2nd Grade - Gateway 3

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the expectations that materials are well-designed and take into account effective lesson structure and pacing.

The materials are designed to immerse students in all areas of the standards and provide explicit lesson structure with embedded teacher direction as well as recommendations for supporting all learners. The Teacher Guides clearly instruct the teacher throughout each lesson on its implementation before, during, and after the readings and activities, as well as recommendations for scaffolded support throughout.

The materials for K-2 include two strands of instruction; Skills and Knowledge Domains. The program guide states, “The Skills Strand provides comprehensive instruction in foundational reading skills, such as phonological awareness, phonics, word recognition, language skills (including conventions of English, spelling, and grammar), reading comprehension, and writing instruction. The Knowledge Strand teaches background knowledge, comprehension, vocabulary, analysis of complex text, and speaking and listening.”

Each strand is designed for a 60-minute lesson totaling 120 minutes of instruction daily.

Every lesson is effectively broken down into time frames for coverage of material. At the beginning of each lesson there is a “Lesson at a Glance” that maps out the skill being covered, grouping suggestions for students, the time each skill section should take, and the materials that will be needed.

For example, in the Knowledge Strand of Domain 4, the Lesson 3 at a Glance shows the 60 minute lesson breakdown as “Introducing the Read Aloud” (10 minutes), “Read Aloud” (30 minutes), and “Application” (20 minutes). An example of this in the Skills Strand from Unit 3 shows the 60 minute Lesson 11 Foundational Skill warm-up, using a Board Sort (10 minutes), Spelling Trees (15 minutes), and Practice Skills (10 minutes). Next is reading, with five minutes to introduce the story and 15 minutes for the close read. Then, there is Language (a spelling introduction) for five minutes.

The Contents page of each unit states the topic of each lesson, the skills to be addressed in that lesson (reading, writing, speaking/listening, language, etc.), and the time allotted for each.

Materials include a curriculum map located in the Program Guide that tracks the “Knowledge Domains” that students will be working in through each grade. In each unit, students are immersed in a domain topic that centers on science, social studies, or literature. The Program Guide states, “In the Knowledge Strand, students spend several weeks at a time learning about a topic in science, social studies, history, literature, etc.”

Also included within the materials is a research guide for the Skills Strand available as an “Online companion to the Program Guide” that details the rationale for its approach to decoding/encoding, letter/sound correspondences, systematic phonics, and focus on phonemes.

Out of the 12 Domains (units) in grade 2, three are based in science, seven in social studies, and two in literature. The Skills Strands contain decodable texts, and all six units contain literary stories with controlled text.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet expectations that the student resources include ample review and practice resources, clear directions and explanation, and correct labeling of reference aids (e.g., visuals, maps, etc.).

Materials include but are not limited to photos, captions, glossaries, charts, diagrams, illustrations, sentence strips, graphic organizers, rubrics, digital images, labeled supports, activity pages, timing reminders, tiered vocabulary charts, notes to teachers, image cards, chaining charts, writing prompts and journals.

In Knowledge Domain 4, Lesson 3, the Teacher Guide states, “Show image 3A-4: Demeter searching for Persephone. How does Demeter feel when she realizes Persephone is missing, and how do you know?”

Skills Unit 1, Lesson 12 states, “Copy the sentences for the Sentence Capitalization and Punctuation activity (Digital Component 12.1) on to the board/chart paper or prepare to display the digital version.”

Teacher and student resources include clear directions. Activities that are completed with teacher guidance have directions included throughout the lessons. Suggestions for grouping, additional supports, challenge ideas, and direct instruction are clearly defined, explained, and embedded throughout. Each lesson provides the ‘primary focus’ and 'advance preparation’ of the lesson, the ‘formative assessment(s),’ ‘lesson at a glance,’ ‘recommendations for universal access,’ and a ‘check for understanding’ section. Activity pages correspond correctly to the Teacher Guide and make finding information seamless and efficient.

An Additional Support example from Skills Unit 3, Lesson 11 states, “Make a copy of the Swim to the Finish game board (Activity Page TR 11.1) for each group of up to four students. Copy and cut out one set of Swim to the Finish word cards (Activity Page TR 11.2) for each group.”

The Primary Focus in Lesson 3 of Knowledge Domain 1 states, “Students will compare and contrast aspects of “The Fisherman and His Wife” and “The Emperor’s New Clothes.”

Reference aids including vocabulary charts, lessons at a glance, visual resources such as images, illustrations, and digitally presented graphics, correlating activity pages, and rubrics are clearly and correctly labeled throughout the Teacher Guide, activity book, and image cards. For example;

• The formative assessment for Knowledge Domain 7, Lesson 3 provides corresponding Activity Book page 3.1 “Layers of the Earth: Students will color code and label the layers of the earth.”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the expectations for materials including publisher-produced alignment documentation of the standards addressed by specific questions, tasks, and assessment items.

Alignment to the CCSS is documented in multiple places throughout the curriculum. The alignment chart for the CCSS standards are documented in the K-2 Program Guide and in the contents pages of each unit. At the beginning of every lesson under ‘Primary Focus of the lesson” the standards being addressed are clearly stated as well as within the formative assessments for what is being measured. The same is true for the unit assessments in which the standards being measured are also found under the “primary focus” and formative assessments given through the activity pages. Within the sidebars of the Teacher Guide there are standards listed within the scaffolding of the lesson for “emerging/expanding/extending” the learning.

For example, the Primary Focus in Knowledge Domain 4, Lesson 4 states, “Reading: Students will evaluate what “Arachne the Weaver” explains about nature and the lesson it teaches. [RL.2.2; ELD.PI.2.6] Language: Students will demonstrate an understanding of the Tier 2 word flattered and generate related words. [L.2.5; ELD.PI.2.12b]

An example of alignment provided for formative assessments can be seen in Skills Unit 1, Lesson 13, “Suffix Spelling Patterns [RF.2.3a,d; L.2.2d; ELD.PIII.Phonics and Word Recognition] Anecdotal Reading Record 'The Chicken Nugget' (Group 1) [RF.2.4a–c; ELD.PIII.Fluency]”

An example of standards listed within the scaffolding sidebars in Knowledge Domain 4, Lesson 3, “Writing (ELD.PI.2.10): Emerging—Have students dictate facts using familiar vocabulary to a teacher to be recorded; Expanding—Have students write phrases using familiar vocabulary to a peer to be recorded; Bridging—Have students independently write facts using familiar vocabulary."

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria for materials containing teacher editions with ample and useful annotations and suggestions on how to present the content in the student edition and in the ancillary materials. Materials include teacher guidance for the use of embedded technology to support and enhance student learning. Materials provide support for instructional planning in multiple ways.

The Teacher Guide gives clear annotations and suggestions on how to present content. At the beginning a unit, teachers are encouraged to read the introduction, alignment chart, assessments, and to review the pausing points for the lessons. At the beginning of each lesson, teachers are encouraged to use the Lesson at a Glance to review the primary focus and formative assessments. There is also an Advance Preparation section included in the Universal Access section that helps to support teachers. Throughout the lessons, sidebars are included to support teachers in how to present materials to both support and challenge student learning.

There are also Additional Support activities within and/or at the end of lessons that provide assessment and remediation for skills lessons. Teachers are directed to consider whether additional activities in the Assessment and Remediation Guide or Decoding and Encoding Supplement should be utilized for students who may need additional support. Teachers are also instructed to review Language Studio content for English Language Learner students.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria for materials containing a teacher’s edition that contains full, adult-level explanations and examples of the more advanced literacy concepts so that teachers can improve their own knowledge of the subject, as necessary. The introduction section of each Teacher Guide fully explains the primary purpose and goals of the unit including readers, writing, vocabulary, and beginning-of-year assessments where applicable. The Teacher Guide for the Skills Strand also includes guidance for how to implement basic skill instruction. There are also teacher resources at the end of each unit that assist with the implementation and direct instruction of the lessons including, but not limited to, dialogue starters, rubrics, checklists, image cards, activity book answer keys, and code charts. Teacher guidance throughout every step of the lesson is clear and explicit. Within Unit 1 there are also appendices that offer understanding of more advanced literacy concepts for teachers to improve their knowledge of the subject, although the scripted explanations for the students' understanding is clear.

An example in the Skills Strand Teacher Guide for Unit 2 states, “These lessons are carefully crafted to focus students on the text itself and precisely what meanings can be derived from close examination of said text. If you wish to read more about close reading or compose some close reading lessons of your own, please visit this web site: achievethecore.org.”

Another example in the introduction in Skills Unit 2 states, “When introducing this word, be sure to draw attention to the parts read (and spelled) just as students would expect, based on what they have learned so far. Also, identify the tricky parts of the word.”

Appendix A in the Unit 1 Skills Strand offers information about the program and philosophy behind its design. For example, the appendix states, “CKLA does place the initial emphasis on reading regular words. But that does not mean high-frequency sight words are not being learned. In fact, as noted above, many sight words are completely regular and become decodable as students learn letter-sound correspondences. This means that CKLA is a very effective program for teaching sight words.”

Another example from Skills Unit 1 Appendix A states, “A much better strategy is to introduce the English spelling code explicitly, beginning with the easiest, least ambiguous, and most frequently used parts of the code and then adding complexity gradually. That is the central strategy on which this program is based.”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria for materials containing a teacher’s edition that explains the role of the specific ELA/literacy standards in the context of the overall curriculum. The Program Guide for grades K-2 contains explicit instruction on the role of the standards in the overall curriculum. It details the qualitative and quantitative text complexity of each unit, the balance of literary and informational texts, the basis of foundational skill instruction, the complexity and task demands of units, as well as the language demands on student understanding by topics and grade. The appendices in Unit 1 also provide the Scope and Sequence of Foundational Skills.

The Program Guide states, “The knowledge sequence, which underpins the Knowledge Strand, introduces consecutively more complex topics through its domains. Knowledge domains build within and across grade levels to build a broad foundation of knowledge so that as students reach the upper elementary grades, they already possess the foundation to understand increasingly complex texts.”

Knowledge Demands are explained in the Program Guide, stating, “Both the length and structure of texts increase in complexity during K–2. Students start Skills instruction with simple Big Books, before progressing to increasingly long decodable Readers.”

The Program Guide also states, "CKLA CA is designed to provide a steady gradient of text complexity and task demand as students progress through the grades. For example, students in Kindergarten will focus mostly on literal understanding of text, while by Grade 2 inferential and evaluative questions are core to both the Knowledge and Skills Strands. Similarly, the writing demands move from simple phrase or one-word answers to questions, to multi-paragraph essays and writing over multiple sittings and lessons.”

Also, the materials explain the purpose behind the quantitative text complexity providing decodable and above grade-level text; “One of the unique features of CKLA CA is the intensity of its use of read-aloud text, because of the compelling research about the difference between listening and reading comprehension throughout elementary grade levels.”

The Program Guide also states, “By Grade 2, students are encountering much less familiar literary topics in the Knowledge Strand. Greek myths require an understanding of a different context and time, as well as surrounding background knowledge. The experiences of the characters vary wildly from students’ own. The morals are often complex. Within Skills, students are reading about much more sophisticated themes.”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria for materials containing explanations of the instructional approaches of the program and identification of the research-based strategies. A Research Guide: The CKLA CA Curriculum: Links to Research on Teaching and Learning serves as a companion to the CKLA CA Program Guide: K–2. The guide discusses the research in English Language Arts instruction including, but not limited to, print and phonological awareness, phonics and word recognition, reading fluency, prosody, vocabulary, and background knowledge.

The Program Guide also includes footnotes to research as they are explaining their educational approaches. Also, during the English Language Learner section of the Program guide, teachers are provided with a Research Base: Why this Matters Explanation for instructional approaches.

The Appendices in Skills Unit 1 also provide insight into the research behind and instructional approaches for phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, and writing.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria for materials regularly and systematically offering assessment opportunities that genuinely measure student progress. Assessments include Checks for Understanding, Formative Assessments, Content and Mid-Unit Assessments, and Unit Placement and Assessments Benchmark Tests. Some are designed to be held weekly and others are at the middle and/or end of a unit. Many assessments include instruction for implementation as well as analysis of errors, charts, and records for marking student progress.

Checks for Understanding are designed to allow teachers to amend instruction within the context of the lesson. Formative assessments range from in-the-moment adaption to opportunities for individual, small group, and whole class reteach and review. Checks for Understanding and Formative Assessments also provide information to decide whether additional supports and practice (found at the end of the lesson and in the additional guides) are appropriate. Mid-unit, end-of-unit, and benchmark assessments should be used to direct remediation, Pausing Point days, and to enhance and/or differentiate instruction.

The Program Guide states, “There is a range of formal assessment opportunities found within units, including but not limited to: Spelling Assessments, Word Recognition Assessments, Story Comprehension Assessments, [and] Fluency Assessments.”

Within the Skills Strand, students complete assessments throughout the year, which may drive differentiation based on student performance. The Program Guide states, “Flow charts and placement planning and tracking sheets are provided with the benchmark assessments to support teacher recording of student standard and progress.”

Ongoing tracking for student progress includes student progress records and anecdotal reading records.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria for assessments clearly denoting which standards are being emphasized. There are multiple ways that students are assessed throughout each unit, including formative assessments, mid-unit assessments, pausing points, and end-unit assessments. Within each form of assessment, it is clear what standards are being addressed.

Examples of formative assessments and the standards that are being emphasized in them are as follows:

• In Skills Unit 3, Lesson 20, “Students will read one- and two-syllable words with the sound/ spelling /aw/ > ‘augh,’ and will add words to the /aw/ Spelling Tree that feature /aw/ > ‘aw,’ ‘au,’ and ‘augh.’ [RF.2.3b; ELD.PIII.Phonics and Word Recognition]”
• Formative Assessments in each Knowledge Domain Lesson also contain the standards that are being emphasized. For example:
  • Knowledge Domain Unit 4, Lesson 4 states, “What’s the Lesson? Students will write about the lesson they believe Arachne learns in the myth. [RL.2.2; ELD.PI.2.6]”
  • Knowledge Domain Unit 12, Lesson 4 formative assessment states, “Students will write a free verse poem in which they express an opinion about Mary McLeod Bethune’s achievements. [W.2.1; ELD.PI.2.10]”
• Skills Unit 1, Lesson Overview states, “Taking this time to assess students is crucial to ensure their success as readers. The assessments will help you determine which students have the knowledge and skills they need to profit from Grade 2 Skills instruction and which students need to be regrouped to an earlier point in the Skills program.”

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria for assessments providing sufficient guidance to teachers for interpreting student performance and suggestions for follow up.

Assessment keys are provided, as well as multiple suggestions and protocols for teachers to provide feedback such as:

• Teacher questioning to check for misconceptions.
• Wrap-Up questions and Checks for Understanding to check for comprehension.
• Student work to monitor students’ mastery of skills.
• Peer-to-peer feedback to provide immediate feedback on student performance.

There are a number of other tools that support teachers in providing specific feedback to students and monitoring and tracking student progress over time.

Portfolios and journals also allow for feedback. The Program Guide states, “There are a number of other tools that support teachers in providing specific feedback to students and monitoring and tracking student progress over time. These tools can be used broadly and flexibly across grades or very specifically for targeted instruction purposes.”

Knowledge Domain 1, Assessment Unit states, “Taking this time to assess students is crucial to ensure their success as readers. The assessments will help you determine which students have the knowledge and skills they need to profit from Grade 2 skills instruction and which students need to be regrouped to an earlier point in the Skills program”

The Domain 4 Pausing Point states, “You should pause here and spend two days reviewing, reinforcing, or extending the material taught thus far. You may have students do any combination of the activities listed in this section, but it is highly recommended you use the Mid-Domain Assessment to assess students’ knowledge of Greek myths.”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria for including routines and guidance that point out opportunities to monitor student progress.

Each lesson includes a formative assessment that is highlighted at the start of the lesson. These assessments are used to track student mastery of objectives.

For example, in Knowledge Domain 7, Lesson, 4, the formative assessment states, “Venn Diagram: Students will compare and contrast volcanoes and geysers. [RI.1.3; ELD.PI.1.6]”

There are also Checks for Understanding throughout the lessons to be used by the teacher to determine if students are ready to move on to the next part of the lesson. The Check for Understanding questions are meant for quick formative assessments that happen during instruction to assess if students have mastered the key content and skills in the lesson.

In Knowledge Domain 4, Lesson 5 an example of Check for Understanding is, “Recall: Complete the row describing “Arachne the Weaver” by prompting students with the following questions: Which Greek god or goddess is a character in the myth “Arachne the Weaver?” (Athena) What from nature does the myth explain? (how the first spider was created) What lesson does this myth teach? (to not be too proud or boastful)”

The Skills Strand also uses observational student records to track student performance. For example, Skills Unit 3, Lesson 19 states, “Call on a different student to answer each question. Note student performance in the Discussion Questions Observation Record, noting whether the question answered was literal, inferential, or evaluative, and whether the student answered in a complete sentence and/or cited evidence from the text.”

Instructional materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria for materials providing teachers with strategies for meeting the needs of a range of learners so the content is accessible to all learners and supports them in meeting or exceeding the grade-level standards. Materials provide modeling, formative assessments, language and visual supports, and background knowledge in each lesson to ensure student understanding. Materials also provide universal access recommendations within the lessons as well as an “Assessment and Remediation Guide” for students who need review, re-teaching and/or remediation of foundational and comprehension skills.

Materials include sidebar notes that include suggestions for emerging, expanding, and bridging students. The sidebars also include access, support, and challenge notes that provide strategies for meeting the needs of a range of learners.

Examples of sidebar strategies seen in Knowledge Domain Unit 5, Lesson 8 are:

• “Support: Have a few students provide examples of a controversy they experienced.”
• “Challenge: Have students explain why enslaved Africans, attempting to gain their freedom, would have to encode messages in songs.”
• “Emerging: Have students use one or two academic words when discussing the economy."
• "Expanding: Have students use three or four academic words when discussing the economy."
• "Bridging: Have students use five or more academic words when discussing the economy.”

Universal Access instruction can be found in the Advance Preparation section of each lesson. For example, in Knowledge Domain Unit 1, Lesson 5, the Universal Access recommendation states, “Students will hear about several U.S. landmarks in this read aloud, including the Great Lakes, Rocky Mountains, Appalachian Mountains, Mississippi River, and Grand Canyon. You may wish to highlight these landmarks on a U.S. map.”

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria for regularly providing all students, including those who read, write, speak, or listen below grade level or in a language other than English with extensive opportunities to work with grade-level text and meet or exceed grade-level standards. All students engage with grade-level text. Side bar supports are provided to ensure that students are supported during lessons. The Universal Access for each lesson provides additional supports for students who read, write, speak or listen below grade level. Lessons also include Pausing Points which provide additional instruction on new skills at the end of each unit for small group work, reteaching, and differentiated instruction. Assessment and Remediation Guide/Encoding and Decoding Supplements can be used for additional lessons that support students who need extra practice or remediation on foundational skills and comprehension.

Materials include a Language Studio resource which provides lessons that focus on reading, writing, listening, speaking, vocabulary, and grammar to advance English Language Learner proficiency levels. The activities in Language Studio help teachers guide students in constructing meaning through interaction with the text and with each other. Such instruction supports ELs of all proficiency levels by helping them access grade-level content knowledge, make meaning, and develop academic English and effective expression across the disciplines.

Instructional materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria for regularly including extensions and/or more advanced opportunities for students who read, write, speak, or listen above grade level. Materials provide multiple opportunities for challenge and enrichment, including:

Challenge sidebars throughout the lesson provide stretching questions and activities. For example, Knowledge Domain 9, Lesson 3 states, “Have students record the information from the Class North and South T-Chart on Activity Page 3.1.” And a Domain 9, Lesson 7 Challenge states, “Why might President Lincoln have said 'easier said than done' after the first battle of the Civil War?” Challenges are also in the Skills Strand as seen in Unit 1, Lesson 2: “Students who participated in Core Knowledge Language Arts in Grade 1 should remember emperors from Early American Civilizations. Ask students what they remember about emperors from that domain.”

Pausing Point days include additional activities that can extend and enhance student learning. Knowledge Domain 9, Pausing Point states, “You should pause here and spend two days reviewing, reinforcing, or extending the material taught so far. You may have students do any combination of the activities listed below, but it is highly recommended that you use the Mid-Domain Assessment to assess students’ knowledge of plants, their parts, and their life cycles. The other activities may be done in any order. You may also choose to do an activity with the whole class or with a small group of students who would benefit from the particular activity.”

Instructional materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria for providing opportunities for teachers to use a variety of grouping strategies. Students are grouped in partners, small groups, and as a whole class. Every lesson contains a “Lesson at a Glance” which states the grouping size for each activity and provide for differing partner opportunities based on need or structure of the lesson.

The lessons also provide opportunities for students to collaborate and communicate about the topic and tasks at hand. The Program Guide states, “The wide range of whole-class tasks, but also the multiple opportunities for small group and partner work, are designed to help students become productive collaborators.”

There are also opportunities for peers to work together and assist in their learning, often using Think-Pair-Shares. The Program Guide states, “Peer-review activities involve students asking each other questions and providing feedback to each other that strengthens their knowledge. Peer review is conducted in one-on-one, small group, or full class discussions.”