The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria for anchor texts (including read aloud texts in K-2 and shared reading texts in Grade 2 used to build knowledge and vocabulary) are of publishable quality and worthy of especially careful reading/listening and consider a range of student interests.

Throughout the Grade 1 materials, the anchor texts included are all published or of publishable quality.  Each module contains three weeks of instruction focused around a text set, which consists of about eight texts centered around the module topic. Anchor texts are of various genres. They contain colorful photographs and/or vibrant illustrations, which match the words in the texts. The texts contain rich academic vocabulary and help students analyze language and author’s craft. Texts are engaging and often relatable in content. All the texts are appropriate for Grade 1 students. 

Examples of anchor texts that are of publishable quality, worthy of careful reading and listening, and consider a range of student interests include: 

• In Module 1, students listen to You Will Be My Friend! by Peter Brown, which is a published fantasy text and a New York Times bestseller. It has rich illustrations and speech bubbles with mixed-media artwork. It follows a chronological order and sends the message about the importance of setting goals and overcoming difficulties.
• In Module 4, students listen to A Big Guy Took My Ball by Mo Willems, which is a published text that is vibrant with funny illustrations. It contains silly characters, an abundance of dialogue, and a relatable story with a problem and solution. 
• In Module 5, students listen to Blackout by John Rocco, which is a published realistic fiction text told in a graphic novel format that was named a 2012 Caldecott Honor Book. The plot has several layers of meaning, though the text and pictures support students in using evidence to make inferences about the meaning of the text. 
• In Module 8, students listen to My Name is Gabriela by Monica Brown, which is a published biography about Gabriela Mistral, who is the first Latino Nobel Prize winner. 
• In Module 11, students listen to Pele, King of Soccer by Monica Brown which is a published biography about a famous soccer player. Text features are present and are used to call attention to important events in his life. It also includes different types of text including curved text, italicized text, and colored text to support the meaning of vocabulary words. It also contains vibrant, powerful illustrations that support students understanding.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria for materials reflecting the distribution of text types and genres required by the standards at each grade level.

Throughout the Grade 1 materials, there is a mix of informational and literary texts throughout each module. While literary and informational texts are present in each module with the exception of Module 11, which is all informational texts and Module 12, which is all literary texts, each of the other nine modules lean heavily towards literary or information. Modules 1, 6, 8, and 9 include primarily literary texts, and Modules 2, 3, 5, and 7 include primarily informational. Module 4 has an equal distribution of text types. Genre types include art, biographies, drama, fables, fairy tales, folktales, opinion pieces, poetry, social studies text, procedural text, narrative nonfiction, songs, videos, fantasy, and realistic fiction. 

Specific examples of literary texts in the program include:

• Module 1: Students listen to Big Dilly’s Tale by Gail Carson Levine, which is a fairytale version of "The Ugly Duckling".
• Module 2: Students listen to Dan Had a Plan by Wong Herbert Yee, which is a fictional text about communities. 
• Module 3:  Students listen to Blue Bird and Coyote by James Bruchac, which is a folktale about gratitude and patience. 
• Module 4: Students listen to A Big Guy Took My Ball by Mo Willems, which is a fictional story about how one character is upset when another character takes her ball. This book emphasizes the importance of solving problems in a timely manner. 
• Module 5: Students listen to Blackout by John Rocco, which is a realistic fiction graphic novel about a family that comes to appreciate spending time together during a blackout. 
• Module 6: Students listen to Monument City by Jerdine Nolen, which is a drama about national holidays, monuments, and symbols. 
• Module 7: Students listen to Sam & Dave Dig a Hole by Mac Barnett, which is a fantasy about buried treasure. 
• Module 8: Students listen to Red Knit Cap Girl and the Reading Tree by Naoko Stoop, which is a fantasy about a girl and animal who learn an important lesson. 
• Module 9: Students listen toThe Talking Vegetables by Won-Ldy Paye and Margaret H. Lippert, which is a folktale about a spider who learns lessons about the community. 
• Module 10: Students listen to Young Frank Architect by Frank Viva, which is a realistic fiction text about thinking in new ways. 

Specific examples of informational texts in the program include:

• Module 1: Students listen to A Kid's Guide to Friends by Trey Amico, which is an informational text that teaches students about how to be a good friend. 
• Module 2: Students read On the Map! by Lisa Fleming, which is an informational text about communities. 
• Module 3:  Students listen to Animal Q & A (no author), which is an informational text about animal body functions. 
• Module 4: Students listen to Baseball Hour by Carol Nevius, which is an informational text about a group of multicultural boys and girls who work on their baseball skills during practice. 
• Module 5: Students listen to The Best Season by Nina Crews, which is an opinion piece where two girls share their opinion about the best season and the reasons for their choices. 
• Module 6: Students listen to The Statue of Liberty by Tyler Monroe, which is an informational text about monuments and symbols. 
• Module 7: Students listen to Handmade by Guadalupe Rodriguez, which is a procedural text about recycling. 
• Module 9: Students listen to So You Want to Grow a Taco? by Bridget Heos, which is a procedural text about the ingredients needed to make tacos, how to grow corn, and how to make tortillas. 
• Module 10: Students listen to I am Amelia Earhart by Brad Meltzer, which is a biography teaching students about the different ways Amelia Earhart's thoughts compared to others. 
• In Module 11, students listen to Have You Heard the Nesting Bird? by Rita Gray, which is a narrative nonfiction text about birds. 

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria that texts (including read-aloud texts and some shared reading texts used to build knowledge and vocabulary) have the appropriate level of complexity for the grade level according to quantitative analysis, qualitative analysis, and a relationship to their associated student task. Read-aloud texts at K-2 are above the complexity levels of what most students can read independently. 

The texts within the Grade 1 materials are appropriate for students based on their quantitative measure, qualitative measure, and reader and task. While the majority of the texts are read-alouds in Grade 1, these texts are above what students can read independently, which is appropriate for read-alouds at this level. Shared reading texts have a lower Lexile and lower qualitative features.  All texts are within the appropriate range for their purpose and the qualitative measures range from slightly complex to very complex. 

Examples of appropriately complex texts in the Grade 1 materials include:

• In Module 3, Lesson 2, students listen to the Big Book, Best Foot Forward by Ingo Arndt which has a Lexile of 920. This informational text includes rich photographs that enhance the content and text features such as captions and tables.
• In Module 3, Lesson 12, students listen to Step-by-Step Advice from the Animal Kingdom by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page, which has a Lexile of 480 and is considered moderately complex. This shared read, which is a procedural text, describes the tactics animals use to survive in their habitats. The text follows a clear sequential order and contains complex sentences with content-area vocabulary.
• In Module 6, Lesson 3, students listen to Monument City by Jerdine Nolen, which is considered moderately complex and no Lexile is available because it is a drama. It has illustrations and engaging, familiar topics, but due to the structure of the drama, it may be slightly challenging for students.
• In Module 8, Lesson 1, students listen to Follow the Story Path (no author), which has a Lexile of 490 and is considered moderately complex. It uses familiar language and graphic features to convey the content in this visual, engaging presentation of story structure. 
• In Module 9, Lesson 6, students listen to The Curious Garden by Peter Brown which has a Lexile of AD840L. The text includes illustrations that support the story's meaning, as well as a clear problem and resolution. The text includes academic vocabulary related to the module topic, Grow, Plants, Grow! such as gardener and blossomed. 
• In Module 11, Lesson 11, students hear I am Amelia Earhart by Brad Meltzer, which has a Lexile of 580 and is considered very complex. It is first read aloud in Module 10, Lesson 11, and during this second read-aloud, students analyze genre features of a biography.  They examine the title to learn the subject of the biography.  They learn about Amelia's life, important events in her life, and events that made Amelia decide she wanted to fly.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria for materials supporting students’ literacy skills (comprehension) over the course of the school year through increasingly complex text to develop independence of grade-level skills (leveled readers and series of texts should be at a variety of complexity levels). 

Throughout the year students are exposed to increasingly complex texts that help them achieve grade-level independence. Students listen to and read Big Books, Read Aloud books, and myBooks to achieve grade-level independence. Read Aloud books are more complex and sophisticated texts that build children’s knowledge, academic vocabulary, and comprehension skills and strategies. Big Books help to build knowledge, vocabulary, and comprehension, while also supporting print concepts. The myBooks are used for shared reading and independent reading. 

In the beginning of the year, the myBook texts are 66% slightly complex and 33% moderately complex, while at the end of the year, the texts are 20% slightly complex, 50% moderately complex, and 30% very complex. In addition, Lexile levels at the beginning of the year range from 60L-480L and at the end of the year, the Lexile levels range from 300L-580L. 

Reading skills also increase in complexity while the text levels increase in complexity throughout the year. Examples include:

• In Module 1, Lesson 3, students listen to Try This! by Pam Munoz Ryan and ask questions while reading, starting with who, what, where, when, why, and how. At the end of the year, students continue asking those questions, but also practice retelling, monitoring, clarifying, and evaluating. In Module 9, Lesson 13, after listening to Yum! MmMm! Que Rico! by Pat Mora, students identify words that help them create a mental image of what is being described and then use that to make an inference about the author’s reason for including those words. Asking and answering questions about what students read and listen to are also taught throughout the program and increase in complexity.
• In Module 2, Lesson 3, students listen to Dan Had a Plan by Wong Hebert Yee and retell the story in their own words. Then, in the middle of the year, during Module 6, students listen to Arbor Day (no author) and write about the events in the story by giving detailed explanations of the problem and solution in the story. At the end of the year, in Module 10, students listen to Max’s Music (no author) and discuss and write a retelling of the events and then add their own ending to the story that makes sense with the events from the story. 
  

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria that anchor texts (including read-aloud texts in K-2) and the series of texts connected to them are accompanied by a text complexity analysis.

The publisher provides a text complexity analysis for the Grade 1 materials that includes quantitative information, qualitative information, and reader and task considerations. The text analysis for all of the anchor texts are found in the Preview Lesson Texts section of each module. 

Examples of information provided in this text complexity analysis include:

• In Module 2, Week 1, students engage with Dan Had a Plan by Wong Herbert during Lessons 3 & 4. The publisher states that the Lexile is 250 and the overall rating is Slightly Complex. This text was selected because, “Dan’s older sister thinks he’s too little to help with her fundraising project, but Dan has a plan! He helps sell all the bug and bat snacks his sister made to raise money for the library. Children will learn that no one is too young to be helpful.” Students use this text to identify features of realistic fiction and retell story events in sequence.
• In Module 7, Week 2, students hear Deserts by Quinn M. Arnold in Lesson 7 and 8 because “in this informational text, children will learn what deserts look like and how plants and animals adapt to their hot, dry climate.” The text complexity is a Lexile of 300 and slightly complex. The text uses contemporary and familiar vocabulary that has a concrete purpose.
• In Module 10, Lessons 12 and 13, students hear Joaquin’s Zoo by Pablo Bernasconi, which has a text complexity of 580L. The text is considered very complex due to the fact it uses familiar language but contains an implicit theme that is revealed over the entirety of the text. This text was selected to help students connect a text with a personal experience, society, and other texts, as well as to use details in the text and illustrations to identify and describe story characters and the reasons for their actions.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria that support materials for the core text(s) provide opportunities for students to engage in a range and volume of reading to support their reading at grade level by the end of the school year. 

Grade 1 materials include a range and volume of opportunities throughout the day for students to engage with texts. Students engage with a variety of books during whole group read alouds, small group instruction, and independent reading. In Grade 1, materials include Big Books, Read Aloud Trade Books, Leveled Readers, independent choice books, a student reader, Start Right Readers (decodables), and foundational skills practice books. Students engage with texts in whole-group instruction, small group and guided reading instruction, and independent work. Texts are also read during Writing Workshop as a mentor text. Students and teachers often read books multiple times for different purposes including getting a gist about the text, practice a reading skill, having an academic discussion, or taking notes and writing about the text. 

Specific examples of how the range of text types as well as volume of reading help students to achieve grade-level reading proficiency include:

• In Module 1, Lesson 3, students listen toTry This! by Pam Munoz Ryan. In this week, students listen to one realistic fiction, one fantasy, and one narrative nonfiction centered around the essential question of, “How can making new friends and learning new things help us?”. During the week, students interact with books by reading with a partner to practice fluency, annotating a text to practice the reading strategy, and using a response journal to draw or write about what they read.
• In Module 3, Week 2, students listen to and read one informational text, one folktale, and one narrative nonfiction centered around the topic of amazing animals. The informational text is read aloud, while the other two books can be accessed in myBook, giving students an opportunity to read on their own. In Lesson 9, the teacher explains what good readers do when they read to clarify and understand. Students practice this strategy in their myBook when reading, Have you Heard the Nesting Bird? by Rita Gray. During small group time, students may work with the teacher in guided reading or English Language Development. Students can also read the Start Right Reader or independently read. 
• In Module 7, Week 1, students listen to an informational text and read in their myBook an opinion piece and a fantasy, all centered around the topic of the big outdoors. In Lesson 2, the teacher shows students how the text Rainy, Sunny, Blowy, Snowy by Jane Brocket is organized around description and how that helps with comprehension. Students work with the teacher to identify specific sensory words. Students then apply that reading strategy to appropriate just-right books that they are reading independently. There are opportunities for small group instruction with teacher selected books from the Rigby Leveled Library, using a decodable text from the Start Right Reader, or independently selecting a book from the library. 
• In Module 8, Lesson 8 students listen to Little Red Riding Hood by Lisa Campbell Ernst, which is a drama. In Week 2 of this module, students read one fantasy, one drama, and one fable centered around the topic of lessons from stories. The fantasy text is read aloud to students, but the other two texts are in the myBook, which enable students to practice reading independently. Week 2 also uses the Rigby Leveled Library, four Start Right Readers (decodable texts), and access to the student choice library.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria that most questions, tasks, and assignments are text-based, requiring students to engage with the text directly (drawing on textual evidence to support both what is explicit as well as valid inferences from the text).

Throughout the year, students answer text-dependent questions after listening to a variety of texts. Questions include both explicit and implicit questions that require students to engage directly with the text. Questions about the text are asked during and after the read-alouds as well as during small group instruction with decodable texts. In addition, students are often asked to underline, circle, and otherwise annotate the text in their myBook to find the answers to the questions for different types of texts.

Specific examples of text-based questions students are asked throughout the program include:

• In Module 1, Lesson 7, after listening to My School Trip by Aly G. Mays, students are asked, “How does Nan get a butterfly?" and  "What evidence lets you know that Nan feels happy about getting a butterfly?”
• In Module 4, Lesson 2, after listening to Baseball Hour by Carol Nevius, students are asked, "How do the children work together during baseball hour?”
• In Module 7, Lesson 6, after hearing On Meadowview Street by Henry Cole, students are asked, “What time of year is it?"  and "How do you know?” They are also asked, “How do you know that some time has passed since the beginning of the story?”
• In Module 8, Lesson 4, students listen to Interrupting Chicken by David Ezra Stein and after, students are asked, “How does Papa feel when the little chicken keeps interrupting?” Students annotate the text by underlining how specific words help them know how Papa feels.  
• In Module 10, Lesson 11, after listening to I am Amelia Earhart by Brad Meltzer, students are asked, “What did Amelia do after she realizes she had to fly?”
• In Module 11, Lesson 9, after a small group lesson with the text My Big Bike Race by Jia Lee, students discuss what the narrator does before the races and why she does that.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 partially meet the criteria for materials containing sets of high-quality sequences of text-based questions with activities that build to a culminating task which integrates skills to demonstrate understanding (as appropriate, may be drawing, dictating, writing, speaking, or a combination).

Each module in Grade 1 ends with choices of culminating tasks, called Let’s Wrap Up and/or a choice of a performance-based task. The choice of culminating tasks do not consistently require students to use information learned from the read-aloud to complete the tasks. Each anchor text has lessons which include text-based questions and tasks that support the completion of the culminating task. Most performance- based tasks are more rigorous academically than the culminating tasks, and involve writing. Some end of modules tasks involve synthesizing the knowledge of the topic learned throughout the module. Tasks involve writing, drawing, acting, and/or speaking.

Examples of culminating tasks and performance-based tasks found within the modules include, but are not limited to:

• In Module 2, the choices for a culminating task include acting out things you can do at a community place or creating an award and writing about why the person deserves the award. The performance task option has students answer the question, “What makes each community special? Write to tell what special things all communities have.” Questions and tasks leading students to successfully complete the end of module tasks include: After reading Dan had a Plan by Wong Herbert Yee. In Lesson 4, students discuss what they think they are doing is helping other people, and students write to describe one of the places in Places in my Neighborhood by Shelly Lyons. 
• In Module 5, students have the choice of writing a poem and drawing a picture that includes information that they have learned about light, dark, day, night, and the seasons. Another option is students can have a face-off with a partner about whether day or night is better, using facts to support their ideas. The teacher can also have students complete the performance task where students imagine that they are a scientist who finds out information about day and night, and they write a story about what they are working on in the science world. Tasks and questions to help students with these options include: In Lesson 10 students draw and write about which season is the best in the text, The Best Season by Nina Crews.
• In Module 6, students can create a personal symbol and explain it to a partner, or students can draw a parade including monuments on floats with labels and then share it with the class. The performance task option is, “Imagine that you meet a child who is coming to the United States for the first time. What would the child think the symbols mean? Write a story that tells about how the child learns what each symbol means.” Tasks and questions that lead to the successful completion of these tasks include: After hearing Monument City by Jerdine Nolen in Lesson 3, students turn and talk to discuss why Washington D.C. is an important place. Also after listening to The Statue of Liberty by Tyler Monroe, students create an ad telling people why they should visit the Statue of Liberty in Lesson 10.
• In Module 7, students learn about how things in nature change and have the option of writing about ways they can take care of the Earth.  Another option is students can pick a season and write about a place that experiences that season. Students also can complete the performance task where they write a story about winter, including what changes happen in winter and a character who learns something about winter. In Lesson 2, students listen to Rainy, Sunny, Blowy, Snowy by Jane Brocket and are asked what season the author describes on every few pages.
• In Module 8, the culminating task options are to act out a character from one of the stories and have a partner guess the character. Another option is to create a badge with a picture on it that shows a lesson that they learned from the stories and write a sentence to tell how to earn the badge. The performance task option is, “Imagine you are writing a fable. What lesson from the stories in this module would you want the characters in your fable to learn. Write a new fable in which the characters learn the lesson.” Questions and tasks leading up to the end of module tasks include: After reading Interrupting Chicken by David Ezra Stein in Lesson 4, students discuss what the little chicken is like and the reasons for her actions. In Lesson 13, students discuss what the author wants them to learn in the story, Thank You, Mr. Aesop by Helen Lester.
• In Module 9, students have the choice of drawing to show the different kinds of plants they would grow in a garden and explain to a partner how to take care of the garden. Another option is students can choose an interesting plant that they have learned about and draw it with labels and write facts about it. The teacher may also have students complete the performance task which requires students to write a paragraph that tells why plants are important. Lessons throughout the module that prepare students to complete these tasks include: In Lesson 4, students write directions on how to grow corn after reading, So You Want to Grow a Taco by Bridget Heos and in Lesson 14, students turn and talk about the chronological order of steps for planting a garden after watching the video A Year in the Garden by Brad Hiebert.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria for materials providing frequent opportunities and protocols for evidence-based discussions (small groups, peer-to-peer, whole class) that encourage the modeling and use of academic vocabulary and syntax.

Throughout the Grade 1 materials there are ample opportunities for students to engage in evidence-based discussions following a variety of protocols. Protocols include Turn-and-Talks between two students and Think-Pair-Shares for both small group and whole group instruction. There are also protocols for Author's Chair for Writing Workshop in which students share their writing, sometimes about what they are reading. Teachers also use the PEER acronym for Dialogic Reading with Read-Alouds. Teachers are encouraged to use a gradual release model and support discussions by encouraging students to use evidence from the text. 

In the Guiding Principles and Strategies book, there is a section on how to engage students in a discussion. Subtopics include aspects of a conversation, focusing on listening and speaking skills, and best practices for facilitating discussions. Teachers are also directed to use one of the discussion routines in the Teacher’s Guide in order to facilitate conversations about the texts. Part of these routines includes how to initiate a conversation, add details in a conversation, respond in a complete sentence, and how to stay on topic. 

In the Guiding Principles and Strategy book, Dialogic Reading with Read Alouds is discussed at-length and teachers are taught to use the PEER acronym for discussions. This stands for:

• Prompt children to say something about the book.
• Evaluate the response.
• Expand on the response by rephrasing and adding to it.
• Repeat the prompt to check understanding and give children additional opportunities for using language.

In the Guiding Principles and Strategies book, best practices are included for Shared Reading, which outline not just how the teacher should read the text, but how to support students in their discussion of the text. This includes:

• Ask students to support their answers with evidence from the text.
• Prompt children to listen and respond to each other. 

In the Guiding Principles and Strategies book, the Turn-and-Talk protocol includes the following steps:

1. Turn toward your partner.
2. Look your partner in the eye.
3. One partner talks while the other listens.
4. Switch.

In the Guiding Principles and Strategies book, the Think-Pair-Share protocol includes the following steps:

1. Think (children think about the question)
2. Pair (share ideas with a partner)
3. Share (share with the whole group)

In the Guiding Principles and Strategies book, Share Chair protocols include the following steps:

1. Present your work. 
2. Listen to your classmates. 
3. Teachers provide sentence starters to help children discuss their peer’s writing.

For Collaborative Conversations, the Teacher's Guide provides an Anchor Chart to refer to for expectations. The rules include:

1. Listen with care.
2. Stick to the topic.
3. Answer questions with more than one word.
4. Use complete sentences.
5. Be respectful.

Some specific examples of students engaging in evidence-based discussions using the above protocols include:

• In Module 1, Lesson 5, students learn Collaborative Conversation rules. Then students meet in small groups to discuss new things children do in the book, Try This! by Pam Munoz Ryan, following the rules of discussion. 
• In Module 4, Lesson 3, students read, Goal! by Jane Medina and then use the Turn and Talk routine to answer questions such as, “Which details in Goal! are important for helping you understand why Colette likes soccer?” and “How do Colette and her team feel when she sets a goal? Why?”.
• In Module 7, Lesson 3, students listen to the story Sam and Dave Dig A Hole by Mac Barnett and after listening to the story, students use the Turn and Talk routine to answer questions such as, “How can you tell that the boys are good friends?” and “What makes the boys’ adventure spectacular?”. Sentence starters are also provided to support speaking. The teacher tells students that when it is their turn, they should add to their partner’s idea by stating, “My idea is...”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria for materials supporting students’ listening and speaking about what they are reading (or read aloud) and researching (shared projects) with relevant follow-up questions and supports.

There are many opportunities throughout the Grade 1 materials for students to answer questions and ask follow-up questions. The Interactive Read Aloud sessions incorporate numerous opportunities for students to listen to their teacher read the text, listen to their peers answer questions, and speak about what they are thinking and have learned about the text.

Specific examples of opportunities for students to listen to and speak about what they are hearing through read-alouds with relevant follow-up questions include:

• In Module 1, Lesson 2, students listen to Pete the Cat: Rocking in my School Shoes by Eric Litwin and afterwards, draw a picture of one of the things Pete does in his school shoes. Then they complete the sentence frame, “I’m ________ in my school shoes.” Students then meet with a partner to discuss how their responses are similar or different. 
• In Module 2, Lesson 3, students listen to Dan Had a Plan by Wong Herbert Yee, and the teacher asks questions while reading such as, “What is Kim doing?" and  "What evidence helps you know?” 
• In Module 3, Lesson 11, students listen to Ol' Mama Squirrel by David Ezra Stein and then discuss why the author organizes the story the way he did. They then identify the problem, main events, and resolution.
• In Module 4, Lesson 3, students listen to Goal! by Jane Medina, and students Turn-and-Talk to discuss how Collette and her team feel when she gets a goal and why. Students are reminded to take turns and to express their ideas clearly. 
• In Module 5, Lesson 15, in the Module Wrap-Up, students demonstrate what they have learned about the topic from reading the variety of texts in this module. One option is to write a poem that includes information they read about light and dark, day and night and the seasons. Students draw a picture to accompany it and share the poem with the class. 
• In Module 6, Lesson 3, after reading Monument City by Jerdine Nolen, students engage in a Turn-and-Talk with a partner to answer questions such as, “Why is Washington, D.C. an important place?” and “Tell about predictions you made using the characteristics of drama, such as setting. What were you right about?”.
• In Module 7, Lesson 11, students listen to Do You Really Want to Visit a Wetland? by Bridget Heos, and then students discuss the answers to questions such as, “What is the topic of the book?” and “What does the author want you to learn about the Everglades and other wetlands?”.
• In Module 8, Lesson 3, students listen to Interrupting Chicken by David Ezra Stein and talk with a partner about what pictures they create in their mind when they listened to Interrupting Chicken and which words help them create those pictures.
• In Module 9, Lesson 9, students listen to The Talking Vegetables by Won-Ldy Paye and Margaret H. Lippert, and after listening to the story, students Turn-and-Talk to answer questions such as, “What will Spider do the next time neighbors ask for help?”.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria for materials including a mix of on-demand and process writing grade-appropriate writing (e.g. grade-appropriate revision and editing) and short, focused projects, incorporating digital resources where appropriate.

Within the Grade 1 materials, there is a Writing Workshop section for each module that begins with a mentor text. During this time, students receive skill based mini-lessons and spend time daily with process writing, including all of the steps from prewriting to publishing and sharing. In addition, the Grade 1 myBook and Teaching Pal offer many opportunities for students to produce on-demand, short writing tasks in response to reading. The materials cover a year’s worth of writing instruction. 

Students participate in process writing in each module throughout the year in Writing Workshop. Students take several weeks to complete one piece. Examples include:

• In Module 2, students learn how to write a descriptive essay about what makes their world wonderful. Students learn how to draft and revise, as well as edit for specific items, such as proper nouns. Students are provided with an editing checklist. Students publish their essays, create cover art, and bind their essays, before a whole-class share. 
• In Module 3, students write an all-about book about their favorite animal. They spend fifteen lessons analyzing text features of the mentor text, researching a topic, drafting their book, revising, editing, publishing, and then sharing their writing.
• In Module 7, students write a poem about things they like in nature. Students use a mentor text prior to brainstorming and then draft, revise for word choice, confer with a peer, edit using an editing checklist, and publish. At the end, students participate in a poetry museum to share their work. 
• In Module 8, students learn to write a personal narrative. Students write a story about someone who helped them solve a problem. Students complete a Star Organizer before drafting, and then add dialogue. Students spend time editing and revising their story, including working with a partner to receive feedback. 
• In Module 11, students listen to I Will Not Read This Book by Cece Meng and then spend time writing a letter to the boy in the story suggesting that he read a recommended book. Students draft the letter by considering audience, revise for details and dates, edit for capitalization, punctuation, and subject-verb agreement, and then publish. 
• In Module 12, students write an opinion essay about the best thing they learned in first grade. Students begin by reading a mentor text and then brainstorm topics before developing an opinion planning map. Students then draft with a strong conclusion, revise and edit, and then publish. The stories become a class book that is bound for next year’s first graders. 

Throughout the year on-demand writing is found in the myBook and the Teaching Pal, which gives students an opportunity to respond to the read-aloud via drawing and writing. Examples of this include:

• In Module 1, Lesson 13, after reading Big Dilly’s Tale by Gail Carson Levine, students write a response to, “What is Dilly like in Big Dilly’s Tale? Use ideas from the words and pictures in the story to help you describe Dilly.”
• In Module 2, Lesson 8, students respond to the text On the Map! by Lisa Fleming by choosing a map from the text and writing the directions on how one would get from one place to another. 
• In Module 3, Lesson 8, students read Bluebird and Coyote by James Bruchac and The Nut no author and write about things that Coyote does differently in each story.  Then respond on why they think he does different things.
• In Module 4, Lesson 2, after reading Baseball Hour by Carol Nevius, students draw a picture and write sentences that tell how the players used teamwork to improve their skills. 
• In Module 5, Lesson 13, after hearing Waiting Is Not Easy! by Mo Willems, students choose either Gerald or Piggie and write clues to describe the character. 
• In Module 6, Lesson 8, students write their opinion about which American symbol from The Contest by Libby Martinez they like the best by including details from the text to support their opinion. 
• In Module 7, Lesson 4 students hear Ron and Tron (no author) and write in response to the prompt, “How can you tell that Ron and Tron are friends?” 
• In Module 8, Lesson 8, after listening to Keep Trying (no author), students write a response to the prompt, “How does June learn a lesson in Keep Trying? Use examples from the drama to explain your answer.”
• In Module 9, Lesson 10, students listen to The Talking Vegetables by Won-Ldy Paye and Margaret H. Lippert and then respond to the prompt, “Imagine that Spider tells his neighbors about the lesson he learns. What will he say? What will the neighbor say? Write a dialogue to add to The Talking Vegetables.” 
• In Module 10, Lesson 4, after reading Max’s Music (no author), students add to the story by writing what they think would happen next. 
• In Module 11, Lesson 4, after listening to , Do you Really Want to Visit a Wetland by Bridget Heos, students respond to the prompt, “Use information from the book to write a paragraph describing one thing about the Everglades that the boy could use in his report."
• In Module 12, Lesson 4, after rereading Sky Color by Peter H. Reynolds, students write a first person paragraph that Marison might write to tell about her dream. 

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria for materials providing opportunities for students to address different text types of writing (year long) that reflect the distribution required by the standards.

Instructional materials provide frequent opportunities across the school year for students to learn, practice, and apply what they have learned about narrative, opinion, and informational writing. Each module includes writing lessons about the text that they read. In addition, students are taught about the Narrative, Informational, and Opinion Writing  in Writing Workshop, where they engage in longer pieces of writing over the course of three weeks. 

Narrative writing prompts are found in myBook after reading a text, as well as, in Writing Workshop Modules 1, 5, 6, and 8. In Module 7, poetry is also taught. Specific examples include:

• In Module 1, students write a story about a moment in their lives. Students use the text, Ralph Tells a Story by Abby Hanlon, as an exemplar. 
• In Module 5, students write a folktale about how something in nature came to be. Students learn how to brainstorm, select a topic, develop stories with sequential events, find a problem, and a solution.
• In Module 6, students learn to write a personal narrative. After listening to, The Thanksgiving Door by Debby Atwell, they discuss the structure of a narrative. Students then write a story about their favorite holiday memory. 
• In Module 7, students write a poem about things they like in nature, after listening to the story, Ask Me by Bernard Waber. 
• In Module 8 of Writing Workshop, students learn to write a personal narrative. Students write a story about someone who has helped them solve a problem. 

Informational writing is found in myBook after each text as well as in Writing Workshop Modules 2, 3, 4, 9, and 10. Examples include:

• In Module 2, Writing Workshop, students learn how to write a descriptive essay. Students write a short description of what makes their world wonderful. 
• In Module 3, Writing Workshop, students write an all-about book about their favorite animal after listening to the mentor text, Giraffes by Kate Riggs. 
• In Module 4, Lesson 2, after listening to Baseball Hour by Carol Nevius, students draw a picture and write sentences that tell how the players used teamwork to improve the skills. 
• In Module 9, Writing Workshop, students write an essay telling what they learned from doing a science experiment. Students select an experiment to observe, ask questions, and take notes on their observations before beginning their essay. 
• In Module 10, Writing Workshop, students write a biographical essay about someone who inspires them.  Students draft their essays using details about the person’s life and experience the revision process before each student shares his or her report. 

Opinion writing is found in myBook, as well as in, Writing Workshop Modules 11 and 12. Specific examples include:

• In Module 2, Lesson 13, students review the text, Who Put the Cookies in the Cookie Jar? By George Shannon, then use myBook to write a thank you note to a worker from the story and tell why they think the person is helpful. 
• In Module 4, Lesson 8, students review the text, Get Up and Go! by Rozanne Lanczak Williams and write an opinion in their myBook about which type of exercise they think is best using reasons to support their opinion.  
• In Module 6, Lesson 8, after listening to The Contest by Libby Martinez, students respond to the prompt, “Which American symbol from The Contest do you like the best? Why? Use details from the text and your own ideas to explain.”
• In Module 10, Writing Workshop, students listen to Sky Color by Peter H Reynolds, then write in their myBook to a prompt “Write a TV commercial for the paint called Sky Color. Tell your opinion of it and explain ways to use it. Give reasons why people need it.”  Students are asked to use the text for details to include in their writing. 
• In Module 11, Writing Workshop, students listen to I Will Not Read this Book by Cece Meng and write a letter to the boy in the story telling him that he should read a book that the students have chosen for him.
• In Module 12, students write an opinion essay about the best thing they have learned how to do in first grade.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria for materials including regular opportunities for evidence-based writing to support recall of information, opinions with reasons, and relevant information appropriate for the grade level.

Each Module in the Grade 1 materials provides multiple opportunities for students to write about what they are listening to and reading. Students write in their myBooks regularly in response to the various texts read throughout the year. Materials provide opportunities for students to recall information from text by drawing pictures, dictating their understanding of the text, and writing their own sentences. The program begins with a close reading. After the close reading, students respond to questions in writing.   

Specific examples of evidence-based writing include:

• In Module 1, Lesson 6, after reading My School Trip by Aly G. Mays, students make a list about all of the things the girl in the story likes about her trip.
• In Module 3, Lesson 8, students listen to Blue Bird and Coyote by James Bruchac and "The Nut" and then write about how Coyote behaves differently in the two stories and the reason(s) why he does different things. 
• In Module 4, Lesson 2, after listening to Baseball Hour by Carol Nevius, students draw a picture and write sentences that tell how the players used teamwork to improve their skills. 
• In Module 5, Lesson 10, after listening to The Best Season by Nina Crews, students write their opinions about which person they agree within the story by using details from the text to explain why. Students also write about how the book, The Great Down, is similar to The Best Season. 
• In Module 6, Lesson 8, after listening to The Contest by Libby Martinez, students write about which American symbol from The Contest they like best and include details from the text to explain.
• In Module 7, Lesson 8, students listen to Desserts by Quinn M. Arnold and then describe in writing the land or a living thing from the story for someone who has never seen it. 
• At the end of Module 8, after reading various fables throughout the module, students make a badge with a picture on it that shows a lesson they learned from one of the stories. They are required to write a sentence about how to earn the badge. 
• In Module 9, Lesson 8, students write a description comparing and contrasting two vegetables from the text, Which Part do We Eat? by Katherine Ayres. 
• In Module 10, Lesson 2, after listening to What Can You Do? by Shelley Rotner and Sheila Kelly, students write sentences that tell about one of the activities that one of the children in the book is skilled. Students use details from the story to support their responses. 
• In Module 11, Lesson 4, after rereading Do You Really Want to Visit a Wetland by Bridget Heos, students write a paragraph describing one thing about the Everglades that the boy could use in this report. 
• In Module 12, Lesson 3, after rereading Maybe Something Beautiful by F. Isabel Campoy and Theresa Howell, one of the three options students have is to write a paragraph that describes the city's appearance at the end of the story.

The materials reviewed for Grade 1 Into Reading meet the criteria for materials including explicit instruction of the grammar and conventions standards for grade level as applied in increasingly sophisticated contexts, with opportunities for application both in and out of context. 

Grammar and conventions are primarily addressed during Writing Workshop in grammar mini-lessons. All grammar and conventions standards are covered over the course of the year, and most standards are revisited throughout the year in increasing complexity. Lessons are included in the modules and use an I Do, We Do, You Do format.  The teacher models and provides examples, students practice with teacher support, students practice with a worksheet and are then prompted to return to their writing pieces and identify and edit for the given grammar or conventions concept. Teachers are provided with resources such as Display and Engage projectables and printables, grammar mini-lessons, printable grammar pages, and sentence examples to use during lessons. Lessons incorporate the language of the standards to allow teachers and students to become familiar with that specific language. Students have opportunities to practice skills in isolation during whole group instruction with Display and Engage projectables and sentence prompts that students and teachers work on together, independently in context during the lesson with printables provided, and then practice applying the skills as they edit their writing drafts throughout the year. Reading lessons mention and support students’ use of grammar and conventions standards. Each grammar and conventions lesson throughout grades Kindergarten through Grade 2 is similarly structured with color coding, teacher modeling, partner share, graphic organizer/chart, and oral language practice. 

Materials include explicit instruction of all grammar and conventions standards for the grade level. For example:

Students have opportunities to print all uppercase and lowercase letters.

• In Module 1, Lesson 11, page T180, the teacher reminds students they have learned how to write lowercase a and d. The teacher models how to write lowercase i.  Students describe what they notice about the letters i, l, and t.  The students use the Write and Reveal routine to practice writing words that include lowercase i and t.
• In Module 2, Lesson 11, page T428, the teacher explicitly models how to write letter u, “Start at the middle of the line. Pull down, around, up to the middle line, and down.” The same process is followed for letter q. Students discuss what they notice about both letters, and the teacher models writing one or more of the spelling words. The students then practice using the Write and Reveal routine to practice writing words with q and u. 

Students have opportunities to use common, proper, and possessive nouns.

• In Module 1, Lesson 12, page W13, the teacher reviews nouns with students and then introduces proper nouns. The teacher gives examples and uses the Display and Engage 1.6 chart. The chart provides a definition for proper nouns, “This kind of noun names a specific person, animal, place or thing. Proper nouns begin with capital letters.” 
• In Module 6, Lesson 3, pages T308-309, the teacher tells the students they will read words with special endings.  After practicing the letter sound /s/, the teacher displays Picture Cards for bird and nest. The teacher writes birds and bird’s and explains that s can be added to mean more than one and then explains, “When a special mark called an apostrophe is added before the s, it shows that the noun owns something.” The teacher explains that the bird owns the nest and writes “the bird’s nest." The students use the Sound by Sound Blending routine to sound out words with apostrophe s. The students complete phrases with possessive nouns for independent practice.
• In Module 10, Lesson 9, page T398, the teacher models determining each type of noun and reads examples aloud.  Students brainstorm a list of places and things and move words under the appropriate heading, place or thing. Students are given words and are asked to select a word to illustrate. Students exchange with a partner and state whether the word names a place or thing.  

Students have opportunities to use singular and plural nouns with matching verbs in basic sentences (e.g., He hops; We hop).

• In Module 5, Lesson 9, page T150, the teacher explains that nouns and verbs need to agree in sentences and models examples. The teacher continues with examples of present tense verbs with the inflection -s.  The teacher writes verbs on the board and students read the words aloud. Students select a verb and say one sentence that uses the verb with an inflection -s and one sentence that uses the verb without the ending.     
• In Module 11, Lesson 13, page W174, the teacher reviews correct subject verb agreement. The teacher tells students, “A subject is a person, place, or thing the sentence is about. The verb is what the subject of the sentence does. If there is one subject, the verb must be singular. If the subject is about two or more people, places, or things, the verb must be plural.” The teacher shows students Display and Engage 11.4 to show examples of correct subject verb agreement. Students then edit a piece of their own writing to ensure correct subject-verb agreement. 

Students have opportunities to use personal, possessive, and indefinite pronouns (e.g., I, me, my; they, them, their, anyone, everything).

• In Writing Workshop Grammar Minilesson, Lesson 2.8.4,  page W279, the teacher reviews possessive pronouns with students. The teacher also discusses example sentences with students such as, “This is my dog. The dog is mine.” Students complete Display and Engage 2.8.4b whole group to choose the correct possessive pronoun to complete a sentence. For example, in the following sentence, students must choose the correct possessive pronoun: She follows me to (you, yours) house.  Students complete a printable grammar page and edit a piece of their writing for possessive pronouns. 
• In Module 7, Lesson 4, page T76, students learn about third person and first person. The teacher uses Anchor Chart 21: Point of View to teach the lesson. Under First Person the chart reads, “A person who is in the book is telling it. Look for the words I, me or we.” 
• In Writing Workshop Grammar Minilesson, Lesson 2.9.1, page W281, the teacher displays sentence pairs provided and discusses with the students about how pronouns take the place of exact and specific nouns. The teacher then projects Display and Engage: Grammar 2.9.1a to introduce indefinite pronouns explaining they stand for people or things that are not named and not for exact or specific nouns. The teacher uses Think Aloud with an example sentence, “Is anyone ready for a picnic?” Students practice using indefinite pronouns. Then, they edit a writing draft correctly using indefinite pronouns. 

Students have opportunities to use verbs to convey a sense of past, present, and future (e.g., Yesterday I walked home; Today I walk home; Tomorrow I will walk home).

• In Module 1, Lesson 9, page T146, the teacher explains -ed is added to the end of a verb to mean the action has happened in the past,  using wished as an example. The teacher models determining the meaning of the word jumped by asking about the base word and ending.  Several other examples are discussed. The teacher writes walk, cook, learn, and talk on the board and uses the words in a sentence.  Students volunteer to add -ed to the end of the word. Students practice independently by completing a Know It, Show It page or by choosing an index card with words written on it and adding ed to the ending with a partner.  
• In Writing Workshop Grammar Minilesson, Lesson 3.2.1, page W291, students learn about using present and past tense verbs. The teacher uses Display and Engage Grammar 3.2.1a to provide an explanation and examples for present and past tense verbs. Students practice identifying verbs in past and present tense sentences on Display and Engage; Grammar 3.2.1b.  An example is provided:  “The children clapped their hands.” Students complete a grammar printable and edit a piece of their writing to ensure correct verb tense. 
• In Writing Workshop Grammar Minilesson, Lesson 3.4.4, page W304, the teacher reviews how to create future tense verbs with words will and going to. The teacher then completes Display and Engage: Grammar 3.4.4b with the students and is to, “Review that verbs can tell what is happening now, in the past, or in the future.” The teacher charts sentences provided to model sentences with will and going to. Students then complete Printable: Grammar 3.4.2 and add additional sentences to the chart. Students then work on editing writing drafts using present tense verbs.

Students have opportunities to use frequently occurring adjectives.

• In Writing Workshop Grammar Minilesson, Lesson4.3.1, page W316, the teacher explains that some words describe people, animals, places or things, and these describing words are called adjectives. Adjectives describe how things taste, smell, sound, or feel. The teacher discusses an example sentence and explains how the adjective is used. The teacher presents four example sentences and models writing sentences with adjectives. Students practice writing sentences that include adjectives. Students complete a printable grammar review sheet for practice with adjectives that tell how something tastes, smells, sounds, or feels.

 Students have opportunities to use frequently occurring conjunctions (e.g., and, but, or, so, because). 

• In Writing Workshop Grammar Minilesson, Lesson 1.7.3, page W228, students learn about compound sentences and statements. Display and Engage: Grammar 1.7.3a provides the following explanation, “A compound question ends with a question mark. A compound statement ends with a period. Remember to use a comma before and, but or or.” Examples of each type of sentence are provided for students on the chart. Students practice as a class, using Display and Engage: Grammar 1.7.3b, combining two sentences or questions to make a compound statement or question. An example is listed:  “Where is the story? How do I get there?” students combine these questions to form, “Where is the story, and how do I get there?” Students then work independently on a printable grammar page and edit a piece of their writing to include compound sentences and questions. 
• In Writing Workshop Grammar Minilesson, Lesson 1.9.5, page W240 the teacher reminds students that using a variety of sentences can make their writing more interesting. The teacher projects Display and Engage: Grammar 1.9.5 and discusses examples. The teacher then writes sentences provided on the board, and students identify the sentences and convert them into compound sentences adding words and a conjunction. Students complete Printable:Grammar 1.9.5. Then, students return to a piece of their writing and look for two simple sentences they can turn into a compound sentence. The teacher reminds the students to use a comma and conjunctions such as and, but, or.

Students have opportunities to use determiners (e.g., articles, demonstratives).

• In Writing Workshop Grammar Minilesson, Lesson 4.1.3, page  W308, the teacher provides students with a definition and explanation for using articles. The class  practices identifying articles and stating whether or not they are specific. An example of a sentences provided for identifying articles is, “Runners pass a baton.” The teacher projects Display and Engage: Grammar 4.1.3a and 4.1.3b and tells students and, a, and the are special adjectives called articles and explains the specific circumstances when each article is used. The teacher projects Display and Engage:Grammar 4.1.3c and completes it with the students and writes example sentences provided with a, an and the on the board. The students then complete Printable: Grammar 4.1.3 for practice and edit a writing draft using the appropriate article for the sentence.
• In Writing Workshop Grammar Minilesson , Lesson 1.8.3, page W235, the teacher writes sentences provided on the board, and students use descriptive adjectives that, this, those and these to make exclamations more specific. For example, “The dog is very large. That dog is huge!”

Students have opportunities to use frequently occurring prepositions (e.g., during, beyond, toward).

• In Module 3, Lesson 9, page T150, students learn about time and position words. The teaching chart provides a definition for position words, “Position words tell where something or someone is.” Several example sentences are provided such as, “I stand between Sid and Mei.” 
• In Writing Workshop Grammar Minilesson, Lesson 4.6.2, page W332, the teacher reviews the definition of a prepositional phrase and gives examples of prepositional phrases that tell where.  The teacher presents and discusses an example sentence and models identifying prepositions that tell where. The teacher projects four example sentences and helps students identify the preposition. Students use the preposition in new oral sentences and complete a grammar review sheet for practice with prepositions and prepositional phrases that tell where. Students edit a writing draft using prepositions that tell where.  

Students have opportunities to produce and expand complete simple and compound declarative, interrogative, imperative, and exclamatory sentences in response to prompts.

• In Writing Workshop Grammar Minilesson, Lesson 1.9.4, page W239, the teacher reviews different kinds of sentences and discusses the provided examples. The teacher writes sentences on the board. Students identify how to change each sentence so that it is correct while also identifying whether the sentence is a declarative, question, command, or exclamation. The teacher writes samples on the board, and students add words to complete compound sentences. Students complete a grammar review sheet for independent practice with different kinds of sentences and edit a writing draft using different kinds of sentences.  
• In Writing Workshop Grammar Minilesson, Lesson 1.6.3, page W223 while learning about writing questions, students are given the following sentence starters to expand on, “Can we ___; What is____; Why do___; Is he ___.” 
• In Writing Workshop Grammar Minilesson, Lesson 1.8.2, W232 while learning about using exclamations, students practice finishing the following sentences, “I loved ___! That was a great ____!” 

Students have opportunities to capitalize dates and names of people.

• In Writing Workshop Grammar Minilesson, Lesson 2.5.4,  page W264, the teacher uses Display and Engage: Grammar 2.5.4a to review capitalizing months, days, and holidays. Students practice capitalizing months, days, and holidays. To continue their practice, students complete a printable grammar page and edit their work to ensure correct capitalization of months, days, and holidays. 

Students have opportunities to use end punctuation for sentences.

• In Writing Workshop Grammar Minilesson, Lesson 1.3.3, page W208, the teacher uses Display and Engage: Grammar 1.3.3a to review with students that, “A sentence that tells something is called a statement. A statement begins with a capital letter and ends with a period.” Students then practice completing statements such as, “____ went to the baseball game.” Students are also given statements that are written incorrectly and must identify what needs to be changed. For example, students are given the example, “we make music” Students need to identify that the statement is missing a capital letter and needs to end with a period. Students continue their practice with a printable grammar page and by editing a piece of their writing. 
• In Writing Workshop Grammar Minilesson, Lesson 1.8.4, page W234 the teacher projects Display and Engage: Grammar 1.8.4 and is to, “Discuss that exclamations begin with a capital letter and end with an exclamation point.” Students complete Printable: Grammar 1.8.4 independently for practice using exclamations and edit a writing draft using exclamations correctly.

Students have opportunities to use commas in dates and to separate single words in a series.

• In Writing Workshop Grammar Minilesson, Lesson 2.5.3, page W263, the teacher explains that when writing a date, use a comma between the number of the day and the year.  The teacher reviews example sentences to model how to write commas in dates and how to capitalize months of the year, days, and holidays. Students complete a printable grammar review and edit a writing draft to ensure they wrote any dates correctly with proper capitalization and comma use.

Students have opportunities to  use conventional spelling for words with common spelling patterns and for frequently occurring irregular words.

• In Module 4, Lesson 13, page T473, after completing a blending review lesson, during the You Do It segment of the lesson, one of the activities the teacher can choose to have students complete is, “Option 1 Write ill and in and list these consonant combinations: st,sp, sk, sh, th. Challenge children to add the consonants to form real words. Have children share their lists and confirm their spellings. (still, spill, skill; spin, skin, shin, thin).” 
• In Writing Workshop Grammar Minilesson, Lesson 6.1.1, page W341, the teacher reviews the CVC and CVCe spelling patterns with students. The class practices sorting words into either a CVC or CVCe column. The teacher is provided with sample words to use such as bone, tip, ripe and tape. Students select the correct word to fill in sentences on Display and Engage: Grammar 6.1.1c, for example, “3. We (mad, made) paper birds.” 

Students have opportunities to spell untaught words phonetically, drawing on phonemic awareness and spelling conventions.

• In Module 2, Lesson 6, page T352, students take a short o pretest. The words on the pretest are: log, not, top, hot, hop, and on. This lesson includes an orange Teacher Tip circle which states, “What’s the pattern? Help children identify the spelling patterns. Explain that if they know how to spell not, they can also spell cot, dot, got, hot, jot, lot, pot, rot, and tot. Repeat for the following sets of words: log:bog, cog, dog, fog, hog, jog top: bop, cop, hop, mop, top on: Don, Lon, Ron. Point out that it doesn’t always help to think of rhymes, but it may be a helpful clue.” 
• In Module 5, Lesson 11, page T184, the teacher dictates the spelling words, and students spell them. The teacher explains to students that the m and p sounds blend together at the end of the word jump, and the Basic Spelling words contain blends at the end of the words. 

The materials reviewed for Grade 1 Into Reading meet the criteria for materials, questions, and tasks directly teach foundational skills to build reading acquisition by providing systematic and explicit instruction in the alphabetic principle, letter-sound relationships, phonemic awareness, and phonological awareness (K-1), and phonics (K-2) that demonstrate a transparent and research-based progression for application both in and out of context.

Lessons follow the Gradual Release of Responsibility Model of I Do, We Do, You Do. This lesson format provides students with explicit opportunities to learn and practice phonological awareness and phonics with each applicable foundational skills standards. Independent practice materials include Know It, Show It! pages, and online practice. The Foundational Skills Scope and Sequence provides an overview of the progression of skills. Foundational skills instruction is cohesive and builds in difficulty as the year progresses. 

Students have frequent opportunities to learn and understand phonemes (e.g. distinguish long and short vowels, blend sounds, pronounce vowels in single-syllable words, and segment single-syllable words). For example:

Students have opportunities to distinguish long from short vowel sounds in spoken single-syllable words:

• In Module 6, Lesson 1, page T280, students learn about long e, i and o sounds. As part of the Spotlight on Sounds lesson, the teacher tells students, “Now I will say two words, and you say which word has a long vowel sound. Let’s try it: bite/bit. Which word has the long vowel? What is it?” The teacher continues this activity with the following word pairs: on/own, fin/fine, met/meet, like/lick, note/not and ten/teen. 

Students have opportunities to orally produce single-syllable words by blending sounds (phonemes), including consonant blends:

• In Module 7, Lesson 2, page T45, the teacher tells students they can blend sounds to say words. The teacher says the sounds, and students blend sounds to say words. Words include flute, thigh, blaze, shamrock, toothpaste, greatness.  

Students have opportunities to isolate and pronounce initial, medial vowel, and final sounds (phonemes) in spoken single-syllable words: 

• In Module 3, Lesson 13, page T210, students first sort Picture Cards by beginning sounds. Next, students sort the Picture Cards by final sounds, and then by medial sounds. Finally, the teacher has the students segment the Picture Card names into phonemes, ”Model: Now I will say a picture name, and you will say all the sounds in the word. Listen to me first: vine. The sounds in vine are /v/ /ī/ /n/. Now you try it: pot (/p/ /ŏ/ /t/), can (/k/ /ă/ /n/), knot (/n/ /ŏ/ /t/), hive (/h/ /ī/ /v/), kite (/k/ /ī/ /t/), knife (/n/ /ī/ /f/), pan (/p/ /ă/ /n/).”

Students have opportunities to segment spoken single-syllable words into their complete sequence of individual sounds (phonemes):

• In Module 5, Lesson 8, page T134, students practice segmenting and counting phonemes. “I will say a word, and you will say each sound in the word. Hold up one finger for each sound. Listen: lip. The sounds in lip are /l/, /ĭ/, and /p/.” The teacher helps students segment and count sounds in the following words: flip, bet, best, stack, sack, hut, hunt, frog and fog. 

Lessons and activities provide students opportunities to learn grade-level phonics skills while decoding words (e.g. spelling-sound correspondences of digraphs, decode one-syllable words, know final-e and long vowels, syllable and vowel relationship). For example:

Students have opportunities to know the spelling-sound correspondences for common consonant digraphs:

• In Module 4, Lesson 1, pages T280-T281, students learn about the consonant digraph /ch/. They practice with beginning sounds of words, then ending sounds with ch and sh. The teacher introduces the /ch/ Sound/Spelling card and then students practice blending ch words such as chip, chop, and much. 

Students have opportunities to decode regularly spelled one-syllable words:

• In Module 2, Lesson 1, page T277, students learn about the /g/ and /k/ sounds. In the I Do It portion of the lesson, the teacher displays the Sound/Spelling Cards for g and k. The teacher writes the word gap and sounds each letter out and blends the word reviewing the short vowel CVC rule. In We Do It, the students decode gas using the Sound-by-Sound Blending routine of saying the first sound and then sliding to read the additional letters. Sound-By-Sound Blending is repeated with the examples of kid and gab. In the You Do It portion of the lesson, the students have independent practice reading words the teacher has written using the Sound-By-Sound Blending technique. 

Students have opportunities to know final -e and common vowel team conventions for representing long vowel sounds:

• In Module 6, Lesson 6, page T356, the teacher reminds students that long vowel sounds match the letter names and explains that they will be reading words with long /a/. The teacher says a word, and students name the vowel sound. The teacher displays the sound/spelling card for long /a/, acorn, names the picture and says the vowel sound. The teacher points to the spelling a__e and tells students that long /a/ has different spellings. The teacher writes the word tape on the board, points to the a___e spelling. The teacher then covers the e, says tap and tells students to listen for the vowel sound. This process repeats for same and plane.

Students have opportunities to use knowledge that every syllable must have a vowel sound to determine the number of syllables in a printed word:

• In Module 9, Lesson 3, p. T60, the teacher uses the Syllabication VCCV Pattern routine which includes, “Point to the word armor. Every syllable must have one vowel sound, so first I look for the vowel spellings. I see two vowel spellings, ar and o, and so this word has two syllables. Write V under each vowel letter.” 

Students have opportunities to decode two-syllable words following basic patterns by breaking the words into syllables:

• In Module 8, Lesson 13, page T460, students practice reading two syllable words. The teacher states, “Listen as I say and hold up a finger for each syllable in this word: magnet. I hear two syllables in magnet, mag-net.” Students practice with the teacher counting the number of syllables in the following words: cactus, insect, biggest, fantastic, patch, pillow, basketball and puppet. 

Students have opportunities to read words with inflectional endings:

• In Module 1, Lesson 13, p. T208, students practice reading words with the -s ending and identifying the sound s makes at the end of words. The teacher tells students, “I am going to say two words. You will say the words and the sound you hear at the end of each one. I will do the first one. Listen: cat, cats...I hear these ending sounds: cat, /t/; cats, /s/.” Students practice the activity with the teacher using the following words: hat/hats, web/webs, car/cars, rock/rocks, dog/dogs. 

Materials have a cohesive sequence of phonemic awareness instruction to build toward application. For example:

• Over the course of 12 modules, students practice phonemic awareness skills within each lesson:
• In Module 1, students blend onset/rime, segment syllables and onset/rime, alliteration, isolate phonemes, and blend phonemes.
• In Module 2, students blend onset/rime, blend phonemes, segment onset/rime, segment phonemes, alliteration, isolate phonemes, and identify vowel sounds.
• In Module 3, students blend phonemes, isolate phonemes, segment phonemes, identify and produce rhymes, isolate phonemes: identify vowel sounds, and identify alliteration:digraphs.
• In Module 4, students identify alliteration: digraphs, blend phonemes, segment phonemes, manipulate phonemes: change, segment/count phonemes, and manipulate phonemes: add and change.
• In Module 5, students blend phonemes, manipulate phonemes: add, segment/count phonemes, manipulate phonemes: delete, manipulate phonemes: add, and manipulate phonemes: change.
• In Module 6, students blend phonemes, isolate phonemes: identify vowel, segment phonemes, identify/produce rhymes, and manipulate phonemes; delete.
• In Module 7, students blend phonemes, manipulate phonemes; change, segment phonemes, and identify/produce rhymes.
• In Module 8, students blend phonemes, isolate phonemes: identify vowel, segment phonemes, manipulate phonemes: add, manipulate phonemes: delete, manipulate phonemes: change, and segment/count phonemes.
• In Module 9, students segment/count syllables, segment/count phonemes, blend phonemes, blend syllables, add syllables, and delete syllables.
• In Module 10, students segment/count syllables, blend syllables, blend phonemes, and segment phonemes.
• In Module 11, students blend phonemes, manipulate phonemes: add/change, segment phonemes, manipulate phonemes: add, and manipulate phonemes: change.
• In Module 12, students blend syllables, segment syllables, and add/delete syllables.

Materials have a cohesive sequence of phonics instruction to build toward application. For example:

• Phonics instruction follows a logical progression to build towards application. Sounds and spelling patterns are taught alongside each other in lessons. In Module 6, Week 2, students are learning about the long a pattern spelled VCe. In Module 7, Week 3, students are learning about the long a pattern spelled ai and ay. 
• Over the course of 12 modules, students practice phonics instruction each day within the foundational skills portion of the lesson.  
• Module 1: 
• Week 1, students practice consonants m, s, t, b; short a.
• Week 2, students practice consonants n, d, p, c /k/, short a.
• Week 3, students practice consonants r, f, s /z/; short i; inflection -s.
• Module 2:
• Week 1, students practice consonants g, k; review short a, i.
• Week 2, students practice consonants l, h; short o.
• Week 3, students practice consonants w, j, y, v; short u; review short i, o, u.
• Module 3:
• Week 1, students practice consonants qu, x, z; short e; review short e, i, o, u.
• Week 2, students practice double final consonants; consonants ck /k/.
• Week 3, students practice consonant digraph sh; review s, sh.
• Module 4:
• Week 1, students practice consonant digraph ch; review ch, sh.
• Week 2, students practice consonant digraph th, wh; trigraph tch, 
• Week 3, students practice initial blends with s; review sh, th, st.
• Module 5:
• Week 1, students practice initial blends with l; review st, sl, fl, cl.
• Week 2, students practice initial blends with r; compound words.
• Week 3, students practice final blends; inflection -ed.
• Module 6:
• Week 1, students practice long e, i, o (CV); possessives with ‘s.
• Week 2, students practice long a (VCe); soft c.
• Week 3, students practice long i, o (VCe); silent letters kn, wr.
• Module 7:
• Week 1, students practice long u, e (VCe); soft g (g, dge).
• Week 2, students practice long e (ee, ea); short e (ea).
• Week 3, students practice long a (ai, ay); contractions with ‘m, ‘s, n’t, ‘ll.
• Module 8:
• Week 1, students practice long o (oa, ow); long o, i (oe, ie).
• Week 2, students practice long i (igh, y); long i, o.
• Week 3, students practice r-controlled vowel ar; two syllable words: VCCV pattern.
• Module 9:
• Week 1, students practice r-controlled vowels or, ore; two syllable words: r-controlled vowels, VCCV pattern.
• Week 2, students practice r controlled vowels er, ir, ur; two syllable words: r-controlled vowels, VCCV pattern.
• Module 10:
• Week 1, students practice contractions with ‘ve, ‘re; suffixes -er, -est.
• Week 2, students practice vowel pattern oo; consonant +le.
• Week 3, students practice vowel patterns: /oo/ (oo, ou, ew); vowel patterns /oo/ ue, u.
• Module 11:
• Week 1, students practice dipthongs ow, ou; dipthongs oy, oi.
• Week 2, students practice vowel patterns /o/; inflections: spelling changes.
• Week 3, students practice inflections: spelling changes; long e (ie, y, ey).
• Module 12:
• Week 1,students practice suffixes - ful, -less, -y; prefixes un-, re-.
• Week 2, students practice two syllable words: CV, CVC; syllable division.
• Week 3, students practice suffixes -er, est: spelling changes; inflections: spelling changes.

The materials reviewed for Grade 1 Into Reading meet the criteria for materials, questions, and tasks provide explicit instruction and regular practice to address the acquisition of print concepts, including alphabetic knowledge, and directionality (K-1), structures and features of text (1-2).

Print concepts are frequently taught during small group instruction with decodable texts. Teacher modeling, guided practice, and questioning provide students with the opportunity to practice and master print concepts. Shared reading lessons provide mini-lessons to address skills such as text structure in the context of a text. 

Examples of materials that include frequent, adequate lessons and tasks/questions about the organization of print concepts (e.g. recognize features of a sentence) include but are not limited to the following:

• Students have opportunities to recognize the distinguishing features of a sentence (e.g., first word, capitalization, ending punctuation):
• In Module 4, Lesson 3, page T316, Small Group Instruction, students use a finger to point to the first word and final punctuation of a sentence. The teacher periodically prompts the students as they read their text for practice stating, “What is the first word in this sentence? What end punctuation is this? Run your finger under the entire sentence.” 
• In Module 7, Lesson 2, page T51, the teacher is instructed to, “As you read, demonstrate how to find a sentence, identify the first word and its capital letter, and find the end mark.” Students find the first word, the capital letter of a word, and the end mark as they read Rainy, Sunny, Blowy, Snowy by Jane Brocket. 

Examples of materials that include 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) include but are not limited to the following:

• In Module 1, Lesson 1, page T36, the teacher explains during Shared Reading that students usually do things in a certain order and provides examples. After displaying Anchor Chart 18: Story Structure, the teacher points out that things in stories happen in order. The teacher shares that things happening are called events, and the order they are told in is called sequence. The teacher talks about identifying and describing the most important events from beginning, middle, and end and using words like first, next, and last. Students practice identifying and describing important events when they read My First Day no author. 
• In Module 3, Lesson 13, page T216, the teacher reminds students that authors organize their writing to fit the topic and their purpose for writing.  The teacher displays Anchor Chart 34: Text Organization and tells students that one common type of text organization, or structure, is chronological order.  The teacher tells students that a text organized in chronological order tells about events in order, or sequence. The teacher points out that procedural texts, or texts about how to make or do something, are told in chronological order because the text structure helps readers to understand the steps you do first, next, and last while also showing how steps are connected.  The teacher points out that clue words such as first, next, and last, as well as graphic features like numbers, can help a reader know that a text might be organized in chronological order. The teacher tells students that they will reread parts of Step-by-Step Advice from the Animal Kingdom  by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page to practice analyzing text organization.  

Examples of materials that include frequent and adequate lessons and activities about text features (e.g. title, byline, headings, table of contents, glossary, pictures, illustrations) include but are not limited to the following:

• In Module 2, Lesson 8, page T384 the teacher projects Anchor Chart 22: Text Features. The teacher tells students that authors of informational texts use different kinds of text features to help explain or locate information. The teacher points to parts of the anchor chart, explaining each text feature (bold text, labels, maps, and symbols). The teacher tells students they will reread parts of On the Map!  by Lisa Fleming to practice using text features to locate information.
• In Module 3, Lesson 2, page T50, the teacher reviews Anchor Chart 24: Text Features. The teacher is instructed to, “Explain that different text and graphic features have different purposes. Point out that authors choose the types of features that will best help readers understand the information they want to communicate.” The teacher explains how text color and size can be used and also reviews photos and captions. Later in the lesson, when reading the text, Best Foot Forward, the teacher tells students, “Today we will read an informational text, it has facts, photos, and captions that will help you learn about a topic.” 
• In Module 4, Lesson 8, page T388, the teacher reminds students that authors of informational texts often use different kinds of text features to help explain an idea or to help readers locate information.  The teacher explains that text features have different purposes, so authors choose the ones that will best help readers understand the information they want them to know. The teacher projects Anchor Chart 25: Text Features and explains that charts show information in a way that readers can easily understand and see. The teacher explains that headings tell readers that a text is structured into different parts and tell what each part is about. The teacher tells students that headings help readers easily and quickly find the information they want to know.  Finally, the teacher tells students the author may use special text, such as text in different colors and sizes, to call attention to a certain part of the text. The teacher tells students they will reread parts of Get Up and Go! by Rozanne Lanczak Williams to practice identifying and using text features to locate and gain information.

The materials reviewed for Grade 1 Into Reading meet the criteria for instructional opportunities are frequently built into the materials for students to practice and gain decoding automaticity and sight-based recognition of high-frequency words. This includes reading fluency in oral reading beginning in mid Grade 1 and through Grade 2.

Students have opportunities over the course of the school year to read high-frequency words and develop decoding automaticity.  High-frequency words are introduced following a consistent routine that provides students with the opportunity to see the word, say the word, spell the word orally, and write the word. High-frequency words are frequently reviewed using games. During Phonics and Word Work mini-lessons included in weekly lessons, students have the opportunity to write and read words aligned to the phonics focus and high-frequency word focus. Reading strategies are frequently referenced and taught throughout the sequence, and students have the opportunity to apply taught strategies to grade-level texts. The materials provide students with decoding and fluency practice to build toward mastery. 

Multiple opportunities are provided over the course of the year in core materials for students to purposefully read on-level text include but are not limited to the following:

• In Module 4, Lesson 7, page T374, the teacher reminds students they can synthesize information by putting together what they have learned from different parts of the text to see the author’s ideas in new ways. After projecting the Synthesize anchor chart, the teacher explains that when a reader synthesizes, he or she explains the most important ideas in a text. Students should ask themselves what does this all mean to me. Students practice synthesizing ideas when they read Get Up and Go!
• In Module 6, Lesson 3, Teaching Pal, is the companion to the Teacher's Guide which provides point of use instructional notes for students as they read the student texts in myBook. The teacher sets a purpose for reading before students read the text, Monument City, by stating the following: “Make a good guess, or prediction about what will happen. Use the characteristics of drama, such as characters and settings, to help you. Read to see it you are right. If not, make a new prediction.” 

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 decodable words. Through successive readings students gain accuracy and fluency to support comprehension. For example: 

• In Module 2, Lesson 3, page T303, the teacher explains that good readers make their reading flow and sound like they are speaking to someone. The teacher explains to students that expression is when they can use their voices to show how characters feel at different points in a story. While the teacher reads a portion of text aloud, students close their eyes and listen. Students engage in the Echo Reading routine to model reading with expression. For independent practice, the students work in small groups to Partner Read a text with appropriate expression.  
• In Module 3, Lesson 8, page T135, the teacher models reading with expression and reading in a monotone voice and discusses the differences between the two readings with students. Students practice echo reading with expression from the text, Job, Job, Jobs!.  Students Partner Read to continue their practice of reading with expression. 
• In Module 6, Lesson 13, page T459, the teacher reminds the students during the I Do It segment of the lesson that good readers read with expression. As the teacher uses a Start Right Reader, Phil Can Help, he or she will follow these instructions:  “Tell them to close their eyes and listen as you read the first three lines. Read the lines aloud in a monotone. Then reread them using appropriate expression. Discuss the differences with children. Point out the question mark. Guide children to understand that the expression in your voice in the second reading shows that Phil is proud of his drawing when he asks to show it to Miss Rose.” In the We Do It portion of the lesson, students Choral Read as they follow the teacher reading the text with the appropriate expression. The teacher points out an exclamation point as well and tells the students to show those feelings in their voices.
• In Module 8, Lesson 3, Fluency, page T307, the teacher tells students that good readers read at a smooth, steady rate -not too fast or too slow. The teacher points out that reading aloud at an appropriate rate sounds as if someone is talking and helps both the reader and listener understand what is being read. The teacher tells students they can adjust their rate to help them understand the text. The teacher asks students to follow along and pay attention to the rate as the teacher rereads Start Right Reader page 109 at an appropriate rate. The teacher points out that if students do not read at a smooth, steady rate at first, he or she can go back after the student figures out all the words to speed up the rate as he or she reads it again. The teacher uses the choral reading routine to have students reread the page with the teacher. The teacher asks students to follow along as he or she reads a page aloud at an appropriate rate.  The teacher uses the partner reading routine to have partners reread the page to each other. The teacher circulates and listens to students, coaching students to read smoothly from one word to another. Students practice repeated readings. The teacher reminds students to pause at the end of each sentence and read at a rate that a listener can understand easily.  

Materials support reading of texts with attention to reading strategies such as rereading, self-correction, and the use of context clues include but are not limited to the following:

• In Module 1, Lesson 3, page T59, the teacher explains that readers think about what they are reading and whether the words make sense. Students should ask themselves if what was read makes sense and sounds right. Students follow along while the teacher reads aloud, paying attention to whether the words make sense. The teacher models misreading the first sentence and then reading it correctly, pointing out that the sentence now makes more sense. The teacher reads aloud and asks students to restate the process the teacher used when a word did not make sense. Students use the partner read routine to take turns reading, using context to confirm or self correct word recognition.  
• In Module 3, Lesson 9, page T152, the teacher uses an anchor chart to teach students about the Monitor and Clarify strategies by saying the following: “Pay attention as you read. If something doesn’t make sense, try these things to help you understand.” The four strategies that are presented on the chart are as follows: reread, use background knowledge, use visual clues, and ask questions. Students practice these strategies with the text, Have You Heard the Nesting Bird?. 
• In Module 7, Lesson 13, page T211, the teacher reminds students to ask themselves questions such as, “Does that sound right? What makes sense here?” The teacher reads a word in a sentence incorrectly and asks the students if it sounds correct. The teacher then re-reads the sentence correctly. In We Do It, the teacher models reading incorrectly with a sentence in another paragraph. The teacher asks a volunteer what a good reader does when a sentence does not make sense. During partner read time, the teacher circulates around the room and will “coach children to use context and visuals to confirm or self-correct their word reading.” In You Do It, students partner read a Start Right Reader or pages from a myBook story. The teacher reminds students rereading and self-correction are processes that good readers do.

Students have opportunities to practice and read irregularly spelled words include but are not limited to the following:

• In Module 2, Lesson 12, page T440, the teacher utilizes the High-Frequency Word routine with the week’s words:  how, eat, make, out, put, takes, who along with the decodable high-frequency words:  but, cut, on, run, up, us. Using the Printable Word List 6, students play What Am I Thinking?. The teacher selects one of the words and gives the students clues such as, “This word has three letters. One of the letters is t. This word rhymes with shout. What word am I thinking of? (out).”  The students write numbers 1-7 on a paper and write the appropriate word by the number, and the teacher repeats the process seven times.  At the end of the game, the students chorally read the list of words.
• In Module 4, Lesson 3, page T306, the teacher reviews the week’s high-frequency words with students and then has students play an act-it-out game with the words. The words are: be, here, me, play, started, today, use, very, much and such. Students work with partners to write 2-3 sentences using the week’s high-frequency words. The partners act out what they have written for the class to try to guess which high-frequency words were used. 
• In Module 1, Lesson 1, page T30, the teacher introduces the new high-frequency words for the week. For this week, the words are: go, is, like, see, the, this, to, and we. During the lesson, students have numerous practice opportunities with each word. They  see the word, say the word aloud, spell the word orally, and write the word. Students write each word on an index card to go on a Word Ring that will hold all of their high-frequency words throughout the year.

The materials reviewed for Into Reading Grade 1 meet the criteria for materials, questions, and tasks providing systematic and explicit instruction in and practice of word recognition and analysis skills in a research-based progression in connected text and tasks.

Systematic and explicit instruction in and practice of word recognition and analysis skills in connected text and tasks are part of the weekly routine. Decodable readers and shared reading provide opportunities to read high-frequency words in connected texts. Students are provided with writing tasks related to the texts, providing opportunities for students to apply phonics and high-frequency skills to their writing.

Materials support students’ development to learn grade-level word recognition and analysis skills (e.g. spelling-sound correspondences of digraphs, decode one-syllable words, syllable and vowel relationship, decode two-syllable words, read words with inflectional endings)​ ​in connected text and tasks. For example:

• In Module 2, Lesson 4, page T324, before reading the decodable text Big Pat, which contains many short a and short i words, students blend and read four lines of words and two sentences. In one line of text students practice the words: pig, rig, big, bag and rag. 
• In Module 5, Lesson 13, page T212, the lesson follows the standard phonics lesson format of I Do It, We Do It, You Do It. The teacher introduces the lesson by telling the students they will be reading words that have an ending that sometimes adds an extra syllable to the word. The teacher goes on to explain the past tense of verbs using -ed,-t, and -d sounds at the end of certain words. In We Do It, letter cards are used with the Sound-By-Sound Blending routine. A card is presented then the card slides over for each sound that is read. During You Do It, the students engage in independent blending word/reading practice with words with -ed, first without the -ed, then with the -ed. In the Link to Small Group Instruction, the story, Crafts in Class Six, is to be used for reinforce blending and decoding -ed words. 

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

• In Module 3, Lesson 6, pages T116-T117, the Options for Differentiation integrate the lessons taught throughout the module using the Start Right Reader, Big, Big Bus. The decodable reader is used to reinforce phonics and spelling lessons using double final consonants, e.g., will, fill, hill, miss, bell, buzz and the high-frequency words, four and her that were introduced in the Word Work Warm-up for the week.  
• In Module 5, Lesson 12, page T206, students read the decodable text, Frogs in Class Six. The text contains high-frequency words students are currently working on mastering: long, more, think, and any. These words are highlighted in yellow the first time they are used in the text. 

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. For example,

• In Module 2, Lesson 7, page T374, after reading the decodable text, A Map, students go on a rhyme hunt. Students are given clues such as, “This word rhymes with sob. It names a boy.” Students search through the story to find and write down the answer. 
• In Module 6, Lesson 7, pages T370-T131, the teacher reminds students that the letter name of the vowel are the long sounds of those vowels and begins practice with both short and long vowel sounds. The lesson follows the sequence of I Do It, We Do It, You Do It.  In I Do It, the teacher shows the Sound Spell Card for a and states “The sounds for vowels can have different spellings. One spelling for the long a sound is the vowel a followed by a consonant and silent e (VCe pattern).” In the We Do It phase of the lesson, the teacher uses the Sound-By-Sound Blending routine with the word cane (display the Sound Spell Card and slides it over as the word is read). In You Do It, the students have independent reading/blending word practice with words the teacher has written, or students complete Know It, Show It page 162. There is a small group instruction activity suggested in which students read the decodable text, A Swan at Crane Lake, to reinforce blending and decoding words with long a.

The materials reviewed for Grade 1 Into Reading meet the criteria for materials support ongoing and frequent assessment to determine student mastery and inform meaningful differentiation of foundational skills, including a clear and specific protocol as to how students performing below standard on these assessments will be supported.

Assessment opportunities are provided frequently and consistently to monitor student progress and determine specific areas where extra support and practice is needed. Assessment types include the following: beginning of the year screening assessments, module assessments, module inventories, weekly assessments, selection quizzes, leveled reader quizzes, and benchmark book assessments. Additional progress monitoring assessments are available to be used as needed. Answer keys are provided for all assessments. Foundational skills lessons include correct and redirect suggestions for teachers to work with students not mastering the lesson content. Additionally, foundational skills lessons include small group instruction information for teachers to observe students practicing the skills. If students need additional support, a page with an additional lesson is included. If the student has mastered the targeted skill, an extension lesson is given. Intervention assessment materials provide Administering and Scoring Guides to provide specific goals for assessments throughout the year with advice for teachers on how to proceed if students are not meeting the goals. 

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. For example:

• In the Module 3 Assessment, students read a passage. The assessment addresses reading comprehension, foundational skills, writing, and grammar and conventions skills. Students respond to 10 foundational questions to assess their current level of foundational skills proficiency. In foundational skills questions 1-7, the teacher reads a word aloud, and students mark the given word from four choices. For questions 8-10, students are given words with two missing letters, and they identify the missing letters.  
• The grade one Module Inventories introduction states, “The Module Inventories are a tool to monitor progress of select children for whom a closer eye on their developing foundational skills is warranted.”
• Intervention Assessments are provided to determine students’ mastery of foundational skills. Within the Intervention Assessments are beginning-of-year and mid-year foundational skills screening, diagnostic assessments, biweekly progress monitoring assessments, weekly module assessments to include taught foundational skills, one-on-one module inventories, and benchmark assessments that determine students’ performance of skills in context.  Each provided assessment includes a clear and specific protocol to guide support based on students’ foundational skills acquisition level.

Assessment materials provide teachers and students with information on students’ current skill/level of understanding. For example:

• In HMH Into Reading Overview, Growth Measures, page Txix, the types of assessments and progress monitoring are defined. Three types of assessments are included:  adaptive measure and guided reading benchmarks (administered 3 times per year), module assessments (administered 12 times per year), and ongoing feedback from daily classroom activities including formative assessments (weekly assessments, performance tasks, independent reading, skills practice, usage data, teacher observation, running records, and inquiry and research projects).  
• At the beginning of the school year, the teacher administers screening assessments for Letter Identification, Phoneme Segmentation, Nonsense-Word Reading, and Word Identification. At the mid-year of first grade students take an Oral Reading Fluency screening assessment. (Intervention Assessments, T5) 
• The Administering the Assessment Guide Interpretation provides teachers with guidelines for students’ scores. For example, for First Grade Phoneme Segmentation, a chart is provided that shows at the beginning of the year students should have a goal of getting six out of ten words correct, and by the middle of the year, this goal should be eight out of ten words correct. Teachers are directed to an additional assessment to determine how to support students who struggle.
• Under the Data and Reports tab for Reading and Language Arts various reports are available to the teacher for Grade 1 online assessments taken by students throughout the year (Weekly and Module assessments). Assessment Reports are provided which contain student data on assessment proficiencies, assessment averages, and individual student test scores. The Standard Report itemizes questions and responses by standard, student, and domain. This report provides the number of test items along with student averages and a link to available resources throughout the modules for the specific standard. There is a Student Growth Report which monitors students’ online assessment growth throughout the year. 

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

• In Module 8, Lesson 13, page T460, teachers are given directions for a foundational skills lesson on two-syllable words. If a student has difficulty identifying the syllables in a blend and read word, the teacher is to ask how many vowel spellings the student sees and where the word could be broken. Materials include small group instruction utilizing the text, Farms to review or reinforce blending and decoding words with r-controlled ar and two-syllable words.
• Recommendations for Data Driven Instruction located in the Intervention Assessments Guide provide teachers with specific steps to help students who are struggling. Each targeted skill provides four steps: 1. Identify student needs, 2. Teach to the need, 3. Scaffold the core, and 4. Monitor progress. For example, if a student is struggling with Phoneme Segmentation, step 2 states “TEACH TO THE NEED Administer the corresponding lessons in Foundational Skills and Word Study Studio, choosing from sessions 32-55.” (T38, Intervention Assessments) 
• If a student is struggling with Oral Reading Fluency (Mid-Year only), the teacher is provided with four clear steps to take: 1. Identify student needs, 2. Teach to the need, 3. Scaffold the core, and 4. Monitor progress. Step 3 states, “SCAFFOLD THE CORE Provide scaffolded support, which may include small-group work and/or strategic intervention, to help students access core instruction.” 

The materials reviewed for Grade 1 Into Reading meet the criteria for materials, questions, and tasks providing high-quality lessons and activities that allow for differentiation of foundational skills, so all students achieve mastery of foundational skills.  

A variety of differentiation opportunities are presented throughout the materials. Teachers are provided with suggestions to address the needs of English Language Learners, students who may need additional support, or students who may need an extension of the concept. Differentiation suggestions are incorporated both as in the moment ideas that the teacher could use with the whole class and as ideas that would involve pulling a small group of students later to revisit a concept. Tabletop Mini-lessons are included to support students in need of additional instruction on specific topics. Students below level receive small group instruction options for differentiation in targeted skill practice for foundational skills and Correct and Redirect prompts in daily lessons. Students at or above grade level materials are provided independent practice during small group instruction times in Literacy Centers to reinforce and extend concepts learned through direct instruction. Guided reading groups monitored by running record data with Rigby Leveled Readers provide opportunities for differentiation. Students have multiple practice opportunities within each cycle to master grade-level foundational skills throughout the modules including text practice with Start Right decodable readers.

Materials provide high-quality learning lessons and activities for every student to reach mastery of foundational skills. For example: 

• In addition to the Foundational Skills block of 15-30 minutes, options for differentiation are provided during the daily 45-60 minute block for Small Group Instruction. The options for small groups include guided reading groups, foundational skills development, skills and strategy instruction, and English learner support. Teacher observation and online data-driven grouping in reading provides instructional recommendations appropriate for all learners through lessons provided in the Online Foundational Skills and Word Study Studio.  
• In Module 3, Lesson 2, page T46, students are learning about the consonants qu, x, z and the short vowel e. For the I Do portion of the lesson, the teacher models blending sounds to form the following words: quit, fix, zip, and bed. For the We Do portion of the lesson, the class practices blending and reading words with the sounds being taught. The teacher is then provided with two different options for activities to use for the You Do It portion of the lesson. One activity is a Know it, Show it page and the other activity has students using letter cards to spell different words. 
• In Module 5, Lesson 13, page T212, teachers are given directions for a foundational skills lesson focused on the inflectional ending -ed.  A Correct and Redirect section is included to provide guidance to teachers in supporting students who are struggling.  Additionally, a Small Group Instruction section is included with suggestions provided for students who struggle with this topic.    
• In Module 8, Lesson 6, page T356, the teacher is to first administer a Spelling pretest with a list of long i pattern words provided. Depending on how well the students perform, the teacher is to “assign the Basic and Review words as needed for practice this week. If children do well on the pretest, assign the Challenge words.”
• In Module 9, Lesson 2, page T47, there is a challenge section on r-controlled vowels which states, “Have children who are ready for a challenge read the two-syllable words with /ôr/ in Line 4 and tell how they figured them out.” In the Correct and Redirect portion, there is specific remediation instruction if a student mispronounces words in line 1 or 2, or uses the short vowel sound in place of the long vowel sounds in line 3.

Materials provide guidance to teachers for scaffolding and adapting lessons and activities to support each student’s needs. For example:

• In Module 2, Lesson 2, pages T290-T291, students use printable letter cards in the I Do It segment to form the words sag, bag, big, and kid.  As one student spells the word aloud, the other students check their own work. In Correct and Redirect, specific remediation instruction is given if a student misreads final sounds. There is a Link to Small Group Instruction to reinforce foundational skills using the Start Right Reader, Go, Big Cab! to reinforce blending and decoding with g and k for students needing additional support or to assign it as an independent work.
• In Module 3, Lesson 1, page T34, the English Learner Support tip that is provided states, “Some English learners may need support pronouncing the vowel sound /ĕ/. Say the following pairs of words as children listen: pen/pan, men/man, ten/tan. Repeat the word pairs, one word at a time. Ask children to raise a hand when they hear a word with /ĕ/ and say the word.” 
• In Module 5, Lesson 1, page T32, students are working on initial blends with l and the following Teacher Tip is provided: “Switch it up! Soon children will be introduced to the more efficient continuous blending routine. If you feel that your children are ready to make the switch from Sound-by-Sound Blending to Continuous Blending, you can do so at any time.” 

Students have multiple practice opportunities with each grade level foundational skill component in order to reach mastery.  For example:

• In Module 6, Lesson 8, page T384 the Correct and Redirect section provides ideas for students who are struggling with soft c. English Language Support to facilitate language connections is included. 
• In Module 8, Week 1 when learning about long o, students have multiple practice opportunities: 
• In Module 8, Lesson 1, page T280, the teacher reviews long o spelling patterns with students. Students have the opportunity to practice reading and blending words with long o. 
• In Module 8, Lesson 1, page T282, students take a spelling pretest. All 10 basic words have long o spellings. In this same lesson, students complete a long o word sort. One column represents words with long o spelling ow and the other column represents words with long o spelled oa. 
• In Module 8, Lesson 1, page T289, during small group instruction, students build long and short o words using letter cards.
• In Module 10, Week 1, Week at a Glance documents opportunities to practice weekly high-frequency words using various Word Work activities such as using the High-Frequency Words routine, playing I-Spy with the Word List 28, Chant and Cheer, Word Hop, and Children’s Choice. 
• In Module 12, Lesson 1, pages T140-T141, Phonics Suffixes -ful, -less, -ly, -y, the lesson provides the standard format of I Do It, We Do It, You Do It to explicitly teach the lesson. There is a Link to Small Group Instruction: Reinforce Foundational Skills to have students practice suffixes either in a small group setting or independently utilizing the Start Right Reader decodable book, Why Rabbits Have Short Tails. Start Right Readers are incorporated throughout the materials and allow students the opportunity to practice and apply the foundational skills taught throughout the week/modules in context.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria that texts are organized around a topic/topics to build students' knowledge and vocabulary which will over time support and help grow students’ ability to comprehend complex texts independently and proficiently.

In Grade 1, each module is centered around a topic or a theme that relate to Kindergarten and Grade 2 topics.  Modules include both science and social studies topics that help build knowledge. 

Examples include, but are not limited to: 

• In Module 2, the theme is “My Family, My Community," which is about how everyone in a family and community makes people feel special. Texts include: Dan Had a Plan by Wong Herbert Yee, Places in my Neighborhood by Shelly Lyons, and Put the Cookies in the Cookie Jar by George Shannon.
• In Module 3, the science topic is “Amazing Animals”, where students learn about how animals’ bodies help them. Texts in this module include: Whose Eye Am I? by Shelley Rotner, “Animal Q & A” (no author), and Animal Kingdom by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page. 
• In Module 5, the science topic is “Now You See It, Now You Don't” and is about light and dark and the seasons. Texts in this module include: “Blackout” by John Rocco, Day and Night by Margaret Hall, and The Best Season by Nina Crews.  
• In Module 7, the science topic is “The Big Outdoors”, where students learn about how things in nature change. Texts in this module include: “Rainy, Sunny, Blowy, Snowy by Jane Brocket, Deserts by Quinn M. Arnold, and Grand Canyon by Sara Gilbert. 
• In Module 9, the topic is “Grow Plants, Grow!," which is about plants. Texts include: So You Want to Grow a Taco by Bridget Heos, Which Part Do We Eat? by Katherine Ayres, and The Talking Vegetables by Won Ldy Paye and Margaret H. Lippert. 
• In Module 10, the topic is “Dare to Dream," which is about innovators and inventors and being creative in thinking. Texts in this module include: Kids Are Inventors, Too! (no author), Sky Color by Peter H. Reynold, and Joaquin’s Zoo by Pablo Bernasconi. 
  
  

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 partially meet the criteria that materials contain sets of coherently sequenced questions and tasks that require students to analyze the language (words/phrases), key ideas, details, craft, and structure of individual texts in order to make meaning and build understanding of texts and topics.

Throughout the program students answer a variety of questions that are coherently sequenced that help students analyze language, key ideas, details, craft, and the structure of texts. During every lesson, teachers engage students in answering text-dependent questions and targeted questions. The Teaching Pal provides teachers with opportunities to stop and ask students to turn and talk or think about the text that they are listening to. Weekly and module assessments also include analysis of texts including language, key ideas, and details. However, many questions in the Grade 1 materials engage students in focusing on reading strategy instead of comprehension and knowledge building.

Specific examples of coherently sequenced questions and tasks regarding language include:

• In Module 3, Lesson 7, students listen to Blue Bird and Coyote by Joseph Bruchac, and students are asked, “What does Blue Bird look like and how do you know?”. Students are then asked to underline the words that describe Blue Bird. 
• In Module 7, Lesson 1, after listening to Sam & Dave Dig a Hole by Mac Barnett and after reading page 22, students are asked, “What does the phrase split up means?” and “What clues help figure out the question?”.
• In Module 8, Week 1 Assessment, students read the story, A Fine Day for Kites and are asked, “What word in the sentence tells what the kite looks like?”  

Specific examples of coherently sequenced questions and tasks regarding key ideas include:

• In Module 6, Lesson 8, after listening to A Great Day (no author), students are asked, “What is one reason that George Washington is great?” 
• In Module 7, Lesson 4, students listen to Sam & Dave Dig a Hole by Mac Barnett and are asked, “Why does the dog start digging?" and "What evidence helps you answer this?”.
• In Module 8, Week 1 Assessment students read the story, A Fine Day for Kites, and the assessment asks, “What is the reason that Ben is sad?”.

Examples of questions that do not support knowledge building and instead ask students to demonstrate reading strategy include the following:

• In Module 1, Lesson 10, students listen to A Kids’ Guide to Friends by Trey Amico, and after rereading pages 52 - 53, are asked, “What are these pages about and what evidence helps you understand that?” Students are then asked to underline the details that describe what a friend is.

• In Module 5, Lesson 3, students are asked a series of questions about Blackout by John Rocco, including “How have the pictures changed since the beginning of the story?", "What do you notice about the colors?", and "What do you notice about the expressions on the characters faces?”.
• In Module 7, Lessons 7 and 8, students listen to Deserts by Quinn M. Arnold, and after hearing pages 48 and 49, during the first read, students are asked, “What do the photos show?” and “How do the labels help you understand the photos?”. During the second read, students are asked, “What the author wants you to learn from the text?” and “How do the photos and labels help you figure out the central idea?”.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria that materials contain a coherently sequenced set of text-dependent questions and tasks that require students to analyze the integration of knowledge and ideas across both individual and multiple texts.

Throughout the Grade 1 materials, students are asked a series of coherently sequenced text-dependent questions and tasks that require them to analyze knowledge and ideas across both individual and multiple texts. Questions require students to analyze, synthesize, evaluate, and make connections between stories. 

Students build knowledge and ideas across individual texts in both literary and informational texts. Examples include:

• In Module 3, Lesson 3, students listen to The Nest by Carol Roberts.  Students turn and talk to discuss what important things happen after the bird lays the eggs. Then students draw a picture that shows an interesting fact that they learned about birds or eggs. Students write a sentence or two to explain the information in their picture. 
• In Module 4, Lesson 7, students listen to Get Up and Go! by Rozanne Lanczak Williams and are asked “What is exercise?”, “Why is exercise important for you?”, “What kinds of exercise can you do on your own?” and “What kinds can you do with others?”. 
• In Module 6, Lesson 7, students listen to The Context by Libby Martinex and are told that in the story it says, “Jade says that eagles are brave.” Students are then asked if this is a good detail that helps them understand why the eagle is a good symbol. 
• In Module 7, Lesson 10, after reading Handmade by Guadalupe Rodriguez in their myBook, students are asked a series of questions about handmade projects. Some of these questions include, “What do you make in each project?", "How can it be used?",  "Tell the steps for making one of the projects”, and “Write a letter to tell someone you know how to make one of the projects from Handmade.” 
• In Module 9, Lesson 11, students listen to Amazing Plant Bodies by Ellen Lawrence and are asked a series of questions to build knowledge. Some questions include, “How are most plants the same?”, Why are the roots of a plant important?”, and “How does a plant’s stem help it stay alive during a drought?”. 

Throughout the program, students are given opportunities to analyze knowledge and ideas across multiple texts. Examples include:

• In Model 2, Lessons 9 and 10, students read Places in my Neighborhood by Shelly Lyons, and then in their myBook, they are asked, “How are the neighborhoods in this text like the neighborhoods in On the Map by Lisa Fleming?". 
• In Module 4, Lessons 11 and 12, after listening to If You Plant a Seed by Kadir Nelson, students are asked how this is like what happens to the friends in A Big Guy Took my Ball! by Mo Williems. 
• In Module 10, Lessons 11 and 12 students read Joaquin’s Zoo by Pablo Bernasconi and are asked, “How is Joaquin like Marison in Sky Color?” and “How is what he does different from what Marison does?” 
• In Module 11, Lessons 11 through 15, students read a variety of Start Right Readers including, “Sports Played with a Ball”, “Sports Played in Water”, “Sports Played on Ice”, and “Track and Field”, all written by Dana Schlein. In Lesson 15, students are asked, “What topics do all four texts have in common?”, “How are the texts different?”, “What are some sports where you need to be fast?”, and “What benefits do all sports have?".

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 partially meet the criteria that the questions and tasks support students’ ability to complete culminating tasks in which they demonstrate their knowledge of a topic  through integrated skills (e.g. combination of reading, writing, speaking, listening).

Materials provide some opportunities demonstrate knowledge of a topic through integrated skills. Each module is built upon an essential question, which students discuss prior to completing the culminating task. At the end of each module, students  complete a culminating task or a performance-based task, which are usually more rigorous and involve writing and synthesizing previously read texts; however, due materials providing choice, students do not consistently complete tasks that require them to demonstrate knowledge of a topic they are learning. Throughout the module, students participate in close reads, collaborative conversations, and speaking and writing tasks that relate to texts that they read and hear.

Examples of culminating tasks that require students to demonstrate knowledge of a topic through integrated skills include:

• In Module 1, students learn about making new friends and engaging in new experiences.  At the end of the module, students can choose to complete a performance task where they choose two characters from different texts and write a narrative paragraph to tell how they meet. This requires students to integrate the skills of listening, reading, and writing.
• In Module 2, students demonstrate their knowledge of communities by discussing the question, “How does everyone in my family and community make them feel special?”.  In Lesson 15, students discuss all of the texts that they have experienced and discuss the similarities and differences between those texts and what they have learned. One example of a culminating task that requires students to demonstrate knowledge of this topic is creating an award for a book character and writing about why the person deserves the award. This task involves writing and synthesizing previously read material. Students then share it with the class, which integrates speaking.
• In Module 4, students learn about being good citizens. Prior to completing the culminating task, students discuss the similarities and differences between the texts in the module and guiding questions are provided such as, “How was the informational text Good Sports different from a fantasy such as A Big Guy Took my Ball?”. 
• In Module 5, students learn about light and dark. Students read and listen to a variety of literary and nonfiction text about light, dark, day, night, and the seasons. One of the options for a culminating task is for students to write a poem and draw a picture that includes the information that they learned about light, dark, day, night, and the seasons, which integrates the various skills and texts from the module. 
• In Module 6, students learn about holidays and symbols. Students discuss the essential question, “What do holidays and symbols tell about our country?”.  In Lesson 15, students discuss the similarities and differences between the module read aloud texts and what they learned about the topic. Then they have a choice of culminating tasks or a performance-based task. One of the culminating tasks requires students to draw a parade including U.S. monuments on floats and add labels, and then share it with the class . This task integrates writing, synthesizing previous read-alouds, and speaking. 
• In Module 9, students learn about plants and gardens. Students explore the module question, “What do plants need to live and grow?” through a variety of literary and nonfiction texts. One of the options for a culminating task requires students to draw what different kinds of plans they would grow in a garden and explain to a partner, how they would take care of it. This task integrates reading, listening, speaking, and writing. 
• In Module 10, students learn about how to think of new ways to solve problems. In Lesson 15, students discuss the similarities and differences between the texts from the module and how they involve the topic. Students then complete either a culminating task or a performance-based task that requires them to demonstrate their knowledge of the topic. For example, students can choose to identify some of the problems that people in the texts solved by thinking in a new way and then writing whether or not those ideas helped the world and, if so, how. This task involves both writing and reading.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria that materials include a cohesive, year-long plan for students to interact with and build key academic vocabulary words in and across texts. 

In the Grade 1 materials, students are taught academic vocabulary words including Big Idea Words for the module and Power Words for each anchor text. Each module has three main topic words, and each anchor text has another set of vocabulary words for students to learn. There are vocabulary procedures for learning both types of words. Each module also ends with a cumulative review of academic vocabulary. Students practice the vocabulary words through discussion questions and some myBook tasks. According to the Guiding Principles and Strategies Book, vocabulary instruction includes oral language practice when listening to big books and read-aloud books. Generative Vocabulary lessons provide weekly opportunities to use known words as springboards to learn new, unknown words with morphological or semantic relationships. In addition, Vocabulary Strategy lessons and cumulative vocabulary lessons are included in the modules. 

Big words are taught in the beginning of each module and relate to the topic; however, they are not included in most of the texts or questions but rather relate to the module topic or theme. The routine to learn the words includes the teacher saying the word and the students repeating the word. Then the teacher explains the meaning in a student-friendly manner, and discusses examples. Some examples include:

• In Module 1, students learn the words: friendship, emotions, and challenges. After learning the words, the students watch the video, ”First Day Friends” and then write about each word. Students record synonyms and antonyms and draw pictures of the words. In Lesson 15, for the Let’s Wrap Up activity, students think about something new they and a friend tried to do or want to try and make up a cheer to describe it. Students use the word friendship in their cheer. 
• In Module 2, the topic is what makes a community special. The Big Words are area, population, and working. In Lesson 1, students think about what they know about the words and watch a video that incorporates the words. Then the teacher uses the vocabulary routine and vocabulary cards to teach the word. In the Teaching Pal, students write synonyms and antonyms of each word and draw a picture for each word. Students also use the words in the Let’s Wrap Up section. In this activity, students write about who they think should get an award from the texts they read, and they are required to use the word working in their answer. 
• In Module 6, students learn about holidays and symbols of America. The Big Words are appreciated, duty, and participate. 
• In Module 7, students learn the words: cycle, evaporation, liquid. Students learn the words and discuss each of them by discussing synonyms and antonyms. 
• In Module 10, students think about ways to solve problems and learn the Big Words: applaud, future, and genius. In Lesson 8, after listening to the book, Sky Color by Peter H. Reynolds, students write about which shoe in the poem would be a job or activity they would like to do in the future. 

Power Words are specific to one text in the module and are included in questions and tasks about that text. The process to teach these words is a three step process. First, the teacher introduces the word on a vocabulary card and shows a picture. The teacher also gives examples of the word by acting it out and making connections. Then the teacher helps the students make connections by using question prompts. Finally, students work with partners to draw, discuss, and role-play the words. Examples include:

• In Module 2, Week 1, students learn the words: belong, gifted, help, market, mess, neighbors, persists, sell, set, sketch, smeared, and toiled. To introduce each word, the teacher uses the three step process. In Lesson 4, the teacher reviews the words for the week and plays a game with students where students guess the word after receiving clues from other students. In Module 3, Lesson 6, during the read-aloud of Whose Eye Am I? by Shelley Rotner, students learn the words:  pupils, sharp, experts, swivel, sheds, and lenses. Students use the vocabulary routine to learn the words. The teacher asks questions such as, “Are pupils the dark parts of the eyes or the colored parts?” and “Can you see the lenses of your eyes?”. 
• In Module 5, Lesson 2, before reading the text On Earth by G. Brian Karas, the teacher uses the vocabulary route to introduce the words: sweep, rolls, universe, tilts, revolve, and gravity. Some of the prompts the teacher uses to help students include, “Which moves in a sweep: a bird soaring through the air or a rocket ship going straight up into the sky?”
• In Module 6, Week 2, students learn the words: audience, contest, hope, liberty, onstage, program, split, stand, towers, and vote. This week, students also learn about suffixes -less and -ful and the effect of the suffixes to the vocabulary words. In Lesson 15, students review both types of vocabulary words in the module. Some activities include drawing the words, a word sort where they sort by topic or part of speech, or writing using the vocabulary words. 
• In Module 9, Lesson 9, before reading Which Part do we Eat?  by Katherine Ayres, students learn the prefix un- and how they know the word sturdy means strong, but the word unsturdy means not strong. Students apply this learning to other vocabulary words. 
• In Module 10, Week 3, students learn the words: altitude, bounds, build, cab, dream, golden, instant, instructor, neat, scraps, and usually. Students also receive one generative vocabulary lesson where they learn about the prefix re- and receive a cumulative vocabulary review.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria that materials contain a year long, cohesive plan of writing instruction and tasks which support students in building and communicating substantive understanding of topics and texts. 

The Grade 1 materials include writing instruction that spans the whole year that is aligned to the standards. Writing instruction supports students growth. Students begin the year with an expectation of writing a few sentences. The Grade 1 materials include well-designed lesson plans covering a variety of genres, both process and on-demand writing, and include teacher and student protocols. Students receive explicit instruction that guides them through the writing process in Writing Workshops lessons. Lessons also include mentor texts that provide students with opportunities to examine the text features of a specific genre and the styles and techniques of authors. The materials include rubrics for both informational and narrative writing, which display an increase in expectations throughout the year. At the beginning of the year, the rubrics include writing and drawing, but by the end of the year, drawing is not included. The end of the year rubrics also include more sophisticated language and convention expectations. 

In the beginning of the year, students are expected to write short paragraphs. Examples include:

• In Module 1 of Writing Workshop, students write a story about a moment in their lives. Students use the text, Ralph Tells a Story by Abby Hanlon as a mentor text. Students orally tell the story before writing their narrative. 
• In Module 1, Lesson 6, after listening to Will You Be My Friend! by Peter Brown, students write or draw the important events at the beginning, middle, and end of the story. 
• In Module 2, Lesson 4, students review the story, Dan Had a Plan by Wong Hebert Yee and write a retelling of the actions of the characters in the story. 
• In Module 2 of Writing Workshop, students write a short description of what makes their world wonderful. 
• In Module 3, Lesson 10, students complete a three column graphic organizer to list what they see nesting birds do from the text, Have you Heard the Nesting Bird? by Rita Gray.
• In Module 3 of Writing Workshop, students write an all-about book about their favorite animal. Over the course of fifteen lessons, students listen to the mentor text, analyze text features, select and research a topic, draft their book including illustrations, add text features, revise, edit, publish, and share their writing. 
• In Module 4, Lesson 8, students review the text, Get Up and Go! by Rozanne Lanczak Williams and write an opinion about what type of exercise they think is best, using reasons from the text to support their opinions. 
• In Module 4 of Writing Workshop, students write a procedural text about how to make a new friend. Students learn this type of writing involves steps in a process, clear directions and instructions, and the importance of sequence. 

In the middle of the year, students are expected to write more to explain their responses to texts. Students also use strategies such as compare and contrast. In Writing Workshop, students are expected to support their ideas with reasons. 

• In Module 5, Lesson 13, after listening to Waiting is not Easy! by Mo Williams, students choose one of the two characters and write clues from the text to describe one of the characters. 
• In Module 6, Lesson 8, students write an opinion about which American symbol from The Contest by Libby Martinez that they like best. Students use details from the text to support their ideas. 
• In Module 6 of Writing Workshop, students write a story about a favorite holiday memory. 
• In Module 7, Lesson 4, students read, Sam & Dave Dig a Hole by Mac Barnett and then write a message that they could send to the characters to help them find something spectacular. Students also draw a map to show Sam and Dave where to go and how to find the spectacular thing. 
• In Module 8 of Writing Workshop, students write a personal narrative about someone who has helped them solve a problem.

By the end of the year, students are expected to use text evidence in their writing. In Writing Workshop, students are expected to produce a cohesive story with a sequential order. Students no longer use pictures as a primary way or supplementary way to explain their ideas. Examples include:

• In Module 9, Lesson 11, students listen to “Amazing Plant Bodies” (no author) and then write sentences that tell about a part of the plant that they find interesting. Then they draw a picture to accompany their descriptions. Students are encouraged to use details from the text to support their response. 
• In Module 9 of Writing Workshop, students write an essay telling what they learned from participating in a science experiment. Students work through the writing process and add descriptive words and art to their writing during the revision process. 
• In Module 10, Lesson 4, students add to the story, “Max’s Music” (no author) about what they think would happen next. 
• In Module 11, Lesson 4, after rereading Do You Really Want to Visit a Wetland? by Bridget Heos, students write a paragraph describing one thing about the Everglades that the boy in the story could use in his report. 
• In Module 11 of Writing Workshop, students write a letter to the boy in the story, I Will Not Read This Book by Cece Meng, telling him that he should read a specific book that the students have chosen. 
• In Module 12 of Writing Workshop, students write about the best thing that they have learned to do in first grade. Students complete the writing process to reflect on everything they have learned.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria that materials include a progression of focused, shared research and writing projects to encourage students to develop knowledge and understanding of a topic using texts and other source materials.

The Grade 1 materials include research projects across the year. Each module has an Inquiry and Research Based Project related to the module topic. The projects are three weeks long. They develop students’ knowledge on the topic as well as teach them research skills. The projects also integrate all skills including reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Research Based Projects often include a creative aspect and involve group work. Often some digital element is included such as online research. There is also one rubric for all of the projects. The Inquiry and Research Project Rubric measures students on collaboration, research and text evidence, content, and presentation. The routine for research is the same throughout the year. In Week 1, students learn about the project and engage in some brainstorming. In Week 2, students research and complete their research project. In Week 3, students reflect on their project, share, and celebrate. 

Specific examples of Research Based Projects in Grade 1 include, but are not limited to:

• In Module 1, students create and write illustrated profiles about themselves as they engage in a study of new friends and trying new things. They compile the profiles into a class book and share their work with the class. 
• In Module 2, students complete a shared research project where they create a video of community news. In Week 1, students research places in their community and write information on shared “curiosity boards”. In Week 2, students work in groups to draw and write about the community place they chose and brainstorm questions for other groups. The groups then film each other asking questions. In Week 3, students share their reports and videos. 
• In Module 3, students learn about animals and collaborate to invent something based on an animal’s body part that solves a problem. During Week 1, students brainstorm ways animals use their bodies to solve a problem and generate questions about the body part they will research. Students begin researching. In Week 2, students think about a problem people have and draw a picture or write about their invention to describe how it works. In Week 3, students introduce their invention by reading the description and explaining how it solves a problem. 
• In Module 5, students study why light and dark come and go. Students work collaboratively to create drawings of their shadows and write about them. 
• In Module 6, students complete a project where they research a symbol of America. In Week 1, students research American symbols, songs, and poems in groups. In Week 2, students research books and websites and write facts about their chosen symbol. Then students make a poster with visuals about their symbols. In Week 3, they share with the class. 
• In Module 7, students research kinds of weather, record their observations, and make posters to show weather changes. During Week 1, students brainstorm questions about weather and weather changes and suggest a research source to help them observe and track weather. In Week 2, students use a large poster calendar to make weather observations and draw a picture with written descriptions. In Week 3, students present their calendars. 
• In Module 9, students study plants and gardens. The three-week-long inquiry project requires students to collaborate to grow plants from seeds and create posters with written steps for each stage of growth. 
• In Module 10, students research a community or world problem and brainstorm solutions. In Week 1, students use Think-Pair-Share to research problems in books and online and then work in groups to create research plans. In Week 2, students work in groups to create collages and write about their problems and solutions. In Week 3, students share their presentations.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria that materials provide a design, including accountability, for how students will regularly engage in a volume of independent reading either in or outside of class.

Grade 1 materials include many supports to foster independent reading. Every module has a Building Reading Independence section with teacher guidance. The Guiding Principles and Strategies book includes sections for Reading Independence and Family and Community, which explains how to help students become independent readers in and out of the classroom. There is a daily reading block which includes 45-60 minutes for small group reading and independent reading with literacy centers, decodable texts, skill practice, and inquiry and research projects. At the beginning of the year, students read five to ten minutes before taking a break, and throughout the year, this time increases. Each lesson within the module has an “Options for Independent and Collaborative Work” section. There are also tracking sheets such as reading logs included to help keep students accountable. There are also some activities for home learning including printables and electronic tools as well as family letters. It should be noted that the home activities appear to be optional. While students are given a reading log, there is no specific guidance for how to hold students accountable and for how long students should read each night. 

In the Guiding Principles and Strategies book for Grade 1, there is a section titled, “Building Reading Independence.” In this section, there is guidance on organizing the classroom library, self-selecting books,  setting goals, and responding to texts. There is also a printable reading log to track independent reading books. Teachers are encouraged to create response journals for reading as well. 

In the Guiding Principles and Strategies book for Grade 1, there is a section called “Family and Community-Learning Beyond the Classroom.” This section gives guidance on the messaging that should be sent home. In this section, teachers can find printables such as eBooks and iRead, which is a foundational skills online program. In addition, teachers are provided with printable resources such as Printable resource worksheets, word lists, and Start Right Readers. Teachers are encouraged to explain the importance of the volume of reading to family. The Family Letter for each module reminds families of the importance of reading with children each day and skills to work on at home. The three sections of the letter are Big Idea Words, Let’s Read Together, and Word Play. The skills include the Big Idea words, some games and activities while reading, and some foundational reading skills. For example, in Module 7, an activity is to read about recycling and start a recycling project. At the end of each module, students are also encouraged to take home their myBook so they can read and share the text with family members. 

In each module, there is also guidance for a reading corner. This section describes the reading log for tracking and gives suggestions for students to read with a partner, annotate the text, and complete a response journal. In each module, there are also options for Independent and Collaborate Work. For example, in Module 2, it is suggested that children practice reading using the Student Choice Library and Rigby Leveled Library. Students also practice reading in literacy centers and independent reading with Start Right Readers. It is encouraged that students also set goals. In the Reading Workshop section, it suggests that teachers have conversations about strengths and areas for growth during reading conferences. Teachers are prompted to help students set realistic goals and give strategies for achieving goals.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria that materials are well-designed and take into account effective lesson structure and pacing. 

The Grade 1 curriculum is divided into twelve modules, with each module taking place over three weeks. The Guiding Principles and Strategies Handbook and the Teacher's Guide provide extensive information about all components of the module and specific details for each lesson component. Suggested time frames and ranges for each component of a lesson are provided. The curriculum has multiple lesson parts that are required daily, though the provided time frames will help schools find time for each part of the lesson. Time is built into the schedule each day for whole class instruction, small group instruction, independent practice, collaborative group work, and reflection. Module Inquiry and Research projects are included in the daily center rotations. 

The Guiding Principles and Strategies handbook provides information to support effective lesson structure and pacing. Three anchor texts are introduced each week. In Modules 1-10, students have a science or social studies topic, while Modules 11and 12 are genre studies. In these two modules, students use previously read texts. The specific suggested break down each day includes:

• Whole Class Instruction should be 65-105 minutes per day of reading, writing, language, and foundational skills. Specifically, it suggests 60-75 minutes for reading workshop (including whole group and small group instruction), 15-30 minutes for foundational skills, 20-30 minutes of writing workshop, and 10-15 minutes of vocabulary. 
• Small Group instruction should be 45-60 minutes per day and include independent practice, collaborative work, and teacher-led small group instruction
• A daily wrap-up should take place for five minutes a day

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 partially meet the criteria that the teacher and student can reasonably complete the content within a regular school year, and the pacing allows for maximum student understanding.

The Grade 1 curriculum is arranged into twelve modules, with each module covering three weeks. This equates to 180 days of instruction. This does not allow for flexibility within a typical school year including disruptions due to state testing, holidays, snow days, field trips, and other school and district commitments. There are no allocated times for assessments or for instruction of the Inquiry and Research projects. There are also no flex days built into the program. It also does not allow for the teacher to introduce and practice routines and procedures, which the Guiding Principles and Strategies handbook emphasizes the importance of this in the beginning of the year.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria that the student resources include ample review and practice resources, clear directions, and explanation, and correct labeling of reference aids (eg. visuals, maps, etc.)

 The Grade 1 student materials provide a variety of resources to practice and review skills. The resources provide clear directions and explanations for students and are all labeled to show alignment to the specific module and week. Printables, graphic organizers, and anchor charts are easily located on the digital site by sorting in accordance with the labeled heading in the Teacher's Guide as well.  Activities that are completed with teacher guidance have directions included in the Teacher's Guide. Resources that are completed independently or in small groups, without direct teacher guidance, include clear directions and explanations so that the task can be completed. 

The myBook is a write-in student book that provides clear directions and explanations. Students complete these tasks after the teacher provides instruction and guidance, which is clearly explained in the Teacher's Guide. Some examples include:

• In Module 1, Lesson 7, the directions in the myBook state, “Use details from My School Trip to answer these questions with a partner.”  On the page, it also provides a talking tip to ask a question if students are unsure about their partner’s ideas. 
• In Module 5, Lesson 8, the Teacher's Guide explains the printable that students complete for their independent reading book. Students complete a graphic organizer that lists the type of text features in their book and what the text feature helps the students understand.
• In Module 9, Lesson 14, the Teacher’s Guide gives specific instructions and options for teachers on teaching the prefix un. It states that one option, is to “write these words on the board: lucky, clip, button, helpful. Ask partners to add the prefix un to each base word. After discussing the meaning of the new words, have pairs choose one word to illustrate. “ Students can also complete page 264 in their myBook.

Throughout the program, the materials include vocabulary cards, printables, Tabletop Mini-lesson flipcharts, anchor charts, display and engage Knowledge Maps, leveled readers, rubrics, and Readers' Theater. All materials are clearly labeled and correspond to the appropriate lesson. In each lesson, there is a small picture of the lesson text and a list of materials needed for each lesson.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria that materials include publisher-produced alignment documentation of the standards addressed by specific questions, tasks, and assessment items.

There is a resource that shows an alignment to the Common Core State Standards by listing each standard and the lessons that correlate to the standards. Standard alignment is also located on the digital resource through the Planning Guide and Common Core State Standards link. Assessments are not labeled by CCSS, but the digital data reports have an option for the teacher to review the data based on the standard. In addition, on the digital platform, under Module Resources, there is a document titled, “State-Specific Resources,” which provides the Weekly Overview for each module with state-aligned labeling of standards. Teachers can locate the correlation by using the correlation guide. For example in Module 3, Lesson 1, students are asked, “How does the author use italics and bold text? What else does the author do to call attention in the text? What information do labels give?”. Then the teacher uses the correlation guide to know that those questions correspond to RI.1.5. The Grade 1, Take and Teach Lessons for the Rigby Leveled Library, also provide correlation between the standards and the questions asked during the guided reading session.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria that the visual design (whether in print or digital) is not distracting or chaotic, but supports students in engaging thoughtfully with the subject.

The visual design includes clear instructions and simple designs that do not distract the students. All texts are provided within the student myBook. The materials contain many visual aids to support student learning, including anchor charts, Display and Engage content, graphic organizers, printables, and real images that accompany the text related to the content of the modules. Additionally, illustrations and clipart utilized on student workbook pages are uncomplicated and appealing to the eye. The font, margins, and spacing provided for student work are appropriate. Color coding is included in the teacher materials to facilitate quick knowledge of the type of task and procedure to use with students. 

Examples of appropriate visual design in both print and digital include:

• The printed myBook design provides color, ample space for students' writing, large font for headings and directions, and clear labels for vocabulary and tips for students. 
• The digital version of the materials provides a table of contents drop-down menu, making it easy for students to access specific parts of the myBook digitally. 
• The Know It, Show It workbook is labeled with the skill at the top, the module and week at the bottom, and contains clear directions for student completion. 
• Anchor charts are provided and used throughout lessons to support the skill that students practice and apply independently. Anchor charts are colorful and use headings and guiding questions. 
• Focal Text, Take and Teach Printables are used along with the writing focal text. The printable includes the title of the book, clear directions with page number references, and labeling.
• In the Teaching Pal, boxes are color coded for different tasks, and teacher directions for asking students to complete a task are easily located. The text within these boxes is also visually appealing and easy to read because it is written in bulleted format. 
• Teacher materials on the digital version are not visually busy with too much text. There are icons that can be clicked on for added information about tasks, and then hidden once the task is finished to eliminate visual distraction. 
• The Genre Study Printables must be printed from the digital resources. They are black and white, with no visuals or graphics. The printable for each lesson is contained to one page.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria that materials contain a teacher’s edition with ample and useful annotations and suggestions on how to present the content in the student edition and in the ancillary materials. Where applicable, materials include teacher guidance for the use of embedded technology to support and enhance student learning.

The Grade 1 materials include a Teacher's Guide that provides a clear outline of each module, as well as, notes and suggestions on how to present content to students. The Teacher's Guide also includes the objectives of the lesson, explanations of where to find descriptions of routines, and suggested ways to present content as well as possible questions to ask and detailed guidance for each part of the literacy block. The Teacher's Guide also includes scaffolded instruction to address learners’ needs with suggestions and ideas on how to differentiate instruction for those students in need. Within the Teacher’s Guide there are also ideas for how to structure Reading Workshop, literacy centers, vocabulary centers, digital stations, and research-informed instructional routines to support lesson planning, including active viewing, active listening, vocabulary, reading for understanding, close reading, response writing, along with additional engagement routines including choral reading, partner reading, echo reading, Turn-and-Talk, Think-Pair-Share, Solo Chair, and Collaborative Discussion. 

The Teaching Pal features specific annotations in support of instructional routines including reading for understanding, close reading, and Collaborative Discussion, along with text-dependent questions that are embedded within the text to support teachers with creating engaging text-dependent discussions during and after engaging in the reading of a complex text. The Teaching Pal provides notes for think alouds, tasks, and questions which are labeled with learning objectives . Each note is also labeled with a Domain of Knowledge for that task, question, or think aloud. 

The Teacher's Guide includes several sections that provide annotations and suggestions on how to present information to students. This includes:

• Module Opener: Provides an essential question, an explanation of the module focus, and a quick overview of the skills students will acquire and practice throughout the module
• Make a Difference: Provides suggestions on forming small groups in guided reading, English language development, setting reading goals, conferring,and skill strategy groups
• Building Knowledge Networks: Provides an image of the Knowledge Map students will use and how to display the Display and Engage for students throughout the module
• Developing Knowledge and Skills: Gives an overview of the knowledge and skills addressed throughout the module
• Inquiry and Research Project: Provides the learning objectives and weekly focus, providing teachers with detailed plans to guide students through completion of each project
• Notice and Note: Provides specific guidance of what to say, model or ask. There is also a chart that shows which lesson, within which text, and for what comprehension skill the Notice and Note signpost will appear
• Kicking off the Module: Provides guidance to teachers on how to set goals with students and make connections with families
• Week at a Glance: Provides teachers with a weekly overview that provides detailed information on what instruction includes for the week. Colors are assigned to each part as well as the use of icons and symbols. 
• Literacy Centers: Provides teachers with information on the work that students will engage in, materials needed, and progress monitoring tools. In addition, information on the use of technology and digital stations is provided and where to find printables that accompany these stations. 
• Daily Lesson Plan: Provides the teacher with detailed directions for the use of materials, guiding questions, learning objectives, collaborative strategies, learning mindset, English Learner Support, and Professional Learning. 

The Guiding Principles and Strategies Handbook also discusses each part of the lesson plan and describes the materials for each section and how to use each resource. This section also describes how to use the weekly ad module assessments and how to use the online digital tools and resources. 

In addition, the Guiding Principles and Strategies Handbook includes Accessing Online Digital Tools and Resources, which explains, with labeled screenshots, the different features of the digital platform. It shows how to access modules, resources for teaching, and data and assessments. It also provides information for suggestions on working with students with disabilities or English Language Learners.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria that materials contain 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 materials include a Guiding Principles and Strategies Handbook, that provides specific research, rationales, and explanations, that will help teachers build knowledge of the content. The materials also include a Teaching Pal that accompanies the student myBook. The Teaching Pal provides guidance, notes, and instructional practices and strategies as students work through module texts. Teachers also have access to a digital professional learning module to support their understanding of each module. The Teacher's Guide also contains adult-level explanations and examples of the more advanced literary concepts. 

The Guiding Principles and Strategies Handbook provides in depth information about the overview of the design of the program, the research behind the design, and guidance for each part of the module in the areas of assessment and differentiation, family connections, classroom community, and teaching and learning. Within this book, the Teaching and Learning section provides explanations to assist the teacher in developing a full understanding of the content. Explanations are provided on Building Knowledge and Language, Foundational Skills, Language and Vocabulary, Reading Worksop, and Writing Workshop. The information presented provides details about best practices to help teachers improve their knowledge of the subject. The Professional Learning Module allows teachers to navigate the learning modules at their own pace. Modules are designed to provide teachers with the learning outcomes, hands-on experience, reflection, and application before teaching the module to students. The Teacher's Guide contains a Preview Lesson Texts section that explains in detailed adult level language the text complexity, connections to other curricular areas, key ideas, and language from the text or texts from the week. 

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria that materials contain a teacher’s edition that explains the role of the specific ELA/literacy standards in the context of the overall curriculum. The criteria that the visual design (whether in print or digital) is not distracting or chaotic but supports students in engaging thoughtfully with the subject.

Teachers are provided a variety of materials that explain the role of specific ELA/Literacy standards. Supports can be found in the Guiding Principles and Strategies Handbook, Teacher's Guide, the Teaching Pal, Assessments, and the Common Core State Standards resource. 

At the beginning of each module in the Teacher's Guide, there is an overview page that lists all of the essential skills. Then, in the weekly overview section, the essential literary skills are listed for vocabulary, reading, communication, and writing for both whole group instruction and small group instruction. The Teaching Plan contains information for the teacher on think alouds, tasks, and questions for the texts in the myBook. Each is labeled with learning objectives and with the Domain of Knowledge. Common Core State Standards are listed for each lesson in an additional document. Also, assessments are provided and teachers are able to create a standards-based report to assess and monitor student progress in regards to specific ELA/literacy standards. Lastly, in the Guiding Principles and Strategies Handbook, there is a section called, Teaching and Learning, that has specific curriculum alignment to the Common Core State Standards.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria that materials contain an explanation of the instructional approaches of the program and identification of the research based strategies.

In the Guiding Principles and Strategies Handbook, there is a clear explanation of the instructional approaches and the research behind the program and strategies. The materials also contain a Research Foundations: Evidence Base book that specifically details the instructional approaches and research-based strategies of Into Reading. In this book, research is provided about the instructional model, technology and blended learning, differentiated and personalized learning, foundational reading skills, language and vocabulary development, fluency and comprehension, writing, speaking and listening, social-emotional learning, family and community engagement, and assessments. This book cites over 100 research references. 

The program also includes Professional Learning Modules, which provides explanations of the instructional approaches. Modules are designed to provide teachers with the learning outcomes, hands-on experiences, reflection, and application.

Throughout the Guiding Principles and Strategies Handbook, there are blue boxes titled Professional Learning: Research Foundations that state the research theory behind each section. The Research Foundations: Evidence Base book, contains all of the research behind the program. It describes the research and how the program delivers the research theory. Some examples include:

• On page 8, research is provided that supports the balanced literacy approach and guided reading.
• On page 12 and 54, there is research that supports the blended learning environment of both working with students and working with technology.
• On page 15-16, research is provided for the need for differentiation.
• On page 46, the research of Dr. David Dockterman of Harvard Graduate School of Education is provided that explains the integration of mindset into lessons.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria that materials contain strategies for informing all stakeholders, including students, parents or caregivers about the ELA/literacy program and suggestions for how they can help support student progress and achievement.

The Guiding Principles and Strategies Handbook dedicates an entire section to family and community. In this section, they provide extensive suggestions for how teachers can strengthen the relationship with families and with the community. This section also provides information on how the community can be utilized to better support the knowledge and growth of the students. At the beginning of each module, there is a letter included in the printables and the Teacher's Guide that instructs teachers to connect with families at the beginning of the module by sending a letter home with students. The letter discusses the topic, explores the genre, and builds vocabulary. 

The Guiding Principles and Strategies Handbook provides a Family And Community section that provides information on engaging families as learning partners, how to communicate with families, and how to communicate with all stakeholders. There are six detailed sections including engaging families as learning partners, communicating with families, learning beyond the classroom, celebrating success, supporting summer learning, and connecting with the community. Some specific examples include:

• Engaging families as learning partners is done by ensuring that families have access to an abundance of appropriate books during the school year and over the summer. Coaching parents and caregivers on how to consider children’s interests and allowing them to select related texts is also beneficial in engaging families. It also suggests that the teacher meets the families, provides a personal letter or postcard to students prior to the beginning of the year, and hold conferences with families to share observations about students’ development and strategies for working together. 
• Communicating with families by posting family letters and other communication on a board, sharing the student’s reading, writing, and learning goals, letting families know how often they should expect to hear from the teacher, providing translations of any communications and handouts, and ensuring all stakeholders have access to online resources. 
• Supporting summer learning by providing information on beating summer slide and providing resources on things to do in the summer, providing summer reading lists with suggestions of titles and genres, and providing questions for families to ask before, during, and after reading.
• Connecting with the community by planning meaningful experiences with the community beyond school, engaging in service learning projects to develop social awareness, and reaching out to families and community members to share resources or discuss their expertise.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria that materials regularly and systematically offer assessment opportunities that genuinely measure student progress.

Throughout the year, there are multiple opportunities to assess students in order to monitor their progress. Assessments include Daily Formative Assessments, Intervention Assessments, Guided Reading Benchmark Assessments, Weekly Assessments, and Module Assessments. The assessments are explained in detail in the Guiding Principles and Strategies Handbook in the Assessment and Differentiation section. Assessments are available in both the print version and digitally. When given digitally, teachers are able to use two different reports to monitor progress.

Assessments are used to monitor student progress to plan for interventions. This includes:

• Screening Assessments: Used early in the school year to obtain preliminary information about student performance, screen students for interventions, and determine groups for foundational skills instruction. An oral reading fluency assessment is also provided to assess fluency, accuracy, and rate.
• Diagnostic Assessments: Used as follow-up assessments as needed for students who scored below expectations on the screening assessments. Assessments include Letter-Sound Correspondence Assessments and Word Identification Assessments.
• Progress Monitoring Assessments: Used every two weeks to measure growth in foundational reading skills. The goal is to identify challenging areas for reteach, review, and practice, provide checks of students’ beginning reading skills, monitor the progress of students engaged in reading interventions, and help determine when students are ready to exit an intervention. These assessments take three to five minutes. 

Formative Assessments are also included and provide both Weekly and Module assessments. These measure comprehension, vocabulary, writing, and grammar skills at the end of each week and at the end of each module. There is also a culminating task at the end of each module, including an optional performance assessment that requires students to synthesize their content learning.  Data reports are provided for the online versions. The assessment report provides class scores for each assessment and analyzes student proficiency data. The standards report assesses students’ progress in standards proficiency. 

There is also a Benchmark Assessment Kit that is used to determine students’ guided reading levels and make instructional decisions. These assessments include both fiction and nonfiction leveled readers.  Rubrics are also provided to assess students’ writing and research projects. There are rubrics for narrative writing, informational writing, poetry writing, correspondence writing, argumentative writing, Collaborative Discussions, response writing, and the Inquiry and Research Projects. The writing rubrics assess students in the areas of organization and presentation, development of ideas, and use of language and conventions. The rubric for the inquiry and research project assesses students in collaboration, research and text evidence, content, and  presentation.

The program also includes Reading Surveys to gather information at the beginning and middle of the year and to gather information about reading interests, attitudes, and preferences. The surveys are used to inform instructional planning and support students with self-selected reading, and recommend books. The program also suggests that teachers keep observation notes and take notes during individual conferences, guided reading groups, small-group instruction, and independent reading and writing.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet  the criteria that assessments clearly denote which standards are being emphasized.

Module and Weekly Assessments provide standards alignment. In the print version of the assessments, the answer key provides both the Common Core State Standards and the Depth of Knowledge for each question. In the digital version of the assessments, teachers can access the standards report, which shows students’ progress in standards proficiency. 

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria that assessments provide sufficient guidance to teachers for interpreting student performance and suggestions for follow up.

The assessments provide sufficient guidance for interpreting student performance and they provide suggestions for follow-up. The Guiding Principles and Strategies Handbook explains the types of assessments, the students to administer them to and the timeline to issue them. It also provides suggestions to teachers on supporting students based on the results gained from the assessments. The Teacher’s Edition also provides differentiation guidance for each lesson based on assessment data. This gives teachers information on how to follow-up after assessments for both reteaching and interventions. The Guiding Principles and Strategies Handbook also includes information on procedures to administer and score the screening, diagnostic, and progress-monitoring assessments.  It also explains how to use writing rubrics to monitor growth in writing and how to use data to implement a multi-tiered system of supports. 

The Differentiated Support and Intervention section of the Guiding Principles and Strategies Handbook provides information on guided reading groups, reading skill and strategy support groups, foundational skills support groups, and best practices for intervention support.  Teachers use Formative Assessments, Progress Monitoring Assessments, and Benchmark Assessments to plan for these different groups. In the Reading Skill and Strategy Support group, teachers reteach a skill or strategy that has not yet been mastered by a group of students and in the foundational skills group, the teacher provides reinforcement of daily foundational skills lessons during either small-group or one-on-one time. For students who need reinforcement with genres or skills, there are Tabletop Mini-Lessons, which provide teachers with guidance on how to address and reteach students who do not perform well on assessments. 

Data reports are available after students take Weekly and Module Assessments, which provide teachers with data to analyze gaps and gains, to form groups for differentiated instruction, and to locate resources to target students’ needs. The program recommends that teachers use the data reports to determine if students have met the learning objectives for the week or module, look for patterns in students’ errors to choose concepts and skills for reteaching, and decide if students are ready to advance to the next week or module of instruction. 

In addition, for the Weekly Assessments and the Module Assessments, there is information on how to interpret the data. Teachers use the scores and additional classroom information to determine whether students are ready to advance to the next module or may require reteaching of some concepts and skills. It is suggested that for struggling students, the teacher duplicates the answer key, circles the question numbers answered incorrectly for each assessment, and compare the corresponding skills indicated. The teacher then looks for patterns among errors to determine which skills need more reteaching and practice more. 

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria that materials should include routines and guidance that point out opportunities to monitor student progress.

The materials contain guidance and routines to monitor student progress. The Guiding Principles and Strategies Handbook outlines how teachers can use assessment tools to gather data and gain a more complete picture of students’ growth and instructional needs. There are opportunities to monitor progress via Formative Weekly and Module Assessments, screeners, progress monitoring, and Oral Reading Fluency Assessments. Routines and guidance to help monitor progress include portfolios, reading surveys, and observation notes. 

In the Guided Principles and Strategies book, there is a map that shows the suggested timeline to plan instruction and administer assessments throughout the year. This plan includes times to administer the Intervention Assessments, Guided Reading Benchmark Assessment Kit, Weekly Assessments, Module Assessments, and Daily Formative assessments.  The program suggests that Daily Formative Assessments are used along with selection quizzes to provide data for small group instruction. The intervention assessments are used at the beginning of the year with follow-up diagnostic assessments used for select students and progress-monitoring assessments used every two weeks as needed. The Guided Reading Benchmark Assessment kit is used on an ongoing basis to assess students' reading skills.  In addition, the Module Inventories are administered one-on-one to assess foundational skills more in depth as needed. Teachers use some or all parts of the inventory depending on children’s needs. Areas for assessment include phonological awareness, high-frequency words, decoding, and print concepts. 

Portfolios are set up at the beginning of the year for each student and contain:

• Formal and informal assessments including the Weekly and Module Assessments, Screening and Diagnostic Assessments, Observation Notes, and Project Rubrics
• Work samples that include work from myBook, completed graphic organizers, writing samples, and photos of inquiry and research projects
• Reading surveys to show reading interests, attitudes, and preferences
• Observation Notes taken during conferences, guided reading groups, small - group instruction, and independent reading and writing 

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria that materials indicate how students are accountable for independent reading based on student choice and interest to build stamina, confidence, and motivation.

In the Guiding Principles and Strategies Handbook, there is a section titled Supporting Reading Independence. In this section, teachers are provided with resources and strategies to help students become independent and enthusiastic readers. Included in this section are ways to hold students accountable for independent reading. In addition, in the Family and Community section of the handbook, additional information for independent reading is provided including how to hold students accountable for independent reading at home. Teachers are provided with information on setting up a reading center, suggestions on teaching students to self-select books, set reading goals and respond to their reading.

In the classroom, the amount of time students spend reading in one sitting gradually increases. The students are taught and encouraged to select goals for the amount of reading they will do.  A Reading Log Printable is provided for students to track their progress and to keep track of fiction or nonfiction key ideas as they read. In addition, prior to each independent reading session in the classroom, students set goals based on their reading history and their feelings. Students also create a response journal to document their responses to independent reading books. Students should be encouraged to note what they liked and did not like and why. In the Reading Center of each classroom, students self-select books to build reading stamina, skills, and enjoyment. Books should include a variety of genres, topics, and reading levels, and students should pick books based on interest level.

To help with independent reading at home, the teacher is encouraged to send home a copy of the Reading Log Printable. It is suggested that families set up at time at least once per week to read with their children, to listen to their children read aloud to them, and to discuss what they are reading. Strategies for families to also support students should be sent home including “five words” so students know if a book is appropriate and “book browse” so students pick books based on interests. Similarly, the teacher is encouraged to provide a summer reading list with suggestions of titles as well as questions families should ask students before, during, and after reading. 

Additional support for accountability for independent reading is in the Materials to Reinforce Skills and Strategies section, which states that daily small group lessons reinforce and extend comprehension skill and strategy instruction by guiding students to apply the skill to self - selected books for independent reading.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria that materials provide teachers with strategies for meeting the needs of range of learners so the content is accessible to all learners and supports them in meeting or exceeding the grade-level standards.

Throughout the program there are opportunities for the teacher to meet a range of learners due to the fact that the content is accessible to all learners and helps them meet or exceed the grade-level standards. The Guiding Principles and Strategies Handbook has a section called Assessment and Differentiation and within differentiation, there is a section about meeting the needs of special populations. This section outlines different populations of students and provides the teacher with several instructional focus strategies that can be used to support students with particular needs. 

There are ways built into the program to meet the needs of all students. This includes guided reading groups, reading skill and strategy groups for students who have not yet mastered the whole-group objective, and foundational skills support to teach prerequisite foundational skills or reinforce daily foundational skills lessons. The materials also provide Tabletop Minilessons for students who need additional support with skills taught in the whole group. These lessons involve student-face anchor charts on stand-up charts with the teacher support on the back. It is differentiated skills instruction that can be used with any text. 

In Meeting the Needs of Special Populations section of the Guiding Principles and Strategies Handbook, there are strategies for various types of learners. Some of these include:

• If the challenge is concept knowledge and oral language, some supports include building background knowledge, teaching academic vocabulary directly, and providing scaffolds. 
• If the challenge is Dyslexia or word-reading skills, some supports include daily instruction in phonemic awareness, building automaticity of high-frequency words, and daily reading of connected texts.
• If the challenge is visual, hearing, physical, or cognitive disabilities, some supports include options for expressing understanding and ideas, provide ways for digital content to be accessible to students, and allow variations in the pace of the lesson. The materials have a section called Using Digital Features for Accessibility with information on how to access digital features to assist teachers and work with students who would benefit from digital materials.
• If the challenge is engagement in learning, some supports include exploring topics and texts that are suited to students’ skills and interests, providing clear and specific feedback, and promoting choice to build automaticity.

There is also a section called Supporting English Learners, which helps build teacher understanding of students’ first language and the stages of second language acquisition that can help teachers determine appropriate levels of scaffolding and targeted language support.  There is also a section called Meeting the Needs of Accelerated Learners that provides support for students who are exceeding grade-level expectations.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria that materials regularly provide 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.

The Guiding Principles and Strategies Handbook contains an entire section called Supporting English Learners. This section outlines different strategies to support the learning of English Learner students. Teachers are also provided with background information on English Language Learners in order to better understand the stages of language acquisition. English Learner Support tips are embedded in lessons as well. 

The Guiding Principles and Strategies Handbook provides information on the stages of language acquisition, strategies to support English Language Learners with this curriculum, and evidence-based strategies and practices to support students whose first language is other than English. Specific examples of this includes:

• There is an overview of the stages of acquiring the English Language. These stages are pre-production, early production, speech emergence, intermediate fluency, and advanced fluency.
• The curriculum has Tabletop Mini-lessons that introduce, review, and practice a particular language function. These lessons can be used with any text in the program and are meant to support English Language Learners.
• Evidence-based strategies are provided that can be used in any lesson. Some of the evidence-based strategies including building knowledge by showing videos on module topics, making learning visual by having images on vocabulary cards and anchor charts, and providing sentence frames for both verbal and written responses. 
• In the Teacher's Guide for each lesson, there are English Learner Supports provided. Supports are broken down into light support such as having students use instructional vocabulary to point out and discuss facts and opinions in the text, moderate support such as having students identify facts and opinions in the text, and substantial support such as the teacher pointing out facts and opinions in the text and having students say fact or opinion.
• A Language Difference resource chart is included to help teachers understand the differences between students’ first language and English. This is an online resource that includes languages such as Spanish, Mandarin, and Korean.
• There is also an entire section called Arriba la Lectura, which is a Spanish reading program that is to be used in conjunction with this curriculum. This program has a Dual Language Implementation Guide and a section of the Guiding Principles and Strategies Handbook is dedicated to this Spanish reading program. 

The Guiding Principles and Strategies Handbook provides additional support for all students to help them access grade-level texts, which benefits students who are learning English as well. Information is provided on how to use data to form small groups in foundational skills, strategic interventions, small group instruction, small group weekly instruction, and other customized groups.

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

The curriculum provides extensions or more advanced opportunities for students who perform above grade level. In the Guiding Principles and Strategies Handbook, there is a section titled Meeting Accelerated Learners, which provides teachers with information and strategies to support accelerated learners. The section provides teachers with information and a description of an accelerated learner, parts of the curriculum that support accelerated learners, and strategies for supporting accelerated learners in the classroom and throughout the lessons. Lessons also provide extension work for students who are accelerated or finish early. 

The Guiding Principles and Strategies Handbook has an entire section on supporting accelerated learners. The program defines accelerated learners as students whose skills are above grade level and are ready for more accelerated learning experiences, such as more challenging books, more writing opportunities, or leadership roles. Some specifics from the program include:

• Throughout the program, there are sections labeled Ready for More which are daily opportunities in small group lessons to extend a skill or strategy.
• Guided Reading Groups and Rigby Leveled Readers provide texts that are above grade level.
• The Tabletop Mini-lessons provide support as students apply comprehension skills to higher-level texts that they read independently.

Strategies are provided for teachers to consider while planning individual lessons and the culture of the classroom. These include:

• Provide classroom libraries that represent a range of text levels.
• Provide more challenging versions of the activities instead of requiring students to just do more work.
• Utilize flexible groups and change groups frequently because students may be above level for one skill, but not for another skill.
• Provide opportunities for students to make their own decisions. Accelerated students should take on leadership roles and assist classmates when appropriate.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria that materials provide opportunities for teachers to use a variety of grouping strategies.

The materials provide suggestions and descriptions for a variety of grouping strategies throughout the program. The Guiding Principles and Strategies Handbook gives an overview of how these group strategies work, and the Teacher's Guide uses labels throughout the program to show teachers when the grouping strategy should be used during the lessons. Strategies for groups include small groups, targeted skill groups, and whole class. Groups can be composed for Guided Reading, English Language Support, Skills and Strategies, or Foundational Skills. Teachers use data to form these groups and to change groups throughout the year. 

In the Guiding Principles and Strategies Handbook there is an overview of recommendations for groupings and various strategies to use to form these groups in a section called Forming Flexible Groups. This section helps teachers make the most of small group time by using data to thoughtfully form groups that will optimize student growth. Flexible groups are formed to teach skills that a cohort of students need to learn or review. In addition, Strategic Interventions for Tier 2 and Tier 3 can be implemented using data from multiple measures. More information on these groups include:

• Guided reading groups are formed based on the Guiding Reading Benchmark Assessment Kit, Oral Reading Records, and Leveled Reader Quizzes. The program includes the Rigby Leveled Readers, Take and Teach Lessons, and Tabletop Mini-lessons for reading to teach these groups.
• English Language Support groups are formed based on the state English Language Development assessments. The curriculum includes Tabletop Mini-lessons for English Language Development, English Language Support lessons, and language graphic organizers.
• Skills and Strategies groups are formed based on daily formative assessments and weekly assessments. The materials include Tabletop Mini-lessons, reinforcement skills and strategies lessons, and graphic organizers for reading.
• Foundational skills groups are formed by informal assessments. Foundational skills lessons and Word Study Studio are available resources for using in these groups.

In addition to these groups, teachers are also instructed during whole-group lessons to have students participate in Collaborative Discussions, Turn-and-Talks, Think-Pair-Shares, and Partner Reads. In addition, there are opportunities for students to echo read and choral read.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 partially meet the criteria that digital materials (either included as supplementary to a textbook or as part of a digital curriculum) are web-based, compatible with multiple internet browsers (eg. Internet Explorer, Firefox, Google Chrome, etc.), “platform neutral” (ie., Windows and Apple and are not proprietary to any single platform), follow universal programming style, and allow the use of tablets and mobile devices.

The curriculum is available digitally and is accessible through the use of a sign-in and password. The digital platform provides all of the same materials that are available in print. The digital materials are available with multiple browsers, including Google Chrome, Firebox, and Safari and follow universal programming style. Teachers can access the program via tablets and mobile devices; however, on a mobile device, the Teacher’s Guide and Teaching Pal are poorly formatted with half of the content missing on the screen. The option to open the various files on the Teacher’s Guide does not work either. 

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria that materials support effective use of technology to enhance student learning, drawing attention to evidence and texts as appropriate. 

The materials provide different digital resources to help students engage in learning. Each module includes a Close-Read Screencast for the anchor text that is offered on the digital platform. Students have digital access to the student book, myBook, digitally as well. Students are able to type directly into the digital version in order to annotate and respond to questions. Students also have access to digital videos to support building knowledge around a topic. Students can also access texts from the Student Choice Library and the Rigby Leveled Library online. 

Additional online resources are available to support students in their learning. One of the small group stations is a digital station where students demonstrate active listening skills or keyboarding skills. Online Assessments are also available for students on a weekly basis as well as the Module Assessments. This allows teachers to access data that provides specific information on student progress relating to the standards. There are also links in the Current Events tab to do research for their writing when applicable or for the Inquiry and Research projects. Links include websites such as NewsELA, TimeforKids, and Kiddle News.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria that digital materials include opportunities for teachers to personalize learning for all students, using adaptive or other technological innovations.

The digital components provide multiple ways to personalize learning for all students through the use of adaptive innovations. The Guiding Principles and Strategies Handbook explains how materials are supported through assistive technology. The adaptive and technology innovations for personalized learning is outlined in the Guiding Principles and Strategies Handbook in the section called Using Digital Features for Accessibility. In addition, the teacher can create and save plans and assign specific texts or assessments to different students. 

On the digital version of the program, there are multiple accessibility features, making the learning more personalized for students. These include:

• Closed captioning for videos
• Transcripts for audio
• Contrast and color compliance
• Screen-reader compatibility
• Keyboard encoding
• Read-along audio with synchronized text highlighting
• Tools for students to highlight and take notes

When planning on the digital platform, the teacher can create plans and assign individual texts to students. The teacher can use the assignment option to assign specific texts or assessments to different students. Online resources can be filtered by instructional purpose, audience, Lexile, or guided reading level to assist with assigning appropriate resources. Teachers can also assign assessments to groups of students based on performance.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria that materials can be easily customized for local use.

The Guiding Principles and Strategies Handbook explains the digital platform, which can easily be customized for local use. Teachers are able to customize teaching plans to align with district and state requirements, as well as individualize resources for small groups of students as needed. 

Some of the ways that materials can be customized for local use include:

• On the digital platform, there is a create button that allows teachers to customize teaching plans and assessments so they match district requirements
• The group button allows teachers to create and manage groups of students based on classroom observations and assessments results. Teachers can then assign plans and materials to these groups of students. 
• The add to plan feature assigns resources to individual students or groups of students so teachers can customize materials and plans. 

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 partially meet the criteria that materials include or reference technology that provides opportunities for teachers and/or students to collaborate with each other (e.g. websites, discussion groups, webinars, etc.).

The materials include limited opportunities for students to collaborate with each other via technology. The only option that is available is with some projects, students have a choice to use a technological option to collaborate such as writing a blog post or creating a discussion board, though these are just options and not required or used throughout the program on a consistent basis. 

There are some opportunities for teachers to collaborate with the publisher to get additional support in the material. There is follow-up support for in-person or live online experiences where teachers can choose from a variety of topics for support. Schools can also request on-demand access to program experts to ask questions and the publisher provides consultants for ongoing support and coaching.