addition, an alert is triggered when a student struggles repeatedly on the same concept.

The materials reviewed for Zearn Grade 2 meet the expectations for this indicator by including strategies to help teachers sequence and scaffold lessons.

• There is guidance provided in the Curriculum Map to clarify the intended sequence of materials to teachers. The Curriculum Map can be downloaded from the Curriculum Overview.
• A weekly schedule provides suggestions for teachers on how to best modify the sequence of lessons to make the content accessible to all learners. The “Recommended Weekly Schedule,” located on page 18 of Zearn Math’s Teaching & Learning Approach, recommends a flex day for day 5 with suggestions on how to adjust groups and instruction based on the needs of the students.
• There are notes in the Teacher-Led Instruction sections of Whole Group Fluency, Small Group Lessons, and Whole Group Word Problems that provide strategies for the teacher to scaffold the content for all learners.

The materials reviewed for Zearn Grade 2 meet the expectations for this indicator by including strategies for meeting the needs of a range of learners.

• The notes in the margin for the Universal Design for Learning Framework suggest ways to support students in engagement, representations, and action and expression of the content. These adaptations support a wide range of learners and help teachers make materials accessible.
• There is a general list of strategies labeled, “Special Cases of Differentiation” in the “Zearn Math’s Teaching & Learning Approach” document. The strategies listed for struggling students on page 22 include, Whole Group Supports, Small Group Supports, and Independent Digital Lesson Supports. Strategies include: “During Whole Group Word Problem, adjust the difficulty of the problem by offering different number choices or context.”, "Small Group Supports, Allow students to work with concrete manipulatives to model and explain thinking", "Independent Digital Lesson Supports, Ensure students are familiar with the video player in Independent Digital Lesson that can be paused and rewound so students can view the video again." .
• There are notes in the Teacher-Led Instruction sections of Whole Group Fluency, Small Group Lessons, and Whole Group Word Problems that provide strategies for the teacher in meeting the needs of a range of learners.

The materials reviewed for Zearn Grade 2 meet the expectations for this indicator by including support for the English language learner (ELL) and other special populations in order for them to actively participate in learning mathematics.

Within Small Group Lessons, there are notes on Multiple Means of Engagement, Representation and/or Action/Expression that provide timely and direct suggestions for meeting the needs of ELL and special population students. Notes include sentence starters, physical responses, and vocabulary support.

There is a general list of strategies labeled, “Special Cases of Differentiation” in the “Zearn Math’s Teaching & Learning Approach” document. Guidance is provided in the following categories: Whole Group Supports, Small Group Supports, and Independent Digital Lesson Supports. The strategies listed for English Language Learners on page 19 include, “Provide frequent checks for understanding and encourage direct feedback from peers.”, “Allow students to work with concrete manipulatives to model and explain their thinking.”, "Seat students so ELLs work with a variety of learners.", "Ensure students are familiar with the audio buttons in each Independent Digital Lesson that can read text aloud to students.".

The instructional materials reviewed for Zearn Grade 2 meet the expectations of providing opportunities for advanced students to investigate mathematics content at greater depth.

• In Teacher-Led Instruction, some Whole Group Word Problems include extensions.
• In Small Group Lessons, Notes on specific problems to use, Multiple Means of Engagement, Representation and/or Action/Expression, sometimes give teachers suggestions about meeting the needs of advanced students.
• Digital Bonuses are provided in some Missions as Enrichment for students who have met their weekly goals.
• There is a general list of strategies labeled, “Special Cases of Differentiation” in the “Zearn Math’s Teaching & Learning Approach” document. Guidance is provided in the following categories: Whole Group Opportunities, Small Group Opportunities, and Independent Digital Lesson Opportunities. The strategies listed for Enrichment on page 21 include, "Encourage students to solve problems in more than one way or understand someone else's reasoning.", "Adjust the difficulty of problems by changing the numbers or the context.", and "Encourage students to progress beyond the recommended four Independent Digital Lessons each week; students could progress deeper in on-grade level content or complete all previous Independent Digital Lessons in prior grades through their My Stuff page.".

The instructional materials reviewed for Zearn Grade 2 meet the expectations for this indicator by providing a balanced portrayal of various demographic and personal characteristics.

• The names and situations in the story problems represent a variety of cultural groups.
• The Teacher-Led Instruction, Whole Group Word Problems include real-world situations that would appeal to a variety of cultural and gender groups.
• There is a balanced approach to the use of gender identification.
• The Independent Digital Lessons represent a variety of cultural groups.