Kindergarten - Gateway 2
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Building Knowledge
Building Knowledge with Texts, Vocabulary, and TasksGateway 2 - Partially Meets Expectations | 50% |
|---|---|
Criterion 2.1 | 12 / 24 |
Criterion 2.2: Coherence | 4 / 8 |
Not all units in the program effectively build students’ knowledge on a topic. While text analysis is well-covered, including some analysis of knowledge and ideas within and across texts, not all questions and tasks compel students to return to the text to support their contentions and conclusions.
Students engage in frequent writing tasks across the year; however, since informational writing encompasses nearly half of writing instruction, students may not achieve the full balance of writing genres outlined in the standards.
The Inquiry projects that conclude each unit teach some research skills but due to student choice, do not provide adequate growth in those skills. These projects also fall short of demonstrating the growth of students’ knowledge, standards, and skills from the unit.
The materials provide coverage of the standards throughout all units and over the course of the year; however, the preponderance of repetitive, unaligned reading strategies throughout the program moves the focus of the instruction, questions, tasks, and assessments away from a tight focus on grade level standards alignment. The program also contains a large volume of material without a suggested daily schedule; therefore, a full and standards-aligned implementation could be challenging.
Criterion 2.1
Materials build knowledge through integrated reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language.
The Open Court Kindergarten materials include twelve units that are formed around a topic or theme related to the program theme. Each unit includes a big idea and question that is aligned to a vertical thread that runs across each grade level in the program. However, not all units work toward building knowledge on a topic as some work toward a unifying theme.
Within each unit, the questions and tasks lead students to analyze the key ideas, details, craft and structure of the texts they are studying. Students also engage in some analysis of knowledge and ideas within and across texts, however not all questions and tasks compel students to return to the text to support their contentions and conclusions.
Students engage in frequent writing tasks across the year; however, since informational writing encompasses nearly half of writing instruction, students may not achieve the full balance of writing genres outlined in the standards.
While the Inquiry projects provide an opportunity for students to extend their learning about the topic or theme of each unit, these projects fail to consistently incorporate the knowledge and skills students gain throughout the unit nor do they require the students to incorporate and demonstrate the integration of the knowledge and skills that align to the standards.
Indicator 2a
Texts are organized around a cohesive topic(s) to build students’ ability to read and comprehend complex texts independently and proficiently.
The materials reviewed for Kindergarten partially meet the criteria of Indicator 2a.
Most of the units in Kindergarten focus on a topic; however, some are tied together by broad themes. The topics included in the Kindergarten curriculum are Weather, Pushes and Pulls, Homes, Our Country, Plant Life Cycles, Animal Homes, Rules, and Great Americans. Some of the units focus on a broader theme, including Off to School and Let’s Be Kind. Each lesson in a unit also includes two to three essential questions that are the focus for the text(s) included during that week; however, at times, these essential questions do not consistently connect to the Big Idea in a way that helps build knowledge on a specific topic. Each unit includes three lessons, and within each lesson, students listen to up to three texts in a given week with up to three different essential questions, meaning students do not spend sufficient time on a topic to build knowledge. Most anchor texts within a given week are paired with a poem, as opposed to an informational text on the same topic that builds knowledge. According to the Program Guide, “Through the engaging themes that stretch across grade levels in SRA Open Court Reading, students learn about universal truths, such as kindness and friendship, as well as about cross-curriculum subject areas, such as life science and government.” The themes across all grades are character, changes, communities, life science, government, and creativity.
Some texts in a unit are connected by a grade-level appropriate topic. Some texts build knowledge and the ability to read/listen and comprehend complex texts across a school year. Examples include:
In Unit 4, Pushes and Pulls, the Big Idea is, “How do things move?” The texts and essential questions at times work together to build knowledge about pushes and pulls. Students progress quickly through each text and essential question, which doesn’t provide students with adequate time to build knowledge on the topic. For example, in Lesson 1, students listen to an explanatory text, Time to Move, with the essential question, “What makes things move?” and a nursery rhyme, “The Bus”, with a different essential question, “How can you describe motion?” In Lesson 2, students listen to a poem, “Push and Pull”, with the essential question, “How can you make things move?”, fantasy text, The Little Green Engine, with a different essential question, “What do pushes and pulls do?”, and another poem, “How We Move”, with a third essential question, “How do wheels help toys move?” In Lesson 3, students listen to a realistic fiction text, Fun Ways to Move, with the essential question, “What things do you push and pull every day?” and another realistic fiction text, Wild Rides, with a different essential question, “What are different ways things move?”
In Unit 7, Ready, Set, Grow, the Big Idea is, “What do plants need to grow?” The texts and essential questions at times work together to build knowledge about what plants need to grow. Students progress quickly through each text and essential question, which doesn’t provide students with adequate time to build knowledge on the topic. For example, in Lesson 1, students listen to a realistic fiction text, What Green Beans Need, with the essential question, “ How do plants grow?” and a realistic fiction text, Garden Stories, with a different essential question, “What might you find in a garden?” In Lesson 2, students listen to a poem, “What Plants Need” with the essential question, “What do plants need to grow?”, a fairytale, Jack and the Beanstalk, with a different essential question, “How can plants look different?”, and another poem, “The Seed” with a third essential question, “Where do plants get what they need?” In Lesson 3, students listen to an explanatory text, From Seed to Plant, with the essential question, “How do plants change as they grow?” and an informative text, Plants All Around, with the essential question, “Where do plants live?”
Some texts in a unit are connected by a theme, as opposed to building knowledge on a topic. Examples include:
In Unit 1, Off to School, the Big Idea is, “What is school all about?” The texts in this unit are loosely organized around the theme of different aspects of school, such as The Kissing Hand (Lesson 1) with the essential question, “What are some ways you are brave?” and Who Is at Your School? (Lesson 2) with the essential question: “Who can help you at school?”
In Unit 2, Let’s Be Kind, the Big Idea is, “What is kindness?” The texts in this unit are loosely organized around the theme of kindness, such asThe Elves and the Shoemaker (Lesson 1) with the essential question, “Is it better to give kindness or receive it?” and The Lady with the Lamp: Florence Nightingale (Lesson 3), with the essential question: “How can being kind help others?”
Indicator 2b
Materials require students to analyze the key ideas, details, craft, and structure within individual texts as well as across multiple texts using coherently sequenced, high-quality questions and tasks.
The materials reviewed for Kindergarten meet the criteria of 2b.
Kindergarten students interact with texts multiple times over the course of the week in order to analyze the key ideas, details, craft, and structure. In the beginning of the year, the teacher models how to answer these questions, and by the end of the year, the teacher prompts students to answer these questions themselves. Following a Shared Reading, students are asked Discussion Starter questions in order to recall key ideas from the text. On a subsequent day, students listen to the text again in order to analyze Writer's Craft or to use an Access Complex Text strategy. The Look Closer section at the end of each selection specifically asks students to analyze the key ideas and details, the writer’s craft, and the text structure of the selection. The type of questions asked in this section require students to delve deeper into the text to help them access the complex text and to make sense of the text.
While most questions and tasks are high-quality, provide a logical sequence, and build in rigor throughout the year, some questions engage students in practices that do not align to the grade-level standards. The teacher models tasks at the beginning of the year and gradually releases more of the task to the students.
For some texts (read-aloud texts K-1 and anchor texts Grade 2), students analyze key ideas and details and craft and structure (according to grade-level standards).
The materials contain coherently sequenced questions and tasks that address key ideas and details; however, the bulk of the questions and tasks address reading strategies that steer students' focus away from the text. Examples include:
In Unit 1, Lesson 1, after listening to The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn, the teachers assist students in retelling the story. Then the teacher asks, “What was the secret of the Kissing Hand? How did it help Chester Raccoon?”
In Unit 3, Lesson 3, after listening to Snow Day! by Lester L. Laminack, students discuss the plot. Students answer the questions, “What problem is introduced in the beginning?”, What happens in the middle of the story?”, and “What happens at the end of the story?” During this lesson, students are also asked, “Does a snow day sound fun to you?” and “Do you think the weather forecaster said there would be lots of snow? Why or why not?”
In Unit 4, Lesson 1, after listening to the text Time to Move! by Jeffrey Lee, the students are asked a series of questions including one about key details, but the rest are not connected to details. The questions are, “What objects do children push or pull at recess? Which activity on the playground is your favorite? Have you ever thought about how people and things move on the playground?”
In Unit 6, Lesson 3, after listening to A Collection of Cultures by Paul Caserta, the teacher asks, “What key details did we learn about Chinese culture?” after reading aloud page 60. Then, after reading page 61, the teacher asks, “What is the main topic?” and “What key details did we learn about Irish culture?”
In Unit 7, Lesson 1, while listening to Garden Stories by Kevin Sanji, the teacher asks questions about the main idea and details such as, “What is the main idea of the story on pages 20-21?” and “What details do we learn about lovie trees?”
In Unit 9, Lesson 2, while reading “That's Not Fair! '' by M.C.Hall, the teacher stops after the first few pages and asks, “How does the story begin? What happens next? Then what happens?”
In Unit 10, Lesson 1, while listening to If I Were President by Catherine Stier, the teacher focuses on the reading strategy of clarifying and asks questions such as, “Is anyone confused about something?” and “Does anyone want to clarify an unknown word?”
The materials contain coherently sequenced questions and tasks that address craft and structure. Examples include:
In Unit 2, Lesson 2, students listen to Snow White and Rose Red by Brothers Grimm retold by Danile Munn. As the teacher reads, he/she models the comprehension strategy of visualization. Most of the task involves the teacher modeling the picture in her head as he/she reads the story. One of the prompts for the teacher addresses the language of the text, “There are some descriptive words on page 38 that help me to visualize the story. When I read ‘his face becomes crimson with rage.’ I picture the dwarf’s face all red.”
In Unit 3, Lesson 1, students listen to Weather Measures by Yvonne Morrison, and the teacher asks, “What does the author mean by ‘weather forecast’?” During this Lesson, students are also asked, “Do you think it is important to study the weather? Why or why not?” This does not address craft and structure
In Unit 5, Lesson 3, the students preview the text, How a House is Built by Gail Gibbons, and the teacher points out the name of the author and illustrator and explains that the person did the jobs of both author and illustrator. Then the teacher has the students describe the roles of authors and illustrators.
In Unit 7, Lesson 1, students do a close read of the text Garden Stories by Kevin Sanji in order to analyze the craft. The teacher states, “Fables also use characters or things that act like people. Who are the characters in Miss Gloria’s fable? How do the characters act like people?” Other questions about this text do not address craft and structure nor are they text dependent such as, “Are the trees bigger than people?”
In Unit 9, Lesson 3, after listening to Rules of the Wild: An Unruly Book of Manners by Bridget Levin, students are asked how they know the text is a fantasy after reviewing the elements of fantasy.
In Unit 12, Lesson 1, after browsing the “Stripes, Spots and Dots” Big Book, students are asked a series of questions that do not address craft and structure including, “Where can you find patterns in your neighborhood?” and “Do you think it is easier to find patterns in a city or in nature?”
Indicator 2c
Materials require students to analyze the integration of knowledge within individual texts as well as across multiple texts using coherently sequenced, high-quality text-specific and/or text-dependent questions and tasks.
The materials reviewed for Kindergarten partially meet the criteria of Indicator 2c.
Throughout the Kindergarten materials, students have opportunities to analyze the integration of knowledge within a single text; however, materials provide limited opportunities for students to analyze the integration of knowledge across multiple texts on a topic. Questions that provide students opportunities to analyze the integration of knowledge mostly occur during the Access Complex Text portion of the lesson plan. However, materials also include questions within a given week that focus on comprehension strategies such as making connections, predicting, and visualizing, as opposed to questions that require students to analyze the integration of knowledge. Some sets of questions and tasks provide opportunities to analyze across multiple texts as well as within single texts.
Sets of questions and tasks provide opportunities to analyze within single texts. Examples include:
In Unit 3, Lesson 1, after listening to Hail: Ice from the Sky by Cynthia Light Brown, students are asked questions to analyze the text such as, “What does humid mean in the phrase ‘when it is hot and humid’? Do you think it is always colder at the top of the clouds than on the ground? What descriptions helped you understand what hail is?”
In Unit 5, Lesson 2, students listen to Our Earth, Our Home by Kiyo Fischer. Students analyze the text with questions such as, “On page 33, we can find why the author wants his readers to keep Earth clean, ‘We all live on Earth together.’ What other reasons does the author give?”
In Unit 7, Lesson 2, the teacher reads aloud the text, Jack and the Beanstalk. The topic of this unit is plants and none of the questions or tasks during the first read helps students build knowledge about plants.
In Unit 8, Lesson 1, students listen to Life in a Tropical Rainforest by Dan Katsuyama, and answer questions such as, “What does the author mean when he writes ‘a balance exists in the rainforest’? Why are rainforests important?”
In Unit 9, Lesson 3, while reading Obey the Law! by Albert Carangelo, the teacher asks, “What details about police officers can you learn from the illustration? What does a police officer wear?”
Some sets of questions and tasks provide opportunities to analyze across multiple texts. Examples include:
In Unit 3, Lesson 1, students retell the poem, Hail: Ice from the Sky by Cynthia Light Brown, and the text, Weather Measures by Yvonne Morrison. The teacher asks, “How might you measure hailstones? What information did you learn from “Hail: Ice from the Sky” and “Weather Measures” about weather? Did you have any unanswered questions after the reading of those selections? Which selection or selections were explanatory text? How do you know?” However, students are not asked to analyze the texts and to identify similarities and differences between the texts.
In Unit 5, Lesson 1, students review Homes Around the World and The Three Little Pigs. Students answer questions such as, “What materials might the characters of The Three Little Pigs use to build a house today? Which home from Homes Around the World would be best in your neighborhood? Why? How was Homes Around the World the same as The Three Little Pigs? How were the two selections different?”
Indicator 2d
Culminating tasks require students to demonstrate their knowledge of a unit's topic(s) through integrated literacy skills (e.g., a combination of reading, writing, speaking, listening).
The materials reviewed for Kindergarten do not meet the criteria of Indicator 2d.
Materials do not include culminating tasks that demonstrate students’ knowledge of a topic through integrated skills. At the end of each unit, students complete an Inquiry Project, but these are not evaluated on any specific reading or writing standards and do not require demonstration of knowledge accumulated through the unit. The Inquiry Projects do relate to the theme or topic of the unit, but text-dependent questions and tasks prior to the Inquiry Projects do not necessarily help students complete the project. Some tasks may be considered culminating in units, however; they are not found consistently throughout the year.
Culminating tasks are not found across a year’s worth of material nor are they multifaceted, requiring students to demonstrate mastery of several different standards (reading, writing, speaking, and listening) at the appropriate grade level. For example:
Inquiry Projects at the end of each unit are related to the theme of the unit, but do not require students to demonstrate mastery of several standards. According to the Program Guide, the Inquiry Projects require students to “conduct an investigation into something related to the theme that interests them.”
In Unit 10, Lesson 1, the class discusses what they have learned about leaders and the President from selections they have read; however, this type of task is not found in most units, nor does it require students to integrate skills.
Culminating tasks are not varied across the year and do not provide students the opportunity to demonstrate comprehension and knowledge of a topic or topics through integrated skills (reading, writing, speaking, listening). For example:
The end-of-unit Inquiry Projects allow students to choose the modality in which they present. There is no integration of skills required.
Inquiry Projects do not ask for any demonstration of comprehension or knowledge of the topic.
Examples of tasks include, in Unit 3, that students explore and share ideas about weather and are given options to present their findings such as creating an experiment with different materials to keep cool in the sun, making a weather report for the school based on weather observations, or presenting information about preparing for, and responding to, severe weather.
Indicator 2e
Materials include a cohesive, year-long plan for students to achieve grade-level writing proficiency by the end of the school year.
The materials reviewed for Kindergarten partially meet the criteria of Indicator 2e.
Students in Kindergarten participate in writing tasks across the entire year. The majority of writing instruction is process writing, which occurs daily and includes a variety of genres, though it focuses more on informational writing. On-demand writing only occurs in the second half of the year, and the majority of writing tasks do not rely on information that students have read, making it difficult for students to achieve grade-level writing proficiency by the end of the school year. The program includes graphic organizers, model texts, and sample responses. There is no process for monitoring students’ writing development. Rubrics are not provided in the Kindergarten materials.
Materials include some writing instruction aligned to the standards for the grade level and writing instruction spans the whole school year. Examples include:
Students learn how to write stories three times during the year, including Unit 6, where students complete an Idea Web as a class for the story, and Unit 7, where students learn to use a Story Map to plan. By Unit 11, students name all the ways to brainstorm for writing. In Unit 6, students draw pictures and label them with captions “first”, “next”, and “last”. In Unit 7, students write their own sentences.
Students learn how to write opinion pieces in Units 2, 9, and 10. In Unit 2, students draw a picture and dictate an opinion statement. By the end of the year, students write their own sentences.
Students learn how to revise throughout the year. In the beginning of the year, students learn about revision and students “check their names for proper letter spacing.” In Unit 11, students are told that “sometimes writers think their stories would be better in a different sequence and they change the sequence by revising.”
Instructional materials include a variety of well-designed lesson plans, models, and protocols for teachers to implement. There are no resources provided to monitor students’ writing development. Examples include:
The Benchmark Assessments do not include ways to monitor Kindergarten students’ writing development.
The Resources Library provides graphic organizers, including a Cluster Web, a Venn Diagram, and a Story Map.
In Unit 7, Lesson 3, students are given a Story Map to help them write a make-believe story.
In Unit 12, Lesson 1, students write a humorous poem by looking at the exemplar poem “Black and White.”
Indicator 2f
Materials include a progression of research skills that guide shared research and writing projects to develop students' knowledge using multiple texts and source materials.
The materials reviewed for Kindergarten partially meet the criteria of Indicator 2f.
Within each unit of the Kindergarten materials, students engage in research through the Inquiry Projects found in each unit. Students learn and apply the same five research steps across the year, with some shifting from teacher-led to student-led tasks. In each unit, students have the opportunity to choose the research question and how to present on their topic, making it difficult for the teacher to provide explicit instruction in research. A progression of research skills across the year are missing as a result. Due to student choice, research projects are not sequenced across the school year to include a progression of research skills according to the grade-level standards.
Research projects are not sequenced across a school year to include a progression of research skills that build to mastery of the grade-level standards. For example:
In each unit there is an Inquiry Project and according to the Program Overview, “A gradual release from whole-class to small-group or individual Inquiry structures” will happen. However, there is no specific guidance on how or when to make that shift.
In the first several units, the teacher models how to develop a research question. By Unit 8, student pairs or groups come up with the research question.
In Unit 1, Lesson 2, each student is assigned a part of the shared writing project. By Unit 3, Lesson 2, the teacher guides “students to plan how they will share the class’s research and findings.”
The same steps for research and inquiry are taught throughout the year without a progression of skills. The steps are: (1) Develop Questions (2) Create Conjectures (3) Collect Information (4) Develop Presentations and (5) Deliver Presentations.
Materials support teachers in employing projects that develop students’ knowledge on a topic. Examples include:
In Unit 7, Lesson 1, students learn about plants and have planted seeds. On a two-column chart, the students record observations of what they see each day and add drawings to the descriptions. Students use texts from the unit such as, What Green Beans Need by Carol Elliot and Garden Stories by Kevin Sanji to help with the research.
In Unit 12, several texts from the unit are provided to help students with the Inquiry Project about patterns and colors such as, Outside in the City by Varun Black, Shapes and Patterns by Orsalya Dalton, and The Shape of my Heart by Mark Sperring.
Materials include some shared research projects to help develop students’ research skills. Whole-class experiences guide students through research. For example:
In Unit 4, Lesson 2, the class completes a research project about pushes and pulls. The students conduct experiments to test the class conjecture and the teacher records notes of the students’ findings. Then the teacher guides students to reevaluate the problem or question based on what they learned in their experiments and the students decide if they need to gather more information before continuing.
In Unit 7, students learn about plants. The Unit Overview states “Research your question with an experiment, such as planting a seed and watching it grow, and by reading books about plants. Decide how you will present your research as a class. Examples include a class science journal or a slideshow showing pictures from your experiment.” This does not include shared research.
In Unit 8, Lesson 2, students work on researching animal habitats. The teacher notes suggest that the class shares information learned through research via a science journal, a digital slide, or a mural.
In Unit 12, Lesson 2, the teacher tells “students they will explore what makes a pattern and different kinds of patterns. Have students decide which research strategy—experiments, observations, interviews, or surveys—will help them find information about their question and conjecture.” This does not include shared research opportunities.
Criterion 2.2: Coherence
Materials promote mastery of grade-level standards by the end of the year.
The materials provide coverage of the standards throughout all units and over the course of the year, however, the preponderance of repetitive, unaligned reading strategies throughout the program moves the focus of the instruction, questions, tasks, and assessments away from a tight focus on grade level standards alignment. The program also contains a large volume of material without a suggested daily schedule; therefore, a full and standards-aligned implementation could be challenging.
Indicator 2g
Materials spend the majority of instructional time on content that falls within grade-level aligned instruction, practice, and assessments.
The materials reviewed for Kindergarten partially meet the criteria of Indicator 2g.
Materials throughout the Kindergarten program spend some time on content that falls within grade-level aligned instruction; however, other parts of the curriculum are spent on reading comprehension strategies, such as making connections, that are not aligned to the standards. During the first read of a text, the teacher models comprehension strategies. The bulk of this instruction and the corresponding questions are not aligned to the standards. During a second read of the text, with Access Complex Text topics and Writer’s Craft, instruction and tasks tend to be standards-aligned. Due to the focus of the first read of the text being placed on comprehension strategies as opposed to standards, some assessment questions are not always aligned to the standards.
Over the course of each unit, some instruction is aligned to grade-level standards. For example:
In Unit 2, some of the instruction is aligned to grade level standards. Students focus on standards such as RL.K.2, which focuses on main idea and details as well as RL.K.1, which focuses on asking and answering questions. Other instruction is not aligned to the grade-level standards such as visualizing, clarifying, sequencing, and predicting.
In Unit 6, some of the instruction is aligned to grade-level standards such as RL.K.9, which focuses on the story elements of setting and character. However, the unit also focuses on other elements of Writer’s Craft, which are not aligned to the standards, such as text features (stanzas and headings) and language use (dialogue and descriptive words).
In Unit 7, some instruction is aligned to the standards. Students focus on asking and answering questions, and two of the three lessons are standards-aligned. Similarly, students also focus on making connections and two of the three lessons are standards-aligned.
In Unit 12, the materials include a focus on accessing complex texts by focusing on the standards RL/I.K.2 (main idea and details) and RL/I.K.9 (comparing and contrasting). This unit also focuses on classifying and categorizing, cause and effect, and sequence, which are not aligned to the standards.
In Kindergarten, there are a variety of text types, which meets the standard RL.K.5 (recognize common types of texts). Students read realistic fiction and fantasy.
Beginning in Unit 3, Lesson 1, Day 5, students use Management Routine A, which addresses the standard SL.K.1.A, which states that students should follow agreed-upon rules for discussions. This also occurs in Unit 5, Lesson 1, Day 5, and all subsequent Units and Lesson on Day 5.
Over the course of each unit, most of the questions and tasks are aligned to grade-level standards. For example:
In Unit 5, Lesson 2, Day 5, students meet in groups to discuss the question, “Which selection was your favorite? Why?” While this covers the speaking and listening standard SL.K.1.B, it does not address a knowledge or comprehension standard.
In Unit 7, Lesson 3, Day 5, students work on a presentation independently, which does not align to the shared research and writing standard W.K.7.
In Unit 9, Lesson 2, students choose to stage and make, “a digital recording of a panel discussion with audience participation about rules. While the presentation is digital, it does not align to W.K.6, which is about using digital tools to produce and publish writing.
After a first read of a text, students are asked comprehension questions. The questions are tagged to Speaking and Listening Standards and not reading standards. In Unit 7, Lesson 3, students are asked “Why do people need plants? What plants in your neighborhood do you like best?” and these questions are tagged to the standards SL.K.1a., SL.K.3, and SL.K.6.
Over the course of each unit, some assessment questions are aligned to grade-level standards. For example:
In Unit 2, the Lesson 1 assessment asks students to listen to a story and decide if it is a folktale, which is not aligned to the standards.
In Unit 3, students are assessed on vocabulary (RL.K.4), comparing and contrasting (RL.K.9), and cause and effect (RI.K.3).
In Unit 7, the Lesson 3 assessment asks students to look at three pictures and draw a line under the one that is similar to the first picture, which is aligned to RL/I.K.9. Students complete a similar assessment for Unit 8, Lesson 1.
By the end of the academic year, standards are addressed within and across units, however the focus on unaligned strategies throughout may not allow students to fully master the depth and breadth of the standards. For example:
Some of the standards are repeated throughout the majority of the units, such as:
RL.K.1 is found in Units 1 - 2, and Units 4 - 12.
RL.K.2 is found in Units 1 - 12.
RL/I.K.6 is found in every unit.
W.K.5 is found in every unit except Units 3 and 4.
SL.K.1 and SL.K.2 are found in every unit
Some of the standards are not found across most of the units; however, they are spread out throughout the year. For example:
RL/I.K.4 is found in Units 1, 3, 6, 7, 9, 11 and 12.
RL.K.9 is found in Units 1, 2, 4, 7, and 9.
W.K.2 is found in Units 1 - 4, 7 - 8, 10, 12
Indicator 2h
Materials regularly and systematically balance time and resources required for following the suggested implementation, as well as information for alternative implementations that maintain alignment and intent of the standards.
The materials reviewed for Kindergarten partially meet the criteria of Indicator 2h.
Materials include implementation schedules that align to core learning and objectives. However, there are 190 full lessons in the Kindergarten materials and no guidance is provided on how to implement the program when there are not 190 days of instruction available. In addition, individual lessons do not indicate how much time is spent on a topic in a day. Lessons are written in a linear way with suggested activities in the core lesson and alternative options below as teacher tips. Optional tasks support core learning and are flexible in order to meet the needs of all students.
There are no suggested implementation schedules and alternative implementation schedules found in the program. For example:
The Scope and Sequence outlines units, lessons, and instruction. Lessons are broken down by days; however, within the day, there is no approximate teaching time for each area of study or information on how to complete the topics in one day.
The Program Guide gives suggestions on when small group instruction can be offered. The Teacher Edition states, “Whatever the case may be, workshop should be flexible and work well for both you and your students.”
In Unit 1, there is a Getting Started Section which is included in order to provide teachers with an opportunity to observe students and evaluate their levels prior to the start of instruction. This is a ten-day lesson plan, and gives teachers the ability “to spend more or less time on a specific lesson, depending on the needs” of the students.
Suggested implementation schedules cannot be reasonably completed in the time allotted. For instance:
There are 190 days of planned instruction for Kindergarten. This includes two weeks of a Getting Started section at the beginning of the year, and 12 units with three weeks of lessons (each week with five days of instruction) for each unit.
There are no recommendations provided to accommodate school schedules that have fewer than 190 days of instructional time.
Daily lessons do not include time frames for individual activities, nor do the program materials indicate a total literacy block time frame. In a typical lesson, there are 16 distinct activities in one day (seven in Foundational Skills, six in Reading and Responding, and three in Language Arts). This does not include the additional 15-30 minutes for Workshop time.
Optional materials and tasks do not distract from core learning. For example:
Workshop is part of core learning, but the activities and resources in each area (reading, writing, listening, phonics, and fluency) are up to the teacher. This time is meant for extra practice with core content, individualized learning, or small-group time.
There is a suggested timeline for what Workshop will look like in each unit based on the grade level.
There are additional lessons for intervention that can be used flexibly and taught to individual students or used during small group instruction during Workshop. The materials review and reinforce skills being taught to the whole group.
Optional materials and tasks are meaningful and enhance core instruction. For example:
Workshop time is when teachers can work with small groups or individual students. All students are either working on independent material or working with the teacher, which can focus on preteaching, retreating, or engaging in enrichment activities. Students not working with the teacher have options such as reading a decodable, completing writing assignments, or practicing skills with eGames.
Teacher tips and notes on differentiation are used liberally throughout the Teacher Edition and are always options. Sometimes they are reminders or activities to include in the moment to enhance core instruction and other times they are suggestions for Workshop time.