Kindergarten - Gateway 1

The instructional materials reviewed for Kindergarten partially meet the expectation that materials support students’ increasing literacy skills over the course of the school year through increasingly complex text to develop independence of grade-level skills.

Students frequently interact with texts, but there is not an observable decrease in scaffolds, or increase in student responsibility which would indicate greater independence with skills as the year progresses. While texts generally fall within appropriate text complexity grade level and stretch bands, supports and scaffolds provided within the materials do not change or gradually decrease as the year progresses to ensure that students can independently access and comprehend grade-level texts at the end of the year.

Some examples that demonstrate supporting students’ increasing literacy skills include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 1, students read several texts about where animals live. Students describe how pictures and words relate to one another, ask and answer questions about key details, retell a story including key details, write details about characters, settings, and events, and write an informative text with a topic sentence, facts, and text elements. At the end of the unit, students draw a picture of their home and describe it.
• In Unit 2, students read several literary and informational texts that are not necessarily connected to a theme. In the Lessons that make up Unit 2, students work with their Learning Guide to identify specific literary elements to include characters, events and setting. Additionally students learn how to ask and answer questions about text, learn about opinions and how to compare and contrast details in a text. Unit 2 does not have a project, so there is no culminating activity to demonstrate their learning of these skills other than the Unit Quiz.
• In Unit 3, the Learning Guide and students engage in multiple texts about weather and different kinds of weather. Students work to write questions and sentences about weather and how they feel about it to demonstrate their understanding of weather vocabulary and concepts.
• In Unit 4, students read literary and nonfiction text that look all cultural differences and similarities. During the first lessons, while students read Apple Pie, 4th of July, students focus on identifying the characters and events in the story. They practice retelling and sequencing events. In the Lesson: Let’s Make Music, students focus on determining the main idea and details from a text. Toward the end of the unit, during Lesson: We Are All Different, students look at two texts, Clothes in Many Cultures and Making Music, to determine what reasons the author gives to support the big idea in each text.
• In Unit 5, students read several texts about patterns in nature. Students identify common types of texts, identify major events in a story, use key details to understand a text, use details to retell a story, and write an opinion text, including an opinion statement and supporting reasons. At the end of this unit, students create their own pattern and describe it.
• In Unit 6, students read several literary and informational texts that provide information about living in a city. In the lessons that make up Unit 6, students work with their Learning Guide to identify events in a story, find details about characters, learn how a text is organized, and identify main idea and key details. Additionally, students continue to ask and answer questions about text, learn more about opinions, and how to use reasons to support an opinion. The Unit 6 USE activity asks students to employ the skills they have developed through the year by writing an opinion about a favorite book from one of the units. They are assessed on their ability to write a topic sentence that states their opinion, include reasons that support the opinion, include a sentence comparing or contrasting their favorite book with another book read, and write a concluding sentence restating the opinion.

The instructional materials reviewed for Kindergarten 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).

The culminating task for each unit is found at the end of each unit and can be identified as the Show section of the materials. Tasks provide students the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge through a combination of integrated skills including reading, writing, drawing, and speaking and listening while allowing for a variety of project choices throughout the year. In Grade K, Units 1, 3, and 5 are constructed around a core project idea or culminating task. Each lesson in Units 1, 3, and 5 uses the text to engage students in activities to prepare them for completion of the project. While projects are included in Units 1, 3, and 5, students do not necessarily need to use the texts to complete the projects.

Evidence of opportunities that build to a culminating task include:

• In Unit 1, Tell About Home, students draw a picture of their home and describe it. Students do not use the texts read in the unit in order to complete this project. A project rubric is provided. When the project is complete students are expected to share with their family or other students in the same course.
• In Unit 1, Lesson: Little Pip Loses Her Way, Part 2, students read the text Where Is Home, Little Pip? and must describe the character in detail.
• In Unit 1, Lesson: Does Little Pip Find Home, Part 2, students continue reading Where Is Home, Little Pip? and describe in detail the setting.
• In Unit 1, Lesson: A Home For Crab, Part 3, students reread A House For Hermit Crab and look at how pictures and text work together to help the reader make meaning. Students will need to have a drawing and descriptive text working together in their final project.
• In Unit 1, Lesson: Is a Pond a Good Home?, Part 2, students write details about ponds. The materials state, “Now, write or dictate a list of details about what ponds look like. Then, go through your list of details to decide what you would like to include in the drawing to help show your reader what a pond looks like. Use the first detail and start drawing.” This task helps students prepare for the culminating task, or project, for Unit 1. The project, which is introduced on the first day and assessed at the end of the unit, asks students to describe their home. The prompt states, “You will think about your home, draw a picture of it, and describe it with words.”
• In Unit 1, Lesson: Is a Pond A Good Home, Part 5, Students reread Life In A Pond and draw a picture of a pond and write a sentence describing the pond.
• In Unit 5, Project: Knowing about Patterns and Structures students are introduced to the culminating task, or project, they will focus on for this unit. In this project, students write about the patterns they see around them and make a pattern of their own. Students do not use the texts they read in the unit in order to complete this project. The materials state, “Here is what your project needs to include: two different patterns, sentences that describe the two patterns, drawings of the two patterns, ideas for your own simple pattern.” After completing the project, students are given a task for collaboration. The materials state, “After completing the project, you can share your patterns with your group. Your Learning Guide can help you. This a good time to look for other patterns you like.” A project rubric is provided.
• In Lesson: Let’s Visit Jack’s Garden, Part 1, students read the text Jack’s Garden. One pattern in nature is the life cycle of seeds growing to plants. Students are told to, “Look at pages 10–17 in Jack's Garden. What are the four steps you find in the cycle of a plant? Tell your Learning Guide.”
• In Lesson: Plant Patterns, Part 2, students read the informational text Plant Patterns. Then students are asked to, “Read pages 4–7 of Plant Patterns. What do these pages tell you about patterns? How do the text and pictures on pages 6–7 explain what is and what is not a pattern? Use a Two-Column Chart to show this information.”
• In Lesson: Super Swirls, Part 2, students reread the text Swirl by Swirl: Spirals in Nature. Students then choose a topic and write about it.

The instructional materials reviewed for Kindergarten partially 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.

The Kindergarten materials include some opportunities for students to listen and speak about what they are reading. These opportunities occur as students engage with the text used in a lesson, either through reading or read-aloud. Specific tasks occur in the LEARN Card and vary between asking the student to discuss answers to the questions with the Learning Guide and/or record responses in their English Language Arts Journal.

Throughout each unit, students are prompted with questions and/or activities that they are to complete with their Learning Guide. The materials prompt the Learning Guide to have the student go back into the text to support their evidence, look at pictures or text features, or to connect grammar skills with text. Students are encouraged by the Learning Guide to click on the Collaboration button throughout their learning to connect with other students who are using the materials.

Examples include but are not limited to:

• In Unit 1, Lesson: Does Little Pip Find Home, Part 1, students use words from the story to draw pictures to answer questions and then talk to their learning guide about the answers. The questions include: “How do Pip’s parents find her? What words tell you this? What do Pip’s parents do when they see her again? How do you know?” The Teaching Notes do not provide the Learning Guide with protocols to guide the discussion but rather provide answers that the student should give.
• In Unit 2, Lesson: What Is This?, Part 5, students reread Farming Then and Now and The Old Things. The students talk with their Learning Guide about the following questions: “What is the main topic of Farming Then and Now? What is the main topic of The Old Things? How is the main topic of The Old Things like the main topic of Farming Then and Now?” The platform provides the Learning Guide with answers but no other follow-up guidance or supports are provided.
• In Unit 3, Lesson: Hoping For Rain, Part 1, students are asked to provide their Learning Guide with the answers to the following questions, “What do you know about Tessie? Why does Tessie want it to rain?” There are no follow-up questions for the learning guide, but rather the Teaching Notes provide suggested answers.
• In Unit 4, Lesson: Apple Pie 4th of July, Part 4, students discuss the following questions with their Learning Guide: “Look at pages 12 and 13. What does the girl want to do on the 4th of July? How do you know? Look at pages 16 and 17. How does the girl feel about staying in the store all day? How do you know?” Students also listen and watch Reading and Writing Story Elements activities for Character on BrainPOPJr. Students discuss how a character reacts in a story they have written with their Learning Guide.
• In Unit 5, Lesson: Super Swirls, Part 4, students are told to, “Tell your Learning Guide the answer to these questions: Are Plant Patterns and Swirl by Swirl: Spirals in Nature stories or informational texts? What types of patterns does the author tell about in Plant Patterns? What types of pattern does the author tell about in Swirl by Swirl: Spirals in Nature? Remember: you can always look at the texts if you need to.” The platform provides the Learning Guide with answers but no other follow-up guidance or supports are provided.
• In Unit 6, Lesson: Adventures in Town, Part 7, students read On the Town: A Community Adventure. Students discuss the following questions with their Learning Guide, “What do Charlie and Papa do at home? How does the top picture on page 28 show what the words tell?” The platform provides the Learning Guide with answers but no other follow-up guidance or supports are provided.

The instructional materials reviewed partially 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.

Calvert Kindergarten materials provide instruction on the grammar and convention standards for Kindergarten. However, much of the instruction is incidental rather than explicit. Also, opportunities for students to practice the skills and master the skills is limited. Instruction on nouns, verbs, prepositions, end punctuation, using sound-spelling knowledge to spell words phonetically, and letter formation is limited. Reminders are often provided rather than explicit instruction.

Over the course of the year’s worth of materials, grammar/convention instruction is provided. Materials include limited opportunities for students to demonstrate application of skills both in- and out-of-context. However, practice is not frequent. Examples include:

• Students have opportunities to print many upper- and lowercase letters. For example:
• In Unit 1, Lesson: Pip Loses her Way, Part 4, students practice writing upper and lower case letters for A, B, C, D, and E. Specific instructions for letter formation could not be found.
• In Unit 1, Lesson: Does Little Pip Find Home?, Part 4, students practice writing the letters for K, L, M, and N.
• In Unit 5, Lesson: Flowers Grow from Seeds, Part 7, when learning about the /ks/ sound students practices writing an upper and lowercase x.
• Students have opportunities to use frequently occurring nouns and verbs. For example:
• In Unit 1, Lesson: Is a Pond a Good Home?, Part 5, the student practices identifying nouns and draws and labels a picture of a place s/he would like to visit.
• In Unit 2, Lesson: A Home for Crab, Part 5, students look at a series of pictures in the story and think of verbs to describe the actions the crab is doing.
• Students have opportunities to form regular plural nouns orally by adding /s/ or /es/. For example: 
• In Unit 5, Lesson: Plant Patterns, Part 3, students practice saying and writing the plural form of the following nouns: flower, color, pattern, row, and tulip.
• Students have opportunities to understand and use question words (interrogatives). For example:
• In Unit 1, Lesson: Does Little Pip Find Home?, Part 1, students draw pictures that answer the following questions: How do Pip’s parents find her? What words tell you this? What do Pip’s parents do when they see her again? How do you know?
• In Unit 1, Lesson: Does Little Pip Find Her Home?, Part 2, the Learning Guide explains to the student that good readers ask and answer questions in order to better understand the story. Students complete the key details graphic organizer to help reiterate this concept.
• Students have opportunities to use the most frequently occurring prepositions. For example: 
• In Unit 5, Lesson: The City That Never Sleeps, Part 4, the Learning Guide reads the student sentences that contain a prepositional phrase such as, “Many people travel on city buses.” The student then writes their own sentence that contains a prepositional phrase.
• Students have opportunities to produce and expand complete sentences in shared language activities. For example: 
• In Unit 2, Lesson: Where Does Food Come From?, Part 6, students expand on a sentence by adding a detail to the sentence stem: "The flower grows."
• In Unit 2, Lesson: What is This?, Part 1, students write an opinion about an object, the students are prompted to add on to the sentence giving an opinion and starting with the sentence with the word because.
• Students have opportunities to capitalize the first word in a sentence and the pronoun I. For example: 
• In Unit 1, Lesson: A Home for Crab, Part 1, students practice capitalization by having the Learning Guide write a sentence where words are capitalized. The Learning Guide writes the sentence, “Whom does the Hermit Crab see?”
• In Unit 3, Lesson: Hoping for Rain, Part 6, while reading the text Come On, Rain!, the Learning Guide is instructed to, “As you read the text, pause to point out that all the sentences begin with a capital letter. Then, have your student find the word I. Point out that the word I is also always capitalized.”
• Students have opportunities to recognize and name end punctuation. For example: 
• In Unit 1, Lesson: A Home for a Crab, Part 4, students practice looking at ending punctuation. The Learning Guide writes 2 sentences and points out the ending punctuation to the students and why there is ending punctuation that is different.
• In Unit 5, Lesson: Let’s Visit Jack’s Garden, Part 3, the student learns about question marks. The student reads the sentence, “Why did the seeds sprout?” and then writes their answer to the question in their English Language Arts journal.
• Students have opportunities to write a letter or letters for most consonant and short-vowel sounds. For example: 
• In Unit 1, Lesson: Does Little Pip Find Her Home?, Part 4, students write the letter from the name for letters k, l, m, and n.
• In Unit 2, Lesson: Life in the Little House, Part 3, students write short /a/ words.
• In Unit 5, Lesson: Plant Patterns, Part 5, the Learning Guide reads words aloud and the student practices writing down the beginning sound that they hear. Words read aloud include: hug, jug, mug, rug and tug.
• Students have opportunities to spell simple words phonetically, drawing on knowledge of sound-letter relationships. For example: 
• In Unit 5, Lesson: Plant Patterns, Part 4, the Learning Guide reads words aloud to the student, if the student hears a short /u/ in the word, the student practices writing down the word. Words the learning guide says include: fun, mop, nut, log, cub rub, box, run, mat and rug.

The instructional materials reviewed for Kindergarten partially 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.

Calvert Kindergarten materials do provide practice with alphabetic principle, letter-sound relationships, phonemic awareness, phonological awareness, and phonics. However, the level of practice and application is not frequent or adequate. The materials do not provide enough opportunities for the students to practice or apply the skills that they are learning. For example, students learn about the letters Ff, Gg, Hh, Ii and Jj all in the same lesson at the beginning of the year in Kindergarten. The instruction on these letters is very brief. While the lessons state that students will practice identifying words that start with these letters, this is not actually done in the lesson.

In addition, there is not a systematic and explicit way of teaching the skills. Each part (one-day lesson) has a student section and a Learning Guide section. Many “parts” do not address foundational skills at all. For example the following lessons do not include foundational skills:

• Unit 1, Lesson: Pip Loses Way, Parts 1, 3, 4, and 5
• Unit 1, Lesson: Pip Finds Home, Parts 2 , 4, and 5
• Unit 3, Lesson: Wonderful Weather, Parts 1 and 5
• Unit 3, Lesson: Weather in the World, Parts 1 and 2
• Unit 4, Lesson: Apple Pie 4th of July, Part 4
• Unit 4, Lesson: Let’s Make Music!, Parts 1, 2, 3, and 4

Evidence for standard R.F.K.3.D was not evident and practice for blending sounds in spoken words (R.F.K.2.C) was insufficient. Standards are also mislabeled throughout the program. For example, in Unit 2, Lesson: Life in the Little House, Part 1, the lesson is labeled as having R.F.K.2.D taught, yet nowhere in the lesson do students complete phoneme isolation activities.

Students have some opportunities to learn and understand phonemes (e.g. produce rhyming words, segment syllables, blend onsets and rimes, pronounce vowels in CVC words, and substitute sounds to make new words). Examples include:

• In Unit 1, Lesson: Pip Gets Lost, Part 2, the student is told, “Listen as your Learning Guide says rhyming words. Then you say the words. What part of the words sound the same? Try to make other words that rhyme with these words.” The Learning Guide is told, “Use the Picture Cards can and fan for this exercise.”
• In Unit 1, Lesson: Pip Finds Way, Part 1, the student is told, “Words have parts called syllables. Say the words pen and pencil. Count the word parts in the word pen. The word pen has one part. Say the word parts in the word pencil. The word pencil has two parts. The word pen has one syllable, and the word pencil has two syllables. Say the words cab, cabin, and cabbage. Divide the words into parts. How many parts does each word have? How many syllables does each word have?” The Learning Guide is told, “Cab has one part and one syllable. Cabin and cabbage each have two parts and two syllable
• In Unit 1, Lesson: Pip Finds Home, Part 3, the student is told, “Words have parts called syllables. Say the word penguin. Count the word parts in the word penguin. The word penguin has two parts. When you say a word, you can hear the word parts, or syllables, in the word. Say the words Mama, Papa, and Pip. How many words parts does each word have? How many syllables does each word have?” Learning Guide is told, “Mama and Papa each have two parts and two syllables. Pip has one part and one syllable.
• In Unit 2, Lesson: What are The Seasons in a Year?, Part 1, students learn how to read the word at. Then they read the word bat. Students than read more words with the a sound. A teacher at this time could add other at words in order to teach this skill.
• In Unit 2, Lesson: Life in the Little House, Part 4, students read the words, ant and bat and identify where they hear the a sound. Then they read the word hot, and identify which word it would be if you substituted the o for an a sound.
• In Unit 4, Lesson: We Are All Different!, Part 2, students read words with e in the initial and medial position. They say the sounds in the word b/e/d, jet, and then they make up other cvc words using the letters, b, l, p, n, m, s, and w.
• In Unit 4, Lesson: Apple Pie 4th of July. Parts 1 and 2. The student is told, “Now you will use the poem to identify rhyming words. What makes two words rhyme? Tell your Learning Guide. Reread The Crayon Box That Talked with your Learning Guide. Listen for rhyming words. Stop when you come across words that rhyme. Say them aloud. What rhyming sound do they share? Write the two words in your ELA Journal. Repeat this activity as you and your Learning Guide read the rest of the poem.” The Learning Guide is informed, “Confirm that rhyming words share the same ending sound but might not be spelled the same way. Answers may include: I, why; along, wrong; me, see; green, between; sky, by; new, through; away, say; I, sky; unique, complete.”
• In Unit 5, Lesson: Plant Patterns, Part 4, students practice changing words with sounds u and a.
• In Unit 5, Lesson: Flowers Grow From Seeds, Part 5, students have some practice with the initial /j/ sound. While initially the instructions for the lesson are clear, none of the word pairs provided start with the /j/ sound.
• What is on the picture your Learning Guide is holding? What sound does the word start with? Now, listen as your Learning Guide pronounces word pairs. Repeat those words. Which ones begin with the same sound as that word in the picture?” The subsequent teaching notes are extremely unclear, “Display the picture card jet. Your student should identify the picture as a nest; the beginning sound /j/. Use word pairs tap–zap, zoom–boom, rest–zest, dipper–zipper, cone–zone.”

Lessons and activities provide students some opportunities to learn grade-level phonics skills while decoding words (e.g. one-to-one correspondences, long and short sounds with common spellings, and distinguish between similarly spelled words by identifying sounds of the letters). Examples include:

• In Unit 1, Lesson: Life in the Little House, Part 2, students look at the picture cards provided and identify where they hear the /a/ sound in the word. It is either at the beginning, middle, or end. After that students draw a picture of a word that has an /a/ sound.
• In Unit 1, Lesson: A Home for Crab, Part 2, students begin to practice blending sounds leaf, fox, loaf, hammer, lemon, and ladybug.
• In Unit 3, Lesson: Wonderful Weather Words!, Parts 2-5. The student is told, “Look at the picture cards. Say the words with your Learning Guide. What sound do you hear at the beginning of the word ox? What sound do you hear in the middle of the word top? The beginning sound of ox is the same as the middle sound of top. Look at the picture cards your Learning Guide shows you. Listen to the words. Which show pictures of words that begin with the /o/ sound? Which show pictures of word have the /o/ in the middle?” The Learning Guide is told, “Display picture cards ox and top. With your student, say each word clearly, stressing the /o/ sound. Then, continue with picture cards block, octopus, otter, frog, olive, doll. Help your student identify the sound. Help your student write the words in his or her ELA Journal and underline the o.”
• In Unit 3, Lesson: Hoping for Rain, Part 3, students listen while the Learning Guide states three words that start with the letter b. Students repeat the words and then they pick out word cards that start with a letter b and then they write an upper and lower case b.
• In Unit 6, Lesson: Adventures in Town, Part 2, students look at the picture card with the long /a/ sound with a picture of a lake. The learning guide then shows students the following list of words: hat, rake, jam, snake, and vase.
• In Unit 6, Lesson: Adventures in Town, Part 2, students Learn about the a_e spelling pattern for long /a/. “Look at the picture cards your Learning Guide shows you. Say the words with your Learning Guide. Look at the word lake. Do you hear the long /a/ vowel sound? The letters a and e spell this sound. Display picture card lake first. Next, display picture cards hat, rake, jam, snake, and vase. Your student should identify that the words rake, snake, and vase have a long /a/ sound.”

Materials have a sequence of phonemic awareness instruction to build toward application, however phonological awareness is not practiced daily. Examples include:

• In Unit 1, Lesson: Does Little Pip Find Her Home?, Part 2, students are to listen for syllables in three different words (Mama, Papa, Pip) and identify the number of syllables per word.
• In Unit 2, Lesson: A Home for a Crab, Part 2, students are to identify initial sounds. The Learning Guide says leaf, fox, loaf, hammer, lemon, and ladybug. The students name the beginning sound.
• In Unit 2, Lesson: What Are the Seasons in a Year?, Part 1, students identify what learning sound they hear when they read the word at and middle sound when you say the word bat.
• In Unit 3, Lesson: Hoping for Rain, Part 3, students identify words that begin with the same sound of /b/. The Learning Guide states the word and shows a picture card for the following words: bed, bat, boat, box, mop, bus, bag, jet, and bubble.
• In Unit 4, Lesson: Apple Pie 4th of July, Part 1, students identify words that rhyme. Students listen to “The Crayon Box that Talked” and identify rhyming words.
• In Unit 5, Lesson: Plant Patterns, Part 1, students listen for the short /u/ in words such as umbrella, sun, drum, jug, nut, and duck.

Materials have a sequence of phonics instruction to build toward application however, it is lacking cohesiveness. At the beginning of the school year, students are working on basic skills such as letter recognition and by the end of the school year students are working on skills that are beyond the Kindergarten standards, such as long /e/ spelling patterns ea and ee. Examples include:

• In Unit 1, Lesson: Is A Pond A Good Home?, Part 2, students finish up identifying, recognizing and writing the letters of the alphabet by working on the letters T, U, V, W, X, Y, and Z.
• In Unit 1, Lesson: Little Pip Loses her Way, Part 4, students identify upper and lowercase a, b, c, d, and e.
• In Unit 5, Lesson: Flowers Grow From Seeds, Part 3, students focus on learning the initial sound /w/ in words. Students look at pictures and state the first letter for each the word. The learning guide then says other words and the student picks which word also starts with the sound /w/.

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

Calvert Kindergarten materials provide instruction on identifying key words and letters, upper and lower-case letters, high-frequency words, and syllabication. However, instruction is not explicit and the frequency is not cohesive. In two units of a total of 47 parts (daily lessons), only 6 letters receive alphabet and phonetic instruction. Instruction for letter formation is not explicit, and there is no reference for students or teachers on how to form letter. Instead students are simply told, “write an uppercase and lowercase x.”

Materials include some lessons for students to learn how to identify and produce letters. Examples include:

• In Unit 1, Lesson: Does Little Pip Find her Home?, Part 2, students learn the letters F, G, H, I, and J. The Learning Guide uses letter cards to point to each letter and have the student say the letter. The student then writes the letters in their learning journal.
• In Unit 1, Lesson: Little Pip Loses her Way, Part 4, students say the letters A, B, C, D, and E. Once the student repeats the letter after the Learning Guide, they write the upper and lower case letters.
• In Unit 5, Lesson: Flowers Grow From Seeds, Part 7, students practice identifying the final /x/ sound, and at the end of the lesson, students write uppercase and lowercase Xx. The student directions state:"Listen as your Learning Guide pronounces box. Repeat the word. Tell your Learning Guide what letter spells the ending /ks/ sound in box. Now, sort the picture cards. Put the cards that end with x in one pile. Put the cards that do not end with x in another pile. Now, write an uppercase and lowercase x.”
• In Unit 5, Lesson: Super Swirls, Part 2, students practice identifying the /z/ sound and letter. The text states, “What letters are these: Zz? Tell your Learning Guide. Look at this word: zoo. What is the first letter in the word zoo? What is the sound that spells that letter? Tell your Learning Guide. Now, listen as your Learning Guide says some words. If the word begins with /z/, stand up. If it does not, fold your hands.”

Materials include some tasks and questions about the organization of print concepts (e.g. follow words left to right, spoken words correlate sequences of letters, letter spacing, upper- and lowercase letters). Instruction in print concepts is not always explicit. Examples include:

• In Unit 1, Lesson: Little Pip Loses Her Way, Part 2, students are listening to the learning guide read the story, Where is Home, Little Pip? When the Learning Guide is reading, they are prompted to demonstrate for students that they read top to bottom and left to right.
• In Unit 3, Lesson: Wonderful Weather Words!, Part 1, has student practice putting a finger in between writing words to show spacing, but it is noted as a reminder.
• In Unit 3, Lesson: Snow Day!, Part 3, has student write upper and lower case r.
• In Unit 3, Lesson: Hoping for Rain, Part 4, reminds the Learning Guide to have the children start left to right, but it isn’t instruction. The same lesson also has students write upper and lower case b.
• In Unit 3, Lesson: Hoping for Rain, Part 6, the Learning Guide is informed, “As you read the text, pause to point out that all the sentences begin with a capital letter. Then, have your student find the word I. Point out that the word I is also always capitalized.”
• In Unit 4, Lesson: Apple Pie 4th of July, Part 1, reminds the Learning Guide to have the children start left to right and have them watch the Learning Guide.
• In Unit 4, Lesson: Make Music, Part 5, students write upper and lower case g.
• In Unit 5, Lesson: Plant Patterns, Part 2, students practice tracking print, “As you read the text aloud, have your student read along with you, following from left to right and from the top of the page to the bottom. When you get to the end of a page, ask your student what you should do next. (Go to the top of the next page.)”
• In Unit 5, Lesson: Let’s Visit Jack’s Garden, Part 3, students are provided with instructions that explain the structure of a sentence, focusing on ending punctuation, in this case a question mark. “A sentence always tells a complete idea. A sentence always begins with an uppercase letter and ends with a punctuation mark. A question always ends with a question mark. Read this sentence: Why did the seeds sprout? Point to the uppercase letter in the sentence. Point to the question mark. Tell your Learning Guide what kind of sentence this is. Then, write an answer to the question in your ELA Journal.”
• In Unit 5, Lesson: Plant Patterns, Part 6, the learning guide brings the students attention to the spaces between words. “Have your student read the first sentence on p. 28 aloud. Ask him or her to point to the words and spaces between the words. Then, have your student follow along as you read.”
• Some of the text features taught to students in Kindergarten are above Kindergarten standards. For example, in Unit 5, Lesson: Plant Patterns, Part 7, students create a four column chart for different text features: Front/Back Cover, Glossary, Read More/Internet Sites, and Index.

The materials reviewed for Kindergarten partially 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.

Calvert Kindergarten materials contain some components of the indicator, however, the reading books are high level reading and complicated words for a student who is not yet reading. High-frequency word instruction is not explicit. There are gaps in the instruction with no high-frequency word instruction. For example, in Unit 6, there are no explicit lessons on high-frequency words. In two units with a total of 47 parts (daily lessons), only 3 lessons include instruction about high-frequency words. Students have some practice reading/writing decodable words, yet much of this practice is oral, and opportunities are missed to have students read and write cvc words. While some books are mentioned, it is not clear that these are decodable books. There are times when students listen to the Learning Guide read and then read sentences out of the anchor book but with little explanation to the Learning Guide. Units 3 and 4 do have activities including fluency and accuracy but these are incidental in design.

Some opportunities are provided over the course of the year in core materials for students to purposefully read emergent-reader texts. Examples include:

• In Unit 2, Lesson: The Little House, pages 20 - 28, Part 4, students are able to reread the text, but they can also listen to the story to hear the words read correctly.
• In Unit 3, Lesson: What Will the Weather Be?, Part 5, students read Red Fan.
• In Unit 4, Lesson: Apple Pie 4th of July, Part 3, the materials state that students read independent reading books.
• In Unit 4, Lesson: Apple Pie 4th of July, Part 4, the materials state, “After you read pp. 12–13, have your student read them aloud with you a few times, working to read with accuracy each time. Remind your student to finger point each word and read each word carefully.”
• In Unit 5, Lesson: Plant Patterns, Part 1, the materials state, “Guide your student in reading Plant Patterns. Select the appropriate option for your student:
• Read the story aloud to your student while he or she follows in the text.
• Play an audio recording of the story (if applicable) while your student follows in the text.
• As appropriate, have your student repeat after you, whisper-read with you, or choral read with you.”
• In Unit 5, Lesson: Plant Patterns, Part 3, the teacher reads aloud pages 8-11 of the text Plant Patterns, the teacher is instructed, “As you read, have your student find and read the names of the flowers he or she sees.”

Materials provide limited support in students’ development of automaticity and accuracy of grade-level decodable words over the course of the year. Examples include:

• In Unit 1, Lesson: Does Little Pip Find Her Home?, Part 1, the Learning Guide explains when they are reading the story that the student can read with accurate rate in order to ensure that others can understand the story. The learning guide models by reading the page fast and then slow and then the student reads the same page.
• In Unit 3, Lesson: Hoping for Rain, Part 2, fluency is addressed but without much specificity. The Learning Guide is told, “ Have your student read along silently, following the words from left to right and top to bottom. On p. 33, have your student read the first two sentences with you and then without you. Check for fluency.”
• In Unit 3, Lesson: Snow Day!, Part 4, fluency is addressed but without much specificity. The Learning Guide is told, “Have your student read the last three sentences on p. 54 with you and then without you. Assess fluency.”
• In Unit 5, Lesson: Let’s Visit Jack’s Garden, Part 6, students practice identifying the medial /u/ sound in a series of picture cards. Opportunities were missed to have students practice reading cvc words with medial /u/. “Display the picture card bus. Your student should identify the vowel sound /u/ in the middle. Then, display picture cards drum, truck, pen, mug, cat, nut. Your student should identify the /u/ sound in drum, truck, mug, and nut.”
• In Unit 5, Lesson: Plant Patterns, Part 4, students have the opportunity to practice reading some CVC words and changing medial sounds. “Read this word with your Learning Guide: ran. Now, read this word: run. How did the word ran change to make the word run? Tell your Learning Guide. Read this word: cat. Change the letter a to the letter u and write the word. What is the new word? Now, listen to the words your Learning Guide says. If the word has the /u/ sound in the middle, write it down.”
• In Unit 6, Lesson: Adventures in Town, Part 1, students identify the long /a/ vowel sound in similarly spelled word pairs. The text states, “Look at the picture cards your Learning Guide shows you. Say each word. Listen to the middle sound. Do you hear the difference in the middle sounds in can and cane? The middle sound in cane is the long a vowel sound."

Students have limited opportunities to read and practice high-frequency words. High-frequency word instruction is not cohesive. For example, there are 10 lessons with no high frequency word instruction between Unit 5, Lesson: Flowers Grow From Seeds, Part 2, and Unit 5, Lesson: Let’s Visit Jack’s Garden, Part 5. There is no high-frequency word instruction in Unit 6. Examples include:

• In Unit 1, Lesson: Is a Pond a Good Home?, Part 4, students practice high-frequency words the and little. The students say and spell the words without and with the Learning Guide.
• In Unit 3, Lesson: Hoping for Rain, Part 2, there are the following high-frequency words: me, with, she, and little. Students write a sentence with the words and draw a picture.
• In Unit 3, Lesson: Snow Day!, Part 5, students learn two high-frequency words: see and look. The text states, ”You see words like see and look many times when you read. Play Sight Word Bingo to practice some of them.”
• In Unit 3, Lesson: What Will the Weather Be?, Part 2, three high-frequency words are addressed: see, look, and for.
• Unit 5, Lesson: Super Swirls, Part 5, students learn about the high frequency words come, where, we, and she. The text states, “Say and spell the word come with your Learning Guide. Now, say and spell these words: we, where, she. The words come, we, where, and she are words you will read many times. Tell your Learning Guide which word in this list starts with the /k/ sound. Which word starts with the /w/ sound? Now, read these sentences with your Learning Guide. Point to the words come, we, where, and she. Then, draw a picture to show what the sentences mean. Where are you going? We are going to Nan's party. She is six years old today. Do you want to come?”
• In Unit 5, Lesson: Plant Patterns, Part 7, students learn about the high-frequency words where, is, come and was. The text states, “Say and spell each word in this list with your Learning Guide: where, is, come, was. These are words you will read many times. Say each word slowly again and listen to the beginning sound: where, is come, was. Tell your Learning Guide what sound each word begins with and what letter goes with that sound.”

The materials reviewed for Kindergarten partially 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.

Calvert Kindergarten materials do provide some practice with word recognition and analysis skills. However, the level of practice and application is not frequent or adequate for student success. Although high-frequency words, rhyming, and some onset phonics are found in the units and parts, an opportunity is missed to provide students with decodable readers when it comes to high-frequency word instruction. The materials do not provide enough opportunities for the students to practice or apply the skills that they are learning in connected texts and tasks.

Some materials support students’ development learn grade-level word recognition and analysis skills (e.g. one-to-one correspondences, syllable segmentation, rime and onset recognition, long and short sounds with common spellings, and distinguish between similarly spelled words by identifying sounds of the letters) in connected text and tasks. Examples include:

• In Unit 1, Lesson: Little Pip Loses Her Way, Part 4, the Learning Guide talks to the student about how the sentence says, “Pip starts to look for her home.” Then the Learning Guide talks to students about the fact that the picture shows that Pip is all alone in the cold, empty, snowy place and that the pictures show what the words tell about.
• In Unit 3, Lesson: Wonderful Weather Words!, Parts 2-5, the student is told, “Look at the picture cards. Say the words with your Learning Guide. What sound do you hear at the beginning of the word ox? What sound do you hear in the middle of the word top? The beginning sound of ox is the same as the middle sound of top. Look at the picture cards your Learning Guide shows you. Listen to the words. Which show pictures of words that begin with the /o/ sound? Which show pictures of word have the /o/ in the middle?” The Learning Guide is told, “Display picture cards ox and top. With your student, say each word clearly, stressing the /o/ sound. Then, continue with picture cards block, octopus, otter, frog, olive, doll. Help your student identify the sound. Help your student write the words in his or her ELA Journal and underline the o.”
• In Unit 4, Lesson: Apple Pie 4th of July, Parts 1-2, the student is told, “Now you will use the poem to identify rhyming words. What makes two words rhyme? Tell your Learning Guide. Reread The Crayon Box That Talked with your Learning Guide. Listen for rhyming words. Stop when you come across words that rhyme. Say them aloud. What rhyming sound do they share? Write the two words in your ELA Journal. Repeat this activity as you and your Learning Guide read the rest of the poem.” The Learning Guide is told, “Confirm that rhyming words share the same ending sound but might not be spelled the same way. Answers may include: I, why; along, wrong; me, see; green, between; sky, by; new, through; away, say; I, sky; unique, complete.”
• In Unit 4, Lesson: We Are All Different!, Part 5, students practice listening for the beginning and middle short /e/ sound in words. “INITIAL AND MEDIAL /E/ Look at a picture card. What is it? An egg! Listen to the beginning sound: eeeegg. Egg begins with the /e/ sound. Look at another picture card. What is it? Do you hear /e/ at the beginning or in the middle? Sort more picture cards with /e/. Put words that begin with /e/ in one pile, and words with middle /e/ in another pile, and words with no /e/ in a third pile. Listen to some words. Clap if they have the /e/ sound. What letter spells the /e/ sound? Ee. Read two sentences. Circle the letter that spells the /e/ sound. Draw a picture for each sentence.”
• In Unit 5, Lesson: Let’s Visit Jack’s Garden, Part 4, students learn about the short /u/ sound. The teacher is instructed to, “Display the picture card up. Then, display the picture card sun. Your student should recognize the initial and medial sound /u/. For practice, use word pairs rag-rug, cub-cab, hot-hut, big-bug, cut-cat.”

Materials provide some opportunities to read high-frequency words in connected text and tasks. Examples include:

• In Unit 1, Lesson: Little Pip Loses Her Way, Part 3, the student is told, “Look at the words your Learning Guide writes. These are words you will read many times. Say and spell the words. Listen to the sounds in each word. Say each sound slowly.” The Learning Guide is told, “Write and display the words I and am for your student. Write the sentence frame I am _______. Have your student complete the sentence with his or her name. Point to the words as your student reads.”
• In Unit 5, Lesson: Let’s Visit Jack’s Garden, Part 5, students learn about the high-frequency words said, was, what, and she. “Say the word said. Spell said aloud for your Learning Guide. Listen to the beginning sound. Next, say and spell the words was, what, and she. These are words you will read many times. Now, use the words to complete these sentences. Write the sentences in your ELA Journal _____ is reading a book. _____ book is she reading? The book _____a birthday present. She _____it is a very good book.”
• In Unit 5, Lesson: Flowers Grow From Seeds, Part 2, students learn about the high-frequency words: yellow, blue, green, and have. “Say the word yellow. Spell yellow aloud for your Learning Guide. Listen to the beginning sound. Next, say and spell the words blue, green, and have. These are words you will read many times. Now, use the words to complete these sentences. Write the sentences in your ELA Journal: I see a _____ sky. We _____ an apple tree. The leaves are ______. The sun is _____. “
• In Unit 5, Lesson: Plant Patterns, Part 2, students say the word am. Students repeat the words what, said, and was. They identify which word started with the sound /s/ and which one started with the sound /w/. Students write sentences using the words.

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

• In Unit 2, Lesson: Life in the Little House, Part 4, students practice writing words with the short /a/ sound. The text states, “List simple one-syllable words for your student, such as top, tap, cat, pan,and sip. Spell the words with the /a/ sound for your student to write down if he or she has trouble spelling the words independently.”
• In Unit 2, Lesson: What Are the Seasons in a Year, Part 2, students look for words that start with an /s/ in the story Four Seasons in a Year, “Initial /s/ - Look at the word sun. Say it out loud. Listen for the beginning sound. The beginning sound in sun is /s/. Look at the picture cards your Learning Guide shows you. Which pictures show words that begin with the /s/ sound, like sun? Tell your Learning Guide another word that begins with the /s/ sound. The /s/ sound is spelled with the letter s. Do you see any words in the story that begin with s?”
• In Unit 4, Lesson: Apple Pie 4th of July, Parts 1-2, students are asked to write their own sentences using rhyming words.

The materials reviewed for Kindergarten partially meet the criteria for materials supporting 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.

Calvert Kindergarten materials provide some assessment opportunities of Kindergarten foundational skills. These opportunities are found in the unit quizzes. There are some quick check assessments that are used throughout the program, but these focus on comprehension and text structure rather than foundational skills. There are missed opportunities for guidance on how to determine if a student needs additional support on mastery of skills based on assessment results. Protocols and guidance are minimal for how to support a student if the student is not understanding a skill and then how to reassess the student. The guidance is often for the Learning Guide to reread the information to the student.

Some 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. Examples include:

• In Unit 1, Lesson: Does Little Pip Find Her Home?, Part 1, the Learning Guide is prompted to listen to the student reading the text at the appropriate rate. The Learning Guide then listens to the student read the page with accuracy to determine that they are not reading the page too slow or too fast. A rubric for determining too slow or too fast is not provided to the Learning Guide.
• In Unit 1, Lesson: Does Little Pip Find Her Home?, Part 3, students are working on identifying syllables in a word. The Learning Guide listens to the student break words into syllables.
• In Unit 2, there is a Unit Quiz at the end. Question 11 asks about the beginning sound of a picture shown.
• In Unit 3, Lesson: Hoping for Rain, there is one assessment within the 7 parts. One of the questions is about assessing left-to-right directionality for a student following materials. The Learning Guide is told, “While your student is reading, assess whether he or she follows in the correct direction.” This informal instruction to assessment is quite common in the materials. There is no notation of an observation checklist or the duration of the assessment.
• In Unit 3, Lesson: What Will the Weather Be?, there is an assessment of fluency. The Learning Guide is informed, “Have your student choose a sentence to read aloud. Ask your student what the words are made of (letters) and what the words are separated by (spaces). While your student is reading, assess his or her fluency (proper speed, accuracy, and expression).” There is no recording mechanism for proper speed, accuracy, and expression. There are no guidelines for what is proper speed, accuracy, and expression.

Assessment materials provide teachers and students with some information of students’ current skills/level of understanding of foundational skills. Examples include:

• At the end of each lesson, students self-evaluate their understanding by answering the following question “How well do you feel you understand the concepts from this lesson part?” Students then mark one of the following answers, “I feel that I understand the concepts very well. I feel comfortable with the concepts. I feel that I need more practice with the concepts.”
• In Unit 1, Lesson: A Home for a Crab, Part 5, students are working on identifying words that start with the same sound of /h/, /p/, and /l/. The Learning Guide begins the activity by reading the title of the book and having the student identify which words go together. The Learning Guide and student review the first sentence. The Learning Guide displays the picture cards for leaf, lemon, and jam. If the sounds are the same the student stands up. This activity allows the learning guide and student to become aware of how well the student understands whether sounds are the same or not in context with /h/, /p/, and /l/.
• In Question 9 of the Unit 1 Quiz, students identify two words that rhyme after they read the poem or the poem is read to them.
• In the Unit 4 Quiz, students’ print concept knowledge is assessed when a student has to choose the sentence with the correct spacing between words for the sentence “Emily has a cat.”

Some of the materials support teachers with instructional adjustments to help students make progress toward mastery in foundational skills. Examples include:

• In Unit 2, Lesson: Life in the Little House, Part 1, students write a story about changes that Little House experiences. The Learning Guide is prompted to have the student draw pictures instead of writing them if the student is struggling to write.
• In Unit 3, Lesson: Hoping for Rain, Part 1, students practice capitalizing the first letter of a sentence. Teachers are provided with the following instructions for extra practice if the student is struggling, “If your student struggles with the concept, repeat the activity with other simple sentences. Then, write a sentence that begins with a lowercase letter and have your student correct it. Remind your student to end sentences with proper punctuation.”
• In Unit 4, Lesson: Apple Pie 4th of July, Part 1, students are working on writing their own rhyming sentences. In the teaching notes, the Learning Guide is provided with additional ideas to help a struggling student, “If your student struggles with this activity, suggest he or she begins by choosing a pair of rhyming words from the following list: go/slow, fast/past, yes/dress, chase/race, mouse/house. Then, help him or her construct the first sentence.”

The materials reviewed for Kindergarten partially 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.

At times, Calvert materials provide high-quality lessons and activities to reach mastery of foundational skills for Kindergarten learners. However, multiple opportunities to learn and practice each foundational skill are lacking. The foundational skills are often taught in one lesson. Sometimes the materials review foundational skills taught and learned. Materials do not routinely provide the guidance to the Learning Guide in areas where students may need more practice and in areas where students could use enrichment.

Some materials provide high-quality learning lessons and activities for every student to reach mastery of foundational skills. However, multiple opportunities to learn each foundational skill is lacking. Examples include:

• In Unit 1, Lesson: Is a Pond a Good Home?, Part 2, students learn about the Tt, Uu, Vv, Ww, Xx, Yy, and Zz letters all in one lesson. Students identify the letters and write them in their journal. Students also practice looking for words in the text Life in the Pond that contain these letters.
• In Unit 1, Lesson: Little Pip Loses Her Way, Part 2, students determine which words are rhyming words when the Learning Guide says them.
• In Unit 1, Lesson: Little Pip Loses Her Way, Part 4, students practice learning the upper and lower case letters by looking at the letter cards, naming each one and then writing each upper and lower case letter.
• In Unit 2, Lesson: Life in the Little House, Part 2, students learn about initial and medial /a/. Students practice looking at picture cards and identifying whether they hear the /a/ sound at the beginning or in the middle of the word. Students also draw a picture of a word that has the /a/ sound.
• In Unit 2, Lesson: What Are the Seasons in a Year?, students practice reading high-frequency words have and is. Students write down the words three times and then write them in a sentence.
• In Unit 2, Lesson: Where Does Food Come From?, Part 6, students practice the initial and medial /i/ sound. Students look at a picture that correspond to the word the Learning Guide states. They answer what the middle sound is in the word and beginning sound. Then students write down the words.
• In Unit 4, Lesson: Apple Pie 4th of July, Part 4, students practice the beginning /i/ sound. Students practice identifying a word card that starts with /i/, clapping when they hear /i/ in a series of word pairs (such as lap-tap, lit-hit), and adding /i/ to make new words (such as - _ip, _et, _it). If the student needs more practice, the teacher is also instructed to have the student find words that begin with /i/ in a book.

Materials provide minimal guidance to teachers for scaffolding and adapting lessons and activities to support each student’s needs in foundational skills. An example of scaffolding for skills includes:

• In Unit 2, Lesson: What is This?, Part 4, students practice writing sentences about the story. Students are prompted to dictate the sentence if they are not able to write it.

Students have minimal practice opportunities with each grade level foundational skill component in order to reach mastery. Examples include:

• In Unit 3, Lesson: Hoping for Rain, Part 4, students learn about the beginning b sound and practice sorting pictures that begin with this sound. Students also practice writing the letter b.
• In Unit 3, Lesson: Hoping for Rain, Part 5, students learn about the /n/ sound and review the /b/ sound. To review the /b/ sound, students identify which word start with /b/ from word pairs such as, “bet-get, rest-best, bell-well, book-hook.”
• In Unit 3, Lesson: Hoping for Rain, Part 6, students practice the /b/ sound again, by changing phonemes in words such as hit to bit and cat to cab.
• In Unit 6, Lesson: Adventures in Town, Part 1, students practice identifying the word with long /a/ in word pairs such as - tap/tape and rat/rate.
• In Unit 6, Lesson: Adventures in Town, Part 2, the Learning Guide explains to the student that a_e produces the long /a/ sound. The student then identifies which words have the long /a/ sound from the picture cards for the words lake, hat, rake, jam, snake, and vase.
• In Unit 6, Lesson: Adventures in Town, Part 3, the Learning Guide has the student identify which words contain the long /a/ vowel sound by looking at the following picture cards cat, snake, lake, rake, bat, man, and vase. The student also identifies the word that contains long /a/ from the word pairs tap/tape and man/mane.
• In Unit 6, Lesson: Adventures in Town, Part 4, the student practice adding -e to can and cap to make the long /a/ words cane and cape.