Kindergarten - Gateway 2

The instructional materials reviewed for Kindergarten 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.

Instructional materials provide students with the opportunity to build knowledge and vocabulary, and the ability to read complex texts throughout the school year around various topics. Each week, students are introduced to a big idea and focus on a topic that answers an essential question. Each week’s topic is supported by texts that connect to the topic and enrich student’s abilities to gain knowledge and vocabulary about the topic. The topic is explored throughout all texts during the week, including Literature Big Books, Paired Texts, Shared Reading, Interactive Read-Aloud, and the Small Group Leveled Readers. 

Texts are connected by a grade-level appropriate topic. Examples include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 1, Week 2, students answer the essential question, “How do baby animals move?” Texts read during this week include the Literature Big Books Pouch by David Ezra Stein and “Baby Animals on the Move” (unknown author), Shared Reading texts “We Can” and “I Can, We Can,” which are about animals that can move, and Leveled Readers about animals moving, such as We Hop! by Ruth Montgomery and We Can Move by Carolyn Lee. 
• In Unit 2, students learn about what they can find out when they use tools. Topics include: Week 1 - Tools We Use, Week 2 - Shapes All Around Us, and Week 3 - Bugs. In Week 1, students learn about tools and answer the essential question, “How do tools help us to explore?”  Some examples of the texts connected to the weekly topic include the Literature Book Book The Handiest Things in the World by Andrew Clements and the Paired Text “Discover with Tools” (unknown author). Students also read the Interactive Read-Aloud “Tanimoto,” which is a Japanese tale about a character who uses tools to overcome obstacles and the Shared Reading texts, “Pam Can See” and “We Can See” (unknown authors), which are about tools that help people see. 
• In Unit 3, Week 1, students learn about the importance of rules and answer the essential question, “What rules do we follow in different places?” Examples of texts connected to the weekly topic include the Literature Big Book How Do Dinosaurs Go to School? by Jane Yolen and the Paired Text, “Be Safe!” Students also hear the Interactive Read-Aloud “The Boy Who Cried Wolf” and read the Shared Reading texts “Can I Pat It?” and “Tim Can Tip It” (unknown author). 
• In Unit 4, students learn about their neighborhood. In Week 1, students answer the essential question, “What do people use to do their jobs?” In Week 2, students answer the question, “Who are your neighbors?” and in Week 3, students answer the question, “How can people help to make your community better?'' Texts that students read to build knowledge include the Literature Big Books, Roadwork by Sally Sutton and “A Community Garden” (unknown author). Texts used in small group reading that are organized around this topic include We Clean! by Ellen Danlhort, Can You Fix It? by Quinn Baker, and Helping Mom by Terry Miller Shannon. 
• In Unit 5, Week 3, students learn about things that grow on a farm. Texts that help build knowledge around this topic include An Orange in January by Dianna Hutts Aston and “Farmers Market” (unknown author). Students also listen to the Interactive Read-Aloud “Farms Around the World” (unknown author). Leveled Readers for small group instruction include The Farmer by Carolyn Lee, Let’s Make a Salad by Franke Hartley, and Farm Fresh Finn by Kathy Pargang. 
• In Unit 6, students learn about weather and spend the first week reading about the four seasons, the second week about the weather, and the third week about stormy weather. In Week 1, students answer the essential question, “How are the seasons different?” Texts around this topic include Mama, is it Summer Yet? by Nikki McClure and “New Snow” (unknown author). The Interactive Read-Aloud is called “A Tour of the Seasons” (unknown author), and the Shared Reader is called “Is it Hot?” (unknown author).
• In Unit 7, Week 3, students learn about where animals live. Students listen to the Literature Big Book, Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson, along with the Paired Text, “Animal Homes” (unknown author). The Shared Reading is called “A Vet in a Van” (unknown author), and the Interactive Read-Aloud for the week is the tale “Aunt Nancy” (unknown author). The Leveled Readers also teach about where animals live and are  We Want Water by Frankie Hartley, A New Home by Suzanna Fallen, and Bird’s New Home by Lori Mortensen. 
• In Unit 8, students focus on the big idea, “Where can you go that is near and far?” In Week 1, students learn about what can help them move places. In Week 2, students learn about the country, and in Week 3, students learn about what they see in the sky. In Week 3, students hear the Literature Big Book, Bringing Down the Moon by Jonathan Emmett, along with the Paired Text, “Day and Night Sky” (unknown author). The Shared Reading is “Up! Up! Up!” (unknown author), and the Interactive Read-Aloud is called “A View from the Moon” (unknown author). 
• In Unit 9, Week 3, students learn about how nature can be used to make new things. The Literature Big Book is Bread Comes to Life by George Levenson and  the Paired Text is “Nature Artists” (unknown author). Students read “Look! A Home” (unknown author) for the Shared Reading and listen to “Nature’s Art Fair” (unknown author) for the Interactive Read-Aloud. 
• In Unit 10, students learn about how new ideas can help people. In Week 1, students focus on what can happen when people work together and in Week 2, students focus on the ways things are alike and different. In Week 3, students focus on ways to protect the Earth. In Week 1, students learn about solving problems and answer the essential question, “What can happen when we work together?” Some of the texts around this topic include the Literature Big Book, “What’s the Big Idea Molly?” by Valerie Gorgachev and the Paired Text “Working Together!” (unknown author). The Interactive Read-Aloud is “The Elves and the Shoemakers” and the Shared Reading is “Good Time for Luke!” (unknown author).

The materials reviewed for Kindergarten 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.

The materials provide opportunities for students to identify key ideas, details, and analyze structure and craft in every unit. Students are given retelling cards to retell and answer questions for the Literature Big Book story. Students are introduced to the Strategy and the Skill that they will be working on throughout the week. These strategies and skills contain questions and tasks that helps students to make meaning and build understanding of texts and topics.

For most texts (read-aloud texts K-1 and anchor texts in Grade 2), students are asked to analyze words/phrases or author’s word choice (according to grade level standards). Examples include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 5, Week 1, Day 1, Teacher Edition, Listening Comprehension, My Garden by Kevin Henkes, the teacher states, “Morning glories are a kind of flower. Have a volunteer point them out on page 25. Can you make a picture in your mind of flowers shining like stars? Tell what you imagine.” 
• In Unit 9, Week 2, Day 2, Teacher Edition, Listening Comprehension, Hen Hears Gossip by Megan McDonald, the teacher begins by asking the students to reread the big book pages 12–15. Then the teacher has partners talk about what happens by asking the questions,  "What does Goose tell Turkey? What does Turkey tell Hen?" Students draw what Goose and Turkey say. Did either animal hear correctly? Why do the animals say these things? The teacher guides the children to understand that each animal hears and repeats the wrong words. Students then answer the question on page 36 using the Reading/ Writing Companion.

For most texts (read-aloud texts K-1 and anchor texts Grade 2), students analyze key ideas and details, structure, and craft (according to grade level standards). Examples include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 1, Week 1, Day 1, Teacher Edition, Whole Group, Literature Big Book, Key Details, What About Bear? by Suzanne Bloom, the teacher asks the questions:
• "How does Bear feel? How do you know? 
• What new game does Fox want to play?
• What game are the animals playing? 
• How does this game help them solve a problem?"
• In Unit 5, Week 1, Days 1-5, Teacher Edition, Whole Group, Literature Big Book, My Garden by Kevin Henkes, the teacher discusses how characters in realistic fiction are like real people. Students are reminded what character, setting, and events are and to look for clues and details as they read. On Day 2, the teacher models by reminding students what character, setting and events are and then uses the strategy of think-aloud to demonstrate how to process the characters, setting and events in the text.  Using Reading/Writing Companion pages 12-13, students answer the questions: 
• "Who are the characters? Have children point to the characters in the art. 
• Where does the story take place? What does the girl’s imaginary garden look like? Have children use clues from the text and illustrations to describe the setting.
• What happens in the girl’s make-believe garden? Have children write the characters and the setting on pages 12– 13. Ask them to draw an event that the girl imagines happening in her make-believe garden on page 13." 
• In Unit 10, Week 3, Day 1, Teacher Edition, Whole Group, Listening Comprehension, Literature Big Book, Panda Kindergarten by Joanne Ryder, the teacher asks, “What key details did you learn from the text? What does the photograph show?” Students respond to the text using the Reading/Writing Companion. On Day 2, the text is reread and students are asked to write three key details on the graphic organizer on page 57. 

The materials reviewed for Kindergarten 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 year, students are provided with opportunities to engage in questions and tasks that are text-based and help build knowledge across single texts and across multiple texts. Each weekly text set centers around a topic with questions and tasks that ask students to refer back to the text to find information and support answers to questions in order to complete tasks. Questions and tasks require connected knowledge and ask students to connect ideas between multiple texts. In addition, at the end of each week, students wrap up the week by making connections between multiple texts. 

Students are asked sets of coherently sequenced questions and tasks that support students’ analysis of knowledge and ideas. Examples include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 1, Week 3, students learn about how senses help them learn. Throughout the week students are asked questions to help build knowledge, including, “What senses is the girl using to learn about the flower? What other sense could she use? How does a fluffy towel feel? What else feels fluffy? What are the five senses that we learned about in the book?,” while listening to Senses at the Seashore by Shelley Ratner.
• In Unit 2, Week 1, students learn about how tools help us explore and listen to the book, The Handiest Things in the World by Andrew Clements. Questions to build knowledge while students listen to the book include, “The boy in the picture is holding up his hands. What is he using them to do? How do you know? What things in the picture help to stop the sunlight from going in the boys’ eyes? What is another type of tool that can help to stop sunlight from going into our eyes? What does a girl do to make her hair tidy? What tools is the girl using to make music?”
• In Unit 4, Week 3, students learn about how people in a community can make it better and listen to the book Roadwork by Sally Sutton. Students are asked questions while listening to the book to build knowledge, including, “What are the steps for painting the lines on the road? What steps do the workers do after they plant the trees in the ground? What are some things the workers need to do before the road is ready to use?”
• In Unit 5, Week 2, students learn about how living things change as they grow and listen to the text A Grand Old Tree by Mary Neweel Depalma. Students are asked, “Where does the bird take the seed?” and are given sentence starters, such as, “An important fact is...” and “The most important part is...”. 
• In Unit 7, Week 1, students learn about animals and listen to the text, ZooBorns! by Andrew Bleiman and Chris Eastland. Students are asked questions to build knowledge such as, “How is the baby gorilla the same as the baby orangutan? How is it different? How is the wombat like the fennec fox? How will the baby beluga be like its parents?” 
• In Unit 9, Week 3, students learn about how things in nature can be used to make new things. Students listen to the text Bread Comes to Life by George Levenson and are asked, “What happens after the seeds grow? What ingredients does the baker use to make the dough? What is the last step to make the bread?”

Students are also asked to make connections between texts in order to build knowledge. Some examples include:

• In Unit 1, Week 2, students listen to Pouch by David Ezra Stein and the poem “The Little Bird” (no author). In their Reading/Writing companion, students compare how the little bird moves with the way Joey moves in Pouch. Students are provided with the sentence frames “The little bird can ____.  Joey can_____.”
• In Unit 3, Week 3, students make connections about different texts including, “Field Trips” (unknown author) and Please Take me for a Walk by Susan Gal. Students talk with a partner to compare the selections by answering the question, “What kind of neighborhood workers were in both selections?” For the final project of the week, students work with a partner to compare Please Take me for a Walk and “A Neighborhood” (unknown author). They discuss how the texts are alike and different and how they help to answer the essential question. 
• In Unit 5, Week 2, students learn about how living things change as they grow. They integrate knowledge across texts throughout the week. On Day 3, students work with a partner to integrate ideas between “The Pine Tree” (unknown author) and A Grand Old Tree by Mary Newell DePalma. Students discuss the ways both stories describe the life of a tree. They focus on how the stories are different and how they are alike. For the final task of the week, students compare A Grand Old Tree to “From a Seed to a Tree” (unknown author). Students discuss how the texts are alike and different and how they help answer the essential question. 
• In Unit 9, Week 1, students listen to Peter’s Chair by Ezra Jack Keats and the poem “My Grandma Says” (unknown author). Students compare the child in the poem to Peter in Peter’s Chair in their Reading/Writing companion. 

The materials reviewed for Kindergarten 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).

Instructional materials provide students opportunities to complete culminating tasks that are related to the text they are reading. Culminating tasks integrate reading, writing, speaking and listening skills and provide opportunities for students to show their knowledge of a topic. 

Culminating tasks are multifaceted, requiring students to demonstrate mastery of several different standards (reading, writing, speaking, and listening) at the appropriate grade level. Examples include, but are not limited to: 

• In Unit 1, the Essential Question states, “How can your senses help you learn?” Students complete research about one of the five senses and are asked to present their research.
• In Unit 2, Week 1, Research and Inquiry, students discuss other tools that help scientists explore and then choose one to learn about. Students then write a question about how scientists use this tool.  In Step 3, students are encouraged to look at books or use the Internet. Then they draw a picture about what they have learned and decide how they will present their work.
• In Unit 3, Week 3, Day 5, Reading Writing Companion, Integrate Ideas: Research and Inquiry, the Essential Question for the week is, “What places do you go during the week?" Using pages 82-83 of the Reading/Writing Companion, students research places in their school. The teacher models completing the pages by going through the research process. 
• Step 1: Choose a topic: “The project is to research one place in school that I want to learn about. First I need to choose a place. I like the cafeteria, I will choose that.”
• Step 2: Write your Question: “I need to decide what I want to find out about the cafeteria. I would like to know how much food it takes to feed the entire school.”
• Step 3: Find Information: “To find the answer to my question, I need to do research. I can do research by visiting the cafeteria and talking to the people who make our lunch.”
• Step 4: “Now that I know how much food it takes to feed the school, I can draw a picture that shows how all of the food in the cafeteria is stored and how much is used each day.”
• Step 5: “I am going to make a map of the cafeteria. I will show the kitchen on my map. I will also show where they store the food and how much is used."
• In Unit 6, Week 2, Research and Inquiry, students discuss different kinds of weather and then choose one that they would like to learn about. Students then write a question about this kind of weather.  In Step 3, students are encouraged to look at books or use the Internet. Then they draw a picture and write about what they have learned and decide how they will present their work.

The materials reviewed for Kindergarten 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. 

Materials provide frequent opportunities for students to respond to writing prompts on a variety of texts. Scaffolded instruction is provided through a series of instructional supports that include sentence frames, class discussions, and shared writing as well as teacher think-alouds. The teacher guides children to respond to a prompt, using sentence frames as needed. In Independent Writing, students start by reviewing a student writing sample that includes the weekly writing skill. Students then respond independently to a new prompt as they practice the skill. 

Materials include writing instruction aligned to the standards for the grade level, and writing instruction spans the whole school year. Examples include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 1, Reading Writing Companion, Research and Inquiry, students discuss how to be a good friend and write about what a good friend might do.  Students talk with classmates and ask them to answer the same question. Students then draw what they learned.
• In Unit 2, Week 3, Day 2, Shared Writing, teachers use a sentence frame to support students. For example, “Some words are different because _______. The author wants to make the words look like ______.” The teacher provides the sentence frame “On pages _____ , the words _____.” to guide the students in citing text evidence.
• In Unit 4, Reading Writing Companion, students respond to the text Whose Shoes? by Stephen Swinburne, by discussing an important fact they learned and an interesting part of the text. They draw a “worker who wears special clothes” and then write a sentence about the clothes they wear.
• In Unit 6, Reading Writing Companion, students discuss ideas and characters for a realistic fiction story.  They draw a story idea and write the name of the character. Students write about an event, using an exemplar of a draft of a realistic fiction story to help write their story.  Sequence is shown to the students so that they can incorporate it into their realistic fiction. At the end of this task, students share and evaluate by presenting their work to a partner and taking turns. Students use a Writing and Grammar checklist of yes/no to answer statements such as, “I wrote a realistic fiction story” or “I wrote about a character who acts like a real person.”  Students self-evaluate their work by writing what they did well in their writing and what they need to work on.

Writing instruction supports students’ growth in writing skills over the course of the school year. Examples include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 2, Week 1, Day 2, Shared Writing, the teacher introduces the prompt and leads the students to review the text for evidence. The prompt is, “Why does the author call this book The Handiest Things in the World?” The teacher instructs the students to use words from the prompt to create the first sentence. “The handiest things in the world are our hands.” Then the teacher provides action words as students form sentences.
• In Unit 6, Week 1, Shared Writing, Mama, Is It Summer Yet? by Nikki McClure, the students and the teacher work together to write a response to a prompt. “Look at pages 28–31 of Mama, Is It Summer Yet? Do you think the author did a good job showing what season it is? Why or why not?”  During Days 3, 4, and 5 students write to the prompt, “Did the author do a good job at showing what fall and winter are like?” for Independent Writing on the text, Is It Hot?
• In Unit 9, Week 1 Day 1, Shared Writing, the teacher instructs students on answering the prompt, “Write a journal entry from Peter’s point of view telling how he feels about his baby sister, Susie.” The teacher says, “To respond to this prompt, we need to tell about Peter’s feelings as if he were writing the journal entry. We need to look for clues that help us understand how Peter feels in the story Peter’s Chair.” The teacher uses shared writing to compose the first sentence with the class. Then the teacher provides sentence frames for students that make connections between texts and self. 
• In Unit 10, Week 2, Day 1, Shared Writing, after students read All Kinds of Families by Mary Ann Hoberman, they respond together to the prompt, “What types of families did the author write about?” On Day 2, students find text evidence on pages 34-35 of the Reading Writing Companion. After students reread the story, they write the key details from pages 34 and 35 of the text.

The materials reviewed for Kindergarten 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 materials provide opportunities for students to participate in research projects using a five-step research guideline. The first step is to choose a topic; the second step is to write a question; the third step is to find information;  the fourth step is to draw and/or write about what they learned; and the final step is to present the research. Each week beginning in Unit 1, Week 1, students are provided with one research and inquiry opportunity. The research projects help students further develop their knowledge and understanding of the topic explored throughout the week. The teacher is provided support and guidance in the Instructional Routines Handbook for how to present the research process to students. A scoring rubric is also provided to the teacher in the Instructional Routines Handbook. 

In the Instructional Routines Handbook, teachers are provided information on how to guide students through the Research and Inquiry process. A sample rubric is also provided that includes a 4-point rating scale.  The research process routine instructs the teacher to:

• Set research goals and introduce the project, as well as clearly identify the research focus and end product.
• Identify sources such as texts read in class, digital media, print sources  and/or interviews with experts.
• Find and record information by guiding students as they search for relevant information from sources.
• Organize and help students review and analyze the information they have gathered. Students should identify the most useful information, use a graphic organizer to sort and clarify categories of related information, and identify any areas where they need further information.
• Synthesize and present research by planning how to best present their work. Students may include audio and/or visual displays to enhance presentations, check that key ideas are included in the presentation, and rehearse the presentation.

Research projects are sequenced across a school year to include a progression of research skills. Examples include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 1, Week 1, students learn about friendship. Students are guided through a five-step process for research. Step 1 is to choose a topic. The teacher models an example of this, “The project is to learn about how to be a good friend. I like to share with my new friends, so my topic to research will be sharing.” In Steps 2 through 5, the teacher continues with modelling by writing a research question, finding information, drawing and/or writing what they learned, and then choosing a way to present the work.  Students begin the project by talking with a partner about what good friends do before coming up with a research question. 
• In Unit 2, Week 1, students develop a plan that helps scientists explore the world. Students use pages 30-31 of the Reading/Writing Companion to talk about tools that scientists explore and then choose one to research. Students go through the five-step research process. For Step 5, students select a way to create their final project. They can choose between drawing and labeling a picture, creating a  poster, making a model, and/or putting on a dramatic presentation.
• In Unit 3, Week 1, students research rules they follow for safety either at home or school. Students complete their research either in books or the internet. 
• In Unit 4, Week 2, students learn about what neighbors do throughout the week-long unit. Students research to learn more about what neighbors do. The teacher models the five-step process of research before students complete each step. For Step 3, the teacher models by saying, “To find the answer to my question, I need to do some research. I can do research by interviewing my classmates and recording their answers.”  Students then apply these skills themselves.
• In Unit 7, Week 3, students conduct research to learn more about animal habitats. The teacher models using polar bears and the Arctic and models his/her thinking before students begin. For example, the teacher says, “I need to decide what I want to find out. My question will be: What makes the Arctic a good home for polar bears?” 
• In Unit 8, Week 2, students learn about America. Starting on Day 4, students research to learn more about Americans who helped our country. The teacher continues to model the five-step process and then students apply the research skills in their Reading/Writing Companion. 
• In Unit 9, Week 2, students learn how to be a good citizen and research ways to be a good citizen. Students use some of the texts from the week such as Hen Hears Gossip by Megan McDonald and We can Play (no author) to complete their research.

The materials reviewed for Kindergarten 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.

Kindergarten materials provide opportunities for students to read independently in and out of class. The materials include routines for choosing a book, how to build classroom and school libraries, independent reading journals, teacher and student conferences, as well as rubrics. Many opportunities for independent reading and books for students to read independently are included within the reading class time. Materials include a School-to-Home letter each week that provides information for parents to have their children read.

Examples include, but are not limited to:

• In the Instructional Routines Handbook, pages 109-127, teachers are provided with support on how to foster independent reading routines in the classroom. This section of the handbook gives routines for how to choose a book, how to build a classroom library, independent reading journals as well as teacher and student conferences. On page 112, a teacher-student conference is routine is presented.
• "Make a positive observation about the student’s reading or book choice. Regularly conferring with students about their Independent Reading is a great way to informally assess their progress, model social-emotional learning skills, build your classroom culture, and instill habits of learning. 
• Talk about how the reading is going. Why did you choose this particular book or genre? Why did you abandon this book? How is your current book going? Are you using Thinking Codes and are they helping? What strategies are you using and what ones do you need help with? How are you solving problems as you read? Who is your favorite character and why? What is your favorite part so far and why? 
• Ask the student to read aloud for a minute or two. This will help you assess their accuracy, fluency, and comprehension. 
• Highlight a student strength. I really like the way you used context clues to figure out what that word means. And adding that word to your writer’s notebook is a good idea. 
• Suggest a specific goal the student can work on. When you have an opinion, make sure to find text evidence to support it.
•  Record notes from your conference. Conference forms to use with the students are provided on pages 121-122."  
• In the Instructional Routine Handbook, page 111, a six-step procedure is given to the teacher to guide students through the independent reading process. The handbook states on page 110, that a Kindergarten student should be reading for 10-15 minutes independently each day.

1. "Select a book that interests you. Check the book to make sure it’s the one you want to read. See the Five-Finger Rule on page 120 as one way to help students check how difficult a book is. See the Additional Strategies on pages 113–119 for more ways to help students choose a book. 

2. Read the book each day during Independent Reading time. Use the skills and strategies you’ve been working on. 

3. Think about what you’re reading. You can use Thinking Codes to record your thoughts or write about them in your writer’s notebook. 

4. Record what you’ve read at the end of each Independent Reading session. Keep track on your Reading Log. There are many suggestions for keeping students accountable for their independent reading in the Additional Strategies section. Using a Reading Log is just one way. 

5. Share your opinion of the book when you’re done. Tell a friend, write a review, make a poster, or ask your teacher for ideas. 

6. Begin again! Time to pick a new book!”

• In the Instructional Routine Handbook, a Reading Log is provided. The log asks students to document the date they read a book, title, genre, their opinion of the book using three faces (smile, straight, sad faces),and  how hard the text was to read on a scale of C: Complex, E: Easy to me or JR: Just Right. The final column asks students to put a check mark if they are still reading, an A if they abandoned the text, or an F if they finished. 
• The curriculum includes a Running Records/Benchmark Books that enables the teacher to track students’ reading level throughout the school year. It suggests that a running record should be completed every four weeks.  It also states that teachers should set aside time to conduct one running record per day as an ongoing assessment.
• On the ConnectED Student Edition, there is a section labeled School-to-Home Link. Within this section, there are family letters for each week that support students’ comprehension and vocabulary with different activities. For example, the comprehension section states, “Ask your child to tell you some details of the selection and how these details can help in understanding the main idea. Then, have your child match the mother to her baby animal.” Also on this site, students have access to the leveled readers that they could read or have read to them. These range in level from BR-110L-190L.
• The School-to-Home Connection is a letter sent home with students each week. For example:
• In Unit 4, Week 4, Resources: School-to-Home, Family Letter “Comprehension: Text Structure: Sequence. Read a short story to your child. Then ask your child to order the story’s pictures by writing first, next, or last under the pictures. Invite your child to retell the story.”
• In Unit 5, Week 1, under the resources tab, students use a My Learning Goal worksheet in which they check off whether or not they met the goal of rereading to better understand the story and identify the characters, setting, and events in a story.