¡Arriba la lectura! - Grade 5

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

The materials include high-quality texts for SLAR instruction and cover a range of student interests. The texts are well-crafted, representing the quality of content, language, and writing that is produced by experts in various disciplines. Additionally, the materials include increasingly complex traditional, contemporary, classical, and multicultural diverse texts. 

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

Instructional materials include well-crafted content produced by experts. In Module 1, students read a short informational text and then compare it with a vivid rich informational text, El Secreto del Inventor by Suzanne Slade. Students explore the content and story by working collaboratively and listening and speaking in groups. Students view a video and listen to genre introduction to build background before the start of each reading selection across modules. 

Instructional materials represent quality writing in various disciplines. For example, in Module 1, students read “Deportes en silla de ruedas,” a text that explores the lives of sports in the life of people with disabilities. In “Biblioteca al Alcance de los niños” (an external reference icon within the textbook), students have a wide variety of texts to choose from (interests, genre, etc.).

The materials grow in complexity and offer the student a wide variety of genres and cultural backgrounds. Module 1, “Vientos de esperanza,” shares cultural situations in other countries.

The materials include well-crafted pieces by experts. In Module 2, an informative text, “Otra forma de ver el mundo” by Horacio Lopez, provides details about the science of ecology and the impact on Earth. 

The materials provide a list of books that indicates the genre, level, and reading skills students can participate in for close reading. The text Explorador de pantanos by Kathleen Simpson details information about swamps. Abundant pictures and diagrams are found in the text.

Module 4 includes texts that are multicultural and diverse. For example, the passage “En la época de los pioneros: La vida diaria de una familia pionera” retells a portion of American History. The text includes examples of culture.

Instructional materials provide texts to enrich the students’ learning in other disciplines. In Module 6, the story La gran prueba de Phillis by Catherine Clinton informs the reader about the life of Phillis Wheatley. The vocabulary and content enrich the understanding of the students. The text is an example of how life was for a woman in the 1700s. The section “Revista Aventureras” offers a variety of texts for students to participate in close reading.

In Module 10, the story Willie B.: Una historia de esperanza by Nancy Roe Pimm is a nonfiction text. The text includes content and language produced by experts in various disciplines. 

La Serpiente Arcoíris by Chris Sarandis is a myth. The text is adequate for close reading and provides rich content.

Lucharon por la Justicia by Jill McDougall is a biography. The nonfiction book provides information that furthers the students’ understanding of people who fought for justice. 

A fairy tale “La reina Ginebra y las canciones sentimentales” by Stella Santa Cruz is well crafted and content-rich for students in fifth grade. The text offers content and language adequate for close reading.

The materials increase in complexity during the school year. In Modules 11, “Melcocha casera,” and 12, “El comienzo,” the passages are lengthier and have a higher Lexile.

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 include the appropriate quantitative levels and qualitative features for the grade level. In addition, the texts are accompanied by a text complexity analysis provided by the publisher. 

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

Instructional materials include quantitative features and qualitative levels for the grade level. A list of texts is included with Lexile levels for kindergarten through sixth grade. The section titled “Biblioteca al alcance del estudiante” provides texts with a rationale explaining the educational purpose and grade level placement of the texts. 

The book titled Ciudad verde by Allan Drummond is classified as a 710L Lexile level and moderate complexity. The materials provide a section to support the learning of the students and suggestions to address their needs. 

El juego de Egipto by Zilpha Keatley Snyder is an 890L Lexile level and considered a complex text. The materials include a brief rationale of the selection and printable pages for students to work in groups. However, printable pages need to be accessed through a separate link.

The instructional materials provide a resource titled “Guía del maestro.” The materials provide a table of contents with different categories to locate information about various components of the program titled “¡Arriba la Lectura!” Texts are arranged to focus on each unique module. A variety of sections are available to assist teachers: “Grupos de lectura guiada,” “Apoyo para la destreza y estrategias de lectura,” “Apoyo con las destrezas fundamentales,” and “Dual Languages Settings.” The analysis and support provided by the materials are useful to teachers in planning.

The Rigby Readers “Lecturas por niveles” provides a complexity analysis of included text titles, fiction/non-fiction check, genre, level, Lexile, with 1-3 content concepts. Levels in this grade range from 540 Lexile to 1060 Lexile, making it adaptable to below and above grade level. Lexile levels for fifth grade range from 830-1010 Lexile. For example, Estrellas en la alfombra roja is described as a realistic fiction story at a level U and a Lexile level of 700L (below grade level) with 48 pages. This story includes concept teaching of main ideas, figurative language, and theme. This can be used for students below grade level to improve fluency and comprehension and build on the skills above.

Evaluation for 2.3
Texts are appropriately challenging and are at an appropriate level of complexity to support students at their grade level.

Materials include text types outlined for specific grades by the TEKS that include literary and informational texts, such as texts of information, exposition, argument, procedures, and documents. Materials also include print and graphic features of a variety of texts, informational and argumentative texts that are connected to science and social studies topics, and opportunities for students to recognize and analyze characteristics of multimodal and digital texts.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

Instructional materials include a variety of texts throughout the modules. Module 6 has informational texts such as Congelada viva, a vivid rich text about frogs. This text is connected to another story in Module 6 that explores a fantasy piece, Es el ciclo de la vida. Cross-curricular texts aligning to science and social studies are presented throughout all modules.

In Module 7, Hacia lo desconocido: Arriba y abajo by Stewart Ross is a literary non-fiction text that includes social studies and science connections. Module 7 also explores realistic fiction, poetry, and traditional tales.

Module 8 explores poetry with Una película en mi almohada by Jorge Argueta. After the lesson on poetry, students write their own poetry. 

La sarten por el mango in Module 8 gives students opportunities to explore a realistic fiction text. 

Module 8 also includes a homeschool connection. The materials provide a written statement to students and their families of what students will learn. This letter provides parents with advice on how to help facilitate the knowledge of informative texts and animals. The science connection is evident when the students research animals and find information on biological elements.

Instructional materials contain a variety of texts with print and graphic features. In Module 9, En Busca de Pie Grande: Todo lo que debes de saber by Martha Brockenbrough, an informational text, includes structured paragraphs with photographs and illustrations. It provides an opportunity for students to express their opinions about the creature in the story using evidence from the text. 

In Module 10, a magazine article “¿Podemos ser amigos?” by Ellen R. Braaf includes headings, subheadings, and photographs to inform the reader about animals having possible friendships among them. 

Also in Module 10, Willie B. Una Historia de Esperanza by Nancy Roe Pimm includes photographs with captions, subheadings, highlighted words, and definitions at the bottom of the pages. The materials include an activity for students to write a post for social media expressing their opinions about the friendships between them. Students cite evidence from the text on their social media posts. 

Instructional materials include argumentative texts as well. For example, Module 10 shows a graphic organizer/anchor chart of “Elements of Informative Text” and “Elements of an Argument.”

Module 12 explores realistic fiction, plays, poetry, drama, mysteries, and informational text. Texts are presented in multimodal formats, such as videos and graphic print images.

Evaluation for 3.A.1
Materials contain questions and tasks that support students in analyzing and integrating knowledge, ideas, topics, themes, and connections within and across texts.

Instructional materials contain questions and tasks that build conceptual knowledge, are text-specific/dependent, target complex elements of the texts, and integrate multiple TEKS. The questions and tasks require students to make connections to personal experiences, other texts, and the world around them and identify and discuss important big ideas, themes, and details.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

Instructional materials integrate questions and activities that build conceptual knowledge and target complex elements of the texts. In Module 3, the story “Tierra y olas en caos” by Rachel Young includes collaborative discussions and suggestions on how to listen and speak when working in groups. Students are prompted to write a presentation explaining why earthquakes and tsunamis occur. Students are asked to compare topics learned in the text. 

In Module 9, a video titled “Extrañas criaturas marinas japonesas” includes questions for students to analyze the author’s purpose and use context clues to define vocabulary words. Students write a review of the video, summarize the video, and express an opinion. Instructional materials integrate knowledge and ideas in their collaborative discussions and activities. Questions ask students to use text evidence to support their answers. 

Questions and tasks support students in analyzing and integrating knowledge, ideas, topics, themes, and connections across texts. Throughout the modules, there is evidence of the complexity of questions increasing, eventually leading to synthesizing and inferring information. All texts are introduced appropriately, and students have ample opportunities to explore the text. The text is in various formats (online digital, oral choral, independently) and explored in differentiated instruction practices. 

All texts begin with an introductory video to build background and an Essential Question to connect students’ knowledge to real-world scenarios. For example, in Module 9, the introduction begins with an Essential Question: “¿Que hace que algo sea misterioso, y que hace que queramos resolver misterios?” Students preview what they will be learning about and make a connection that is relevant to themselves. Students use a graphic organizer to generate their ideas, answering the Essential Question provided. While reading, students annotate the connection in the graphic organizer. At the end of the module, students synthesize what they have learned about and make connections with their personal life, society, and across texts.

Students make inferences, visualize, retell, respond to text in a variety of ways, write their own story, and communicate effectively. Students establish a purpose for reading by writing a response to a critical thinking question. Also in Module 9, before reading “La biblioteca del senor Linden,” students type their response to “Think about the title and genre of this text. What mystery would a library or book have? Write your ideas below.” Students build background while exploring the topic. After reading the story, students answer critical thinking questions, providing text evidence. Students type responses to “Review what you wrote in the first section and tell your partner two things you learned about the story. Then comment in a group the questions below. Look for details and examples in the story you just read as evidence for your ideas. Before you start talking to your partners, work together to decide the conversation rules for your group.” Students reread the text carefully and find textual evidence. 

Questions and tasks require textual evidence to write responses to critical thinking questions. These questions and tasks support learning of explicit facts and inferences in a text. Students build background for a unit by responding to an Essential Question that connects the theme to themselves, society, and other texts. In Module 12, students establish objectives before reading with a KWL (know, want to know, learned) chart and are encouraged to write personal connections with the text. Students use the collaborative conversation after interacting with a text in cooperative groups to listen, write, speak, and think after they have read. Students use the reading graphic organizer to write responses to text. In the graphic organizers, students write their questions before, during, and after reading the text. 

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

Questions and tasks support students’ analysis of the literary/textual elements of texts by asking students to analyze, make inferences, and draw conclusions about the author’s purpose in cultural, historical, and contemporary contexts and provide evidence for the text to support their understanding. They require students to compare the stated or implied purposes of different authors’ writing on the same topic; analyze the author’s choice and how they influence and communicate meaning (in single and across a variety of texts); make and correct or confirm predictions using text features, characteristics of genre, and structures with and without adult assistance; and study the language within texts to support their understanding.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

Questions and tasks support building students’ analysis of the authors craft. In Module 3, materials provide teacher guidance on “Tecnica del autor.” The teacher states, “los autores eligen el lenguaje que usan según el propósito o la razón que tienen para escribir el texto.” Students analyze the text: “Haz un análisis de la selección de palabras del autor mientras lees las cartas amistosas del texto llamado ‘¿Quién estudia los desastres naturales?’”

The materials contain text-specific/dependent tasks that support students as they analyze grade-appropriate detail, craft, and structure. For example, in Module 3, after reading “El Huracán,” the teacher prompts students to write a weather report about an approaching hurricane based on what they learned from the text. For example, “Usa evidencia del texto para escribir un informe climático que advierta al público sobre los posibles efectos de un huracán de esta categoría.” Students create a T- chart to annotate the potential damages of a hurricane in one column and ways to be prepared in the other column so they can refer to this information when writing their report. Students organize the report with an introduction, the main information, and a conclusion. 

Instructional materials include questions and activities that support students as they analyze texts. In Module 3, the story “El Huracan” by F. Isabel Campoy provides questions for collaborative discussions. After reading, students engage in collaborative conversions about the text: “¿A quién cita la autora en el texto? ¿Qué te ayudan a comprender esas citas? ¿Qué detalles explican por qué fue difícil tomar la decisión de evacuar?” The teacher prompts students to write a weather report explaining the possible effects of a category 4 hurricane based on the information learned.

Students use the reading graphic organizer to write responses to the text. Students write their questions before, during, and after reading the text. In the graphic organizer, “Sintetizar, students respond in three columns, “Lo que sé, Lo que he aprendido y Conocimientos adquiridos.” Students verify and clarify doubts about strategies such as rereading, previous knowledge, visual elements, asking questions, retelling beginning, middle, and end of story, creating summaries, making and validating predictions, visualizing, making inferences (with text evidence), synthesizing theme graphs, and characterization. The graphic organizers provide a way to structure thinking for critical questions at the higher level of Depth of Knowledge (DOK) or Bloom’s taxonomy “synthesize.”

In Module 7, the story “Spaceship” by Matthew Stinemetze provides opportunities for students to participate in meaningful discussions. Students respond to questions about events in the text and use text evidence to support their claim. Examples of questions include “¿Qué acontecimientos de la vida de Matthew lo llevaron a trabajar en el proyecto SpaceShipOne? ¿Por qué cree Matthew que el trabajo duro en la SpaceShipOne valía el esfuerzo? ¿Por qué fue tan histórico el primer vuelo espacial de la SpaceShipOne?” Materials prompt students to write a journal entry using the point of view of the main character, Matthew.

The materials offer opportunities for students to analyze characteristics of genre. In Module 10, the Teacher’s Guide includes suggestions for teachers to model how to use text features. The teacher displays “Cartel didáctico 20: Características del texto y elementos gráficos.” The teacher reviews the text features and how they support comprehension: “Repase con los estudiantes que las características del texto como los encabezados o el texto en letra negrita dirigen la atención a cambios de sección o a palabras determinadas, los glosarios proporcionan definiciones de las palabras importantes del texto y las barras laterales normalmente agregan información sobre el tema.” Students read and practice how to identify “las características del texto y los elementos gráficos mientras vuelven a leer ‘Las abejas de invierno y otros poemas del frío.’” After reading, students create a scientific report and use similar text features as those in the text. 

The materials offer opportunities for students to analyze the author’s purpose. In Module 11 of the Reading Workshop, the teacher reminds students that the “author’s purpose is the reason for writing, and knowing this helps you find the message in the text.” The teacher displays “Cartel didáctico 28: Propósito del autor” with different purposes. The teacher explains the author's craft by reminding students that authors use their words carefully and organize their text in order to achieve their desired purpose. Students read the text “Porqué a las personas les encantan los misterios” while paying attention to key words and phrases that help them identify the purpose. To reinforce the author's purpose, students use Reading Graphic Organizer 28 for a variety of texts in small group settings. The organizer helps students gather the information from texts to find the author’s purpose, such as genre, different purposes, and text evidence to support their findings. Students can use this graphic organizer to analyze the author's purpose across a variety of cultural, historical, and contemporary texts through the modules. 

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.

Materials include a cohesive, year-long plan for students to interact with and build key academic vocabulary in and across texts, including ways to apply words in appropriate contexts. Materials also include scaffolds and supports for teachers to differentiate vocabulary development for all learners.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

Instructional materials include ways to build academic vocabulary in a year long plan. For example, in Module 1, materials provide guidance on time to spend working on vocabulary: “Tiempos diarios sugeridos” suggests 10–15 minutes. The teacher introduces the vocabulary using vocabulary routine: “Lea cada palabra en voz alta y pida a los estudiantes que la repitan. Lea en voz alta y comente la explicación adaptada a los estudiantes de cada palabra. Señale la oración de ejemplo de la palabra. Pida a los estudiantes que den otros ejemplos.” Each module includes the same routine to introduce the words for the daily lesson. Students engage in a variety of activities each day with the words. For example, in Module 1, students create their own sentences. In Module 6, students physically demonstrate words like relatar with tasks such as “Trabajen en pequeños grupos y relata a los otros miembros del grupo lo que hicieron en la semana.” In Module 8, students internalize the words by writing: “Haz una lluvia de ideas sobre otras palabras que se te ocurren cuando oyes la palabra invento.”

Every module teaches three types of vocabulary words: “Palabras de la Idea esencial, Vocabulario crítico y Vocabulario de enseñanza.” The first set begins with four critical words throughout the lessons. For example, Module 1, includes alarmantes, consecuencias, deliberar, depósito, evacuación. The “Vocabulario crítico” refers to vocabulary for teaching needed to understand concepts in the lesson, such as root words grafo and liberar, and the suffix -ico (“gráfico, deliberar, geológico”). The “Vocabulario de enseñanza” refers to content-specific terms learned throughout the module, such as orden cronológico, estructura del texto, y secuencia.

The materials provide opportunities for students to learn, practice, apply, and transfer words into familiar and new contexts. In Module 2, the section “Desarrollar los conocimientos y lenguaje” provides an opportunity for students to practice and apply vocabulary words. The materials provide teacher with guidance, such as “Enseñe explícitamente el significado de las palabras relacionadas con el tema y las palabras del vocabulario académico que aparecen en los textos, brinde ejemplos relevantes y practique usando las palabras en contextos conocidos.” Students brainstorm about the words: “Haz una lluvia de ideas sobre otras palabras que se te ocurren cuando oyes la palabra retahíla.”

The materials include a curriculum plan to develop academic vocabulary throughout the modules. Texts have an embedded glossary for difficult words. For example, in the Module 6 text Seamos creativos, the word is “inspirar.” Students click on the word, and a glossary appears that lists the word, part of speech, the definition, and how it is used in a sentence: “Los cuentos sirven para inspirar emociones en las personas.” Students click on the icon to listen to an oral reading of the glossary information. These keywords not only have an embedded electronic glossary, but they’re in the footnotes of every text. Students use a vocabulary web where they write these keywords and find synonyms, antonyms, and keywords. 

Instructional materials offer guidance in establishing rich routines for introducing target words. For example, the materials provide weeks at a glance where vocabulary words are listed and offer various ways to introduce and apply vocabulary words. The Teacher Guide includes a vocabulary routine. For example, in Module 7, teacher is guided, “Lea cada palabra en voz alta y pida a los estudiantes que la repitan. Lea en voz alta y comente la explicación de cada palabra adaptándola a los estudiantes. Señale el ejemplo para la palabra.” Students provide examples as teachers display “las tarjetas de vocabulario correspondientes mientras la comenta.”

The materials provide opportunities for students to learn, practice, apply, and transfer words into familiar and new contexts. In the Module 10 section “Aplicar,”' the teacher asks students to work independently on the new vocabulary words. The teacher guides students through step 3, “Escribe una oración que contenga la palabra…” and step 4, “Haz una lista de sinónimos y antónimos de vínculo.” Students work with a partner on the “Conversación Colaborativa” to complete tasks, such as “Con un compañero, nombren a una persona con quien tienen un vínculo. ¿Cuál es el vínculo? ¿Por qué es importante un vínculo en la vida de una persona? ¿Cómo sería diferente su vida sin ese vínculo?”

The materials provide support and scaffolds for students and teacher support to differentiate vocabulary development. All vocabulary is introduced using vocabulary cards. Cards include the word, an illustration, the word divided in syllables, a sentence. Teachers provide guidance on the routines to scaffold the learning. For the word individualidad, teachers state “Lee la palabra de arriba y su significado. Lee esta oración: Nuestro maestro nos recuerda que debemos respetar la individualidad de cada estudiante. Escribe una oración que contenga la palabra individualidad. Haz una lista de sinónimos y antónimos de la palabra individualidad.” Students interact with the vocabulary by engaging in Conversación Colaborativa that makes them clarify the meaning. Students use the vocabulary cards in groups to complete the following task: “En grupos pequeños, hagan una lista de las maneras en que ustedes expresan su individualidad, tanto en la escuela como en el hogar. Luego, comenten estas preguntas: ¿Es importante expresar tu individualidad? ¿Cómo expresas tu individualidad?” Student apply the new words in sentences or word sorts as specified in each card. 

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

Materials include a clearly defined plan to support and hold students accountable as they engage in independent reading by establishing procedures and/or protocols, along with adequate support for teachers, to foster independent reading. In addition, materials provide a plan for students to self-select texts and read independently for a sustained period of time, including planning and accountability for achieving independent reading goals.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The materials provide procedures and protocols for tracking independent reading. At the end of every lesson, in the section “Aplicación independiente,” students reflect about what they learned and share the reflections. For example, at the end of Module 1, students learn about “Verificar y clarificar.” Materials prompt the teachers to “Diga a los estudiantes que hagan pausas frecuentes mientras leen para verificar su comprensión. Recuerde a los estudiantes que los buenos lectores verifican su comprensión cuando leen y usan diversas técnicas para clarificar lo que quieren comprender mejor y hallar el sentido de la nueva información.” As student read independently, they apply learning while they complete the task of “verificar y clarificar información mientras leen una narración de no ficción llamada Vientos de esperanza.” 

The materials provide opportunities for students to interact with texts and/or read independently. In every text, the materials include a section, “Prepárate para leer,” with questions for students to respond to before reading. After reading the texts, students engage in “Conversación colaborativa,” with questions for students to respond to with peers. Although no questions are inserted between paragraphs for students to reflect as they read, some of the after-reading questions require students to go back to the text and reread to be able to respond. For example, in Module 1, in the text Vientos de Esperanza, one of the questions for after reading says “¿Qué detalles del texto muestran cómo afectó la sequía a William y su familia?”

Students use a variety of activities and anchor charts to frame their thinking while they read their own selected text. For example, in Module 9 “Reading Workshops,” students read independently while they complete a reading log. In the reading log, students engage in a variety of writing tasks, such as writing a summary, annotating questions or favorite parts, what they enjoyed the most, what they didn’t understand, and if they would recommend this book. During each independent reading session, students record the date and pages read. The teacher provides “Página imprimible Mi caja de herramientas” for students to “apliquen lo que han comprendido de la destreza a un libro de lectura independiente.” 

Across modules, the materials provide teachers with an array of graphic organizers for students to monitor their understanding of a variety of text, titled “Organizadores Graficos de Lectura.” Graphic organizers included as support for all modules are used during the established reading material and also during independent reading. Examples of the graphic organizers include “Punto de vista,” “Elementos literarios,” and “Lenguaje figurado.” 

The Reading Workshops provided across the modules include opportunities for students to practice guided, independent, and collaborative reading. For example, in Module 8 Reading Workshop, teachers select books students can read independently. The materials guide teachers to “Elija libros de la Lectura por niveles de Rigby según el nivel de lectura, o elija las estrategias que desee enseñar o practicar con cada grupo.” Students engage in activities to independently apply skills in reading and writing, “para guiar la enseñanza de lectura, verificar la comprensión y ampliar el aprendizaje.”

Instructional materials provide opportunities for students to interact with the texts while reading along with a teacher or independently. In Module 10, a magazine article “¿Podemos ser amigos?” by Ellen R. Braaf includes headings/subheadings and photographs to inform the reader about animals having possible friendships among them. Teacher prompts students to use text evidence: “Para explicar por qué respondes como lo haces, usa detalles y ejemplos de ¿Podemos ser amigos?” Materials include an activity for students to write a post for social media: “Imagina que puedes ponerte en contacto con uno de los científicos del artículo a través de los medios sociales. Comparte tu opinión con el científico sobre las amistades entre los animales.” Students take “notas sobre los detalles del texto que apoyen tu opinión sobre las amistades entre animales” and cite evidence from the text on their social media post.

Instructional materials provide opportunities for students to participate in independent reading. In Module 10, a section titled “Centro de lectura” allows students to track their independent reading time. Students complete “Página imprimible: Organizador gráfico de lectura 17” for the texts read independently. Teachers provide guidance on independent reading and ask students to “elijan o sigan leyendo un libro de lectura independiente. Recuerde a los estudiantes que establezcan un propósito para la lectura.” Teachers hold students accountable during independent reading through “Página imprimible: Registro de lectura,” where students annotate ideas that surge during the reading of the text.

The materials encourage Independent reading at home. Families receive a letter regarding what their child will be learning throughout the module. The letter encourages parents to have students read every day and even reserve some time to read together. The letter explains to parents what genre and concepts students will study so that they can ask related questions to their students. For example, “Hable sobre las ideas que su hijo ha añadido al Mapa de conocimientos cada semana. Pregúntele sobre los textos que está leyendo y lo que ha aprendido de ellos.”

Evaluation for 3.B.1
Materials provide support for students to develop composition skills across multiple text types for a variety of purposes and audiences.

Materials provide support for students to develop composition skills across multiple text types for a variety of purposes and audiences. Materials provide students opportunities to write literary texts to express their ideas and feelings about real or imagined people, events and ideas, informational texts, argumentative texts, and correspondence in a professional or friendly structure.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The materials provide opportunities for students to develop composition skills across multiple text types. The materials provide supplemental “Writer’s Workshop” lessons that are aligned to the genres of the main lessons. The materials provide a year’s worth of writing instruction by providing 15 Writer’s Workshop lessons to be completed in conjunction with every module. Throughout the different modules of the Writer’s Workshop, students write personal narratives, letters, essays, stories, a biographical essay, a research report, and poetry. Writer’s Workshop materials provide teachers guidance to grow their composition skills through mini-lessons. They include detailed descriptions on how to guide a lesson. In Module 1, to brainstorm ideas, the teacher writes the prompt, “Aun las grandes ideas de hacer inventos requieren mucho trabajo” on the board. The teacher shares the think-aloud provided: “Si quisiera escribir un párrafo expositivo sobre el invento del brazo largo de Ben Franklin, daría información que explica el tema a los lectores. Podría explicar por qué quería inventar el dispositivo contando sobre los estantes altos de su biblioteca. Podría enumerar los pasos en su proceso de invención en orden cronológico. También podría dar ejemplos de las formas en que Ben Franklin usó su invento.” Students write an expository text: “Diga a los estudiantes que en este módulo escribirán un ensayo expositivo sobre un inventor que trabajó duro para convertir una idea en un invento real.”

Each writing piece completed is related to the genre studied in the module. Students engage in the writing process, grammar, and genre characteristics studied in the module. For example, Module 1, “Expository,” teaches the use of different types of sentences as well as the organization of the expository text. Teachers state, “el método para desarrollar un párrafo o un ensayo expositivo se llama organización.” Module 2 addresses fictional narrative and incorporates genre characteristics, such as narrador, and structure, trama. The materials provide writing assignments that are connected to the texts and offer teachers ideas for stand-alone writing lessons and projects. 

The materials provide students opportunities to write argumentative texts for multiple purposes and audiences. In Module 5, students discuss the writing prompt: “Cada persona ve las cosas a su manera.” Teachers model think-aloud about two sides to an argument: “Cuando yo era más joven, los dueños de fábricas en mi pueblo querían construir una carretera ancha para poder transportar con más facilidad los productos a otros pueblos. Si pudieran vender más productos, podrían contratar más empleados. Los fabricantes afirmaron que tener más empleos era bueno para la comunidad. Los granjeros que eran dueños de las tierras destinadas para la carretera no querían venderlas. Las usaban para cultivar alimentos. Los granjeros pensaban que la carretera no era buena para la comunidad. ¿Por qué estos grupos vieron la misma idea de dos maneras diferentes?” The teacher reviews the writing prompt from “Mostrar y Motivar 5.1” and shares question about editorials: “¿Cómo apoya el autor su postura? ¿Cómo cambió el editorial mi opinión sobre el asunto?” The teacher displays “Cartel didáctico E9.” The anchor chart leads students to follow a step-by-step guide: afirmación, evidencia, afirmación contraria, refutación y conclusión. Students write their own editorial pieces. Teachers remind students that writers improve their writing and encourage students to improved in their own: “Anime a los estudiantes a pensar sobre lo que podrían haber mejorado en su último escrito.”

The materials provide students opportunities to write literary texts to express their ideas and feelings. In Module 6 of the Writing Workshop, students write a personal narrative after analyzing the statement “solamente tu puedes contar tu propia historia.” Students review the text Miss Elánea: Un desastre en el vocabulario. The teacher opens the lesson with a discussion of the use of puns: “Señale que el texto es rico en definiciones de vocabulario y en calambures. Un calambur es un juego de palabras.” Students think about a memory of their life, a fun family story, or something important. Students write a personal narrative: “Explique que, para comenzar las actividades antes de escribir para sus narrativas personales, deben pensar en experiencias que nunca olvidarán.” Teachers remind students that a personal narrative tells what happened and includes details, an introduction, body, and conclusion. Students have the option of choosing how to publish their narrative: class magazine, printed book for home, or website publishing. 

Instructional materials include writing assignments that are connected to the texts and offer ideas for stand-alone writing lessons and projects. In Module 10, students respond to text and write observations. After reading En Las abejas de invierno y otros poemas del frío, students imagine they are scientists: “Imagina que eres un científico que está estudiando uno de los temas del texto. Registra tus observaciones y cuenta cómo te ayudaron a comprender mejor el tema.“ Students use the poem and the informational text read and record their observations using examples from the texts. 

Instructional materials provide opportunities for students to improve their writing skills. In Module 12, the section “Prepararse para el borrador,” teachers use resources such as “Cuaderno del escritor” shared with students to plan their draft. Teachers display “Cartel didáctico E4: Elementos narrativos” and explain the elements of narrative text: “Explique que este tipo de escritura tiene un personaje principal que a menudo es el narrador. Haga hincapié en que también es cierto para la poesía narrativa.” The materials provide students a Cuaderno del escritor: “Pida a los estudiantes que usen el Cuaderno del escritor pág. 12.5 para organizar su escritura. Pídales que usen los tres cuadros en el diagrama de flujo para mostrar lo que sucede al comienzo, en el medio y al final de su poema narrativo.” As students engage in the writing process, materials provide suggestions for improving the writing. For example, “lean en voz alta una estrofa de su poema e identifiquen el esquema de rima.”

Evaluation for 3.B.2
Most written tasks require students to use clear and concise information and well-defended text-supported claims to demonstrate the knowledge gained through analysis and synthesis of texts.

Most written tasks require students to use clear and concise information and well-defended text-supported claims to demonstrate the knowledge gained through analysis and synthesis of texts. Materials provide opportunities for students to use evidence from texts to support their opinions and claims and demonstrate in writing what they have learned through reading and listening to texts.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

Most writing tasks require students to use details from texts to demonstrate knowledge gained. Before every text read, students answer a question in writing about what they know. For example, in Module 3, before reading “El Huracán,” students have to respond to the prompt “¿Qué sabes sobre los huracanes? ¿Conoces a alguien que haya vivido la experiencia de un huracán? ¿Qué quieres aprender?” After reading, students respond to some questions finding evidence in the text: “Repasa las páginas 116 y 117. Si cerraras un ojo, ¿sería más fácil armar las piezas de un rompecabezas? ¿Por qué?” Teachers prompt students to use text evidence: “Busca detalles y ejemplos en el texto para explicar tus respuestas.“

Most writing tasks require student practice of analysis and synthesis in the final assignment after reading a text. For instance, in Module 3, after students respond to the evidence-based question “¿Qué medidas debe tomar la familia para prepararse ante la llegada del huracán?” about “El Huracán,” students write a weather report based on the information from the text. Students introduce the topic, present the information in an organized manner, and include text evidence.

The writing tasks have students return to the texts to find information and ideas to support what they are saying or writing. At the end of every module, materials include a performance task in which students write a text based on what they learned throughout the module. For example, Module 3, “Desastres Naturales,” requires students to write an editorial about what people should do when facing a natural disaster: ”Escribe un informe periodístico que cuente qué le está sucediendo al volcán, en la secuencia correcta.” Teachers remind students to use evidence from the text by stating “Apoya tu opinión con evidencia sólida de los textos y el video.”

Students synthesize and analyze the information in the text in order to be able to explain events to a friend. In Module 5, students write from the point of view of a character from the text En el buen huerto by Maria Luz. Materials prompt students, “Busca detalles en El buen huerto para apoyar tus respuestas. En tu conversación, proporciona comentarios positivos a otros miembros del grupo y clarifica cualquier malentendido.” Teachers remind students to provide each other feedback: “Haz comentarios positivos a los demás. Hazles saber qué te gusta de sus ideas.”

Tasks require students to use clear and concise information and well-defended text-supported claims to demonstrate the knowledge gained through analysis and synthesis of texts. In Module 7, students engage in collaborative conversation with groups to review reading with a partner. Teachers provide questions and have students re-read the text to find specific information. Questions include: “¿Qué te dicen los esfuerzos de Auguste Piccard para explorar la estratosfera sobre cómo era él? ¿Qué hizo que el viaje del Trieste fuera ‘inquietante’?” A leader from the group leads the conversation and elicits students’ responses and text evidence together. The teacher reminds students, “Túrnense. Espera a que el líder te llame antes de compartir tus opiniones.”

Instructional materials provide opportunities for students to demonstrate in writing what they have learned through reading and listening to texts. In Module 9, after reading the story En busca de Pie Grande, teachers prompt students to write a comment online: “Escribe un comentario en línea en respuesta a esa historia. Empieza expresando una opinión, y luego apóyala con evidencia del texto.” Students include vocabulary as part of their response: “Usa algunas de las palabras del Vocabulario crítico en tu comentario.”

Instructional materials provide opportunities for students to use evidence from the texts to demonstrate in writing what they have learned from the texts. Each module allows students to practice finding text evidence within a selection. In Module 9, after the students read the story Los guardianes de secretos, they answer inferencing questions related to the text. Examples of the questions include: “¿Qué sabe Reuben sobre el reloj, que lo hace inusual? ¿Cómo se inspira Reuben en sus juguetes viejos para saber cómo funciona el reloj?”

The materials present students with instructions to synthesise information. In Module 10, the section titled “Conectar y ensenar” provides the teacher guidance on synthesis. For example, “Mientras leen, los estudiantes van a sintetizar o reunir diferentes partes de la información para formar una nueva idea. La información puede hallarse en distintas partes del mismo texto, o podría tomarse de una fuente externa o del conocimiento previo del lector.” The teacher displays “Cartel didáctico 8: Sintetizar” to go over the steps to synthesis. “Úselo para demostrar a los estudiantes cómo seguir el hilo de sus pensamientos y sintetizar ideas.” Students practice synthesizing as they read.

Evaluation for 3.B.3
Over the course of the year, composition convention skills are applied in increasingly complex contexts, with opportunities for students to publish their writing.

Over the course of the year, composition convention skills are applied in increasingly complex contexts, with opportunities for students to publish their writing. Materials facilitate students’ coherent use of the elements of the writing process and opportunities for practice and application of the conventions as well as grammar, punctuation, and usage. 

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

Materials facilitate students’ coherent use of the elements of the writing process by systematically incorporating them. Every “Writer’s Workshop” module guides students to compose texts following the same steps split into 15 lessons:  getting students ready (review previous knowledge or introduce new concepts), planning the writing, outlining the draft, finalizing the draft, revising through conferencing, editing, publishing and sharing. Outside of Writer’s Workshop, students also have opportunities at the end of every module to write in different genres incorporating the elements of the writing process.

Instructional materials provide opportunities for students to practice their own writing. The materials include instructions for students to receive direct, systematic instruction on grammar, punctuation, and usage. In Module 1, materials guide teachers to review nouns and apply them to their writing. Teachers remind students to add “-s o -es se” as the plural form for some nouns. “Recuerde a los estudiantes que añadiendo -s o -es se forma el plural de muchos sustantivos. Las formas singular y plural de algunos sustantivos son las mismas. Pida a los estudiantes que editen el borrador de un texto para el uso correcto de los sustantivos.” Students edit their drafts for the correct plurals of nouns. 

The materials provide opportunities for students to apply the grammatical rules learned not only in written sentences but in spoken sentences as well, by engaging in small group conversations. In Module 4, the Teacher’s Guide includes instructions for students to engage and apply grammatical rules. For example, the materials guide teachers to have students “que conforme revisen sus textos busquen ejemplos del uso inconsistente de tiempos verbales.” Teachers model how to revise the tense through a model text. “Pídales que revisen uno de sus textos para asegurarse de que usaron el mismo tiempo verbal en todo el texto. Pida a las parejas de estudiantes que intercambien sus textos con otra pareja y revisen que el uso de los tiempos verbales sea correcto.”

The materials provide opportunities for practice and application of the conventions of academic language when speaking and writing, including punctuation and grammar. The materials include lessons dedicated to teaching punctuation and grammar. For example, in Writer’s Workshop Module 5, students learn compound sentences, subordinate clauses, and use of conjunctions and pronouns. In Module 5 of the Reading materials, students learn diphthongs and digraphs with r and l. Teachers implement classroom activities to practice and apply the academic language conventions, such as cut-out spelling cards or working in pairs to create compound sentences. The materials provide language-based support in the “Mostrar y Motivar” posters that feature a summary of the grammar rule presented in the module with examples. For example, in Module 5, where students learned about conjunctions, the “Mostrar y Motivar” poster 5.1.1.a summarizes the information by explaining that conjunctions are words that “conectan otras palabras o grupos de palabras en una oración. Las conjunciones copulativas y, pero, o unen partes similares de la oración.”

The materials facilitate students’ coherent use of the elements of the writing process to compose multiple texts. In Module 11, students brainstorm ideas for writing by listing special memories and using these to write realistic narratives. The teacher displays “Mostrar y Motivar 11.3,” where the writing topic is explained in detail. Students read the following: “Escribe un cuento de ficción corto basado en una persona, lugar o comunidad que conozcas en detalle. Usa tu propia vida y tus recuerdos como inspiración.” Teachers introduce realistic narrative essentials with “Anchor Chart E6: Structural Narrative,” which highlights the parts of a story: “ambiente, personajes, trama y conflicto.” Students revise their essays with peers and use guiding questions during conferring: “¿Los personajes son interesantes y completos? ¿El conflicto del cuento es creíble e interesante? ¿Qué sucede en el clímax del cuento?” After editing, students publish their stories.

In Module 11, “Grammar Minilessons” supplement the grammar lessons in the Writer’s Workshop for revision and editing. Students revise and edit essays. The teacher displays “Mostrar Y Motivar: Gramatica 11.1.a” and explains that sentences are a group of words that express a complete thought. Teachers display a paragraph and model how to combine sentences within the paragraph. The guide explicitly tells teachers how to teach sentence structure with Think-Alouds and other strategies and provides opportunities for students to practice the skills learned before they write and edit essays. ”Fíjate cómo algunas oraciones se combinaron y otras se dejaron tal como estaban. Vuelve ahora a tu borrador y mejora la estructura de tus oraciones y tu selección de palabras combinando ideas según sea necesario.” For example, students work on printable page 11.1 for practice with complete sentences and finding correct subject-verb agreement and practice before using these skills in their essays. After learning the skill, students apply it to their essays to edit their drafts and change sentence fragments into complete sentences. 

Evaluation for 3.B.4
Materials include practice for students to write legibly in cursive. (Grades 3-5 only)

Materials include some practice for students to write legibly in cursive and meet the requirement for the TEKS. The materials include some procedures and supports for teachers to assess students’ handwriting development.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

Instructional materials provide opportunities for students to practice cursive handwriting. The supplemental materials “Recursos” include directions that support the teacher for teaching cursive. Materials offer instructions for teachers to explain to students the importance of page placement and inclining the pencil to practice cursive handwriting. An example of the instructions are as follows: “Verifique la posición de cada estudiante y ayúdalos a acomodarse si es necesario.” Teachers explain how to correctly position the hand to hold the pencil to avoid calligraphy problems. Students sit with both feet on the floor and hips against the chair. Students can incline forward lightly if needed but do not curve their spine. Students ensure the surface where they are going to write is smooth and flat and at their proper height with the correct regular-sized pencil. Students can use pens once they are familiar with writing cursive in pencil. Teachers show the importance of the position of the paper when writing and that students should use the non-writing hand to hold the paper. The teacher verifies that students are following the indications and descriptions she taught by informally assessing as they write and adjust if needed. Differentiation based on student needs is the basis for teaching cursive. 

“Guía del maestro” includes a visual guide for teachers on how to trace letters in both Script and Cursive typefaces, with detailed explanations and visuals of the letters printed on lined paper with numbered arrows that allow teachers to identify the order and direction of the traces. The teacher explains the tracing and formation of letters in cursive and how the pencil should rarely be lifted when writing to ensure fluency. Students receive handouts with the cursive writing letters and the printed writing letters R6 to R8 so they can use them continuously as needed. The materials provide full-color and printable posters that remind students how to connect letters and the importance of their size and shape. In every lesson regarding word-decoding, there is only a small paragraph where they ask that students write the spelling words of the week either using a keyboard or with their own handwriting. “Pida a los estudiantes que escriban a mano o en un teclado las palabras de ortografía para practicar la caligrafía o el uso del teclado. Si es necesario, use los modelos de caligrafía de la sección de recursos de esta Guía del maestro.” 

Instructional materials provide support for discussing capital letters and directions to read cursive writing. In the teacher’s guide, instructions include directions on how to practice cursive writing. The Teacher’s Guide section on calligraphy offers a detailed outline for teachers to teach cursive handwriting not within a specific module. Teachers are provided with background knowledge students should have in cursive writing to be able to differentiate and check if they meet it. Background knowledge includes students being familiarized with “conceptos de tamaño (alto, bajo), letras abiertas y cerradas, letras mayúsculas y minúsculas, letra de imprenta y letra cursiva, el espaciamiento entre letras y palabras, y puntuación.” Teachers indicate to students that names begin with a capital and letters need to connect the upper with the lowercase. Teachers tell students to practice writing the names of states: Alabama, California, Florida, Nueva York. Teachers explain that some letters D, P, T, V, and W do not connect with the next letter. No evidence was found that instructional materials support year-long instruction in cursive handwriting.

Instructional materials include some support for teachers to evaluate the students’ handwriting development. The Recursos provide some guidance for assessing and measuring students’ writing development. Aside from providing a guide on how to trace letters in both Script and Cursive typefaces, the teacher resources include one brief paragraph that tells teachers how to assess students’ handwriting by suggesting to revise their own writing and checking if students are forming the letters correctly and using the adequate spacing and size for the letters. Teachers look for the appropriate spacing between words to make the text legible. Other than that, there is no evidence of guidance for assessment strategies to support students’ handwriting development. Instructional materials share a resource that includes opportunities for students to practice cursive handwriting.

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

Materials support students’ listening and speaking about texts. Speaking and listening opportunities allow students to demonstrate comprehension. Most oral tasks require students to use clear and concise information and well-defended text-supported claims to demonstrate the knowledge gained through analysis and synthesis of text.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

In Module 1, the text Vientos de esperanza includes open-ended questions for students to collect details to support their answer. Examples of the questions are as follows: “¿Qué detalles del texto muestran cómo afectó la sequía a William y su familia? ¿Qué hace William para encontrar las partes que necesita para construir un molino de viento? ¿Qué clase de destrezas para resolver problemas demuestra tener mientras está trabajando?” The teacher displays the terms irrigar, inspector, fotografiado, auditorio, empobrecidos and prestigioso and explains the vocabulary from the text. Students include the terms in their responses to the questions provided. 

In Module 2, the teacher reminds students to use text evidence to support their learning and demonstrate the knowledge gained with “comenten lo que aprendieron sobre el lenguaje figurado y cómo este ayuda a los lectores a apreciar y comprender mejor un cuento.” Students make annotations from the text to collect details to support their answers. 

Instructional materials provide activities for oral tasks to use clear and concise information and include opportunities for students to show what they understand about a concept. In  Module 3, the Teacher’s Guide prompts the teacher to engage students in using anchor charts to ask the right questions to share information. Examples of the instructions are as follows: “Muestre el Cartel didáctico 49: 3 preguntas importantes y comente la Pregunta principal. Diga a los estudiantes que se van a hacer estas preguntas cuando se encuentren con información nueva, confusa o difícil en un texto de no ficción.” The teacher displays “Cartel didáctico 33: Cómo participar en un debate.” Students receive a topic and annotate the findings. In partners, students share the writing and the second partner provides the first partner feedback on the writing. The first partner listens carefully and applies the feedback from the second partner. Students switch roles and continue. 

Students use text-supported claims to demonstrate comprehension during speaking and listening activities. For instance, in Module 5, when they are listening to the read-aloud “Los eclipses de la Señorita Mitchell” students annotate as they listen, and then respond to open-ended questions such as “¿Qué saben ahora acerca de la exploración científica y los descubrimientos que no sabían antes?” As they listen to the read-aloud, the teacher pauses to check for understanding with questions such as “¿Cómo descubrió Fleming lo que podía hacer el moho? ¿Creen que Fleming habría hecho su descubrimiento si hubiera mantenido su laboratorio más ordenado? ¿Por qué?” 

The materials provide speaking and listening opportunities through other parts of the lesson. For example, in Module 7, while learning about text features, students select an illustration from the book and write a paragraph about what they think the image represents. Students trade the paper with another partner who then agrees or disagrees with what was written. The teacher guides students through a debate by following the materials’ guidance: “Pida a los estudiantes que debatan lo que han aprendido de las características del texto y elementos gráficos y cómo ayudan a los lectores a comprender mejor el texto.”

In Module 7, students read the text Hacia lo desconocido de arriba a abajo and engage in collaborative conversations and take turns listening and speaking to build comprehension of text in the unit. Students reread the text and discuss with a partner “¿Qué te dicen los esfuerzos de Auguste Piccard para explorar la estratosfera sobre cómo era él?” Students engage in structured conversations with thinking partners where they discuss ideas and find answers to questions supported by text evidence. To facilitate conversations and answering questions, the teacher displays the terms vasto, cosmicos, principio, navegantes, ascender, and forjado and explains the vocabulary from the text. Students include the terms in their responses. 

In Module 11, students use questions to discuss poems they wrote and use feedback from members of their group to revise their poems. The teacher displays the anchor chart “Elementos de la poesía.” Students use the anchor chart to revise the poem with a partner. While working in cooperative groups, students use the following questions to drive their discussions: “¿Quién cuenta la historia? ¿Quiénes son los personajes en este poema? ¿Este poema tiene rimas?” Students provide oral feedback to partners. Students annotate the feedback provided and use it to revise their poems. 

Evaluation for 3.C.2
Materials engage students in productive teamwork and in student-led discussions, in both formal and informal settings.

Materials engage students in productive teamwork and in student-led discussion in both formal and informal settings. Materials provide guidance and practice with grade-level protocols for discussion to express their own thinking, develop social communication skills, organize presentations/performances, and use nonverbal communication when presenting before an audience.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The materials provide structured collaborative activities for students to participate in classroom discussions. In Module 3, teachers facilitate Think-Pair-Share discussions. Students get into pairs and use the routine “Pensar-Emparejarse-Compartir para comentar sus ideas y compartirlas con el grupo.” Steps for this activity include “Piensen, Esperen, Compartan, Escuchen, Resuman, Hagan Preguntas, Cambien y Repitan.” 

Instructional materials include suggestions for students to develop social communication skills that are appropriate to their grade level. Students create anchor charts to ask and answer questions. In Module 3, the Teacher’s Guide includes activities that allow students to practice how to ask and answer questions. Teachers display “Cartel didáctico 1: Hacer y contestar preguntas.” Teachers remind students that the question they use will include the words “quién, qué, cuándo, dónde, por qué y cómo.” Materials offer sentence stems along with the skills being taught to facilitate conversations. For example, Module 4 includes the following sentence stems: “Proporcione oraciones para completar para ayudar a los estudiantes a sintetizar ideas de lo que leerán: Leo el título y pienso que.... También veo las ilustraciones y pienso que.... ” 

The materials provide multiple protocols and opportunities for students to engage in discussions. For example, in every module, there is one phase of the project that needs to be completed weekly, and students work in teams to do so. For the project in Module 5, students create a TV commercial about an ecological lifestyle. During the first week, students collaborate to brainstorm and research ideas on ways to protect the environment. As they conduct research, students annotate the ideas on a shared document. Week 2 continues with students drafting, editing, and revising the script for the ad. The following week, they plan and prepare a presentation of their script. Teacher guidance includes “Pida a los estudiantes que practiquen la presentación con un grupo pequeño. Mientras los estudiantes presentan, recuérdales que deben hablar con claridad y a un ritmo natural, usar gestos y hacer contacto visual con el público.”

Speaking and listening opportunities are provided for students. After every reading passage, students participate in a collaborative conversation about the text, and the book provides ideas for better listening and speaking practices. For example, in Module 5, after reading “Cotorras para Puerto Rico,” the materials include tips for listening such as “Escucha silenciosa y atentamente mientras los demás comparten sus ideas. Piensa cómo se relacionan sus ideas con las tuyas.” The tips for speaking are: “Habla lenta y claramente, dando tiempo para que los demás piensen en tus ideas y respondan a ellas.” Teachers provide students with sentence stems when working in small groups found in the “minilecciones del rotafolio de mesa.” For example, in the lesson about summarization, the materials suggest, “Las ideas más importantes son.... El resumen debería incluir….”

Throughout the modules, there are opportunities for students to give organized presentations and speak in a clear and concise manner. For example, at the end of every project that students do throughout each module, students give an oral presentation to the class of the project they worked on. The teacher gives students time to organize the presentation and practice with partners before presenting to the audience. In Module 7, materials provide teachers with suggestions when students deliver a presentation. Students practice first with a small group, and as they present, they are reminded to speak “con claridad y a un ritmo natural, usar gestos y hacer contacto visual con el público.” However, no lessons or techniques were explained as to how to develop voice expression or how to develop the correct use of gestures to communicate.

Throughout the modules, students have opportunities for small group rotations and collaborative conversations after each unit. In Module 9, after reading La biblioteca del señor Linden, students work in partners to discuss ideas about new learning and responses to critical thinking questions. Students work with partners to respond to guided discussion questions and provide details from the text to support their ideas: “¿Qué aprendemos acerca de la exploración marina en el video? ¿A qué otros animales se parecen los animales mencionados en el video? Da algunos ejemplos.” The teacher reminds students, “Haz preguntas sobre las respuestas de otra persona y agrega detalles del video o tus propios comentarios para desarrollar más el tema.”

In Module 10, students publish argumentative letters and present essays. Teachers model expectations of presenting in front of the class with an anchor chart E17 “Consejos sobre cómo presentar.” The anchor chart highlights tips to ensure the purpose of the presentation is clear, such as “mire a la audiencia, el contacto visual hace que la audiencia preste atención; hable de manera clara y precisa; haga que la audiencia pueda escucharle y comprenda bien; use un lenguaje corporal natural como sonreír y usar sus manos durante la presentación; evite el lenguaje coloquial informal; habla más formalmente que cuando hablas con un amigo.” Students share their letters aloud. Teachers encourage students to ask each other questions about their presentation and remind them of the rules when asking them. “Recuerde a los oyentes que estén atentos y sean educados y que, si lo desean, tomen notas.” Students answer questions with details learned from the research.

Evaluation for 3.D.1
Materials engage students in both short-term and sustained recursive inquiry processes to confront and analyze various aspects of a topic using relevant sources.

Materials engage students in both short-term and sustained recursive inquiry processes to confront and analyze various aspects of a topic using relevant sources. Materials support identification and summary of high-quality primary and secondary sources. Materials support student practice in organizing and presenting their ideas and information in accordance with the purpose of the research and the appropriate grade level audience and provide guidance to use an appropriate mode of delivery. 

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

Instructional materials include instruction on research skills and support student skill practice on different topics. Materials provide opportunities for students to learn about generating questions for a specific topic. In Module 1, the Teacher’s Guide includes activities for students to practice research skills. The activity prompts the teacher to guide students on developing questions for a given topic: “Pida a los estudiantes que hagan una lista de preguntas relacionadas con su pregunta de enfoque de las que les gustaría tener respuesta.” Students create a list of questions that can be used for their project. 

Instructional materials include various levels of rigor for research projects. The modules begin with a general plan on how to do research, and lessons become more rigorous as the year progresses. Module 1 provides a general activity to initiate research, while Module 2 includes more detail regarding sources to navigate in order to complete tasks. In Module 4, the Teacher Guide includes a task for students to determine whether the information obtained is appropriate for the given topic. The teacher demonstrates how to evaluate information: “Diga a los estudiantes que, para interpretar y analizar lo que leen y lo que oyen, tienen que evaluar el sesgo y la precisión de las fuentes de medios.” Students take notes on the information found for their research. 

The materials include explicit instruction in research skills. For example, in Writer’s Workshop Module 7, the teacher explains to students that they have to do some research, and together they brainstorm what sources could be useful to find information. The teacher displays the “Cartel didáctico E10, Elementos de la Investigación” to teach students what primary and secondary sources are, provide suggestions of reliable sources, and teach about things that are unacceptable in research, like plagiarism. In Lesson 6 of this module, students learn in detail examples of primary and secondary sources and learn step by step how to evaluate the sources to select the ones that will be most helpful to them. In Lessons 7 and 8, students evaluate the credibility of the information gathered. In Lesson 9, students begin drafting the project after learning how to paraphrase to avoid plagiarism. The materials also provide students with a graphic organizer that will help them take notes as they conduct their research. 

Research projects throughout the year have different levels of rigor depending on the focus of the lesson. For example, for the research project included in every module, the focus is not on how to conduct research but rather how to use the knowledge and skills learned during the module in a practical application. In Module 6, the instructions on how to conduct research are brief:  “Recuérdeles que existen muchas fuentes de investigación que pueden usar más allá de las lecturas de miLibro, como biografías y libros informativos, sitios web, e imágenes en línea e impresas. Diga a los estudiantes que, a medida que encuentran información, deben anotarla y citar la fuente.” In Writer’s Workshop Module 7, the focus is to conduct an investigation in order to develop a research report. They devote four entire lessons to finding and evaluating the primary and secondary sources, collecting and sorting information, and taking notes prior to starting their report.

In Module 9, students generate ideas, investigate, and present a research paper. Students work in groups to conduct research and gather evidence from a variety of sources. Teachers establish the purpose of the module and how to gather research. The teacher groups students to write a description of a detective job. Teachers develop the theme by explaining that detectives conduct investigations to resolve mysterious events. Students work in pairs to think and share what they know about detectives’ jobs and why they are important. Students write a description of the job to explain the responsibilities of a detective to new employees of an agency. Students connect learning to the mysteries presented earlier in the module. Students explain how the mysteries would be solved through the lens of a detective. In groups, students create an idea board where they write ideas and quotes. Teachers go over the various types of sources in addition to the student ebook, such as informative books, encyclopedias, magazines, websites, newspaper articles, and interviews. Teachers guide students with “Comienza tu investigación. Recuerda que las fuentes confiables incluyen libros y biografías informativos, sitios educativos e imágenes en línea e impresas, de obras de arte.” Students find information in the sources above and cite their sources. Although the lesson doesn’t specify whether sources are primary or secondary, there are a variety of sources provided as examples, and it is understood that students have gathered the knowledge on primary and secondary sources in third and fourth grade.

All modules have an embedded research project that synthesizes what they learned and allows students to make connections. For example, in Module 10, students connect what they have learned about animals by researching collaboratively, generating ideas, investigating, and presenting the project. Students create a page in a scientific magazine about animals. Teachers develop the theme by explaining that scientific magazines bring information categorized in different sub-themes about the main topic, in this case, animals. Students share examples of things they have learned from magazines. Students write an article about an animal in a scientific magazine. Teachers guide students to think about how the authors from the texts gave life to animals they wrote about and how they made connections with the audience. Students share ideas and plans to establish connections with the audience about animals. Students work on research in small groups. Students begin by generating ideas through “lluvia de ideas,” where they share quotes and information from the investigation. Students use a variety of sources to gather their data and cite the sources. Teachers guide students with “Registra de dónde proviene tu información. Incluye fuentes de internet con la dirección completa del sitio, la fecha en la que lo visitaste y citas textuales que quieras usar. Para llevar registro de tu investigación, puedes usar programas para tomar notas o fichas sencillas para anotar.”

Evaluation for 3.E.1
Materials contain interconnected tasks that build student knowledge and provide opportunities for increased independence.

Materials contain interconnected tasks that build student knowledge and provide opportunities for increased independence. Questions and tasks are designed to help students build and apply knowledge and skills in reading, writing, speaking, listening, thinking, and language. Materials contain a coherently sequenced set of high-quality, text-dependent questions and tasks that require students to analyze the integration of knowledge and ideas within individual texts as well as across multiple texts. Tasks integrate reading, writing, speaking, listening, and thinking, including components of vocabulary, syntax, and fluency, as needed, and provide opportunities for increased independence.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The materials interconnect activities to practice integrated skills. In Module 1, the Teacher’s Guide includes a task designed for students to read, speak, write, listen, think, and apply the objective. Students engage in a “Proyecto de investigación” to create an invention and a business plan: “trabajarán en grupos para crear un invento y el esquema de un plan de negocios para promoverlo. Luego los presentarán a la clase.” The Teacher’s Guide includes objectives and suggestions to facilitate the project. Teachers remind students of the resources available to complete the project and provide opportunities for students to develop ideas using sentence stems: ”Un invento que facilita la vida es.... Este ayuda a las personas al....”

Instructional materials provide activities for increased independence. For example, materials include sentence stems to help students develop oral language. In Module 3, the teachers provide sentence stems at the beginning of the module, such as “Un...es un peligro natural.” The sentence stems increase in complexity, such as “Un sismógrafo se usa para....” Students use the stems to engage in listening, speaking, and thinking tasks. Teachers prompt students to look for evidence in the text to support the responses. Student responses include how the evidence helps them better understand the text.

The materials follow a coherent sequence of text-focused tasks and activities that integrate multiple literacy skills and provide opportunities for increased independence. The end of every module includes a Proyecto de investigación that allows students to synthesize the learning throughout the module. For example, in Module 7, the task is to write a teaching article about a scientific discovery. The materials provide tips on the organization of the article, content, vocabulary, and language. The teacher displays the following questions: “¿Cuáles de los conceptos científicos explicarás? ¿Cómo se conectan con una de las exploraciones sobre las que leíste?” Students complete the graphic organizer with the main idea and the details, and they use the vocabulary found in the module. 

Interconnected tasks are multifaceted, integrating reading, writing, speaking, thinking, and listening as well as including components of vocabulary, syntax, and fluency, as needed, including comprehension standards and content knowledge. In every reading passage, materials activate prior knowledge with scaffolding questions: “¿Qué hay en el fondo de nuestros océanos? ¿Hay agua en Marte? ¿Qué hay en una caverna?” Materials include a review of the vocabulary students encounter and a brief introduction about the author or the topic to develop context. After reading, students participate in a collaborative discussion where they respond to questions related to the text, then develop a short writing project related to what they read. For example, in Module 7, to activate prior knowledge and scaffold the learning, before reading Hacia lo desconocido, arriba y abajo, students write about what they know and what they would like to know about the exploration of the oceans and the atmosphere. Teachers present six vocabulary words defined in context and a brief introduction to the author Stewart Ross and the illustrator, Stephen Biesty. During reading, if students click on the “Play audio” button, students hear the text read aloud, and vocabulary words are highlighted in yellow for students to focus on them. Once finished, students work in teams to answer text-based questions like “¿Qué te dicen los esfuerzos de Auguste Piccard para explorar la estratosfera sobre cómo era él?” Students develop a writing project about a newspaper article about one of the explorations, describing the challenges and its findings.

The materials contain a coherently sequenced set of high-quality, text-dependent questions and tasks. In Module 10, students use “Mapa de conocimientos 10.1” to annotate “comportamiento humano y animal.” Throughout the reading, students add information about what they find in the text. At the end of the module, students synthesize what they learned about the theme and make connections to themselves, society, and other genres. Teachers model through a think-aloud how to respond to the questions. The teacher states, “Mientras reviso el texto, busco evidencia de las formas en que la autora le da vida a Willie B. y las emociones que el lector experimenta cuando lee sobre su vida. Uso imágenes literarias similares en mi resumen. Incluyo una escena final que haga que los espectadores reaccionan con gran emoción y recuerden la historia de Willie.” After reading, students engage in a writing activity by writing a summary: “Ahora escribe tu resumen de la película sobre la vida de Willie B.” Students find evidence on how the author gives life to Willie B. and the mood created for readers when learning about him. Students include “evidencia del texto que causa una fuerte reacción emocional.”

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

Materials provide spiraling and scaffolded practice. Materials support distributed practice over the course of the year for students to demonstrate integration of literacy skills that spiral over the school year.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The materials reinforce skills mastered through different tasks. Materials include the resource “Minilecciones del rotafolio de mesa: Lectura” to provide guidance to ensure students master the intent of the standard. The teacher adjusts instruction for students to understand unknown words, such as “Busquen una palabra desconocida en el texto e identifiquen pistas de su significado.” Students practice finding unknown words and determining the meaning using context clues. 

Instructional materials include scaffolds and supports for students to demonstrate integration of literacy skills, such as the study of informational texts. In Module 3, the Teacher’s Guide allows students to practice “características del texto y elementos gráficos.” Students apply the skill and practice “el uso de las características del texto y elementos gráficos para comprender mejor las ideas importantes de lugares estadounidenses, ideales estadounidenses.” In Module 6, the Teacher’s Guide provides another opportunity to study informational text. Teachers display “Cartel didáctico 18: Estructura del texto,” and state, “las autoras pueden usar una estructura del texto para el texto completo o una variedad de estructuras dentro de un texto, según sea su propósito y la información que presenten.” Materials guide teachers with, “Mientras señala las partes correspondientes del Cartel didáctico, explique lo siguiente: las palabras y frases de transición ofrecen pistas de la estructura de un texto. Reconocer las estructuras del texto sirve para que los lectores comprendan cómo se conectan las ideas y los acontecimientos.”

The materials provide a scope and sequence chart for targeted skills. Modules cover skills that are key to developing reading comprehension, like summarization, point of view, text features, questioning, or text structure. The skills are repeatedly addressed within and across the units to ensure students master the full intent of the standard. For example, the skill of “monitor comprehension” is included in various modules, i.e., Module 1, Module 4, Module 5, and Module 6. However, the materials address other skills more specific to a genre in only one or two units. For example, the materials only cover elements of poetry in Modules 6 and 8. There is no evidence that the tasks increase in complexity and rigor as the students review these skills.

Instructional materials include scaffolds and supports, including options for additional practice for students. For example, section “Bienvenidos al módulo” provides ideas to scaffold and build on prior knowledge and making connections. Teachers inform students “que van a empezar a desarrollar sus conocimientos sobre líderes comunitarios y otros que producen cambios.” Materials include visuals, “carteles didácticos,” video tutorials, and a resource called “Guiding Principles and Strategies” for teachers. For example, Module 7 begins with students creating a concept web to add information as they progress through the module. In the center students write “Líderes de la comunidad,” and branch out the concepts Pura Belpré, residentes, Agricultor Will Allen e Isatou Ceesay. Throughout the module, students contribute ideas based on the learning and include “personas reales y narran sus sentimientos con respecto a los acontecimientos.”

Students answer increasingly complex questions from module to module. In Module 9, after reading La biblioteca del senor Linden, students respond to the text by engaging in collaborative conversations, answering critical thinking questions, and citing text evidence. For example, the first question states, “¿Qué pensamientos y acciones de Carol demuestran que es curiosa por naturaleza?” The last question is “¿Crees que será capaz de dejar de leerlo? Explica.”

Instructional materials include scaffolds and supports for students to demonstrate integration of literacy skills. In Module 9, teachers display the “Anchor Chart E11: Elementos de la poesía” and explains elements of poetry. Teacher begins with Texto de enfoque: Quiere a ese perro to model the elements of poetry. The materials guide teachers with “Comente las imágenes sugeridas por algunas de las palabras y frases. Señale que la poesía depende del lenguaje vívido.” Students review structure before writing. Students use the mentor text and materials guide teachers with, “Diga a los estudiantes que escribirán un poema lírico en este módulo. Pregunte: ¿En qué se diferencian la poesía en general y el poema lírico? Recuérdeles los Elementos de la poesía que comentaron en la lección 3.” Students see the connection between the text they read and text written by them. 

Evaluation for 4.1
Materials provide systematic instruction and practice of foundational skills, including opportunities for phonics and word analysis skills (e.g., examination of grade-level prefixes and suffixes, decoding of multisyllabic words by using syllabication, and automaticity with grade-level orthographic rules and patterns).

Materials provide systematic instruction and practice of foundational skills, including opportunities for phonics and word analysis skills. Materials include a research-based sequence of skills, systematic instruction, and word analysis skills as delineated in the TEKS for grades 3–5. Materials provide opportunities for students to practice grade-level word recognition, apply word analysis, build spelling knowledge, and achieve grade-level mastery. Materials specifically attend to supporting students in need of effective remediation.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

Instructional materials provide opportunities for students to practice decoding words. Materials guide teachers to display examples of familiar words to illustrate the pronunciation. In Module 2, the Teacher’s Guide includes a lesson for teachers to decode words stressed on the third/last syllable known as “Palabras esdrújulas.” The teacher displays the word húmedo to emphasize the syllable hú. The teacher shares a word bank to show more examples of words stressed on the third/last syllable and reads aloud words while pointing out the accent in each word. Students work with partners and ask each other words with accent marks. An example of the instructions is: “Lea las palabras en voz alta, poniendo énfasis en la antepenúltima sílaba y mostrando el acento ortográfico en todas las palabras de la tabla.” 

The materials include activities for students to practice words with soft r. In Module 3, the Teacher’s Guide includes a lesson for teachers to explain the soft /r/ is used when the letter goes after consonants b, c, d, f, g, p, and t. The teacher displays the words “broma, madres, ogro, and otro” to emphasize the soft sound of r. Students read aloud words and ask their partner why the letter r is pronounced softly. Instructions include: “Lea en voz alta los ejemplos de cada columna, enfatizando el sonido /r/ suave de cada palabra.”

Instructional materials provide opportunities for students to practice and apply word analysis skills. Materials include activities where students determine the meaning of unfamiliar words. In Module 3, the Teacher’s Guide provides a lesson on synonyms and antonyms. The teacher uses the resource titled “Mostrar y Motivar” to display sentences to show how synonyms and antonyms can help students understand unknown words. Students read aloud three to five sentences and determine a synonym or antonym from bold words. Teachers remind students “que los sinónimos y los antónimos son claves del contexto.” 

The materials include lessons for students to determine the meanings of homophones and homographs to better understand what they read. In Module 4, the Teacher’s Guide advises teachers to ensure students know the differences between homographs and homophones. The teacher displays Mostrar y Motivar and models how to recognize homophones and homographs using the first two sentences of the resource. Students read quietly sentences three and four and determine which pair of words are homophones and homographs. Sentences for homophones state “Yo me río siempre que escucho un buen chiste. ¿Quién va por el río en ese bote a remos?” For homographs, the sentences read “Si no ves bien, debes ir al oculista. Una vez invitamos a papá a un restaurante japonés.”

In the Teacher Resources, the supplemental “Taller de Destrezas Fundamentales: Fonética y Decodificación” lists a phonics scope and sequence. In Lesson 1, the focus is open syllables (p, s, m, t, n, l, f, d, r, b); Lesson 2 closed syllables (-l, -s, -n, -m, -r); Lesson 3 Hard and Soft consonant sounds (ca, co, cu, ce, ci, ga, go, gu, ge, gi). The resource lists lessons; however, it displays the note “Resource coming soon”; therefore, the materials were not analyzed.

The materials provide practice for decoding words. Every module includes lessons on decoding. For example, in Module 6, students decode copretérito verb tenses, which end in -ía or -aba. The teacher models decoding words cantaba, temía, and vivía and highlights that imperfect endings for verbs whose base forms end in -er and -ir always carry a written accent on the i to break the diphthong. The teacher displays the imperfect conjugation of the verb cantar and explains the only time it carries a written accent mark is when conjugated with nosotros (cantábamos) because it is esdrújula. The teacher displays a list of the imperfect conjugations of adornar, comer, and subir, and students decode the words, emphasizing the stressed syllables. The materials provide activities for students to practice the skill by reading a list of words, inferring the meanings, and working in pairs: “Pida a los estudiantes que vuelvan a leer en parejas las líneas de Combinar y leer y que se pregunten por qué llevan tilde algunas formas verbales.” No evidence was found on practices for encoding words.

The materials include systematic instruction of orthographic rules and patterns. The materials include explicit instruction for understanding prefixes, suffixes, root words, syllabification, etc. For example, in Module 7, students focus on suffixes -ificar, -ismo, and -ista. The lesson provides a structure for decoding. For example, to decode the words on the anchor chart “Mostrar y motivar: Vocabulario generativo,” the teacher models how to figure out the root word from which those words derive. Students decode clasificar, conformismo, trompetista and figure out the root word from which each given word comes. Students work in pairs, completing a fill-in-the-blanks exercise.

The materials develop grade-level phonics patterns and word analysis. For example, Module 10, “Vistazo a la semana,” provides a phonics scope and sequence. Teachers explain that languages, including Spanish, change over time by incorporating words from other languages. The teacher displays the word “chofer,” indicating it comes from French. The teacher models how to decode the word and tells students, “Imaginen que no reconocí esta palabra. Veo dos sílabas. Pero no sé cuál es la sílaba tónica. Veré el diccionario. Dice que se puede escribir chófer o chofer, así que puede pronunciarse como aguda o grave.” The teacher demonstrates how words from other languages are adapted in Spanish by stating that words that are adopted from another language usually maintain the original pronunciation, but the spelling is sometimes adapted. The teacher displays a chart with words and reads them aloud, pointing out unknown spelling patterns in Spanish, such as “flash” and “kiwis.” The teacher displays “Mostrar y motivar: Decodificar 10.1” and guides students to read the words aloud, providing student feedback if needed. The teacher prompts conversation with the following question: “¿Ven algunas palabras que contengan patrones ortográficos inusuales?” The teacher guides students to find a word with an unusual spelling pattern. Students work with partners to read the words in “Combinar y leer” to each other and look up words in the dictionary to know the language of origin.

In Module 10, the “Reading Workshop,” materials provide minilessons to work with small groups in need of scaffolding and reinforcement of skills. Materials provide a scaffolded “Minilecciones del rotafolio de mesa” for teachers in addition to the main lesson. The lesson begins with “Anclar el concepto,” a review of the first teach. The second step is “Aplicar al texto.” Students receive a new text to apply the skill, and the teacher scaffolds the practice with the students. Teachers ask, “¿Quiénes son los personajes? Descríbelos. ¿Cuándo ocurre este cuento? ¿Qué palabras o detalles se usan para describirlo?” The last step is “Desarrollar la independencia,” where students apply the skill to the reminder of the text. The materials guide teachers to, “Pida a los estudiantes que trabajen individualmente o en parejas para terminar el texto actual o comenzar uno nuevo con el organizador gráfico como apoyo para analizar los elementos literarios.” The materials provide teachers with more ideas for additional support in the section “Apoyo adicional,” such as “Piensa-Dice-Hace” or “Dibújalo.”

Evaluation for 4.2
Materials include diagnostic tools and provide opportunities to assess student mastery, in and out of context, at regular intervals for teachers to make instructional adjustments.

Materials include diagnostic tools to assess student mastery at regular intervals for teachers to make instructional adjustments. Materials include tools to support and direct teachers to assess students’ growth on foundational skills (e.g., skill gaps in phonics and decoding) both in and out of context. Materials support teachers with guidance and direction to respond to individual students’ literacy needs and help students self-monitor, use context to confirm or self-correct understanding, and employ rereading when appropriate.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The materials include tools to support and direct teachers to assess students’ growth in and mastery both in and out of context. All modules provide weekly assessments for reading and writing skills. In Module 1, the Teacher's Guide includes “Evaluación y supervisión del progreso” to provide information about performance-based evaluations. Teachers used the “Pauta de calificación para respuesta construida” to evaluate the students’ performance at the end of each module. The resource titled “Pauta de calificación para respuesta construida” includes a rubric with scores: 0, 1, and 2 points. Teacher guidance includes, “La escritura de los estudiantes se puede evaluar de acuerdo con la pauta de calificación provista para la forma de escritura del módulo.” Students use the rubric by applying components of the rubric to their writing to obtain the 2 points.

Instructional materials include guidance for teachers to work with students to self-monitor. Materials include printable pages for teachers to model how to read texts and discuss techniques students may use to read accurately. In Module 1, the Teacher's Guide offers instructions for teachers to distribute printable page 1.6 to model how to read the passage using self-corrective strategies. The teacher reads a passage and makes a mistake to model the self-correct technique. The materials guide teachers with, “Haga una pausa y demuestre cómo usar las destrezas de decodificación y el contexto para corregir su pronunciación.” Students work in pairs to read a passage aloud and practice self-correct strategies.

Assessments consistently occur over the course of the year and are varied. The materials provide a weekly assessment that includes a reading comprehension passage with questions and a writing passage for correction. The materials also provide module assessments, which include reading and writing along with an online evaluation for “Growth Measure” administered at the beginning, the middle, and the end of the year. The materials provide “Evaluaciones de diagnóstico” and “Evaluaciones para verificar el progreso.” These assessments address all foundational literacy skills, like phonics, word recognition, and fluency, and they provide forms to keep a record of each student’s data and growth.

Assessments include directions for the teacher on how to administer them and how to evaluate them. For example, to assess fluency, the diagnostic and progress assessments even provide the scripted instructions of what the teacher needs to tell the students: “Diga: Lee el siguiente pasaje en voz alta. Léelo lo mejor que puedas. No puedo ayudarte, así que si encuentras una palabra que no sabes, haz lo mejor que puedas. Después de que leas, te pediré que vuelvas a contar el pasaje con tus propias palabras. Si el estudiante se detiene en una palabra y no continúa, espere aproximadamente cinco segundos y luego anímelo a seguir leyendo, diciendo: Por favor, intenta seguir. No le diga la palabra. Después de la lectura, pida al estudiante que vuelva a contar el pasaje con sus propias palabras.”

Throughout each module, teachers receive explicit guidance and instruction on how to teach a skill through introduction, guided practice, modeled thinking, cooperative groups, and independent student mastery. Materials provide tips, additional resources, and intervention sections, such as “Evaluar la comprensión que los estudiantes tienen de las destrezas clave de lectura y escritura, cubiertas durante cada semana de enseñanza.” For example, Module 9 provides teachers with suggestions for literacy centers, such as “mientras trabaja con grupos pequeños, otros estudiantes pueden trabajar de forma independiente en los centros de alfabetización. Preséntese las actividades semanales y publique una tarea diaria. Pida a los estudiantes que completen la página imprimible pase de salida.”

The materials support teachers with guidance and direction to respond to individual students’ literacy needs, based on tools and assessments appropriate to the grade level. Module 10 includes support to assess students’ growth and mastery of foundational skills. For example, teachers use the “Página Imprimible Oraciones para dictado 10.1” to give a preliminary assessment to determine students’ level of mastery in previous grade-level foundational skills on words from other languages and build on that. The lesson guides teachers by introducing the skill, guided practice, cooperative group application of the skill, and independent mastery of the skill with embedded evaluations. “Pagina Imprimible Corregir 10.1” is a short assessment where students “busquen una palabra que tenga un patrón ortográfico inusual, como yogur.”

Evaluation for 4.3
Materials provide frequent opportunities for students to practice and develop oral and silent reading fluency while reading a wide variety of grade-appropriate texts at the appropriate rate with accuracy and expression to support comprehension.

Materials provide frequent opportunities for students to practice and develop oral and silent reading fluency while reading with accuracy and expression to support comprehension. Materials provide students opportunities to read grade-level texts as they make meaning and build foundational skills. Materials include explicit instruction and provide students opportunities with fluency, including phrasing, intonation, expression, accuracy, and corrective feedback on phrasing intonation, expression, and accuracy.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

Instructional materials provide opportunities for students to develop reading skills and make meaning of grade-level texts. Materials include selections that are grade-level appropriate with opportunities for students to determine important ideas of what they just read. Every module provides a section titled “Vistazo a los textos” with a summary of the text, including Lexile level and skills found in the text. In Module 1, the Teacher's Guide offers lessons with specific skills embedded for each selection. For example, “Diga a los estudiantes que, mientras leen, deben buscar la idea principal o fundamental dentro del texto. Señale que los autores incluyen detalles que apoyan una idea principal o dan más información sobre ella. Este apoyo abarca ejemplos, hechos, evidencia o descripciones.” Students practice the reading skill after teachers state that, “mientras leen, deben buscar la idea principal o fundamental dentro del texto.” Teacher point out “que los autores incluyen detalles que apoyan una idea principal o dan más información sobre ella. Este apoyo abarca ejemplos, hechos, evidencia o descripciones.”

Instructional materials provide opportunities and routines for teachers to monitor and provide feedback on fluency components. Materials include suggestions for teachers to record the students’ progress in oral reading fluency. The resource titled “Formularios de registro globales” includes printable pages for teachers to track the students’ progress in oral reading fluency. Materials provide passages for teachers to calculate the words-correct-per-minute (WCPM) for each student. The resource titled “Evaluaciones para verificar el progreso: Grado 4 a 6: Formularios 1 a 21” includes printable pages for teachers and students. The teacher page includes a section for the teacher to record how many words were read in a minute. Students use the same passage each time to read aloud. The resource titled “Guías para la administración y calificación” includes instructions for teachers to calculate the reading levels of the students and use data to determine the students’ needs in oral reading fluency. Example of instructions: “Analice los errores y autocorrecciones del estudiante en cada sección para identificar las áreas problemáticas y establecer un punto de partida para el refuerzo, el repaso y la práctica adicional.”

The materials provide varied practice opportunities over the course of the year for students to read both oral and silent reading. Every module includes texts from different genres that students read during the class. Materials provide a set of leveled readers for independent reading that students work with while in small groups or independently. The materials also include additional reading passages to practice fluency every week.

The materials provide explicit instruction in oral reading fluency, including instruction in phrasing, intonation, expression, and accuracy through weekly lessons. For example, in Module 6, the first lesson focuses on Accuracy and Self-correction, the second week focuses on Phrasing, and the third week focuses on Expression. Lessons provide explicit instruction by telling the teacher exactly what to do and how to model the skill. For example, in Module 6, in the lesson devoted to Expression, the teacher asks the students to follow the reading as he reads aloud the text, first in a monotonous tone and then with expression. “Al finalizar, vuelva a leer las líneas de diálogo, primero con un tono de voz desabrido y aburrido, y después con expresión. Pregunte a los estudiantes qué manera fue más entretenida y los ayudó a comprender el texto.” Students choral read and read with partners.

Materials provide opportunities over the course of the year for students to develop reading skills and make meaning of grade-level texts. Materials provide opportunities to retell, summarize, synthesize, visualize, determine important ideas, etc., to make meaning of what they just read. For example, in Module 8, after reading “Julia,” students participate in a collaborative conversation to develop the skill of visualization with questions like “¿Qué detalles te ayudan a ver cómo era el lugar donde vivía Julita y cómo fue su niñez?” Teachers also provide students a copy of the quick check “Prueba corta de lectura” that includes five multiple-choice questions about the text to check for understanding to assess comprehension of grade-level texts.

Materials include explicit instruction in fluency, including phrasing, intonation, expression, and accuracy. In Module 9, students receive opportunities over the course of the year to read with accuracy and fluency in every module. There are different types of texts and reading styles students use: independent, choral, peer reading, echo reading, etc. There are several reading elements students can practice: active listening for fluency, reading to understand with comprehension questions, active reading that has students go back to the text and respond to questions, and peer reading. Students develop independence and responsibility by practicing reading with partners and developing their fluency. Students read with partners to apply decoding skills taught in the lesson and make connections.

Materials provide students opportunities to read grade-level texts as they make meaning and build foundational skills. In Module 10, materials include explicit instruction in intonation on the fundamental lessons included in this module. The teacher introduces the lesson by decoding words and finding suffixes. The teacher sorts the list of printed words from “Tarjetas de palabras de ortografia 9.11” by either the suffix “-cion” or “-sion” into two columns. The teacher reads “cancion” and “tension” out loud and displays the words as column headings. The teacher models thinking out loud with the word “intencion” by saying, “La palabra es intención. Veo el sufijo -ción al final de la palabra. La pondremos debajo de canción, que también tiene el sufijo -ción. “ The teacher shows that word and continues modeling think-alouds with another word, “decision.” Students sort vocabulary cards from the same list and read the words aloud before placing them in their appropriate column. Students read down each list with the teacher to ensure they have been placed in the correct place. The teacher guides students to identify the verb from which each word with suffix -cion or -sion comes. The teacher asks, “From which verb does the word inscripción come? (from inscribir) And expresión? (from expresar).” The teacher repeats the process with the rest of the spelling words. Students practice handwriting or keyboarding by writing or typing the spelling words.

Evaluation for 5.1
Materials include developmentally-appropriate diagnostic tools (e.g. formative and summative progress monitoring) and guidance for teachers, students, and administrators to monitor progress.

Materials include developmentally appropriate diagnostic tools and guidance for teachers and students to monitor progress. Diagnostic tools are developmentally appropriate (e.g., formative, summative progress monitoring, observational, anecdotal, and formal). Materials provide guidance to ensure consistent and accurate administration and measure all content and process skills for SLAR, as outlined in the TEKS. Materials include tools for students to track their own progress and growth. 

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

Instructional materials include diagnostic tools for third through fifth grade. The materials contain an ample selection of materials for teachers to evaluate student learning week by week and module by module. Materials include formative and summative assessments designed to measure what the students can do independently. For example, every module includes weekly assessments, a module assessment, and a quiz for the stories. The weekly module assessments are based on content TEKS and consist of multiple-choice and open-ended questions and an electronic adapted version. Answer keys are provided with exemplar responses and SLAR TEKS for each question. The weekly assessments measure student learning in reading and writing skills. The reading section assesses comprehension and vocabulary, and the writing section focuses on grammatical skills taught. The reading assessment consists of two reading passages, one writing passage, and a composition. The composition correlates with the writing topic of the module.

The materials include another type of informal diagnostic tool. The “Guided Principles” materials recommend “At the beginning of the year, set up portfolios for all the students in your class.” Materials recommend these contain graded work and work samples from students to document growth over the year. Materials also recommend teachers add to the portfolio notes from guided reading groups, individual conferences, small group instruction, independent reading, and independent writing. Example of instructions in the resource: “One option is keeping a clipboard handy to take notes throughout the day. Another option is using a file folder with sticky notes to record observations for each student.”

The materials provide a formal diagnostic assessment at the beginning, middle, and end of the year. The diagnostic tool “HMH Growth Measure Lectura en Español” is an online, research-based student assessment that takes approximately 45 minutes for students to complete. It is used to understand the level students are performing and to group students based on skill levels. Materials provide reports that include the reading Lexile level, proficiency level, and growth from previous assessments. 

Instructional materials provide guidance to support teachers in understanding the types of assessments included. The “administración y calificación” section of the teacher’s edition is designed to support the teacher in understanding the purpose of the assessments. Materials provide an overview of the assessments and suggested time frames to administer them. The resource titled “Assessment and Differentiation” includes a suggested timeline to administer tests throughout the school year. The materials include support for teachers with information on daily assessments, intervention assessments, and guided reading assessments. For example, materials guide teachers with “Daily Formative Assessment: Use embedded opportunities for daily formative assessment along with Selection Quizzes. Then support or extend learning during small-group instruction. •Vocabulary •Reading Workshop •Foundational Skills •Writing Workshop.” Materials include rubrics to measure writing skills. The resource is available for all three grade levels. The resource “Assessment and Differentiation” includes a section titled “Assessing Writing and Projects,” where information is available about the criteria used to assess the students’ writing. For example, materials provide writing rubrics for opinion, narrative, informational text, and research writing. Each rubric consists of three areas: Organization and Presentation, Development of Ideas, and Use of Language and Conventions. In addition, a visual is provided to demonstrate how to use the rubrics. A four-step process is shared to score the students’ writing. Example of the instructions: “1. Print the rubric from Ed: Your Friend in Learning or copy the rubric from the Writing Workshop Teacher’s Guide. Use a copy to score each student’s work.”

Instructional materials provide guidance to support teachers in the administration of assessments. There are general guidelines to administer evaluations, such as “evaluations must be independent since responses are oral.” Teachers receive information regarding evaluation, such as not continuing if the student is distressed or grade the assessment after the student has left. The “administración y calificación” teacher’s edition section is designed to support the teacher in understanding the types of assessments and when to administer them. For example, the “Evaluaciones para verificar el progreso: Grados 2 a 6” guides teachers to administer independent oral fluency evaluations to every student every two weeks that will last between 3-5 minutes. Instructions require teachers to have a clock with seconds handy to tally the words per second for fluency. Teachers annotate in their “formulario de la prueba para el maestro” student responses and grades. The fluency story is retold by students and they receive a grade based on the following: 0- “Vuelve a contar sin enfoque, sin detalles o necesita que lo ayuden para hacerlo, Si el estudiante no puede responder o no respondió” 1- Puede que incluya la idea o problema principal, casi todos los sucesos importantes, algunos detalles. Vuelve a contar de forma organizada en secuencia por lo general, puede que contenga información errónea.” and the recommended score 3- “Incluye la idea o problema principal, los sucesos o información importantes, detalles de apoyo. Vuelve a contar de forma organizada en secuencia y es coherente.” There is a chart to interpret results from the fluency assessment to evaluate the students’ success in correct words per minute. The chart includes the guidelines of where students should be per grade level at the start, middle, and end of the year. 

The resource “Assessment and Differentiation” includes a section titled “Documenting Student’s Growth,” which provides suggestions for teachers to track students’ growth. Materials recommend portfolios for each student. Student’s portfolios include data from “Screening, Diagnostic, and Progress Monitoring Assessments, Weekly Assessments and Module Assessments, Writing Conferences, Writing and Project Rubrics, and Observation Notes.” Students track their own progress and growth in assessments and assignments using the scores tab on the “miLibro.” Students click the scores tab to see all the assessments taken, date submitted, due date, score, total items, and actions required. The assignments tab includes all assignments given by the teacher and the due date. Students click start, continue, or submit the assignment. Materials also provide a reading log for students to keep track of the books read during independent reading. Students annotate time spent reading and answer comprehension questions about the text. Materials guide teachers to encourage students to set reading goals for how much time they will spend reading every day: “As students head into independent reading time, have them set goals based on their reading history and how they’re feeling in that moment.” The materials give ideas to encourage students to keep track of reading: “Have students create a response journal in which they can document their responses to their independent reading books. Encourage students to note what they liked, what they didn’t like, and why.” In addition, the materials provide suggestions for teachers to share reading surveys with families to gather information about the students’ interests and use the information to support students with independent reading. Students use reading logs to monitor reading frequency and record learning.

Evaluation for 5.2
Materials include guidance for teachers and administrators to analyze and respond to data from diagnostic tools.

Materials include guidance for teachers and administrators to analyze and respond to data from diagnostic tools, including individual students’ needs and student progress appropriate to their developmental level. Diagnostic tools yield meaningful information for teachers to use when planning instruction and differentiation and leverage different activities to respond to student data. Materials provide guidance for administrators to support teachers in analyzing and responding to data.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

Instructional materials provide guidance to respond to individual students’ needs in literacy skills. Grades 3–5 have a resource titled “Assessment and Differentiation,” which includes a section titled “Screening, Diagnostic, and Progress-Monitoring Assessments” that provides teachers with information to understand the different diagnostic tools available to support individualized instruction. For example, an oral fluency assessment is available for teachers to assess a student's oral reading skills. The assessment focuses on “fluency, accuracy, and rate as well as provide important information about the student’s decoding strategies by using specific grade-level targeted vocabulary.” The resource shares the following information: “Based on the results and other observations, determine whether students would benefit from intervention instruction or require additional diagnostic testing.”

Materials support teachers with guidance and direction to respond to individual students’ needs in all domains to scaffold instruction and activities. The “Recomendaciones para la enseñanza basada en los datos” guides teachers to tailor instruction by using professional judgement, informal classroom observations, along with the diagnostic assessment, “tenga en cuenta su propio juicio profesional, las observaciones realizadas en clase y los resultados de otras evaluaciones.” The recommendation for teachers is to identify student needs using specific diagnostic data to identify key skills. Focus teaching on those needs, and provide intensive teaching based on the results from the evaluation. The guide also tells teachers to teach the main content with scaffolding and supports “apoyo escalonado” that includes “Cuaderno de la respuesta de lectura,” where students read and respond to a reading selection targeting the skill they need help in through the module. Teachers work collaboratively with other teachers if students are not able to make progress or need to receive the initial evaluation or another assessment tool according to student learning preferences. There is guidance to consult with specialists in the districts as needed once all steps have been followed to intervene.

Reports for online assessments have a grouping option that allows the teacher to group the students based on the assessment results for comprehension skills. The materials automatically group students based on results and place an equal number of students in each group. Teachers can manually group students based on data from formal and informal assessments. Once the students are grouped by skills, teachers assign the lessons or look up specific lessons for a given skill to adjust instruction to meet the student’s needs.

Growth Measure reports include scores about each student's achievement. Materials provide a comprehensive view of students’ needs for teachers to use when planning instruction and differentiation. The report includes a Scaled Score, Performance Level, Grade-Level Equivalency, and current Lexile® interval. Once a student has taken the assessment during two test windows in the school year, the report shows the Student Growth Index (SGI) on the Growth Report. The scores on the Student Growth Report inform teacher instructional next steps for each student, “Enfoque Su Enseñanza En Esas Necesidades: Brinde enseñanza intensiva con base en los resultados de las evaluaciones, utilizando el Taller de destrezas fundamentales y estudio de palabras.” In addition, the teacher obtains the reports by standards both at the class and student level and the class-level growth reports to identify whether a certain skill needs to be retaught to some specific students or the whole class. The teacher finds the resources, interventions, and small group reading to match student needs in these assessments.

Materials provide teacher guidance on selecting from a variety of activities in a way that responds to student data. For example, in “Recomendaciones para la enseñanza basada en los datos,” materials suggest that if the initial fluency assessment score is below level “por debajo del objetivo,” teachers administer the initial fluency assessment that corresponds to the previous grade. If students score below level on that assessment, follow the recommendations provided by the materials for that grade level. If the student scores above level in that assessment, teachers conduct the lessons of “Taller de destrezas fundamentales: fluidez de la lectura oral” with students while scaffolding the teaching of the current content. Teachers identify other skills students need additional help and utilize “Taller de Destrezas Fundamentales,” a separate supplemental that contain four sections: “Fluidez, Conciencia Fonológica, Fonética y decodificación, and Vocabulario.” Each supplemental contains additional lessons teachers use to work with students who need additional support in any of the skills. The digital platform provides the video “Differentiating for comprehension in Into Reading” to differentiate the lessons once the student groups have been organized. For example, materials guide teachers to “Use Tabletop Reading Minilessons to reinforce and extend comprehension skills introduced during Shared Reading, such as Central Idea or Make and Confirm Predictions.”

Materials provide a variety of resources and teacher guidance to differentiate student learning and provide different activities throughout the modules, although not in response to formal assessments. Teachers implement the module skills through Tier I instruction with a variety of instructional methods and student practice such as guided, independent, collaborative, whole group. Materials state, “Por medio del aprendizaje diario con toda la clase y en grupos pequeños, los estudiantes desarrollan sus conocimientos sobre el tema, así como el vocabulario académico y las destrezas de lectura, comunicación y escritura.” The materials guide teachers on how to introduce the skill, which instructional approach to use, and in what order. The materials in the unit include guidance on additional small group activities in the Reading and Writing Workshops, where teachers select skills students are struggling with or need extension. They also select activities in these workshops where they can reinforce literacy skills as needed. Materials do not provide guidance on connecting assessment data to differentiation.

Instructional materials include resources to guide administrators in supporting teachers in developing instruction to respond to data. Materials include a variety of online resources for professional learning. The online resource titled “Into Reading: Small Groups at Grades 3-5” is an article intended to coach classroom teachers on using data to form small groups and ongoing analysis to have dynamic groups. Information found in the online resource. Guidance states, “Your groups should remain flexible and fluid. This means that when you are not conducting guided reading, your groupings will change day-to-day and week-to-week depending on students’ specific needs at the time.” In addition, the online resource includes a section titled “Identifying the right resource” that provides recommendations to develop action plans to support student learning. The purpose of the section is to reference the resources available for the students’ needs. However, the online resource does not provide instructions on how the teacher can determine what activity is adequate for the students’ needs. Materials include suggestions for teachers to assign research assignments for students who are ready to enrich their learning. Materials include anchor charts and graphic organizers to reinforce comprehension skills. Materials provide short, less complex text for students who need intervention. For instance, Enrichment activities can be found on the resource “Take and Teach Lesson,” reteaching resources include “Tabletop Minilessons: Reading” and “Grammar Lessons,” and intervention resources are “Read and Respond Journal” and “Foundational Skills and Word Study Studio.” Although materials include online resources for teachers and administrators, no evidence was found on guidance for administrators in supporting data analysis.

Evaluation for 5.3
Materials include frequent, embedded opportunities for monitoring progress.

Materials include frequent, integrated formative assessment opportunities. Materials include routine and systematic progress monitoring opportunities that accurately measure and track student progress and are appropriate for the age and content skill.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

Instructional materials include systematic progress monitoring opportunities that measure and track student progress. Materials provide suggested checkpoints to gather information. The diagnostic tool “HMH Growth Measure Lectura en Español” provides a window of dates for the beginning of the year, middle of the year, and end of the year. For example, the dates for the end of the year are from March 6 to June 30. 

The materials include routine and systematic progress monitoring opportunities that accurately measure and track student progress. The opportunities are as follows: “Evaluación de la semana, Evaluación de lectura guiada, Evaluación del módulo, Evaluación en línea, Evaluaciones preliminar, diagnóstica y para verificar el progreso, Lecturas por niveles: Pruebas cortas, Lecturas por niveles: Pruebas cortas de comprensión, Preparación para la evaluación de Texas, and Pruebas cortas de las lecturas” along with a guide for teachers to conduct the evaluations. These multiple forms of assessments track individual students’ progress so teachers guide their instruction. The “Evaluación de la semana” is a weekly learning evaluation based on the content presented in the module. The skills learned weekly are evaluated, such as reading and vocabulary, and grammar for writing. The “evaluaciones de lectura guiada” are 10 question assessments that evaluate students’ comprehension. The “evaluacion del modulo” tests students’ understanding of Reading, Writing, and Foundational Skills from the module. The “evaluacion en linea” offers a short quiz for the readings in the module to assess students’ understanding of the selection presented. The other assessments listed above: “Evaluaciones preliminar, diagnóstica y para verificar el progreso, Lecturas por niveles: Prueba” offer additional forms of evaluation for teachers to check student understanding and progress.

Materials include formative assessments embedded in “Vistazo a la semana” as a weekly assessment of each module. For example, Lesson 1 from Week 1 focuses on reading skills and strategies and foundational skills. Teachers are guided, “Use each lesson’s Independent Practice and Engage and Respond tasks to determine whether students are meeting the learning objectives.”

The materials provide fluency assessments, weekly reading comprehension assessments for every module, and writing assessments. In the “Guiding Principles” document, the materials show a suggested timeline that specifies when students take each assessment. For example, students complete the weekly assessments during weeks 5, 10, and 14 of each module, whereas the module assessment is taken on week 15. The materials recommend that fluency assessments be administered every two weeks to monitor student progress in reading fluency. Another example of tracking progress is through the implementation of rubrics provided by the materials. There are rubrics to assess student writing during the writer's workshop, as well as student performance in the research projects that students develop every module.

The materials provide formal and informal assessments to monitor student performance. The formal assessments provided include fluency every two weeks; reading comprehension every week and every module; writing every week and every module; diagnostic and growth three times a year. However, except for the diagnostic/growth assessments, the other evaluations are meant to be completed in less than a lesson’s duration, which makes them appropriate for the age and skill development. For example, the weekly assessments contain five multiple-choice questions about a short reading passage and five multiple-choice questions related to revising and editing a text to assess writing skills. The fluency assessments measure how many words per minute a student can read, so it only takes one minute per student. Materials suggest conducting formative assessments daily to monitor student progress. Teachers collect this data through observation/anecdotal logs, student portfolios, implementation of rubrics, keeping a reading log, or student completion of a graphic organizer to demonstrate understanding.

Materials include recommendations for progress monitoring. The resource “Assessment and Differentiation” includes a section “Guías para la administración y calificación,” which suggests teachers administer oral assessments every two weeks. The resource recommends a time of “three to five minutes” to identify the challenging areas for “reteaching, review, and extra practice.” The data guides intervention groups and strategies. Students are assessed for comprehension and fluency rate. Teachers provide students with a passage to read from “Hojas reproducibles para dar estas pruebas según el nivel del grado.” Teachers record the words correct per minute (WCPM). Teachers use a rubric to evaluate: “Incluye la idea o problema principal, los sucesos o información importantes, detalles de apoyo, Vuelve a contar de forma organizada en secuencia y es coherente= 2. Puede que incluya la idea o problema principal, casi todos los sucesos importantes, algunos detalles, Vuelve a contar de forma organizada en secuencia por lo general, puede que contenga información errónea= 1. Vuelve a contar sin enfoque, sin detalles o necesita que lo ayuden para hacerlo. Si el estudiante no puede responder o no respondió= 0.” Materials also provide teachers with a table with information for grades 3–5 on fluency rates. The table includes an estimate of words per minute students should be at during the beginning of the year, middle of the year, and end of the year. For example, third grade has 60–75 words per minute for the beginning of the year, 72–86 for the middle of the year, and 85–99 for the end of the year. 

Evaluation for 6.1
Materials include guidance, scaffolds, supports, and extensions that maximize student learning potential.

The materials include guidance, scaffolds, supports, and extensions that maximize student learning potential. Activities guide students who have not yet mastered the content as well as those who have achieved grade-level mastery. In addition, the instructional materials provide enrichment opportunities for all levels of learners. 

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The targeted instruction begins with the teacher’s use of Intervention Assessments to place students in appropriate phonics lessons based on their needs and performance. The Teacher’s Guide provides explicit instruction with modeling and systematic instruction with scaffolding. Teachers provide frequent opportunities for student practice of phonics with constructive feedback. Teachers receive guidance on Explicit Instruction with Modeling, Systematic Instruction with Scaffolding, Frequent Opportunities for Responding and Practicing, Immediate Corrective and Affirmative Feedback, and Ongoing Progress Monitoring as an intervention for every unit and module.

The instructional materials offer targeted instruction and activities identified for students who have mastered content. In Module 1, the Teacher’s Guide suggests an activity titled “Visualización Activa” to develop and extend students’ background knowledge. Students respond to videos titled “Videos de mente.” The module also provides teacher guidance on building learning on what they already learned. For example, students develop a discussion and support findings with text evidence. Materials offer additional worksheets where students practice their learning and continue to build on what they learned already. Additionally, Module 1 provides text boxes titled: “Dual Language Settings: “Soporte Linguistico Adicional.” These text boxes offer support on how to adapt to the needs of the student. In the section called “Adapta la enseñanza a las necesidades de los alumnos,” there is an additional activity that takes the teacher to a PDF that says “Practica adicional de las destrezas.”

In Module 4, the Teacher’s Guide provides opportunities for teachers to build background knowledge. The teacher uses “Compañero de enseñanza” to guide students through an introduction to the module. The section titled “Centros de lectoescritura” suggests activities students can participate in during small group instruction. A center titled “Centro del proyecto” guides the teacher to assign an investigation about the risks and benefits of migrating west during the time of west expansion. Students track the requirements of the project independently in a printable page provided. In Module 5, the teacher uses the “Proyecto de Investigación” to enrich the students’ learning. It provides several options regarding extension of the students’ learning. In Module 7, the lessons provide independent activities for all learners to apply new skills. The independent practice allows students to find additional words and practice context clues with unknown words. The module offers additional literacy activities, such as connecting the reading with writing. 

Targeted instruction and activities are available for students who have not mastered the content. In Module 9, instructional materials guide teachers to reinforce Author’s Purpose in small groups. The activity labeled “Semejanzas lingüísticas: Texto informativo” suggests teachers share with students the type of text that is directly related to the author’s purpose. In Module 10, a digital center provides an opportunity for students to engage in reading and writing activities. The Teacher’s Guide explains how students practice their listening skills and develop their typing skills. A printable page titled “Registro de audición” is available for students to record their listening skills. 

Instructional materials present lessons and resources for students who have mastered content. The “Writing Workshop” section has additional writing prompts for extensions from “Writable.” Students use an adaptive learning tool that provides game-like practice in key skills and advances students at their own pace. Teachers use assessment tools to determine the best grade-level resources to support students and extend as needed. In Module 12, materials provide suggestions to support students who have not mastered proper nouns, punctuation, and spelling. The activity, “Apoyo para la gramática aprendida,” suggests additional practices a teacher can assign to students. Materials guide teachers to provide targeted instruction and additional support. Activities demonstrate a need for scaffolding instruction to students who have not mastered the content.

Evaluation for 6.2
Materials provide a variety of instructional methods that appeal to a variety of learning interests and needs.

Materials include a variety of instructional approaches to engage students in mastery of the content. Materials support developmentally appropriate multimodal instructional strategies, flexible grouping, multiple types of practices, and provide guidance and structures to achieve effective implementation.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

Materials include activities to engage students in collaborative groups. In Module 2, a section titled “Centros de lectoescritura” includes activities students can participate in in small group instructions. The section titled “Centro de vocabulario” contains instructions of what the students complete for that center. For example, students use the list of six super words related to the main idea of the text. Students list the words by importance or interest or use the words to create sentences. 

Instructional materials provide a variety of different approaches to engage students in mastery of the content. In each module, the Teacher's Guide provides a map of knowledge to develop understanding of the content each module offers. In Module 3, the map of knowledge provides an opportunity for students to learn about natural disasters, how to stay safe while they happen, and how to connect this information with their life. Students add vocabulary words to their “cuaderno del escritor” as the text introduces the words. Students work with partners to find their own definitions of words and use them in a sentence with an illustration.

In Module 8, an illustration titled “Taller de lectura” includes an explanation of how each section can be implemented in the classroom. The section titled “Lecciones de destrezas y estrategias” prompts the teacher to group the students to provide guided support. “Las lecciones pueden estar conectadas con la mini lección diaria con toda la clase o pueden estar basadas en las necesidades de los estudiantes.” The activities provide opportunities for students to interact in indirect learning through collaborative learning. Every module presents projects for students to interact with peers and collaborate to generate ideas and investigate.

In Module 9, the section “Desarrollar el contexto” guides teachers to introduce the lesson. For example, teachers ask students to visualize and respond at the beginning of each module. Instructional materials include visuals and auditory examples.

In Module 11, a section titled “Opciones para el trabajo independiente y colaborativo” prompts the teacher to facilitate independent or collaborative work. “Mientras se reúne con los grupos pequeños, pida a los otros estudiantes que realicen actividades de lectoescritura que refuercen los objetivos de aprendizaje de esta lección.” Instructional materials provide text selections and printable pages for students to engage in indirect learning through discovery with teacher guidance.

The materials include options for personalized learning and adapting to each individual student's needs when working with each student specifically. Students have individual writing conferences with teachers to edit and revise their writing after constructive feedback. For example, in Module 12, students work in cooperative groups to learn and decode prefixes. The teacher makes syllable cards by writing the syllables of some of the assigned words on index cards. Students strategically work in groups to build these target words.

Evaluation for 6.3
Materials include supports for English Learners (ELs) to meet grade-level learning expectations.

The materials do not include supports for English Learners to meet grade-level learning expectations. The materials do not provide accommodations for English Language learners with various levels of English language proficiency. The materials do not encourage strategic use of students’ primary language as a means to develop linguistic, affective, cognitive, and academic skills in the target language (e.g., to enhance vocabulary development).

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

Instructional materials state that English and Spanish explicit connections are beneficial for all students despite their first language. These connections facilitate the development of Language 1 and Language 2. The Teacher's Guide has an explanation of “Dual language settings” within each module. The dual-language settings and the interlinguistic bridge provided in each module showcase how to go about implementing specific scaffolds for ELLs with systematic and clear connections between languages. However, instructional materials for all grade levels do not include lessons that use students’ first language to develop skills in English. Instructional materials do not include linguistics accommodations for English learners. No evidence was found for teachers to support students at different English language proficiency levels.

Evaluation for 7.1
Materials include year-long plans with practice and review opportunities that support instruction.

Materials include year-long plans with practice and review opportunities that support instruction, build students’ concept development, and consider how to vertically align and practice foundational skills throughout the span of a year.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

Instructional materials include instruction in foundational literacy skills that span through the course of the year. The Teacher's Guide includes a scope and sequence document for each module called “Desarrollar los conocimientos y las destrezas.” This document outlines the genre studies within all units and the concepts the students learn each week. For example, in Modules 1 and 4, students learn about points of view through Cuentos. Students receive additional instruction in point of view in Module 6 with Biografía, in Module 9 while reading Misterio. The materials provide spiraled review of various standards in this manner.

The materials include modules that align instruction in separate themes. Each module has a duration of three weeks and includes lessons that focus on grades 3–5. Materials incorporate opportunities for teachers to identify lessons for review and practice.  The resource titled “¡Arriba la Lectura! Tabla de correspondencia” offers an overview of the content included in each module and lesson number.  In Module 1, the lesson on “Sílabas abiertas y sílabas cerradas, Sílaba tónica y sílabas átonas con acento prosódico, Clasificación de palabras en agudas, graves, esdrújulas y sobreesdrújulas” and instructions for the activities are found in the Teacher's Guide. The Teacher's Guide offers activities for teachers to model: “Diga que también aprendieron que las sílabas pueden terminar en vocal o en consonante. Explique que en esta lección recordarán cuáles son las sílabas abiertas y cuáles son las sílabas cerradas.”  

Materials include a year-long instruction sequence to build student’s concept development while being vertically aligned. The “Sequencia de Instruccion” resource for teachers outlines the instruction plan with the sections: “Taller de Lectura,” “Vocabulario,” “Destrezas Fundamentales,” “Taller de Escritura,” and “Dual Language Settings” in each module. Each module also has a “Pregunta Esencial” to guide the learning of the unit. For example, in Module 1, the Pregunta Esencial is “¿Qué tipo de circunstancias nos llevan a crear nuevos inventos?” The Vocabulario is artefactos, petardeó, patentes.  The unit explores the theme in depth to answer the Pregunta Esencial through instructional settings such as whole group, guided practice, independent, collaborative, and embedded checks for understanding and practice opportunities. The structure is the same for each module and for grades 3, 4, and 5. 

Materials include ample opportunities to learn foundational literacy skills throughout the year. For example in Module 1 teachers introduce affixes and roots, “Prefijos ex- y centi-, raíz del griego fono,” in Module 3, the focus is Greek and Latin roots, “Raíz del griego grafo, raíz del latín liberar y sufijo del griego -ico.” Module 9 the focus is Greek roots, “Palabras con raíces griegas,” students are provided a list of words and recognize the root. Each module includes a script for teachers to use, such as “Guíe a los estudiantes para que reconozcan el patrón ortográfico en cada columna. Pregunte: ¿Qué raíz griega comparten las palabras de esta columna?” Materials also provide a resource, “Oraciones para dictado 9.1,” with a list of words. Students add words to categorize by Greek root as additional practice.

Materials include lessons connected within each unit and build upon prior knowledge. The resource titled “Recursos” includes a section titled “Correlaciones,” where the fifth-grade TEKS are listed for teachers to use instruction. The resource correlates the TEKS with page numbers of materials available for teachers and students. Example of the instructions found in the resource are as follow: “Esta correlación muestra dónde se enseñan los conocimientos y destrezas esenciales de Texas en los materiales del estudiante y del maestro para el Grado 5.”

Instructional materials include opportunities for students to review and practice foundational literacy skills. Lessons provide activities for students to review previously taught skills for additional practice. In Module 2, the Teacher's Guide includes a section titled “Reforzar la destreza,” where instructions offer suggestions for teachers to reinforce words stressed on the penultimate syllable “silabas graves” exceptions. The teacher reads the word “tenía” and emphasizes the syllable with the greatest sound. The teacher explains that the two vowels next to each other are a hiatus and belong to distinct syllables.  Materials guide teacher with: “Diga que las vocales í y a de tenía se escriben juntas, pero que al pronunciarse, se dicen en sílabas diferentes. Eso es un hiato: dos vocales juntas que pertenecen a sílabas diferentes.” Students practice reading aloud words and dividing each word into syllables, and identify the hiatus in each word. In Module 3, the Teacher's Guide includes lessons for repeated opportunities to learn and practice using foundational literacy skills. The teacher reads aloud the word “mora” and explains the soft /r/ sound when the letter r is between vowels. Teacher guidance includes, “Muestre y lea en voz alta la palabra mora, enfatizando el sonido suave de r. Subraye las letras ora y diga que cuando la letra r va entre vocales, tiene el sonido suave /r/.” Students work with partners and ask each other why the letter r is pronounced softly.  

The content plan is designed to build upon students’ current level of understanding with clear connections within and between lessons. The connections between the different modules are outlined in the scope and sequence for each grade level; teachers see all modules when skill is taught throughout the school year. The connections between lessons occur when all the reading passages and the projects are related to the theme. For example, in Module 7, “Arriba, Abajo y Más Allá” contains nonfiction passages about exploration and discovery, like “Grandes Descubrimientos y Aventuras Sorprendentes” or “SpaceShip One.” Within the module, students develop a research project about famous explorers, and the vocabulary learned is all related to Geography and exploration.

Materials provide review and practice of foundational literacy skills throughout the materials. For example, fluency and decoding are skills taught every week. For example, in Module 7, the Decoding lesson is about words with prefixes, and the lesson for fluency includes a passage that contains words with prefixes. The materials also include a separate component on fluency with lessons devoted to working with students who need additional support in small groups.

Evaluation for 7.2
Materials include implementation support for teachers and administrators.

Materials include implementation support for teachers and administrators. Materials are accompanied by a TEKS-aligned scope and sequence outlining how knowledge and skills build and connect across grade levels. Materials include supports to help teachers and guidance for administrators to implement the materials as intended. Materials include a school year’s worth of instruction, including realistic pacing guidance and routines. 

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

Instructional materials include a scope and sequence outlined to the fifth grade SLAR TEKS. Materials include a scope and sequence for grammar “Taller de Escritura” and another reading program, “Arriba la lectura.” The resource “Gramática: Secuencia de instrucción” includes an overview of the grammar skills. The resource provides information for teachers to support students at different levels of knowledge, a brief summary, and links for quick access to instructional materials. In addition, the resource clearly states that the fourth lesson of each week is to review skills. The materials state, “Como verá en la Secuencia de instrucción, la cuarta lección de cada semana es un repaso de un tema que los estudiantes ya estudiaron durante el año escolar en curso o en un grado anterior.” 

Materials include guidance for teachers to understand the progression of literacy skills across a grade level.  The resource titled “Secuencia de instrucción” includes information about the skills review in each lesson.  For instance, Module 1, includes the list of spelling words assigned for the first week and the decoding lesson. As the year progresses, each module contains variety of decoding skills and spelling words such as “Decodificar Sílabas abiertas y sílabas cerradas (CV- CVC) Ortografía Palabras con sílabas abiertas y cerradas Palabras básicas: mundo, noche, nadie, semana, soñaba, coloridas, activo, acceso, verdad, novedad, trompetista, amatista, envasado, isla, madera, neblina, altura, trabajo, consolarlo, coliflor.”

Instructional materials include supports to help teachers understand how to implement the instruction as intended. Materials provide guidance to support teachers in preparing instruction. The resource titled “Rutinas de enseñanza” provides an overview of instructional routines embedded in the lessons found in the Teacher Guide. The section titled “Usa tus palabras” includes information on how to use the vocabulary routine reference in each module. For example, the routine lists three steps for teachers to implement in class. The three steps are described: “Teacher says the word and asks students to repeat the word; Teacher explains the word; Teacher provides examples using the visuals and/or sentence provided in the vocabulary card.”

The “Sequencia de instrucción” outlines the concepts taught weekly and their corresponding TEKS. The concepts and skills address the following areas: taller de lectura, vocabulario, taller de destrezas, taller de escritura, y dual language settings. The teacher’s guide also includes the ability to search resources by standard. Teachers use the “resources” tab under each module to locate everything that is included in the module and click on the arrow below each activity to see what TEKS is addressed. Teachers see the TEKS aligned scope and sequence from all grades to not only ensure vertical alignment but to build 

This scope and sequence shows clear alignment to the appropriate grade-level SLAR TEKS and outlines the sequence of instruction towards the end of the year. Although the scope and sequence chart itself does not show the alignment between grade levels, there is a function in the digital platform that does. Under the tab “standards,” the teacher sees all the SLAR standards. It shows in what grade level they were covered, and teachers have the ability to click on the corresponding resources from there.

The Guiding Principles and Strategies (GPS) book included in the materials provides guidance to help administrators support teachers in implementing the materials as needed. Administrators receive a background on lesson expectations as they support teacher development in the classroom. The table of content highlights the following concepts: Welcome into Reading, Classroom Community, Family and Community, Assessments and Differentiation, and Viva el Español. Administrators easily navigate the ebook to find a variety of supports. There is a dual-language implementation guide and professional development videos that offer teaching models of different aspects of dual language that teachers apply in their own classroom. For example, administrators find differentiation opportunities included in the book and guide teachers to a specific approach for an area of development in student needs. The book also outlines what a day of classroom instruction looks like timewise. The lesson delivery targets students' diverse needs using whole-class instruction, teacher-led small groups, and options for building independence and its time frame for each section.  It also includes the “whole wrap up and share” section where teachers close the lesson the last 5 minutes of class. 

Materials include lessons and activities for a full year of classroom instruction as outlined in the scope and sequence included. The lessons can be reasonably implemented throughout the year if the pacing is followed. The materials are divided into 12 modules, and each module is to last three weeks, which amounts to 36 weeks of instruction. Each week has five daily lessons. The Teacher’s Guide includes in every lesson the symbol of a clock indicating the duration of each lesson. Also, in the Guiding Principles supplement, the materials suggest specific amounts of time for each lesson: For Building Knowledge and Vocabulary 10–15 minutes a day; for Reading Workshop 20–30 minutes a day; for Foundational Skills and Communication 15–30 minutes a day; and for Writing Workshop 30–45 minutes a day. If these recommendations are followed, the minimum amount of time a daily lesson should last would be 1:15 hours and the maximum 2 hours, which makes it realistic and feasible.

Materials are organized in a way that makes sense for ease of implementation. For example, materials are color-coded to make it easy to identify specific sections. All guidance and lessons devoted to small group teaching are identified with yellow. All guidance and lessons aimed at Dual Language Learners are identified with dark blue. Materials provide cards that are easily identifiable and durable to allow for use year after year. For example, vocabulary cards have one color, “Motivar y Aprender” cards have a different color.

Evaluation for 7.3
Materials provide implementation guidance to meet variability in programmatic design and scheduling considerations.

Materials provide implementation guidance to meet variability in programmatic design and scheduling considerations. Materials provide guidance for strategic implementation without disrupting the sequence of content and the ability to incorporate the curriculum into district, campus, and teacher programmatic design and scheduling considerations.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

Material is organized into 12 modules for the year, where students build knowledge as they read, write, view, and discuss each topic. Materials include a “flexible, balanced approach with a focus on small-group instruction to develop collaborative, self-directed learners” and “Planning, grouping, and assessment tools that allow teachers to focus on delivering individualized instruction.” These tools allow instruction to be scaffolded to meet individual student needs in each module. There are several options for independent and collaborative work in literacy centers: “Centro de lectura,” “Centro de vocabulario,” “Estacion digital,” “Centro de escritura” and “Centro de Proyecto” (differentiation). 

There is a suggested timeline in the Teacher’s Guide that supports planning instruction and provides checks for understanding throughout the school year. The timeline breaks down the concepts taught by weeks so that teachers can plan for students with gaps in learning. Teachers use the small grouping and intervention resources to fill gaps so that students can be successful in the whole group lesson. Teachers follow the suggested timeline to plan instruction and administer assessments throughout the course of the school year. Teachers build knowledge and language throughout the units by following the embedded digital timeline in the teacher's guide that ensures the content is taught and is consistent with the developmental progression of literacy skills.

Materials contain a program design on instructional approaches and timeframes for each section. Whole class instruction is divided in the following categories: “Desarrollar los conocimientos y el lenguaje y vocabulario” (10–15 min), “Taller de lectura” (20–30 min), “Destrezas fundamentales” (15–30 min), “Taller de escritura” (30–45 min), and “Comunicación” (5 min) daily. This can be adjusted to align with district curriculum or with different teachers and schedules. Administrators view the time frame of a daily lesson. Schedule supports teachers to be able to meet with different groups of students as needed. The time frame can be used as a guide when writing district curriculum to follow the same framework.

Materials include strategic guidance on implementation that ensures the sequence of content that is taught is consistent with the developmental progression of literacy skills. This developmental progression of literacy skills is displayed in the Phonics and Decoding supplement as well as the Fluency supplemental materials. Teachers use the supplemental material to support students in need of intervention. The supplementals are separated from the main materials. Teachers follow this sequence regardless of what module of the main materials they are studying.

Instructional materials include guidance about the order in which literacy skills are taught. Materials support teachers in providing the progression of content skills to meet the students’ needs. The resource titled “Secuencia de instruccion” includes a weekly glance at decoding lessons, fluency, and spelling words. For example, In Module 1, the decoding skills are “Sílabas abierta y Sílabas cerradas, Silaba tónica y sílabas átonas con acento prosódico, palabras en agudas, graves, esdrújulas y sobreesdrújulas” and fluency focus on rhythm, autocorrection, and phrasing. The spelling words correlate with the decoding lessons. For example, the first lesson introduces “Silabas abiertas y cerradas,” and the spelling words include words with open and closed syllables. Example of the spelling words found in the resource: “mundo, noche, nadie, semana, soñaba, coloridas, activo, acceso, verdad, novedad, trompetista, amatista, envasado, isla, madera, neblina, altura, trabajo, consolarlo, coliflor.” The resource titled “Minilecciones de gramática” provides an overview of the grammar skills taught and how to implement them. The instructions suggest three ways to implement the resource: Integrate with the revising and editing lessons, differentiated instruction, and systematic according to the scope and sequence. Example of the instructions are as follow: “Personalice sus lecciones de gramática en base a las necesidades del salón de clases.”

Evaluation for 7.4
Materials provide guidance on fostering connections between home and school.

Materials provide guidance on fostering connections between home and school. Materials support development of strong relationships between teachers and families and provide specific activities for use at home to support students’ learning and development.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

Instructional materials include activities to support development of strong relationships between teachers and families. Materials provide activities to engage families in the students’ development of strong foundational literacy skills. The resource titled “Family and Community” includes suggestions for teachers to engage families in the child’s literacy skills. The resource provides ways for teachers to encourage families to be classroom guests. It suggests teachers schedule classroom guests to discuss their expertise either via in-person visits or virtual meetings. In Module 1, the Teacher’s Guide guides teachers to “Aliente a los estudiantes a leer en la casa con la familia y proporcióneles ideas para que conversen juntos acerca de los libros.” Teachers encourage students to read to their family members and suggest ideas to build vocabulary. 

Materials include printable and online activities for parents to do at home with students. In Module 2, a printable page is available to suggest activities to practice comprehension and vocabulary at home. Some examples of activities parents can do at home are to discuss the notes the student has done in class, ask about the texts the student has read along with what they learned. Examples of parent guidance includes: “Pregunten sobre los textos que su niño está leyendo y qué ha aprendido de ellos.” The website for parents includes videos, articles, and blog entries that provide suggestions about different topics related to their child’s education. The website for parents is the same regardless of the grade level of their child since it contains general information. Specific resources are accessed through their child’s account. There is no evidence that parents can have their own access to the digital platform outside of the child’s account. 

Materials provide recommendations to encourage the development of strong relationships between teachers and families. Within the “Teacher Resources,” the section “Family and Community” provides teachers with different ideas to include families in the academic success of their child. The first section is “Involucrar a las familias en el aprendizaje,” In this section, the materials provide suggestions for teachers on how to develop relationships with the parents that support their child’s learning. Some of these suggestions are: “Ofrezca apoyo para ayudar a las familias a que comenten el tema y las Palabras de la idea esencial de este módulo. Anime a los estudiantes para que lean en la casa con sus familias y dé ideas para que toda la familia converse sobre los libros. Sugiera actividades de vocabulario para apoyar la lectoescritura.”

Materials include suggestions for parental use to assist students in acquiring literacy skills. In Module 4, the Teacher’s Guide includes printable pages for teachers to distribute with parents. The letters include a brief summary of the module students will work for the following weeks and activities parents can work on with students for a better understanding of the module. For example, the materials guide parents to “Busquen textos que: provoquen la curiosidad de su niño, estén ligados al tema del módulo, exprese una clara idea principal.”

To connect with parents, the materials provide a “Carta para la familia,” which outlines topics for the module and suggests parents ask questions after reading that relate to the material. For example, Module 10 highlights the theme of animal life. It tells parents that over the next three weeks, students will learn about animal life with a focus on informative text. The letter also includes suggestions for parents to practice idioms at home, such as “como ponerse las pilas, tirar la toalla, sin ton ni son y adagios como al buen tiempo buena cara, cuando el río suena es porque” in books, magazines, online texts, or billboards. Letters are in Spanish, and no link was available for other languages.

Evaluation for 7.5
The visual design of student and teacher materials (whether in print or digital) is neither distracting nor chaotic.

The visual design of student and teacher materials is neither distracting nor chaotic. Materials include appropriate use of white 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.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

Instructional materials are designed with appropriate use of white space to support student learning. Materials include information for lesson planning and implementation. All modules present tabbed pages to easily identify content on pages and week at a glance for lesson planning. In Module 1, the Teacher’s Guide offers different lessons for each module and the week at a glance for each lesson. Example of the lesson included in the guide: “Presentación del módulo, págs. T20 y T21, Presentar el tema: Inventores en acción.”

Instructional materials provide Teacher Tips to develop learning. Teacher Tips are labeled as “Consejo para la enseñanza” and are embedded in the introduction of vocabulary words. In Module 2, the Teacher’s Guide offers guidance for teaching familiar concepts. Instructions are as follows: “Acceda en línea al Taller de destrezas fundamentales y estudio de palabras para proporcionar apoyo adicional.”

Materials include text-to-speech functions. Each story has a speaker icon to read aloud for all students. The student online resource “MiLibro” includes a component to read aloud the texts. The functions are located on the right-hand side of each story with visuals for students to identify where they can play, pause, or write notes of the story.

The materials include instructional support for planning and implementing lessons. For example, at the end of every module, pages include options for small group teaching and independent practice. The online materials do not comply with the flexibility and efficiency of use stated in the User Interface Design guidelines, as they are not as easy to navigate. Sections are broken down into small parts, and not everything is accessible in one click. For example, Module 4 of the Teacher’s Guide has a reference to access the Teacher’s Resources. This requires returning to the dashboard to open another window. However, student materials are easier to navigate as there aren’t as many sections.

Teacher’s Guides identify important information for lesson planning and implementation. For example, each module is divided by a different color on the border of the page. Within each module, lessons are in a different color to identify information about the module and what information is specific to the lessons. For example, Module 5 is identified with an orange border on all the pages, but the lessons inside the module have a red border. Specific information within a page is color-coded so that teachers can easily locate what they are looking for. For example, the English version of the lesson is located at the outer sides of the pages with a grey background. Lesson steps have a header identified with the same color as the border.

The Teacher’s Guide includes instructional support with information that is clearly stated and easily identified on the pages. For example, suggestions to accommodate Dual Language Settings appear in a dark-blue box. This section in a light-green box provides tips to develop a learning mindset. Ideas on small-group teaching are framed in a yellow box with an icon of multiple human figures at the corner. Also, resources available online are identified by a black and yellow icon, “Online Ed.”

The digital components and instructions for students are clear and visually appealing. Module 10 introduces the theme of animals with color photographs of animals in their natural habitat. The resource “miLibro” includes a section where students type responses to questions. The section “Critical Vocabulary Word Bank” includes large print words. The words are hyperlinked and include a pop-up definition, an example, and a pronunciation of the word. 

The Teacher’s Guide is easy to navigate, and teachers easily find information for lesson planning. The color-coded sections help search lesson contents. The “Mentalidad de aprendizaje” is embedded in the teacher’s guide after the introduction of the lesson in text boxes that are easily accessible. For example, the Module 10 of the Teacher’s Guide includes hyperlinked icons on the left-hand side to indicate a continuation or extension. The linguistic extension includes a variety of tools the teacher uses to extend the learning: “Palabras de otros idiomas, Vocabulario crítico, Tema, Modismos en el idioma español y Técnica del autor.” Teachers click on the notes icon to type electronic notes throughout the lesson.