American Reading Company Grade 1

Evaluation for 2.1
Materials include high-quality texts for ELAR instruction and cover a range of student interests.

The materials include well-crafted texts that are of publishable quality, representing the content, language, and writing produced by experts in various disciplines. While traditional and classical texts are found in this collection, the bulk of texts are both contemporary and diverse. The titles listed in the first-grade read-aloud list represent a balance of previously published literary and informational texts, as well as texts published by ARC specifically for this program. Materials include increasingly complex traditional, contemporary, classical, and diverse texts.

Examples include but are not limited to:

A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon tells the story of a young girl who worries too much about what others think of her and tries desperately to please everyone. The character is relatable, and the text shares an imaginative plot with a strong message for readers.

Too Many Tamales by award-winning author Gary Soto is a very descriptive text set in a winter environment. Children will be able to visualize the ring rising and dipping back into the tamale dough, mirroring the blinking holiday light spectacle that opens the book.

The Legend of The Indian Paintbrush by award-winning author Tommy dePaola is a folk tale about a young boy, Little Gopher, who listens to his “Dream-Vision” and can eventually bring the colors of the sunset down to earth through his paintings.

My Rotten Red-Headed Older Brother by Patricia Polacco is about a girl who is constantly annoyed by her big brother; he is “covered in freckles and looked like a weasel with glasses,” with his “extra-rotten, weasel-eyed, greeny-toothed grins.” It is a relatable story with engaging description.

Saturday at the New You by Barbara E. Barker is a picture book about a young African American girl who helps her mother in a beauty shop. The book portrays a warm, accepting environment where “all hair is beautiful.”

The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton is a classic picture book that engages students by using rich illustrations and language to help build setting.

Nobody Owns the Sky: The Story of Brave Bessie Coleman by Reeve Lindbergh is a literary nonfiction text that introduces students to a young black female pilot in the 1920’s.

The Princess and the Pea by Rachel Isadora is a traditional tale that uses vivid illustrations and African characters to tell a classic story.

*NOTE Texts included for the IMQE review of the Grade 1 ARC CORE materials are typical of what is included with the units; however, should a Core Text become unavailable, or if a district wishes to customize the Core Text selections, ARC will collaborate with the district to provide a title meeting the same criteria of those evaluated in the submission. ARC will work to ensure all selections follow district-specific criteria and meet the district standards for high-quality texts.

Evaluation for 2.2
Materials include a variety of text types and genres across content that meet the requirements of the TEKS for each grade level.

The materials contain a variety of text types and genres across multiple content areas. The materials include stories, poetry, biographies, and informational texts spanning a variety of topics. Across all units, both literary and informational texts include varied structures, and students have the opportunity to interact with print and graphic features within a variety of genres and formats. However, the materials lack drama texts.

Examples of literary texts include but are not limited to:

The Princess and the Pea by Rachel Isadora (fairy tale)
Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes (fiction)
The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson (science fiction)
At This Very Moment by Jim Arnosky (narrative fiction)
My Man Blue by Nikki Grimes (poetry)
Legend of the Indian Paintbrush by Tomie dePaola (folk tale)
Our Tree Named Steve by Alan Zweibel (realistic fiction)
Clean Your Room, Harvey Moon by Pat Cummings (nursery rhyme)
If I Only Had a Dream: Young Louis Armstrong by Roxane Orgill (literary nonfiction)

Examples of informational texts include but are not limited to:

Tough Trucks by Bobby Kalman
Mapping Penny’s World by Loreen Leedy
Re-Cycles by Michael Elsohn Ross
A Seed Grows: My First Look at A Plant's Life Cycle by Pamela Hickman and Heather Collins
The Butterfly Alphabet Book by Jerry Pallotta
Be a Friend to Trees by Patricia Lauber (persuasive)

Examples of print and graphical features include but are not limited to:

As the Crow Flies, A First Book of Maps by Gail Hartman includes colorful diagrams and maps.
Let’s Classify Animals by Kelli Hicks utilizes colorful, enlarged photos of animals.
Lizards, Frogs, and Polliwogs by Douglas Florian uses watercolor illustrations aligned with each poem.

*NOTE Texts included for the Texas Resource Review of the Grade 1 ARC CORE materials are typical of what is included with the units. However, should a Core Text become unavailable, or if a district wishes to customize the Core Text selections, ARC will collaborate with the district and provide a title meeting the same criteria of those evaluated in the submission. ARC will work to ensure all selections follow district-specific criteria and meet the district standards for high-quality texts.

Evaluation for 2.3
Texts, including read-aloud texts in K-2 and shared reading in Grade 2, are appropriately challenging, and are at an appropriate level of complexity to support students at their grade level.

The materials include texts that have undergone extensive quantitative, qualitative, and reader/task analyses by the publisher. The materials provide a proprietary taxonomy/leveling system for all books. The introduction to every unit includes information on the process of how texts are selected by quality, complexity, and quantitative levels. “All of the titles below have been leveled using the IRLA leveling system. This system combines a quantitative analysis (using Lexile, AR, and any other such systems available for the text) with a by-hand qualitative analysis. All texts are evaluated with both quantitative and hands-on qualitative measures because of the types of complexity challenges a computer cannot evaluate such as poetic language, extended metaphor, assumed background knowledge, and complex themes.” In the Literacy Lab, classrooms receive 100 read alouds that cover nonfiction, author-illustrator studies, and poetry. In the units that follow, classrooms will receive 30 read alouds. Each of these collections is designed to cover the key concepts of the theme of each unit and to include fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. At the beginning of each unit, a text complexity analysis is provided, which articulates how whole class and independent reading texts are selected for the unit's theme. This spread, titled "Determining Text Complexity," describes how read aloud texts are written 1–2 years above grade level to engage and build listening stamina for young researchers and Core Texts are written on grade level for whole class instruction. In Units 2–4, the spread also demonstrates how the independent leveled library is designed to support research in 7–10 research topics across the range of basket levels.

Examples include but are not limited to:

The Teacher from the Black Lagoon by Mike Thaler and Jared D. Lee, with an IRLA level of 1Red (beginning of 2nd grade), is about a young boy that expects only the worst when he discovers that his new teacher is the "monstrous" Mrs. Green. The text has only slightly complex features such as organization and vocabulary.

Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown and Scott Nash, with an IRLA level of 2Red (end of 2nd grade), is about an ordinary boy with an extraordinary problem.

Too Many Tamales by Gary Soto and Ed Martinez, with an IRLA level of 2Red (end of 2nd grade), is about a young girl who gets to help make tamales for Christmas dinner. The text contains very complex vocabulary and moderately complex sentence structures, life experiences, and cultural knowledge.

The Ugly Vegetables by Grace Lin, with an IRLA level of White (3rd grade), is about a girl learning how ugly vegetables can be better than pretty flowers. The text contains moderately complex vocabulary, sentence structure, life experiences, and cultural knowledge.

*NOTE Texts included for the IMQE review of the Grade 1 ARC CORE materials are typical of what is included with the units; however, should a Core Text become unavailable, or if a district wishes to customize the Core Text selections, ARC will collaborate with the district to provide a title meeting the same criteria of those evaluated in the submission. Arc will work to ensure all selections follow district-specific criteria and meet the district standards for high-quality texts.

Evaluation for 3.a.1
Materials contain questions and tasks that support students in synthesizing knowledge and ideas to deepen understanding and identify and explain themes.

The materials contain questions and tasks that support students in synthesizing knowledge and ideas to deepen understanding and identify and explain themes. Some suggested texts are paired with specific questions about the text that require students to pay close attention to meaning and inferences; other texts provide questions not tied to a specific text but still require students to interact with a text directly to validate thinking. Tasks give students opportunities to build conceptual knowledge and literacy skills over the course of the year. The instructional framework in all units breaks down complex comprehension skills into several mini-lessons and builds upon and combines them into more complex skills in subsequent days and weeks of the unit. Students are given opportunities to ask and answer questions that build knowledge and require students to synthesize new information using text evidence. Formal and informal assignments and activities involve reading and writing within the context of the texts that have been read aloud. Three of the four units are designed to build conceptual knowledge through research based on information gathered in texts and also from in-class experiments and labs. Units initially introduce the topic with general information and, as the unit progresses, students gather specific information by ‘reading to learn’; this is done through listening comprehension and reading independently.

Examples include but are not limited to:

In Unit 1, the teacher reads the text Giant Pandas by Gail Gibbons. The teacher is directed to follow the directions for Introduce/Review Key Concepts, Experience Connected Text, and Establish Basic Comprehension. Specific questions include but are not limited to: “Let’s reread this page and look at the picture. Why do you think Gibbons included this map? What is the most interesting thing you learned about a panda from the diagram?” The lessons require students to think about all parts of the story to comprehend, and students are directed to refer to different parts of the story to confirm their thinking. Example questions include “What do you think was the most important event of the story?” “What makes it so important? How do you know?” and “What from the text/illustrations supports your answer?” The instructional framework breaks down complex comprehension skills into several mini-lessons and builds upon and combines them into more complex skills in subsequent days and weeks of the unit. The teacher chooses texts for the read aloud that include both fiction and nonfiction text. The teacher then leads a class discussion with question prompts such as “Why do you think the author included ____ in both books?” “What about the similarities (e.g., in how the character acts OR the problems/solutions)?” and “Based on the lessons in these two stories, what might be important to the author?”

In Unit 3, after the class read aloud and Reader’s Workshop, students discuss “What do you think makes this story a Family Story?” Later in Week 1, the focus for reading is “Pick one of the books you read today. Identify and describe the main character using details from the text and/or the pictures.” At the end of Week 1, the reading focus is “Pick one of the books you read today. Describe the problem the main character faces using details from the text and the pictures.” The “Retell-a-Story Rubric” contains six sentence frames to help students use text evidence to retell the story. The students use the frames to write a summary. Near the end of the unit, the lessons focus on comparing and contrasting stories. Students work in pairs to identify a lesson taught by the story and analyze how the major events (problem/solution) teach the lesson. Later in the unit, the teacher begins by reviewing the “Retelling Rubric,” referring back to the book to complete each part of the rubric. Afterward, the students complete a rubric for a different text. Rubric frames include:

I read the story…by…

The main character is…and he/she is…

The setting is…

The problem is the main character…

The problem is resolved by…

A lesson this teaches us is…

In Unit 4, students complete research on plants. As a formative assessment, the teacher asks individuals to define/explain key concepts, give an example, and cite the best piece of evidence from their research texts.

Units 2–4 include a graphic organizer, the “Final Project Organizer” (FPO), where students focus on one research question for several days. They take notes in the FPO as they are reading various texts. The teacher models how to distinguish a key detail from an unimportant one and how to jot down key phrases.

Evaluation for 3.a.2
Materials contain questions and tasks that require students to evaluate the language, key ideas, details, craft, and structure of individual texts.

Students interact with many texts on the same topic or concept. Questions throughout afford opportunities for students to make inferences and draw conclusions while interacting with text. Students also analyze the author's choices and how they influence and communicate meaning (in a single text and across a variety of texts). Students have opportunities for this level of thinking in each unit, at varying levels of complexity, with teacher support, during and after reading and when writing their reports and stories. There is limited evidence of student tasks related to author’s purpose, usually through the several author studies included in the materials. The words and phrases authors use are addressed to support comprehension. The materials compare and contrast texts on the same topic and discuss what makes them similar and different, but the focus is not explicitly on stated or implied purposes of the authors.

Examples include but are not limited to:

In Unit 1, during the read aloud of Miss Smith’s Incredible Storybook, the teacher is directed to ask questions such as “What do you think the author, Michael Garland, wants to tell you about reading?” and “What’s his message? What makes you think that?” After reading Giant Pandas, students analyze Gibbons’ choice of text features: “Let’s reread this page and look at the picture. Why do you think Gibbons included this map?” Students then read Whales by Gibbons and discuss similarities in the final few pages of both texts and cite what people are doing to help pandas and whales. Later in the unit, students compare two picture books about the same topic, “Louis Armstrong.” Examples of comparison questions include “What information is only in If I Only Had a Horn: Young Louis Armstrong?” “What information is only in Louis Armstrong:

American Musician?” and “Do any of the differences contradict each other? How? Why might that be?”

In Unit 2, students analyze the way authors use text features to help make the information they are teaching easier to understand.

Units 2, 3, and 4, when students conduct research, students have access to several texts on a particular topic. This provides opportunities to compare how authors choose to convey meaning across texts on the same topic.

The materials provide questions such as “How does this compare to what you already knew/thought about...? How does this relate to what other authors have written about...?” and, for poetry read alouds, “Why do you think the author chose those words?”

Evaluation for 3.a.3
Materials include a cohesive, year-long plan for students to interact with and build key academic vocabulary in and across texts.

The materials provide a cohesive, year-long plan for students to interact and build key vocabulary in and across texts. The materials state vocabulary development occurs naturally as students read and hear a high volume of texts. The materials build intentional opportunities to learn vocabulary into the daily instructional framework throughout the units. Grade 1 students are given frequent opportunities to use illustrations and texts to read or hear, to learn or clarify word meanings. Early in the first unit, teachers are provided with the vocabulary instruction support document “Which Words Do I Teach and How?” by David Liben. The teacher guides provide sidebar supports for when to teach vocabulary and specific terms to teach. Students acquire vocabulary through immersion in interactive read-aloud texts, conversations, and meaningful application. The materials provide strategies for teachers to frequently and concisely teach vocabulary and clarify unknown words. Student tasks give students opportunities to use newly acquired vocabulary in appropriate contexts.

Examples include but are not limited to:

Unit 1 introduces the “drop-in” strategy during the interactive read-aloud portion of the day. This strategy can be used to quickly teach/clarify the meaning for a few unknown words, but it is done in a way intended to bolster rather than interrupt comprehension. Teachers are advised to take 1–2 seconds to introduce “drop-in” words by providing a synonym or definition for words they come across during the read aloud. Teachers choose words to “drop-in” that are: “1) concrete (ex. mist/like fog or cloudy, fled/run away), or, 2) synonyms for ideas, concepts, events students know in more common terms (ex. visualize/see in your mind, minimal/just enough).”

Unit 2 includes a section for the read-aloud vocabulary. It asks the teachers to consider “What language in the text may be hard or confusing for students? How will you support them in making sense of these terms?” When technical vocabulary is introduced to students, teachers are given vocabulary support in a sidebar that reminds them to “strategically create context for repeating [technical vocabulary terms] many times.”

In Unit 3, students are introduced to the academic term “genre.” The teacher first tells students what genre is by providing this statement: “A genre is a type of story. Stories in a genre have certain things that are usually the same about them.” Students then preview books for the unit and discuss with a partner what things they think might be the same about books in the genre. A sidebar in the unit suggests teachers use gestures and manipulatives, real world items, and props or word walls to introduce new vocabulary and language structures.

In Unit 4, teachers highlight and discuss high-leverage terms related to the unit (plants), and also to the opinion genre of writing.

Evaluation for 3.a.4
Materials include a clearly defined plan to support and hold students accountable as they engage in self-sustained reading.

The materials include an independent reading routine that builds reading skills over the course of the year. Initial assessments for independent reading selections utilize the Independent Reading Level Assessment (IRLA) protocol. Materials include specific strategies for independent reading and how to choose books. Tools are included to track students’ reading progress, as well as to define characteristics for reading levels. The plans include guidance in planning and accountability for achieving independent reading goals. The materials assist teachers in assessing reading levels. Tools for monitoring growth are included, but not limited to: “Status of the Class” tracking chart and the “SchoolPACE” online tracking tool. A specific plan is included for addressing students who are at different reading levels.

Examples include but are not limited to:

Reading goals are initially centered on reading engagement and gradually build to strategic instruction while increasing students’ reading stamina.

In the Unit 1 Reader’s Workshop, the framework directs teachers to tell students, “Notice how, as soon as someone reads the first page of ANY book with this yellow sticker, you can read the rest by yourself. Let’s try another one.” The framework continues, telling teachers to “Repeat with as many Yellow books as students’ interest allows. Because most of the students need help getting started with these books, the more you can read to them today, the better.”

The unit also introduces the “Reading Log Sheet” to teachers. Students also learn about “Accountable Talk,” where students partner share their independent reading as it relates to the purpose set by the teacher; examples include “Decide what was your favorite page and why” and “Connect with something in your life.” The “why” portion of the responses demonstrates the student’s accountability to reading the text. A “Daily Sidebar” within the unit includes classroom management suggestions for the teacher for independent reading.

Evaluation for 3.b.1
Materials provide support for students to compose across text types for a variety of purposes and audiences.

The materials provide support for students to compose across text types for a variety of purposes and audiences. Students write in various forms of informational and narrative writing daily within the instructional routine; students spend much of the year in report-style writing and gathering opinions. Students learn how to write a procedural text in Unit 2, personal narratives in Unit 3, and persuasive letter writing and poetry in Unit 4. The materials do not explicitly address thank-you notes in the materials.

Examples include but are not limited to:

In Unit 1, students write about their favorite things. The teacher models how to write about a favorite activity, such as swimming. The model includes drawing first, talking about the drawing, and then composing a sentence based on the drawing. Students then imitate the teacher’s process but write about any favorite activity, person, place, etc. of their choosing; the teacher does not guide the students on their choice of topic nor their feelings or thoughts about the “favorite” thing/topic. Students also “write about the books we are reading.” The teacher models with a think-aloud, saying “What will I write about today? I loved reading How to Talk to Your Dog. I’m going to write about that. One question I wondered was about dog ears—why are some dogs’ ears pointy and some floppy?” Later in the unit, the materials provide several writing prompts from which to choose. Examples include but are not limited to: “compare and contrast yourself with a character,” and “compare and contrast two adventures of your favorite character.”

In Unit 2, the materials state teachers “might have students compose procedural texts instructing their audiences how to complete specific tasks related to Wild and Endangered Animals.” Teachers model for students how to compose a procedural text and possible prompt for students “to compose instruction on how to best care for his/her animal in a zoo.”

Unit 3 centers on students writing about story elements. Students are told in daily lessons that their writing could be something that happened in real life but could also be a made-up story. For instance, students write about problems and solutions in stories; the story could be made up, something that happened in real life, or from one of the stories they have read independently or taken from the daily read aloud. Early in the unit, teachers “introduce the concept of personal narratives, in which people write about their own lives.” Teachers then model writing a personal narrative and “set a focus that invites students to write their own personal narratives.”

In Unit 4, students write their own poem based upon the interactive read aloud using the poetic elements of rhyme, rhythm, repetition, and alliteration. Students also engage in informational writing. Students write about a research question on a chosen plant. The unit culminates in the publishing of a book on their chosen plant. Later in the unit, students compile their research into a persuasive letter.

Evaluation for 3.b.2
Materials engage students in the writing process to develop text in oral, pictorial, or written form.

The materials provide the opportunity to engage students in the writing process to develop text in oral, pictorial, or written form. First-grade units include opportunities for students to write using the elements of the writing process: planning, developing drafts (orally, with pictures, and/or with words), revising, editing, and sharing. Writing is built into the daily instructional framework, with the teacher modeling elements, and Writer’s Workshop lessons consisting of interactive writing and independent writing. Students either discuss what they want to write about with peers, draw pictures about what they want to write, or write in many different forms across the year. Teacher and peer supports guide students throughout the writing process in most of the units of study. Students learn to use the rubrics provided to guide them in their writing. Materials include the Kinsey Developmental Writing Scale as a support for teachers to monitor the progress of beginning writers. Revision and editing opportunities are given during the interactive writing portion of the “Morning Message” and during individual student writing conferences. Student writing is shared daily. The process of “underwriting” is utilized to model writing and editing; the teacher writes underneath the student’s writing as the child orally dictates what was written. This is to help the student make connections between letters and sounds, apply phonics rules, and practice editing.

Examples include, but are not limited to:

In Unit 1, the teacher guides the students to think about their favorite things. She states that by writing about their favorite things they can get to know each other. The teacher reviews how to set up the paper and uses a think-aloud to model planning, drawing, and writing. The teacher elicits help from the students to sound out and spell the words in a sentence: “Now that I have my picture, I am going to put my writing down here on these lines. I love to swim at the beach. I know the word ‘I’; I’ll write it right here. ‘Love’ is one of our Power Words and I can look on the Word Wall under ‘L’ to spell it.” The teacher asks the students to think about what they are going to write about and share with the person next to them. After sharing, writing paper is provided to start their writing. The teacher makes sure all students are on task, checks for understanding by observing, and shares examples. The teacher underwrites as students finish.

In Unit 2, students begin thinking about the writing focus of the day, and then draw a picture of what they are thinking. Students read self-selected Research Lab books and then write about the most interesting question they had about their reading. The teacher models what she is thinking and models drawing a picture. Students then think and write. The teacher reinforces that writing is “representing thoughts with drawing and writing”. Students begin to use Writer’s Workshop time to write about interesting questions and facts they discovered in their Wild and Endangered Animals Research Lab Unit. The teacher first models her brainstorming, drawing, and writing through a think-aloud. Teachers use the following sentence stems:

● My question is...

● I wonder about this because in the book it says/the pictures show…

Students share with a partner what s/he is going to write and then begin independent planning, drawing, and drafting for 10–15 minutes. Teachers can hold individual writing conferences with students. Teacher can “underwrite” (use conventional spelling, grammar) underneath student writing and highlight key writing skills that are reflected in the student work.

In Unit 3, the teacher models writing about a favorite story using the think-aloud method to plan the story: “I loved the story…It was about…”; draw: a simple picture while students watch; write: “Now, I’ll write my retelling…”; initiate guided practice: “Each of you think about what you want to write today. Are you ready? Tell the person beside you.” As soon as the students can state what they are going to write about, writing paper is provided. The teacher ensures all students are on task and checks for understanding by observing and one-on-one conferences and underwriting. The unit also focuses on the publication process. The teacher instructs students on the process for revising and editing, specifically focusing on capitalization and using complete sentences. Students are then instructed on what publishing a final story looks like.

In Unit 4, students write a book about a plant, using the information they gathered to answer research questions over several weeks. The materials include a graphic organizer for each research question. Students write about an opinion they have based upon their research. The graphic organizer includes space for an illustration and boxes for text. Revision includes more than checking conventions; the teacher is directed to “be the writing leader in your classroom by modeling for your students and actually revising—adding, combining, reworking, scrapping—in front of them,” and to “think aloud as you model how you reread and use the Rubric for a Proficient Opinion Piece to revise the opinion piece you wrote yesterday.” Examples of questions that a teacher may use to think aloud include but are not limited to: “Did I introduce my topic? Did I state my opinion? Oh, that doesn’t sound quite right. I’ll just change this word here to make this sentence sound better…” and “I only gave one reason to support my opinion; I think I’ll add some more details to support my opinion and make my piece more interesting to read…” Students then edit their papers individually or in pairs for mechanics, usage, and structure. Students can share with classmates their writing and ask each other questions about their writing in the “Author’s Chair.”

Evaluation for 3.b.3
Over the course of the year, students are provided opportunities to apply grade-level standard English conventions to their writing.

The materials provide opportunities for students to practice the application of conventions of English in context. Grammar, punctuation, and usage instruction is based on an observed need within a student’s writing. The materials apply a systematic method (building from what students know in relation to what they need to know) firmly rooted in inquiry, formative assessment, and data-driven instruction, integrated into the daily writing work. The learning targets for grammar, punctuation, and conventions are the grade-level student expectations described in the TEKS. All grammar, punctuation, and usage instruction occurs within the context of the students’ writing; the materials do not teach these topics out of context of a student’s writing.

Examples include but are not limited to:

In Unit 1, during a “Morning Message,” the teacher says “Every sentence in this Morning Message ends with a period or a question mark. I will put two lines under each period. Let’s count how many sentences there are.” Later in the unit the teacher is directed to reinforce the composition skills students are using in their reading and writing during a “Morning Message.” He/she is directed to “Have a few students take turns holding the marker and coming up to point out things in the writing.” In the teacher resource materials at the end of the framework in Unit 1, the materials state to use the writing conference to help the student “organize his/her thinking” but “DO NOT: Correct for usage/structure, spelling, punctuation, or other editing issues at this time. You will work on that during the revise/edit time.”

In Unit 2, students are introduced to the Writing Process Cards #3: Editing. The framework says “Next, you will edit your informational piece for one convention at a time to make sure your audience is able to read and understand your ideas.” The card has five sections for a total of 16 Grade-1-appropriate conventions: word usage, sentence structure, punctuation, capitalization, and spelling. The materials include lessons to teach conventions in the context of student writing, by using student work as an example of how writers edit their work.

In Unit 3, during independent writing, students are editing for punctuation. The teacher models/coaches the students to make sure that all the words that should be capitalized, have been. Students work together to improve capitalization in their writing.

In Unit 4, during writing time, teacher directions state to “Make sure students are making adequate progress.” Teachers read student work and “underwrite” as needed.

Throughout Units 2–4, during the students’ writing block, the framework states: “Grammar and spelling improve fastest when students inquire into how language works at the moment of need, when they care about how a piece that matters to them will look/read.”

The Writing Workshop portion of the literacy block entails a teacher-modeled mini-lesson and prewriting (usually in the form of talking to a neighbor about writing ideas); then, students write. Time is also given to edit and publish writing pieces, and this is carried out over the course of the week. The teacher should conference with students during the writing time about their writing.

Evaluation for 3.b.4
Materials include practice for students to write legibly in print (K-1) and cursive (Grade 2).

The materials do not include instruction in print nor a plan for procedures and supports for assessing students’ handwriting development, with the exception of the Kinsey Development Writing Scale which can be used to formatively assess and progress monitor students’ handwriting development.

Evaluation for 3.c.1
Materials support students’ listening and speaking about texts.

The materials support students’ listening and speaking about texts. The materials instruct students to ask themselves questions and on how to discuss their thinking with peers. Questions are modeled and scaffolded in order for students to become comfortable with listening to and speaking about text, through frequent discussions as a class, in small groups, and in pairs. Students listen to a variety and a large number of texts as the publisher provides 210 read-aloud titles over the course of four units. The student texts provided in the Leveled Book Library allow students to continue their learning from the read aloud but also to engage in “Accountable Talk,” where they are required to share what they learned from the independent reading based on the reading focus for the day. Opportunities are provided for students to listen actively and to ask questions to understand information. There are consistent opportunities for students to engage in discussions that require them to share information and ideas about the topics they are discussing.

Examples include but are not limited to:

Every day, the lesson sequence begins with a “Morning Message,” followed by an interactive read aloud and discussion, then Reader’s Workshop. In each segment, students listen to a text or something the teacher has written. They are given the opportunity to ask questions of the teacher and of each other and are given time to get, give, and seek answers from each other. Each daily lesson has a specific focus for the read aloud and Reader’s Workshop, and the focus is often on types of questions to ask about different text genres.

In Unit 1, the teacher uses the book from today’s shared reading to model “Accountable Talk”; for example, “On this page, I noticed…” or “That made me wonder…” Students work in pairs, sharing their thinking about their independent reading. Partner A holds up one book, reads, and asks Partner B “What did you notice? What questions do you have?” Then the partners switch and repeat the process. The class comes back together, and the teacher selects three students to share their answers. Students are selected through cold call, by random selection, or for a specific purpose. The teacher uses this opportunity to observe the students’ understanding of what they read, working with partners, answering in complete sentences, and listening actively. Later in the unit, the focus is on an author or illustrator study. After reading the first book, the teacher says, “Let’s make sure everybody can retell the story we just heard: With your partner, let’s practice retelling this story, step by step: In the beginning... _(character)_ and _(setting)_ The problem was… It was solved by…” These frames support students’ ability to craft a short summary by focusing on important story elements and also require they actively listen so they can do a proper retell.

In Unit 2, students are introduced to using a “Know, Want to Know, Learned” (KWL) chart to explore background knowledge and questions about the unit topic (animals). Specific language is provided for the teacher in guiding students on how to generate questions for research: “Great researchers never run out of interesting questions.” Teachers model generating questions and tell students “We are going to collect fascinating questions we wonder about Wild and Endangered Animals. Fascinating questions are ones we can’t find answers to easily.” Students and the teacher add questions to the class question chart. Later in the unit, the focus of the read aloud is to examine how authors introduce the main idea in informational texts. After the read aloud, the teacher supports student discussion with this sentence frame: “I notice the author uses interesting/exciting language like…and pictures to show…”

In Unit 3, during the “Publishing Process,” students work through what they have written all week, revising, editing, publishing, and presenting their written work. The teacher gives students the opportunity to share their work in the “Author’s Chair.” Students take turns coming to sit in a special chair to share their writing and answer questions. The other students are held responsible for listening actively. During an interactive read aloud, students determine the author’s message in the story and work in pairs to identify a different lesson taught by the story, other than the one the class discussed. The teacher provides question stems to help students with this.

Evaluation for 3.c.2
Materials engage students in collaborative discussions.

The individual components of the “Daily Instructional Framework” provide numerous daily opportunities for students to engage in collaborative discussions. Sentence stems and modeled sentences are utilized to model the conventions of language. Every lesson includes a specific focus for the interactive read aloud and for the Reader’s Workshop; the aligned questions allow for rich discussions. The student texts provided in the Leveled Book Library allow students to continue their learning from the read aloud but also to engage in “Accountable Talk,” where students are required to share what they learned from the independent reading based on the reading focus for the day. Throughout all units, program routines such as “Accountable Talk” and “Author’s Chair” give students opportunities to grow in oral language skills.

Examples include but are not limited to:

In Unit 1, students are introduced to the “Accountable Talk” daily routine. The teacher models how she decides what page she likes best and then tells students why it is her favorite in one simple sentence that is connected to something in her own life: “This is my favorite page because it has a picture of a truck, and my grandfather has a truck.” The teacher then models the same routine but done with a partner. Explicit direction is given on how to share appropriately (e.g., turn to face your partner, one person speaks at a time, active listening). Partners take turns talking, and then some pairs share out with the class. The following norms of “Accountable Talk” are then shared: “Share information and ideas. Speak audibly. Speak clearly. Use the conventions of language.” Later in the unit, after reading a book, the teacher says: “Let’s make sure everybody can retell the story we just heard: With your partner, let’s practice retelling this story, step by step: In the beginning... (character) and (setting). The problem was… It was solved by…” These frames support students’ ability to craft a short summary by focusing on important story elements and also require they actively listen so they can do a proper retell.

Unit 2 is an animal research unit; students are provided questions to guide their research. In Week 3, students are to become experts on a question about animal behaviors and adaptations. After the read aloud, students share what they heard/learned. The teacher is guided by the framework to “Look for interesting inferences or controversies related to the key concepts to expand into group discussions/teachable moments. Seek the spark of disagreement—fan the flames of debate.”

In Unit 3, during an interactive read aloud, the students participate in “Accountable Talk.” Partners share by responding to the following prompts: “1) Retell the story 2) What was your favorite part? Why? 3) What do you think makes this story a family?” The teacher gathers the class together to discuss the students’ answers to the questions. A sidebar says to “ensure students are speaking in complete sentences and practicing academic vocabulary by giving students specific phrases to begin their partner sharing.”

In Unit 4, students engage in debate games that provide students with opportunities to demonstrate and deepen expertise through oral argument. Suggestions for presenting research done in the unit are provided for teachers. For example:

Town Hall Meetings—Each student comes as their subtopic or represent the perspectives of their subtopic in speaking to the issue in order to have a debate.
Campaign Debate—Two students present their ideas as part of a debate.
Evidence Sort—The teacher gives students a position statement and ten facts about the topic for students to sort the facts into categories.
Pro Con Activity—The teacher presents students with a position statement. Students work in teams to locate evidence to support BOTH sides. The team with the most/best evidence wins.
Pass the Buck—Students have 30 seconds to give a speech on a teacher-directed topic; they “pass the buck” to another student to pick up where s/he left off and further/continue the argument.

Evaluation for 3.d.1
Materials engage students in both short-term and sustained recursive inquiry processes for different purposes.

The materials engage students in the process of inquiry. Students find information about the topic at hand, discuss and share their learning, and then write about what was learned. Students are given independence and choice within the research process. They begin by reviewing all the available resources and choosing a topic; then, during Reader’s Workshop, students are responsible for choosing sources and deciding what to read based on the question they are researching. The lessons guide students in generating research questions, and resources guide them through the inquiry process. Students practice understanding, organizing and communicating ideas within the lessons, and utilizing teacher support and resources available in the materials.

Examples include but are not limited to:

In Unit 1, teachers open the lesson by saying “Readers are thinkers. That means that, as they read, they notice things and ask themselves questions. These are some of the books that I would like to share with you today. On the cover of this book I see...That makes me wonder...”

In Unit 2, students use a KWL chart to explore background knowledge and questions about the unit topic (animals). Specific language is provided for the teacher to guide students in generating questions for research: “Great researchers never run out of interesting questions.” Teachers model generating questions and tell students, “We are going to create fascinating questions we wonder about Wild and Endangered Animals. Fascinating questions are ones we can’t find answers to easily.” After the Read Aloud “Thinking Like A Scientist,” the teacher poses the following: “What do you wonder about? What question does it raise for you? Speculate on…” During the section on “Wild and Endangered Animals,” the materials state that read alouds should be chosen to introduce a number of research topics and provide interesting information. The goal is for read alouds to activate student curiosity and wonder about the topic. Before beginning research on a specific animal, students are given time (2–3 days) to read about animals and determine if there are enough resources to research a specific animal

they have in mind. Students work in groups using a class chart to tally how many books there are per specific animal listed on the class chart. If an animal does not have enough books to support research, it is eliminated for research. Near the end of the unit, the teacher reads a text giving students opportunities to think and talk. The teacher listens/looks for interesting inferences or controversies related to the key concepts to expand during group discussion, to seek the spark of disagreement, or to fan the flames of debate. The teacher models rereading the text to learn more about the research topic.

In Unit 4, students research a plant using a structured process that supports students in understanding, organizing, and communicating ideas and information from research. Students again, as in Unit 2, use a series of questions to drive research and complete a final writing piece. Near the end of the unit, students present the results of their research. Several suggestions are given to teachers on ways to have students present their findings. Some suggestions include but are not limited to oral presentation to a small group, classroom swap, and a game of “Stump Me.”

Both Unit 2 and Unit 4 provide a primary research card that lists important research questions to consider and important vocabulary for that unit. These units also contain a Final Project Organizer (FPO) with a “Resources Check Sheet: Where’s the information I want? Is there enough?” The directions say: “For each topic, record the number of good books you find in each color level.”

Evaluation for 3.e.1
Materials contain interconnected tasks that build student knowledge.

The materials meet the criteria for interconnected tasks that build student knowledge. Daily opportunities are in place for students to engage in activities that build knowledge and skills; interconnecting reading, writing, speaking, listening, and thinking; including vocabulary, comprehension, and syntax. These activities allow for increased independence over the course of the year. With each text, students think about and share what they have learned. When discussing texts, students provide evidence of learning in their statements. The writing block contains opportunities to think, speak, and listen throughout the writing process. Students are reading their own books, speaking with a partner about their reading, listening to their partner, and thinking about the book in order to be able to discuss it with a partner. This often carries over into writing as students are practicing those same reading skills as they write stories based upon their reading.

Examples include but are not limited to:

In Unit 1, students are learning about retelling during the reading lesson. The teacher is using multiple books by the same author. Students are choosing their own books during independent reading and then retelling that story to a partner during “Accountable Talk.” The students use this same concept of retelling during writing to practice writing stories. Students are expected to include characters, the setting, the problem, and the solution. At the end of writing time, students share their stories with the whole class.

Unit 2 includes an interactive Read Aloud titled Bears. Students complete a pre-reading activity using the Final Project Organizer (FPO). After the read aloud, the teacher rereads portions of the text, emphasizing key concepts. Then, the teacher uses the think-aloud strategy to model writing to a prompt. During Reader’s Workshop, students read independently as the teacher conferences with students using “Accountable Talk,” where partners, and then whole groups, share about their reading. During Writer’s Workshop, the teacher thinks aloud, modeling note-making on the FPO, and then students draw/write to the writing prompt. Then, several students share their writing as other students ask questions.

In Unit 3, a goal for student learning is to compare and contrast story characters. The lesson begins with a “Morning Message” in which students participate in interactive writing to create a summary about the previous day’s learning. The lesson then moves into the read aloud. The teacher sets the learning focus, saying they will learn to “compare and contrast two family stories. We will think about how they are the same and different. We will form opinions about the most interesting similarities and differences we find. By the end of the day, you will be able to use a Venn diagram to compare the main characters in two stories.” During Reader’s Workshop, students use self-selected texts to read at least two books and compare characters. After reading, they will partner share the most interesting/important similarity/difference between the two main characters.

In Unit 4, students are introduced to plants. A KWL chart is first co-created by the class, and the teacher then reads aloud What Do Roots, Stems, Leaves, and Flowers Do? The class co-constructs a collection of questions they wondered about plants as the text was read. Students practice reading on their own, with the task to think about questions they have about plants while they read. The teacher then models how to plan, draw, and write about questions she has after reading. After the teacher models, students again discuss with a partner what they plan to write about, and then begin the task.

Evaluation for 3.e.2
Materials provide spiraling and scaffolded practice.

The materials provide spiraling and scaffolded practice. Practice of literacy skills begins on the first day of instruction and continues consistently throughout the entire year. There are scaffolding strategies in place, such as the opportunity for students to write at their own level using scribbling and drawing along with teacher modeling. These strategies support student growth throughout the unit. Daily opportunities are in place for students to engage in distributed practice with built-in scaffolds to demonstrate the integration of spiraled literacy skills. Scaffolds are strategies that the teacher uses to support students when first introduced to new skills. Scaffolding opportunities (e.g., activating prior knowledge, modeling thought processes, using a think-aloud) are built into the components of the daily instructional framework with guidance provided for the teacher in all units throughout the course of the school year. Many of the routines built early in the school year continue so that students know and understand the level of support they can receive. This consistency of routine establishes the expectations for their individual work: to listen, speak, think, read, and write throughout the day and across all units during the course of the school year.

Examples include but are not limited to:

In Unit 1, practice with literacy skills is integrated into student instruction throughout the day. When students are trying on books to see if they “fit,” they are practicing reading and thinking. “Accountable Talk” is practiced every day within the reading block and enables students to improve communicating their thoughts and ideas, as well as listening to others’ ideas. Writing using mentor texts as a model enables students to digest and comprehend vocabulary and to write their own thoughts based on their comprehension about the reading. There is heavy teacher modeling throughout the unit, from the teacher modeling how to decide a favorite page of a book to how to share thinking with a partner through “Accountable Talk.”

Unit 2 includes the interactive Read Aloud Bears. During “Think Like a Scientist/Wrap-Up” the teacher prompts students, clarifying and reteaching key concepts needed to ensure students will be successful in their independent research. In addition, the teacher adds information to class graphic organizers. Additional scaffolding strategies are built into the unit and are examples of strategies/routines included in all units across the course of the school year, such as “the teacher uses a pre reading activity to activate prior knowledge and pique student

interest in the text and learning”; “the teacher models the thought processes used with a think-aloud so students see and hear how they should be thinking when reading”; and “the teacher ensures student success by reteaching key concept(s) as needed.”

In Unit 3, a goal for student learning is to compare and contrast story characters as they are working to create a collection of short stories about families by the end of the unit. Throughout the lesson, students demonstrate multiple literacy skills, with support from either the teacher or their classmates, as they engage in whole group discussion, partner chat, and independent reading and writing.

In Unit 4, students practice previously taught skills, and scaffolds are provided for students who need more practice. Students are introduced to plants through several whole group, small group, and individually integrated literacy tasks. A KWL chart is first co-created by the class, and students generate questions (as the teacher records them) and discuss prior knowledge. A similar routine is used for previous units. The inclusion of a portion of the unit devoted to the discussion of prior knowledge provides a scaffold for students who may not be familiar with the topic.

Evaluation for 4.1
Materials provide explicit instruction in print concepts and opportunities for student practice (K-1 only).

The materials provide explicit instruction in print awareness and opportunities for students to practice through the Independent Reading Level Assessment (IRLA) Toolkit and small group lessons. In every unit, there are multiple opportunities throughout the day to notice and practice print awareness concepts, both with and without the teacher.

Examples include but are not limited to:

The lessons in the Foundational Skills Toolkits follow a consistent format. The teacher states the objective, models a strategy, and students practice the strategy. Students are given a chance to apply the print awareness skills in their reading for that lesson and in their independent reading throughout the day.

In the Foundational Skills Toolkits, Level 2Y is titled “Concept of Word (Tracking)” and is designed to address two ELAR TEKS: “Concept of Word” and “Tracking.” The first lesson strategy is “Tracking. The Lesson 1 strategy is to ‘Read the Pictures.’” The teacher models reading the first sentence so that students learn the pattern. Then students read the rest of the book using picture clues. The teacher says “I’m going to look for the main thing that is new on this page. See my bowl. See my fish. Touch below each word as you read it.”

In the Foundational Skills Toolkit for Level 1Y, Lesson 1, students practice holding their books right side up and reading from left to right. Starting with Level 2Y in the same Toolkit, students begin to track print and use their fingers to point to each word in a sentence. This skill is practiced in Lessons 4–6, each time with a different text.

Starting In Unit 1 and continuing throughout all units, teachers are encouraged to compose the Morning Message and model writing words from left to right and top to bottom, putting spaces between words, starting new sentences with a capital letter, ending sentences with a punctuation mark, and using word walls and other print in the room to help you as you write. When the teacher is done composing the message, students come up and point out things they notice, such as letters, words, punctuation marks, etc. The class can also count the sentences, words, or letters.

During a Reader’s Workshop in Unit 1, the teacher models how to read a book as she is reading aloud. The teacher guide says to point to the words as you read.

In Unit 2, the teacher models how to read the pictures, as well as text, in a book. Students then read about wild and endangered animals during Reader’s Workshop, using the words and pictures to learn about a possible research topic.

Evaluation for 4.2
Materials provide explicit instruction in phonological skills and opportunities for student daily practice (e.g., rhyming, syllabication, blending, segmenting, manipulation) (K-1 only).

The materials provide explicit instruction in phonological skills and opportunities for daily practice. There is strong evidence for explicit instruction in phonological skills; practice of those skills is embedded within the framework of daily lessons. The Independent Reading Level Assessment (IRLA) explicitly teaches skills in a logical sequence for phonics development. The students practice these skills in their small group reading lessons and also in whole class activities such as “Morning Message,” “Accountable Talk,” and writing. Routines are built into the literacy block that offer practice in rhyming, syllabication, segmenting, blending, generating phonemes, and discrimination of beginning sounds.

Examples include but are not limited to:

The IRLA Toolkit contains specific instruction in newly taught sounds and sound patterns. In the IRLA Toolkit’s “Y (Yellow) Handbook,” the teacher is provided with explicit instruction for letter sounds. The lesson includes a review activity, an introduction strategy, a book for the letter, guided reading texts, letter clues, ideas for writing/invented spelling, picture cards for the letter, and phonemic awareness activities for the letter. There are also activities and ideas provided in the Resource Section at the end of the 3Y Toolkit.

Beginning in the IRLA Level 1G, students receive small group instruction in consonant sounds. Levels Y–2R each have a specific focus in phonics development, and the lessons follow a traditional guided reading format. In 2G, readers continue growth in sight words and use initial consonant blends and digraphs to learn new words. In 1B, readers use familiar chunks and word families to figure out single-syllable words. In 2B, readers decode two-syllable and compound words using familiar chunks, vowel patterns, and other word parts. In 1R, readers decode three-syllable words using familiar sound patterns and word parts.

Within the IRLA levels of 2G, 1B, and 2B, initial blends and digraphs are taught. Prior to each pattern within Level 2G, there is a set of phonemic awareness activities taught. Within IRLA Level 2G, initial consonant blends with l, r, s, and tw, are taught. In Level 1B, students review

the word “all” and the sounds of letters “b,” “m,” and “t.” They learn to blend the sounds with “-all,” substitute the beginning sound, and check if words rhyme. In Level 2B, inflectional endings are taught.

Segmenting, blending, generating, and discriminating sounds are practiced by students after the introduction of a new blend or digraph. An example of each practice is included below.

· Segmenting: I’ll say a word. See if you can pull together the beginning blend (blanket, clown, fly).

· Blending: I’ll say two sounds. You put them together and tell me what my word is, /fr/ /og/.

· Generation: Can you think of another word that starts with the blend /br/?

· Discriminating between sounds: Do these two words begin the same or different, branch/bench?

The IRLA provides "At Home Practice Cards," which cover all IRLA levels; they include a 2G skills card that provides practice over blends previously taught in small groups, as well as contractions, number words, and “Power” (sight/high frequency) words.

In Unit 1, there is a daily time for “Songs, Nursery Rhymes, and Chants.” Rhyming Hopscotch, Body Rhymes, and Rhyming Word Sit are examples of some of the rhyming activities suggested for students.

In Unit 1, Week 1, Lesson 1, there is support for the teacher to plan the Morning Message. The Framework suggests the teacher should model “writing words from left to write, top to bottom, putting spaces between words, [and] starting new sentences with a capital letter” as she writes. After the message is written, students can identify or circle the first letter of words, identify spacing, count words, or make rhymes of count syllables. During a Literacy Lab, there is a note about phonological awareness being reinforced through the interactive read aloud and the “Here Today” song. During this activity, the teacher is instructed to insert student’s names into the song.

In all units, there is a phonological awareness notation on every day’s lesson during the Interactive Read Aloud framework. The materials also provide an opportunity for students to identify and practice letter sounds through picture cards, text for the letter, guided reading text, and the “Morning Message.”

Evaluation for 4.3
Materials provide explicit systematic instruction in phonetic knowledge and opportunities for students to practice both in and out of context (K-2).

The materials provide systematic instruction in phonetic knowledge and opportunities for students to practice both in and out of context. All grade-level phonics patterns are included, as are all spelling patterns. A research-based sequence of foundational skills is included, including a rationale for the foundational skill progression. The materials provide opportunities to apply phonetics knowledge and grade-level high-frequency word skills to connected texts.

Examples include but are not limited to:

The first-grade Independent Reading Level Assessment (IRLA) levels are broken down into 2G, 1B, and 2B. Each level provides explicit instruction in reading skills and then immediate practice for students, both with texts and games. The IRLA action plan for first grade includes tracking/one-to-one correspondence and initial consonant practice. The teacher is provided with explicit, step-by-step instruction for teaching initial consonants, including numerous activities to reinforce learning.

In Level 2G there is continued practice with grade-level “Power Words.” Students learn up to 120 Power Words; initial blends and digraphs are also introduced at this level. In Level 1B, teachers introduce one-syllable words in which spelling patterns and analogies to known sight words are applied. In Level 2B, Level 1B skills are continued with new lessons including decoding two-syllable words with inflectional endings.

Explicit instruction of Grade 1 phonics patterns is done in small group instruction using the IRLA

Foundational Skills Toolkits. In IRLA Toolkits 2G, 1B, and 2B, instruction and practice are given for students to decode words with initial and final consonant blends, digraphs, and trigraphs; decode words with closed syllables, open syllables, and VCe syllables; vowel teams, including vowel digraphs and diphthongs; and r-controlled syllables. In IRLA Toolkits 2G and 2B, instruction and practice are given so students use knowledge of base words to decode common compound words and contractions. In IRLA Toolkit 1B, students use 10 Power Words to read 100 new words. Each lesson includes numerous activities teaching students how to learn to read and spell identified sounds within a new word; for example, identify what is already known, rhyming, a strategy to introduce, modeling, guided practice, phonological awareness, flash cards, decodable text, fluency, and spelling. In IRLA Toolkit 2B, students decode words with inflectional endings, including “-ed,” “-s,” and “-es.”

Students apply grade-level phonetics knowledge to connected texts as they read independently or with a partner during the reading workshop. Students choose books from within their independent reading level and then corresponding IRLA skills are practiced and reviewed within these texts. In each IRLA Toolkit, the phonetic knowledge skills presented give students practice with a decodable reader or a controlled text. In the IRLA Toolkit 2G, the teacher is guided through using a decodable reader to teach and practice using the “-l” initial blend. There are directions for the strategy, modeling, guided practice, rereading, segmenting, blending, generating words with the blend, and discriminating beginning sounds.

The IRLA Toolkit 2G includes instruction in initial blends, digraphs, and contractions. In Lesson 1, students learn two consonant-blends. The teacher uses a flipbook to present the blends in isolation before students match words. Students practice segmenting a word said by the teacher. After reading, the students look around the room for objects that begin with one of the blends. The materials include cards with the initial blends and pictures so that students can engage in a sorting activity. In Lesson 2, students repeat tongue twisters as a way to practice pronunciation of the blends. Follow-up activities to this lesson include matching pictures with missing blends and a poem with missing blanks in the words that would have the blends. In Lessons 3 and 4, the materials introduce controlled blends but include many of the same activities, such as picture sorts, tongue twisters, and fill-in-the-blank activities. Lessons 21–24 focus on contractions, and then students practice in the decodable reader You Can Do It. The IRLA Toolkit 1B includes instruction and practice with single-syllable words, r-controlled vowels, word family instruction, and common vowel patterns.

The IRLA Toolkit 2G includes over 120 Power Words, along with category words that cover numbers, family, days of the week, colors, and direction words. Skills lessons include practicing Power Words (high frequency words). IRLA Toolkit 2G is the beginning of first grade; students at this level have knowledge of the first 60 Power Words in the program and will learn another 60 Power Words in this level. In Lessons 12–15, students are learning both category words of numbers and the Power Words “her,” “house,” “so,” “or,” “day,” “give,” “now,” “how,” and “when.” Students then use those Power Words in their reading of Polar Bear Babies.

In the IRLA, teachers use results with each student to identify a baseline reading level; match

students with appropriate leveled text; identify skills/standards (including foundational skills) that are crucial to learn next, and the order in which they should be learned; design individual/small group/whole group instruction; and monitor progress.

In Unit 1, the teacher is given direction to select a text that is at the current grade level or IRLA level of most of the class to model thinking and word attack skills a proficient reader uses to read new words. Students are introduced to grade-level phonics patterns during the Morning Message and reading workshop mini-lessons. During one Writer’s Workshop, the teacher is advised to use writing to teach and practice beginning reading skills in a meaningful context. The teacher reinforces phonics instruction through writing. The teacher highlights the use of one or two initial consonants by describing the similarities between something written by the teacher and something written by the student; for example, “You used a ‘b’ for bird and I used a ‘b’ for the first letter in bird.” As the students share their writing, the teacher reinforces using speech to generate phonics-based spelling, initial consonant sounds including blends and digraphs, and writing one word/symbol/squiggle for each word said.

In Unit 2, during the Morning Message, the teacher is advised to use this time, while composing and after writing, to teach and reinforce Foundational Skills. This includes reviewing initial letter sounds, using environmental print, and/or correctly spelling 1G Power Words.

In all units, during the Morning Message, the teacher asks students for help to write words. This can include grade-level high-frequency words or words that are part of individual student Power Goals.

In all units, during one-on-one writing conferences with students, teachers use the “Underwriting Strategy” to record and edit students’ writing ideas using “conventional English,” and may note the use of proper spelling as it pertains to individual student Power Goals.

Evaluation for 4.4
Materials provide frequent opportunities for students to practice and develop fluency while reading a wide variety of grade-level texts at the appropriate rate with accuracy and prosody. (Grades 1-2 only)

The materials provide students opportunities to read grade-level texts, to make meaning, and to build foundational skills. The materials also provide routines for teachers to regularly monitor and give corrective feedback on phrasing, intonation, expression, and accuracy. The IRLA Toolkit lessons remediate automaticity and/or prosody, starting back at the appropriate IRLA level/skill level of each student. Students are given some opportunities across the units and in small group instruction to practice and apply oral reading fluency through Readers’ Theater and voluntarily reading aloud. In addition, students are given daily opportunities to practice independent/silent reading fluency with books of choice. The materials provide limited support for explicit instruction by the teacher in fluency, prosody, rate, and accuracy.

Examples include but are not limited to:

In the IRLA, teachers are exposed to “Getting Started—Initial Levels Stages of Yellow” where the teacher is directed in how to identify the reading level of students. The materials provide daily opportunities, through IRLA and small group interventions provided in the IRLA Toolkits, for teachers to monitor and accelerate reading levels as determined and monitored through Power Goals and SchoolPace tracking. At each IRLA level, fluency is addressed as appropriate to the level, and the expectations correspond to the TEKS for the associated grade level. For example, at the 1G (end of K) Level, students are focused on attaining 95-100% accuracy while sustaining attention and self-monitoring. However, by 2G (beginning Grade 1), they are expected to attend to rate and prosody, as well. For a student to enter an IRLA level, they must demonstrate appropriate phrasing, intonation, expression, and accuracy in the IRLA Cold Read Text at that level.

The IRLA Foundational Skills Toolkits reinforce student fluency development at each level with mini-lessons that support teachers as they learn to “listen in and coach phrasing, expression, attention to dialogue,” and include opportunities for fluency practice both in and out of context. For example, the 1B Toolkit includes an example of students practicing fluency with “-all” words. Also, the 1R Toolkit includes the lesson “Prosody: Performance Read Aloud” for the text “George and Martha.” The 2R Toolkit includes “Phrasing Practice,” which partners student readers and asks them to make direct connections between fluency, accuracy and comprehension, as they listen to evaluate “Did your partner pause in a way that helped you understand the meaning of the story? Did she stop and fix her phrasing when it didn’t make sense? Did she read every word correctly or stop and fix it if she didn’t?” Further opportunities for practice of fluency components (including automaticity, prosody/phrasing) are embedded into most lessons in the 2R Toolkit.

Independent reading time allows teachers to monitor the reading of individual students; the IRLA Toolkits include "Coaching Tips" that support teachers in using observations to make instructional decisions.

In every daily lesson, the Morning Message provides a time to practice fluency as students are hearing how the teacher, a fluent reader, initially reads the message. Students then practice by reading aloud.

In Unit 1, the teacher is guided to circulate and observe students as they work to determine student reading levels: “Read-to-Me”—not yet reading; “Yellow”—uses patterns to read book independently; “1G (green bins, Level 1) or higher”—reads without help and figures out patterns independently.

Evaluation for 4.5
Materials include placement (diagnostic) assessments and provide information to assist in foundational skills instruction (K-2).

The materials provide placement assessments and information to assist in foundation skills instruction. The materials provide specific guidance and resources to address foundational skills instruction. Materials for small group instruction are differentiated and equip teachers with specific instruction, texts, and tasks for each reading level. The Independent Reading Level Assessment (IRLA) kit provides numerous tools for placing students and tracking their progress. The Framework offers suggestions for teachers to integrate “Power Goals” and reading levels into various phases of the daily lessons. The Framework gives teachers information for instruction during one-on-one reading and writing conferences. Overall baseline reading levels are determined within the program’s IRLA. Step-by-step instructions are included for teachers to administer the IRLA and then determine the current reading level of a student.

Examples include but are not limited to:

Teachers use the IRLA to establish a baseline reading level for each student, match readers with appropriate texts, and then determine the specific foundational skills students need based on observation and specific checklists included in the IRLA. Teachers can use this information to form groups based on Power Goals. Texts and guidance materials are also included for ongoing formative assessment. The materials provide differentiated resources, both texts and tasks, to match individual student needs. Additional practice tasks, games, and activities are included as well.

Within each IRLA level, a small group foundational skills toolkit is included. Specific, sequential lessons within the toolkit include practice for students and guidance for teachers in how to assess student progress within the skill set.

At the start of each level in the IRLA, there is a page that describes the Learning Focus, Essential TEKS, and Entry and Exit Requirements for the level. The next page is usually a tracking page that teachers can use when assessing individual students. This is followed by several samples of texts that are included in the kits, which the teachers may use to assess via a cold read with students. On each of these pages there are acceptable “coaching tips” teachers may use to prompt students as they read.

In 1G a tool is provided that allows teachers to track their evidence and date when students demonstrate the behavior required to progress to the next level in the IRLA. In the Toolkits for 2G–2B the materials include the Cold Read Record. As students are reading a text, teachers use the checklist to document comprehension, basic inferences, and error/miscue analysis.

Within each unit, the teacher is guided to use data from the IRLA and SchoolPACE to prioritize student goals and plan for individual conferencing and small group instruction. During Reader’s Workshop, the teacher is directed to circulate and observe the students as they “read.” The teacher uses the Status of the Class form to make notes about the reading behavior of each student. Teachers also meet with individual students to document the current reading engagement level. The Framework also explains how to create “Power Goals” for students and gives guidance on how to create the “Morning Message” based on the goals, reading levels, and other observed behaviors.

Evaluation for 4.6
Materials regularly and systematically offer assessment opportunities that genuinely measure student progress as indicated by the program scope and sequence (K-2).

The materials regularly and systematically offer assessment opportunities that measure student progress as indicated by the program’s scope and sequence. The Independent Reading Level Assessment Framework (IRLA) is over 400 pages long and provides assessment tools for teachers to monitor students’ literacy needs. The program provides materials and opportunities for the teacher to assess foundational skills and measure student progress towards the next reading level. The IRLA Assessment provides opportunities for the teacher to observe and assess reading and reading behaviors and provide intervention and progress monitoring opportunities in foundational reading skills and reading levels. The kits also contain tools for teachers to track evidence of student mastery so they can make an informed decision as to when children can move on to the next reading level.

Examples include but are not limited to:

The IRLA provides teachers with TEKS-aligned skills that students must demonstrate before they both enter and exit any of the reading levels. The IRLA guides teachers on how to develop each skill into simple pre- and post-reading activities that are then aligned to a decodable text.

Texts and guidance materials are also included for ongoing assessment; teachers can utilize additional texts within the IRLA level to determine progress. Teachers can also use data from the IRLA to design small group and whole group instruction based on students’ needs. Materials provide differentiated materials, both texts and tasks, to match individual student needs.

The teacher uses the IRLA to identify a baseline reading level and match each student with appropriate leveled text; to identify which skills/standards are the most important for the student to learn next, and the order in which they should be learned; to design individual instruction targeted to the development of specific skills; and to monitor progress through reading levels.

When the teacher begins administering the IRLA, teacher observations helps determine where to start. In the beginning levels, these concepts of print are included:

· Print Awareness: The student points to words and pretends to read (know that printed words are read).

· Book Handling: The student holds the book correctly-cover is toward the front and right side up, pages turn from right to left.

· Background Knowledge: The student has enough background knowledge to name and talk about common pictures in beginning books.

In the 2B Reading Level Overview, there are Entry and Exit Requirements that give teachers an understanding of what readers need to be able to do to be successful at that level.

In IRLA 2Y, concepts of print are reassessed, including concepts of words, letters, one-to-one correspondence, and tracking. The “Concept of Word (Tracking)” addresses ELAR TEKS on “concept of word” and “tracking.” The first lesson strategy is “Tracking” and teaches students that touching things as they count them can help keep track of where they are. The IRLA provides a reproducible page with shapes for students to count as they finger track.

In IRLA 2G, the student is expected to produce a series of rhyming words by recognizing spoken alliterations or groups of words that begin with the same sound; this expectation is aligned with second-grade TEKS.

In the IRLA Foundational Toolkits for IRLA 2G, 1B, and 2B, materials include multiple opportunities to assess student understanding of phonological awareness.

In the IRLA, Oral Language Skills are explicitly taught over several different reading levels. The Read-To-Me’s (RTM) states, “build vocabulary, background knowledge, language experience, reading identity, attention span, genre exposure, and phonemic awareness to the ready to use the print on the page to read.”

In IRLA 1Y and 2Y, students make meaning from text using prerequisite cognitive skills and strategies like learning word spacing and monitoring their reading behaviors. Tracking tools for the teacher to record evidence of students demonstrating mastery of the skills are included. In IRLA 3Y, the lessons begin with initial consonant sounds.

In IRLA 1G, the students are required to know the spelling sound correspondence for common blends and consonant digraphs. The student reads unfamiliar text independently, sustaining concentration, monitoring comprehension with 95% to 100% accuracy, and rereading when needed; this is aligned with first-grade TEKS.

In 2G, the teacher is directed to check for production of rhyming words and spoken alliteration when a student is reading a text. In the Foundational Language Skills checklist, the teacher assesses initial consonant blends and digraphs, contractions, category words, and Power Words.

In IRLA 2G, 1B, and 2B, the Foundational Toolkits include assessments broken down into specific phonetic knowledge taught and practiced within the lessons in the toolkit. Assessments become more rigorous as students progress through the materials.

The materials provide students opportunities to read grade-level texts and to make meaning and build foundational skills. They also provide routines for teachers to regularly monitor and provide corrective feedback on phrasing, intonation, expression, and accuracy. During the teacher read aloud in whole group instruction, the teacher is modeling fluency.

During the whole group lessons in the Framework, teachers carry over their knowledge of student “Power Goals,” integrate them into various phases of the literacy block, and make anecdotal records of progress in whole group discussions, partner talks, and one-on-one conferences for reading and writing. For instance, the teacher observes what students notice about the Morning Message, such as noticing punctuation, where to start reading, and when a sentence stops.

Evaluation for 5.1
Materials include supports for students who demonstrate proficiency above grade level.

The materials provide learning opportunities for students demonstrating literacy skills above that expected at the grade level. All students engage with grade-level core texts, regardless of their current reading level; an additional thematic leveled library that spans as many as six to eight grade levels provides students with independent texts closely aligned to the topic of study and their current reading levels. The range of reading levels can be customized to match the range of reading levels in individual schools or classrooms, to provide access for students to self-select challenging texts in every unit. During Units 2 and 4, students participate in Research Labs for nonfiction text; the materials provide guidance on which research topics require additional research outside of the texts provided by ARC CORE, and topics are self-selected by students. Within the lessons of each unit, some of the sidebars also provide teaching strategy tips. Strategies for differentiation are embedded into the organization and structure of each component of the ARC CORE literacy block, including intentional groupings and active participation techniques in Reading Complex Texts; setting a focus for interdependent reading and “Accountable Talk” in Reader’s Workshop; and mentor texts, mini-lessons, teacher writing demonstrations, rubrics, graphic organizers, and peer editing in Writing Workshop. For students reading at or above the third-grade level, the IRLA Toolkits provide additional supports (e.g., word analysis, affixes and roots, figurative language, genre expansion) to assure students reading above grade level make on-going reading growth. The toolkit provides a systematic approach to moving students from one reading level to the next. The teacher uses the assessments within the IRLA Toolkit to identify a student’s reading level, create and adjust “Power Goals”, and create small groups with similar “Power Goals” and reading levels. Time is provided within the literacy block to address “Power Goals” in addition to the work of the main unit; however, the teacher is directed to spend the majority of intervention support with groups performing below grade-level.

Examples include but are not limited to:

Within each unit the materials provide pre-, mid-, and post-Constructed Response Assessments in order to identify the needs of students. The teacher is provided with guidance for evaluating the responses to create strategy groups.

The IRLA Toolkit allows the teacher to support students at all reading levels, give specific examples of how to identify each student’s reading level, and necessary supports including: comprehension, fluency, vocabulary, range of reading, and phonics. In addition, Entry and Exit Requirements for each reading level can be found in the overview. Students have multiple opportunities to engage with the text by recording “Great Words you Want to Remember”; looking at types of context clues, pacing, and analyzing levels of meaning. Throughout, students are working at their identified reading level thus providing one type of differentiation.

In Unit 1, the teacher is provided with a readers and writers engagement scale to monitor students. The materials provide support on identifying each student’s reading level to make sure students are reading on the correct level to ensure growth. The teachers sets up their SchoolPace account in order to track students levels and growth. The 100-Book challenge provides students opportunities to read books on their level. Students log their reading.

In Unit 2, the Informational Research Lab provides Research Topics for high-level students. All students answer the same Research Questions during the unit; only the level of text differs for students.

In Unit 3, students choose books on their level to read throughout the unit. Students read a minimum of five different texts to compare and contrast. All students complete the same tasks and questions. For example, every student completes a comparison chart of the texts.

Evaluation for 5.2
Materials include supports for students who perform below grade level to ensure they are meeting the grade-level literacy standards.

The materials provide learning opportunities for students demonstrating literacy skills below that of the expected grade level. All students engage with grade-level core texts, regardless of their current reading level, and an additional thematic leveled library that spans as many as six to eight grade-levels provide students with independent texts closely aligned to the topic of study and their current reading levels. During Units 2 and 4, students participate in Research Labs for nonfiction text, the materials provide guidance on which topics are “Best Bets for Struggling Readers”. The materials use grouping, mini-lessons, graphic organizers and rubrics, and read aloud strategies to support students reading below grade-level in accessing the core texts. Within the lessons of each unit, the materials also provide sidebars with teaching strategy tips. Strategies for differentiation are embedded into the organization and structure of each component of the ARC Core literacy block including intentional groupings and active participation techniques in Reading Complex Texts; setting a focus for interdependent reading and “Accountable Talk” in Reader’s Workshop; and mentor texts, mini-lessons, teacher writing demonstrations, rubrics, graphic organizers, and peer editing in Writing Workshop. The lessons provide a systematic approach to moving students from one reading level to the next. The teacher uses the assessments within the IRLA Toolkit to identify a student’s reading level, create and adjust “Power Goals,” and create small groups with similar “Power Goals” and reading levels. Time is provided within the literacy block to address “Power Goals” in addition to the work of the main unit. The teacher is directed to spend the majority of intervention support with groups performing below grade level.

Examples include but are not limited to:

IRLA Toolkit: The IRLA is designed to determine the needs of all readers and help them grow in their reading skills. Through the IRLA assessments, the teacher identifies the needs of students and develops “Power Goals” for small group instruction. The lessons provide a systematic approach to moving students from one reading level to the next.

Within each unit, the materials provide pre-, mid-, and post-Constructed Response Assessments in order to identify the needs of students. The teacher is provided with guidance for evaluating the responses to create strategy groups. Embedded Formative Assessment throughout the units allows the teacher to use evidence to clarify or reteach immediately within each lesson and plan for instruction the next day.

In Unit 1, the ARC CORE overview states “supports go far beyond the traditional below, on, and above” levels. ARC CORE classroom libraries usually have six to eight reading levels. In the first week of the ARC CORE Literacy Lab, directions are provided for developing Read-to-Me Action Plans for students reading below level that include 500-Book Kid Read-Aloud Immersion, Student Read-Aloud Coaches, Adult Coordinators, and a RTM for ELL Students Skills Card. In Week 4 of the Literacy Lab, additional directions are provided for determining Action Plans for additional below-level reading levels as well as Power Goals for specific levels.

In Unit 2, the Informational Research Lab provides Research Topics for struggling readers. All students answer the same Research Questions during the unit; only the level of text differs for students.

In Unit 3, the Introduction includes a student checklist that states one goal is “Emergency readers move at least one IRLA level.”

In Unit 4, students are provided opportunities to work in group settings to support the needs of students performing below grade level.

Evaluation for 5.3
Materials include supports for English Learners (EL) to meet grade-level learning expectations.

The materials provide some support for English Language Learners (ELLs) to meet grade-level expectations. There are supports and scaffolds embedded in the materials to meet the diverse needs of EL students, but the materials do not include a systematic, year-long plan to ensure students reach the end-of-year achievement levels. In the introduction pages of the Framework of each unit, the publisher states that the curriculum has “embed(ed) all the best practices of culturally and linguistically responsive teaching into a literacy framework centered on meeting the needs of the unique students.” Scaffolds such as adapted text, translations, native language support, summaries, glossaries, bilingual dictionaries, and thesauri were not evident in the materials. While some use of students’ first language is mentioned, supports did not strategically use the students’ first language for linguistic, affective, or academic development in English. In addition, the materials provide various levels of support, but the support is not commensurate with the various levels of English language proficiency as defined by the ELPs.

Examples include but are not limited to:

The Introduction section of each unit includes a section titled “ARC CORE ELL Supports: Toward a Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Pedagogy.” This section highlights the resources offered by the program to support ELLs, including a responsive reading assessment, leveled libraries, responsive instructional delivery, and thematically organized learning. The page titled “A Literacy Block Model Designed to Effectively Support ALL Learners” shows the embedded structural supports for ELLs. The materials also frequently suggest partnering students who can support one another in their own language.

Lesson plans contain call-outs with Actionable ELL Supports. These are organized around six categories—identity affirmation, learning objectives, frontloading, comprehensible input, oracy and literacy development, and differentiated and formative assessment. Through the use of these predictable routines, ELLs are provided practice in all four linguistic domains (reading, writing, listening, and speaking).

Within each unit, sidebars and insertions provide alternate discussions, assignments, and note taking for English Learners. One example of a sidebar, from Unit 1, Week 1, Day 1, “Building an Academic Community and Identity Affirmation”, guides the teacher to create an academic environment supportive of EL Learners.

In Unit 1, the Teacher Guide provides one “Levels Check Sheet” and a “Reading Log” in several languages with the goal of supporting students’ first languages.

In Unit 2, a “Parents & Guardians” letter is provided in multiple languages.

In Unit 3, a “Home Connection” letter and “Dinner Table Conversation Starters” are provided in multiple languages.

Evaluation for 6.1
Materials include assessment and guidance for teachers and administrators to monitor progress including how to interpret and act on data yielded.

The materials include assessments and tools to guide teachers and administrators as they monitor students’ progress in mastery of the content. Each unit incorporates formative and summative assessments that align with the purpose of the lesson and with the TEKS. Specifically, rubrics measure student learning and mastery across the curriculum and provide guidance for the teacher to interpret and respond to student performance needs. The curriculum includes many examples of useful supporting documentation to guide instructors in their teaching.

Examples include but are not limited to:

The TEKS are included at the beginning of the lesson, in the sidebar, and within different parts of the lesson plans, supporting connections to both informal and formal assessments and literacy goals.

The Independent Reading Level Assessment (IRLA) Toolkit provides ongoing assessment data of reading levels for each student throughout the year. The assessment is built on a Phonics Infrastructure in K–2 reading levels (3Y–2R). Based on the premise that reading is the process of making meaning from text, the next set of threshold skills enable the reader to crack the code and figure out what the words say. In Levels White and above (Grade 4+), the reader must be able to manage the increasingly difficult vocabulary, text structure, and knowledge demands of the text. The complexity of texts in these levels is determined through both quantitative and qualitative measures (IRLA Framework/Phonics Development Sequence). Within the IRLA and IRLA Toolkits, assessments of all foundational literacy skills (i.e., phonics, word recognition and analysis, fluency) are provided. Students are assessed for phonics, word recognition, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension.

Each unit provides a Pre-/Mid-/Post-Assessment to support ongoing monitoring of students’ needs. Additionally, the materials provide formative and summative assessment protocols to allow both teachers and students to monitor their progress (e.g., student and teacher checklists, reading conferences, Power Goals, and rubrics).

Evaluation for 6.2
Materials include year-long plans and supports for teachers to identify needs of students and provide differentiated instruction to meet the needs of a range of learners to ensure grade-level success.

The materials include a year-long plan and supports for teachers to identify the needs of students and provide differentiated instruction to ensure grade-level success for a range of learners. The program’s philosophy of inquiry through apprenticeship for Grade 1 students allows for embedded differentiation based on students’ needs. The materials provide opportunities and supports for teachers in identifying students’ needs. Multiple grouping structures are included throughout the materials, as are sidebar supports for differentiating instruction. The Independent Reading Level Assessment (IRLA) also provides a strong assessment tool for student diagnostics and a foundational toolkit to provide differentiated instruction for learners based on the diagnostic assessment.

Examples include but are not limited to:

Guidance is embedded across the materials and within lessons. The materials provided for Grade 1 include annotations and sidebar supports (referred to as “call-outs”) that “include tips, reminders, modified tasks, alternate foci, and other suggestions to properly match reader/writer and task.” They also offer insight about “identifying students’ strengths, gathering evidence of learning, and devising next steps within an existing lesson.”

The introduction pages of the materials include a checklist of behaviors for students and the teacher in order to promote an inquiry-based classroom. Some of the expectations for teachers are that they have established an intellectual community through modeling and coaching key inquiry practices (such as active participation, open-ended questioning, curiosity, and risk- taking), and that they effectively use the IRLA and “1-1 Conferences/Strategic Small-Group Instruction” to accelerate each student’s reading growth.

Teachers can use embedded formative assessment from student work in order to make instructional decisions about what needs to be clarified or retaught, either on the spot or in the next day’s lesson.

Students work in pairs, small groups, as a whole group, and individually within the literacy block components. Students work in pairs as they read during the Reader’s Workshop and as they participate in the follow-up Accountable Talk.

In Unit 2, the Framework notes that the rate of reading conferences should be at least every two weeks or less. All students receive strategic reading instruction (either one-on-one or in small groups), and “Emergency/At-Risk”-level readers receive more frequent coaching. “On track” is noted as a rate to “move one IRLA level/make 2+ months of growth.”

In all units, during Reader’s Workshop, while students are reading independently, the teacher checks students individually to assess proficiencies and conferences with students one-on-one and in small groups. Throughout all four units, the teacher formatively assesses his/her students during Reader’s Workshop. While students are reading independently, the teacher assesses current proficiencies, determining what should be taught whole group, small group, or individually.

Evaluation for 6.3
Materials include implementation support for teachers and administrators.

The materials provide implementation support for teachers and administrators. The IRLA provides a TEKS-aligned developmental reading taxonomy in which knowledge and skills build and connect across reading levels and grades. The materials include Implementation support for teachers, including optional support for implementation via coaching and professional learning cycles of inquiry. The materials also provide administrators opportunities to support, track, and monitor the effective use of the materials, with planning pages and an Independent Reading Level Assessment (IRLA) management system (SchoolPACE). The provided pacing guide correlates with the scope and sequence and aligns with a 180-day school year.

Examples include but are not limited to:

The materials are accompanied by a TEKS-aligned scope and sequence in Unit 1. TEKS that are covered in all four units are indicated, as are focus standards for each specific unit. A sequence of Grade 1 TEKS within each IRLA level is also included. Within the IRLA, there is an “ARC Core TEKS Foundational Language Skills Scope and Sequence.” The one-page guide has bulleted summaries of TEKS and TEKS numbers that are the prerequisite skills needed to be able to read independently at each IRLA level; it also lists which TEKS are taught within the IRLA level. Each of the four units is broken down into weeks, and weekly goals are aligned with grade-level TEKS.

In the Appendix of the Teacher Edition there are excerpts on the following topics:

Kinsey’s Developmental Writing Stages (with student examples);
Questions Worth Asking;
Bloom’s Taxonomy and Depth of Knowledge;
What Words Are Worth Teaching; and
Student Questioning.

Each unit also includes planning and implementation support pages, such as

Stages of Implementation, as Measured by Outcomes;
Implementation Milestones; and
5 Conditions for an Effective Lesson.

The website shows a sample five-page Professional Learning Plan that principals can use to write dates of training to span 35 weeks. Leadership Team Meetings are scheduled where the publisher provides training for the teachers to review data that informs professional development and can be used to provide feedback and support to teachers. Leadership has opportunities to refine their skills, with support from the ARC Executive Coach as a model; this plan is meant to be coached by the publisher for a fee. There is also an additional online tool called SchoolPACE, which is a performance management system that provides student performance data for all stakeholders. Users can run reports of students by “On Target” IRLA level or “On Target for Reading Practice.” There are also reports that show growth, and some called “Data Wall,” which give an overview of the number of students in each IRLA level by grade and color code them by Emergency, At-Risk, or Proficient.

The materials are designed for students to make at least a year’s worth of growth in reading, with all genres covered across the year of instruction. The four units are planned for 36 weeks (180 days) of instruction. In Unit 1, a footnote reads: “Weeks are approximate. Teachers should feel welcome to expand or condense as needed (p.54).” Materials do not contain a 220-day schedule, but they do include a publisher rationale that the program is a framework and can be adjusted and customized by each teacher based on student need.

Evaluation for 6.4
The visual design of the student edition (whether in print or digital) is neither distracting nor chaotic.

The materials in first grade contain student-facing materials like supplemental aides, resource materials, and Core Texts, many of which are also contained in the Teacher Guide. These materials appropriately use write space and design that supports and does not distract from student learning. Pictures and graphics are supportive of student learning and engagement without being visually distracting. Overall, the materials provide appropriately sufficient white space.

Examples include but are not limited to:

In Unit 1, Daily Routine, the “Reading Log” includes attractive and effective graphics to support student learning. There is room for students’ written responses.

In Unit 2, the “Word Attack Strategies” include graphics and pictures that support the skill of decoding words. And the Writing Card “Revising Informational Writing” has graphics that are attractive and effectively support student learning. There is room for students’ written responses.

Unit 3 includes a student handout with a Venn diagram. There is ample white space used, and the circles are large enough for young writers.

Units 2 and 4 include a research component with a multi-page resource titled “The Final Project Outline” (FPO) that includes guided research questions for students to use to gather information. On the first page, there is an overview of the research questions, and subsequent pages expand each question and provide blank space for students to write collected information. The last two pages allow students to record their sources (books and websites) in the white space. Overall, the text is readable.

Evaluation for 6.5
If present, technology components included are appropriate for grade level students and provide support for learning.

The materials do not include student-facing technology components.