¡Arriba la lectura! - Kindergarten

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

The materials are well-crafted and of publishable quality, representing the quality of the content, language, and writing that is produced by experts in various disciplines. The texts also include content that is engaging to kindergarten students with materials that include traditional, contemporary, classical, and multicultural diverse texts. 

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

Materials include content that is identifiable with and engaging to students. Module 2 includes a bilingual book, “I am René the Boy, Soy René el niño,” which tells the story of inclusion, acceptance, and self-esteem in schools. René is a boy whose family moves from El Salvador to the United States when he is young. The teacher shows on a map where René is from: “Este es El Salvador, el país donde nació René. Cuando lo conocemos en el cuento, ¡su familia se ha mudado a Estado Unidos!” The students respond to literature by “René shares ideas about how his name is special. What ideas can you share about how your name is special?” The teacher prompts students to “Draw your name. Draw or write two ideas about how your name is special.” Module 2 also provides texts that are at the appropriate readability level for students in a specific grade. The series “Pete the Cat” is popular with young readers. They are written by New York Times #1 best-selling author James Dean. In the series “Pete the Cat: Too Cool for School,” Pete’s predicament might be familiar to children, and the predictive text and repetition help children experience reading success. Teachers use the technique cloze reading. The materials guide the teacher to “Tell children that you will be reading aloud while they follow along in the text, and that sometimes you will leave out a word. Escuchen con atención, porque me detendré a veces y no leeré una palabra. Su trabajo es leer esa palabra, ¡todos juntos!”

The materials provide evidence of being well-crafted and are of publishable quality that includes Social Studies standards. In the Teacher’s Guide, Module 3, week 1, “Héroes de Nuestra Comunidad,” the lesson starts with “Desarrollar Redes de Conocimientos” and includes an essential question: “¿Como son las Comunidades?” The materials include diverse published stories per week, per concept, offered at various reading levels that are engaging for all kindergarten students. For four weeks, students focus on the essential question with a different concept each week, which increases in complexity week by week. The materials use the informative text Lugares de mi comunidad by Bobbie Kalman to show how places in our community play a big role in our lives. 

The materials provide texts that are well-crafted and are of publishable quality. Module 5: “Podemos Hacerlo” includes a read-aloud of Jabari Jumps by Gaia Cornwall, a well-written text with plenty of illustrations that is very inviting for any kind of reader. The text comes from a prominent author that has published many books, and her work has been presented on television and in movies. The materials include the text El Sueño de Emmanuel, an engaging and multicultural text by Laurie Ann Thompson. The text presents the real-life story of an African boy who was born with one leg but who was able to travel on his bike all over Ghana. During his journey, he was able to teach students important lessons about overcoming life struggles and turning something negative into something positive. Rich characterizations are provided in the text in the form of colorful illustrations and captions. 

The materials include multicultural diverse texts and under-represented groups texts. Module 6: “Tierra de Libres y Valientes,” under the Phonics tab, in the “Mostrar y motivar” section, offers several options for the teacher to introduce concepts such as teaching rhymes. The lessons include “Canciones, rimas, poemas” specifically geared to teach rhymes. This collection includes some songs, rhymes, and poems from Alma Flor Ada, an award-winning Cuban-American author of children’s books and poems. The module introduces a few poems, such as “A la letra de la amistad song,” “Unicornios,” “El elefante y la estrella,” from Alma Flor Ada. This song includes words relevant to children’s linguistic and cultural backgrounds, such as amigos, amiguito, amiguita, abuelita. 

The materials include informational text with rich vocabulary and language appropriate to the discipline it represents. For example, the materials include informational texts about science that contain scientific context, vocabulary, and illustrations. In Module 9, the book Oso Negro is about a black bear hibernating the winter away in its den. Readers learn how black bears find food and why they stock up on bugs, berries, and fish in the spring and summer. Students also learn facts about bears’ fur and feet as they see the life of a black bear in vivid photographs. The materials guide provides the teacher with prompts about bears’ hibernation process. “What do bears do during the winter? (They hibernate/ sleep.) How do they get food while they sleep? (They live on their fat.)” If needed, explain what it means for bears to “live on their fat.” Students make connections with a nonfiction book previously read and respond to the prompt: “Este libro me recuerda a otro libro sobre un oso.” The language of this informational text reflects the rich vocabulary and language appropriate to kindergarten science.

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

The materials include a variety of text types and genres across content areas that meet the Kindergarten Spanish Language Arts and Reading TEKS requirements. The materials also provide opportunities for students to recognize the characteristics and structures of informational texts. Additionally, materials include informational texts connected to science and social studies in the TEKS for kindergarten. Furthermore, the texts offer illustrations, labels, descriptions, tables of contents, glossaries, and index pages to include opportunities for students to recognize characteristics and structures of literary and informational texts.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

Module 1, “Curiosos Sobre el Kinder,” includes the informational text Escuelas Alrededor del Mundo by Clare Lewis, which supports learning about schools around the world. The teacher explains how schools may look different around the world in terms of building structures, different learning modalities (virtual, in-person), school transportation (bus, car, boat), and school activities. The initial pages of the book include a table of contents, and the final pages of the book include a table of contents, a picture glossary, a map, and an index page. This gives students the opportunity to analyze the use of print and graphic features of informational texts. Both teachers and students have access to the book “Libros and Super Libros Para la Lectura en Voz Alta,” which is available digitally and included in the student library. 

Module 4, “Felices y Saludables,” includes the informational text Una Vida Saludable by Valerie Bodden, which supports learning how to stay happy and healthy while learning about informational text structures. The teacher explains that the text is connected to science topics in the TEKS and teaches students essential concepts on healthy living, such as eating right and exercising. The book provides a recipe for how to make trail mix. The initial pages of the book include a table of contents, and the final pages of the book include a glossary and an index page. This gives students the opportunity to analyze the use of print and graphic features of informational texts. The book can be found for students and teachers in Libros and Super Libros Para la Lectura en Voz Alta. 

Module 7, “¡Miremos de cerca!” includes the informational text Hormigas by Lisa Amstutz (Lexile level: 320L - Guided Reading Level: C). The teacher explains that “Hormigas” is connected to science topics in the TEKS that explain interesting facts about ants and provide information about ants’ bodies, nests, and how ants work together. The close-up photographs enable students to understand the structure of the story. The initial pages of the book include a table of contents, and the final pages of the book include a glossary and an index page. This gives students the opportunity to analyze the use of print and graphic features of informational texts. The book can be found for students and teachers in Libros and Super Libros Para la Lectura en Voz Alta.

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

The materials provide texts, including read-aloud texts and shared readings, that are appropriately challenging and are at an appropriate level of complexity to support students at the kindergarten level. The texts include a complexity analysis provided by the publisher. Read-aloud and shared-reading texts are at the appropriate quantitative levels, with Lexile levels ranging from BR300L to 2000L. Texts are rated from A to Z, and they include qualitative features that are assessed using a rubric. Based on the rubric score, texts are assigned a qualitative rating from Simple to Exceedingly Complex and are mostly above the complexity level of what kindergarten students can read independently.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

Module 2, “Somos Especiales,” uses the informational book Me gusta como soy by Karen Beaumont. In this book, the students learn about a little girl who reflects upon her physical features and personality traits. The girl shows that she is not bothered by what other people think of her. The quantitative features of this book are Lexile Level 620L and a Guided Reading Level of B, which is above the complexity level of what students can read independently. Qualitative features considered include metaphors, similes, and graphic features, such as illustrations, to understand the central idea and key details. 

Module 4, “Felices y Saludables,” uses the informational book Los gérmenes no son para compartir by Elizabeth Verdick. The book brings awareness of how germs can get people sick. The book includes tips on how to avoid spreading germs by washing hands often, thoroughly, and using tissues and the importance of good hygiene habits. The quantitative features of this book are Lexile Level 160L and a Guided Reading Level of F. Qualitative features considered include graphic features, such as illustrations, for the understanding of central idea and key details. 

Module 4, “Felices y Saludables,” uses the book Una Vida Saludable by Valerie Bodden to teach essential concepts on healthy living, such as eating right and exercising. The quantitative features of this book are Lexile Level 690L and a Guided Reading Level of C, which is above the complexity level of what students can read independently. Qualitative features considered include graphic features, such as illustrations and photographs, as well as a recipe for trail mix at the end of the selection for the understanding of central idea and key details. 

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

The materials contain questions and tasks that support students in synthesizing knowledge and ideas to deepen understanding and identify and explain topics and themes. Questions and tasks build conceptual knowledge, are text-dependent, and prompt students to synthesize new information through read-aloud texts, writing tasks, and “Inquiry and Research” projects. Most formal and informal assignments and activities focus on texts students are reading/listening to through read-alouds, shared reading, and videos and require close attention to the meaning and inferences as students demonstrate comprehension. Questions and activities grow students’ understanding of topics and literacy skills throughout each unit. Each text has two or more stopping points for student discussions, providing students opportunities to evaluate and discuss information from multiple places within a text.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

Module 4, “Felices y Saludables,” has a “Knowledge Map” to build conceptual knowledge and organize key ideas introduced within the module. The materials are text-dependent and prompt students to synthesize new information. The “Essential Question: ¿Cómo puedo estar más saludable?” introduces students to thinking about how they can be healthy throughout the module. The teacher refers back to the Knowledge Map after each read-aloud. The materials offer activities that grow students’ understanding of the current topic over the course of the module. The Teacher’s Guide has a section, “Desarrollar la comprensión auditiva,” that introduces the informational text “Una Vida Saludable.” The teacher asks questions to students to help develop their listening comprehension. Students are asked, “¿Qué ocurre cuando estás saludable? ¿Por qué es importante hacer ejercicio? y ¿Cómo puede ayudarte estar saludable?”

Module 5, “Podemos Hacerlo,” offers a section, “Enseñar con colecciones temáticas,” to build conceptual knowledge and organize key ideas introduced within the module. The materials are text-dependent and prompt students to synthesize new information. The module offers a variety of texts related to the essential question: “¿Que significa esforzarse?” The materials provide activities that grow students’ understanding of the current topic over the course of the module. Some of the texts include Jabari Salta by Gaia Cornwall (Fiction), Puedo Hacerlo Solo by Mercer Mayer (Fiction), La Gallinita Roja (hace una pizza) by Philemon Sturges (Folktale), Casi by Peter Reynolds (Fiction), Hagamos Música by Owen Holmes (Informative), El sueño de Emmanuel by Laurie Ann Thompson (Biography).

Module 8, “De la planta al plato,” includes formal and informal assignments and activities that focus on texts students are reading/listening to and require close attention to the meaning and inferences as students demonstrate comprehension. Questions and tasks require careful reading and perhaps re-reading for students’ inferencing and comprehension skills. The section “Lectura en voz alta” includes the informative text Las Plantas Me Alimentan by Lizzy Rockwell. The teacher reads the book aloud and mentions the book’s title, illustrator’s name, and author’s name. The materials prompt the teacher to read the book and point out the genre of the book. Students answer questions about the read-aloud. There are three writing assignments throughout the module that include questions and activities to grow students’ understanding of topics and literacy skills over the course of each unit. Some of the assignments include, “Pasos en una Secuencia, Respuestas a la Lectura, y Palabras de la Idea Central.”

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

The materials contain questions and tasks that require students to evaluate the language, key idea, and details of individual texts to support students’ analysis of the literary/textual elements of texts to make inferences and draw conclusions about the author's purpose in cultural, historical, and contemporary contexts and provide evidence from the text to support student understanding.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

Module 3, “Héroes de nuestra comunidad,” offers questions and tasks that support students’ analysis of the literary/textual elements of texts by asking students to make and correct or confirm predictions using text features. The materials provide opportunities for students to make a prediction before reading. The materials include the fiction text Un Poco de Hogar by Jeri Watts that talks about a family that relocates from Korea to West Virginia and a young boy who struggles to speak English, keep up in school, and just be himself. The teacher asks questions that give the students the opportunity to analyze the author's choices and how they influence and communicate meaning. The text highlights the power of community as he and his family start to feel at home. Later in the unit, the materials provide suggestions to the teacher to remind children how to make predictions using text features or structures. Some of the teacher prompts include “Remember, when we make a prediction before reading, we look at the pictures on the cover and think about the text type to make our best guess about what will happen in the story.” Students look at the cover of “A Piece of Home” and make a prediction about the story. As students read the story, they revisit predictions, and the teacher guides students to confirm or correct them. At turning points, the teacher asks, “What do you think will happen next?” The students determine if their predictions were correct. The materials contain interconnected questions and tasks that build student knowledge.

In Module 5, “¡Podemos hacerlo!” the materials offer a fiction read-aloud Jabari Salta by Gaia Cornwall. The “Teacher’s Guide” includes questions for students to study specific language within texts. The questions help ensure students’ comprehension of the text and help students focus on the text’s academic vocabulary and sentence structures. Later in the lesson, the materials have a section called “Desarrollar la comprensión auditiva” that provides the teacher with some activities to encourage students to draw conclusions about the author’s purpose in contemporary texts. Additionally, some of the activities in the materials include “Stop and ask the questions” in the Spanish column to check for understanding and “Turn and talk” to discuss responses to make and correct or confirm predictions using text features, characteristics of genre, and structures with and without adult assistance.

In Module 6, “Tierra de Libres y Valientes,” the materials include questions that ask students to study specific language within texts. The questions help ensure students’ comprehension of the text and help students focus on the text’s academic vocabulary and sentence structures. At the beginning of the module, there is a “Knowledge Map” under the section “Mostrar y Motivar” that includes key components to give students the opportunity to analyze, make inferences, and draw conclusions about the author’s purpose in cultural and historical texts and provide evidence from the text to support their understanding. The teacher goes back to the Knowledge Map after every read-aloud within the module to reiterate the concepts that have already been introduced in the module. Towards the end of the module, the materials offer an informational text, Martin Luther King by Marion Bauer. Students use “Think-Pair-Share” to discuss the question, “What did Martin Luther King, Jr., do to help make the USA better?”

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

The materials include a year-long plan for building academic vocabulary, 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:

Materials include a year-long plan for building academic vocabulary, including ways to apply words in appropriate contexts. Each module provides guidance for teaching word meanings with examples related to the text and examples from other contexts. In Module 1, “Keisha Ann Puede,” the teacher uses story, question, and answer format. The vocabulary introduces names of school activities and routines that may be new to children at the beginning of the year. The teacher sets a purpose for reading, and students listen carefully to enjoy the story. The teacher reads aloud “¡Keisha Ann puede!” modeling fluent reading. As the teacher reads, she pauses and gives a brief meaning for unfamiliar words that may impact comprehension. The teacher points out any pictures that support the word’s meaning and helps children recognize that the story is written in the third person. “Is what Keisha Ann can do told by herself or by someone else?” The teacher stops and asks the questions in the Spanish column to check for understanding. Students turn and talk to discuss responses. The materials include scaffolds and supports for teachers to differentiate vocabulary development for all learners. The materials provide the teacher guidance to use strategies such as using the visuals in the “tarjetas de vocabulario” and a three-column table. “Curiosos sobre el kinder” includes a lesson in the “Oral language: Students learn academic vocabulary” section. The teacher uses the vocabulary routine and the tarjetas de vocabulario to teach power words (academic words) from the read-aloud “¡Keisha Ann puede!” The teacher says the word, using the image of the tarjeta de vocabulario, and asks the children to repeat it. Then she explains the meaning and reads aloud the child-friendly meaning. Lastly, the teacher talks about examples. She uses the image or strategy on the card to talk about examples. The materials provide a sample table with power words, meaning, and examples. 

In Module 3, “Héroes de mi comunidad,” the teacher has the option to explicitly teach the meaning of academic and topic-related words, provide examples, and practice using the words in context. The materials provide vocabulary cards for the teacher to use to introduce the “power words” included with the weekly reading assignment. The vocabulary cards have the academic word with a picture on one side and the definition and a sentence using the word on the back side. The back side has suggestions for the teacher to use to introduce the academic words. Students listen and signal the academic word as the teacher reads the text. The materials include a list of vocabulary words at the beginning of each story. 

In Module 8, “De la planta al plato,” the materials use visuals to scaffold vocabulary development. The teacher uses the Vocabulary routine and the tarjetas de vocabulario to teach “Big Idea Words” for From Plant to Plate. The teacher says the vocabulary word and then asks the students to repeat it. Then the teacher explains the meaning of the word and reads aloud the student-friendly meaning. Finally, the teacher uses the image or strategy on the card to talk about examples.

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

The materials include procedures and protocols, along with adequate support to guide teachers through implementation, that foster self-sustained reading as appropriate. Materials provide a plan for students to self-select texts and read independently for sustained periods of time, including planning and accountability for achieving independent reading goals.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

In Module 3: “Héroes de mi comunidad,” in the “Guiding Principles and Strategies” booklet, under the “Family and Community” tab, the materials offer a printable “Family Letter” to send home, which includes a section titled “Leamos juntos,” intended to inform parents of what students will be working on for the next three weeks and outline ways that they can help promote a positive reading environment at home. The letter includes tips for parents to support children’s learning at home, such as setting a special time and place to read with their child every day and having them keep a reading log, which is also available for the teacher to print for each student. Additionally, the family letter includes suggestions for parents to use when questioning to check for comprehension during and after students have read a text, such as “¿Qué piensas que pasará? ¿Por qué? ¿Qué ocurrió al principio, durante el medio y el final del cuento? ¿Qué crees que eso significa? ¿Cómo lo sabes?” The materials include procedures and protocols, along with adequate support for teachers, that foster independent reading. The Teacher’s Guide states that the teacher should encourage a minimum reading time of 15–20 minutes at home since research has proven that reading for that designated amount of time exposes students to 1.8 million words a year. 

The Teacher’s Guide includes activities for students to practice reading, writing, and fundamental skills. The materials offer reading comprehension activities in the form of questions and fill-in-the-blank activities included on the last pages of each decodable text to give students the opportunity to work individually or in pairs in a classroom setting. This module presents the text Daniel Tiene Miedo by Celeste Cresatti. The book offers pre-learning of phonics elements and high-frequency words for students to read in connected text, located in the last pages of the text. The materials offer enrichment activities for those students who have met grade-level expectations. Students are instructed to work on writing and fundamental skills with the printables offered under the “Know it, Show it” section. The teacher can access these documents online and print them as needed. Materials also offer a teacher’s key to be used as an exemplar so that the teacher can easily check for student understanding. 

The materials offer texts of various genres (informational, fictional, non-fictional, etc.) that meet the TEKS for kindergarten level, such as identifying syllables, rhyming, and blending phonemes. The texts capture the attention of students since they are relatable and carefully designed to build on background knowledge to increase reading comprehension, which inherently promotes an interest and love for reading for all learners. Every module consists of a curated multigenre collection of texts around a single topic. The texts for each module are arranged to contribute to children’s content knowledge and knowledge of genres. In Module 7: “Miremos de cerca,” under the section “Develop Knowledge Networks,” students read the fictional text Una Luna junto a la laguna by Adela Basch, where students interact together during shared reading to discuss the characteristics of fictional texts. Some suggested actions include the teacher assisting the students by saying the following: “Este cuento es una ficción. ¿Qué significa eso? ¿Sobre qué leeremos?” The expected student answer is suggested as follows: “Es un cuento inventado. Leeremos sobre personajes/ambientes/acontecimientos.” 

In Module 4: “Felices y saludables,” students learn the essential skills to healthy living, such as eating well, exercising, and practicing good hygiene. The texts included throughout this module address the Essential Question: “How can I be my healthiest me?” The materials offer texts at various reading levels, such as Los gérmenes no se deben compartir, Una vida saludable, Levántate y haz ejercicio, Estírate, among others. Text genres in this module include fiction, poetry, informational, and fairy tale. Lexile Levels range from 190L to 570 and Guided Reading Level D to L. 

The materials provide a plan for students to self-select texts and read independently for a sustained period of time, which is suggested to be set at 20 minutes. The materials include planning and accountability for achieving independent reading goals. Teachers can access a blank printable copy of a student’s Reading Log (Registro de Lectura), intended to closely monitor how many books and how much time a student has devoted to reading. The materials provide teacher guidance for holding students accountable for independent reading. The Teacher’s Guide includes a section, “Desarrollar la lectura independiente,” which includes minilessons intended to be used during small group instruction that are focused on developing comprehension skills among students. The teacher meets with students to ask probing questions such as “¿De qué creen que se tratará el cuento? ¿Qué predicción podemos hacer? ¿Nuestra predicción fue correcta?” These minilessons are outlined in the “Tabletop Minilessons” booklet provided with the materials, labeled by skill (retelling, summarizing, etc.). The goal of these lessons is to assist all learners in developing critical reading skills like summarizing in order to improve their reading comprehension.

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

The materials provide support for students to compose across text types for a variety of purposes and audiences. Students have opportunities to dictate or write literary texts with multiple intentions and audiences, including but not limited to personal narratives that convey their thoughts and feelings about an experience. 

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

In Module 2, “¡Somos especiales!” the materials provide students opportunities to write informational texts. During the midpoint of the module, students write a narrative story using different prompts for narrative writing. The students write a story about naming a pet. The teacher provides a prompt “Mi mascota y yo…” to help the children get started by asking them to think of ideas to name the class pet.

In Module 3, “Héroes de nuestra comunidad,” the teacher explains to students that they will write informational texts. The materials provide guidance for teaching all the elements of the writing process throughout the school year, as well as guidance for scaffolding the process. Teacher support and guidance are included through the writing process, from brainstorming ideas to guiding students to write a draft, revise, and edit those drafts. Every module offers a “Writers Workshop,” which includes an outline and checklist of the writing process: plan and brainstorm ideas, organize, write a draft, revise and edit, and publish and present. The teacher reiterates that writers sometimes write to teach readers about interesting topics. Towards the end of the module, there is an activity where the class reads an informational text to review the big idea word “comunidad.” The activity is sorted into lessons so that the writing process is structured and systematic. The teacher tells the students that they will work in pairs to write an informational text about a place in their community. The lesson to follow, which provides information on the second stage in the writing process, “developing a draft,” instructs the teacher about key features of informational texts and suggests asking children to respond to the prompt, “Write an informational text about a place in your community.” Later, the class works on drafting their writing. The teacher makes sure the students feel encouraged and reassured by stating that they are good writers and to remember to add more details as they write to give readers even more important information. In the last lesson of the module, “Revising and Editing,” the class revises and edits their informational text. The materials suggest that the teacher should tell the students that good writers reread their work and ask themselves what important information they can add in order for students to perform any necessary revisions to their work.

Module 5, “Podemos Hacerlo,” includes a realistic fiction text called Jabari Salta: Puedo Hacerlo Solo by Marcel Mayer. Students write a narrative about a special time they spent with their family or friends using details, temporal words, and recounting events. The module includes opportunities for Interactive Writing. The teacher tells the children that they will work together to plan, write, and revise a story about a time they were nervous. The teacher defines the word nervous by saying “Cuando te sientes nervioso y no estas seguro acerca de algo, significa que estás preocupado por algo.” Students are prompted to think about a time when they were nervous by going back and thinking about when they started kindergarten. The teacher records a list of the suggestions the students provide, and then the class votes to choose a topic. The teacher then explains how to organize a narrative by displaying a story map so students can organize their ideas before writing. Finally, students work in pairs utilizing the “Think Pair Share” strategy and sentence stems to tell each other about an event to include in the story. They will later share it with the teacher to develop a narrative story.

In Module 7, the materials offer students opportunities to write literary texts for multiple purposes and audiences. The materials provide teacher support to help students grow their composition skills. The materials offer guidance in the use of graphic organizers to help students develop their composition skills. Early in this module, students organize a creative story. Teachers model how to write a creative narrative by telling children that when writers organize a story, they put the events in order. The materials provide a segment, “Planning a Narrative,” that instructs teachers to use the “Story Map” to model how to take notes about the beginning of a story. Students confer with each other about the middle and end of the same story. Using the graphic organizer, students draw and illustrate the week’s writing prompt: “Escribe un cuento sobre un animal.” The teacher reminds students about the story previously read in Module 5, “La Gallinita Roja,” retold by Philemon Sturges, and how the author used the order of events to tell the story. This helps students write down their thoughts in a logical sequence.

In Module 9, “Habitats Animales,” the class performs guided research to answer questions they have about an animal’s home and what makes it special. The first section’s writing prompt is “Escoge un animal salvaje.” Students write about where the animal lives. The teacher displays the anchor chart to review how to use a source to find information about a topic. Students choose an animal, ask questions about its home, and use different sources to find information that answers their questions. Teachers make a connection to the lesson’s Read Aloud Book: Welcome Home, Bear (Bienvenido a casa, Oso) by Il Sung Na. The bear is looking for a new home. He tries out different animals’ habitats. Students can use an idea for a wild animal from this book or think of their own.

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

The materials engage students in the writing process to develop text in oral, pictorial, or written form. Students coherently use the elements of the writing process (planning, drafting, revising, editing, and sharing/publishing) to compose text; students draw and brainstorm to generate drafts and organize their drafts by speaking, drawing, or writing. Students also edit drafts with adult assistance.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

In Module 1, “Curiosos sobre el Kinder,” the materials provide some opportunities for students to edit drafts with adult assistance. For example, in this module, in Lesson 5: “Gramática: ¿Qué es esa persona?” students work on an activity involving interactive writing of their opinion. The teacher displays the “Cartel de ejemplo” included in the materials to allow the students to work on planning, organizing, and drafting a text that expresses an opinion. Students are reminded that “los buenos escritores no se van después de escribir un borrador. Vuelven al texto para ver si pueden agregarle algo más. Hacen cambios para que su texto sea más interesante o fácil de leer.” Additionally, the teacher reinforces grammar by having children come up and circle any nouns that appear in the opinion piece. Finally, the teacher shows the children how to use a checklist to check for errors. 

In Module 4, “Felices y saludables,” the materials facilitate students’ coherent use of the elements of the writing process (planning, drafting, revising, editing, and sharing/publishing) to compose text. All elements of the writing process are introduced systematically over the course of the year. For example, the students are introduced to the writing process with oral composition. The materials provide support for the use of “Think-Pair-Share” to have partners talk about key details from the read-aloud “Los gérmenes no se deben compartir” by Elizabeth Verdick. The teacher asks the following question: “¿Qué podemos hacer para ser más saludables?” Immediately after, the teacher provides a sentence frame: “To keep our bodies healthy, we can...” (ride a bike; do push-ups; stretch; drink water). The Teacher’s Guide also suggests reminding children to speak loud enough for their partner to hear them but not too loud to distract the rest. Finally, the materials suggest giving children time to draw and label pictures or write words to explain at least two more details from the book on their own research maps. 

In Module 8, “From Plant to Plate,” the materials introduce opinion writing. Students are reminded that they can use words to tell how they think or feel about a topic by writing their opinions. The teacher reviews key features of the writing types by using the Anchor Chart “Cartel didáctico: Escritura de opinión.” The teacher explains that writers can write about their opinions to tell how they feel or think about something. The teacher tells students that writers can also use opinion writing to convince readers to take action. The materials include a Mentor Text Oye, hormiguita by Phillip and Hannah Hoose as an example of opinion writing. During the read-aloud, the teacher reminds students that the boy’s opinion in the story is that he should step on the little ant. Throughout the book, the boy gives reasons to convince the ant that stepping on him would not be a big deal. Towards the end of the text, the boy tells the ant that he is so small that it probably would not hurt to get stepped on. Then the teacher models opinion writing for the students by using Printable: “Opinion and Reasons.” The students write an opinion and two reasons to back up the opinion after using the printable. Students work together to identify another reason the boy thinks he should step on the ant. Students work with a partner to talk about the boy’s reasons using the sentence frame “El niño cree que debe pisar la hormiga porque….” The materials provide products and activities for explicit instruction in the writing process.

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

Over the course of the year, students are provided opportunities to apply grade-level standard Spanish conventions to their writing. The materials include opportunities for the practice and application of the conventions of academic language when speaking and writing, including punctuation and grammar. Grammar, punctuation, and usage are taught systematically, both in and out of context. Although there is some evidence of introduction to accent-marked words in the form of verbs and nouns review, the materials lack evidence on systematic accent rule instruction. 

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

In Module 1, “Curiosos sobre el kinder,” the materials provide opportunities to practice and apply the conventions of academic language when speaking and writing. The materials also provide teacher guidance to support students in the development of composition skills. For example, the materials provide language-based support so that students can work on their writing assignments using the conventions of academic language. This module includes the section “Revise a text that expresses an opinion.” In this section, the students revise and edit their drafts using the “Editing Checklist.” The checklist helps students revise if they wrote at least one opinion and checks for the use of verbs in their sentence(s) and proper usage of spaces between words. 

In Module 3, “Héroes de nuestra comunidad,” students apply grammatical rules not only in written sentences but in spoken sentences as well by engaging in turn-and-talk activities providing peer feedback to their writing. The module includes the section “Revise and informative text,” which focuses on adding key details to tell more about a place. The teacher says, “What could your partner add to tell more about the place?” The teacher provides sentence stems, such as “I like….” “You could add….” The students switch roles, so the other partners read each other's drafts for feedback. 

In Module 7, “Miremos de Cerca,” the materials focus on writing poetry and that poets write from their hearts, expressing feelings like love, excitement, and even anger. The teacher explains that writers can use exclamation marks as one way to show strong feelings. Within the module, the “Say It with Feeling!” section introduces exclamations (“Gramática: ¡Dilo con sentimiento! Presentar exclamaciones”). Writers have many tools to use when sharing their feelings with readers, including end marks. The teacher models the Big Book: “Not a Box.” The teacher reads each sentence with incorrect, then correct, intonation to model how exclamation marks show strong feelings. The materials prompt the teacher to project “Display and Engage: Grammar 7.3.” The teacher reads aloud items 1 and 2. For each item, the teacher underlines the end marks and points out that the second sentence ends with an exclamation mark. The exclamation mark tells us it is an “exciting sentence” that the writer wants them to read with a strong feeling: “We won! Did you hear me use my ‘big voice’?” The teacher then reads aloud sentences with different intonations. The materials guide the teacher to “Read aloud each sentence, modeling appropriate intonation, and have children write the end marks.”

In Module 8: “De la Planta al Plato,” the materials reinforce grammar instruction by having students work together to check the sentences for a subject and verb to make sure they are complete thoughts. The teacher reminds students how each sentence begins with an uppercase letter and ends with an end mark. Grammar, punctuation, and usage are taught systematically, both in and out of context. The Teacher's Guide tells the teacher to show students how to properly use the checklist to correct mistakes. Students use the checklist to check for errors in writing complete sentences, using uppercase letters, ending each sentence with an end mark, and checking for spelling errors.

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

Materials include instruction and practice for students to write legibly in print. The materials include a plan for procedures and supports for teachers to assess students’ handwriting development.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

In Module 1, “Curiosos sobre el Kindergarten,” the materials provide printables for students to recognize and form letters. The “Libro de Alfamigos” has the letter formations for students to trace then practice without the tracing patterns. The materials include directions for the teacher to properly teach correct letter formation. Students repeat the strokes chorally while they first write the letter in the air and then write the letter in the palm of their hands.

In Module 2, “Somos Especiales,” the materials provide teachers guidance for assessing, measuring, and supporting students’ handwriting development. For example, the materials provide writing rubrics (also available online) to assess students at the end of the unit. The rubrics have a section for presentation, and the levels of proficiency are developing, meeting expectations, and exceeding expectations. 

• Developing: many letters are difficult to read; runs words together; mixes pictures and words. Progressing: forms most letters correctly; makes spaces between most words; gives pictures and words their own space. 
• Meeting expectations: uses correct letter forms; makes clear spaces between words; pictures are well-placed.
• Exceeding expectations: Letters are easy to read; uses appropriate spacing for words and sentences; pictures are neat and well-planned.

During the Editing phase of the “Writer’s Workshop,” the teacher models how to use a checklist for students to check their work, giving them ownership of it. The teacher shows the students how to use a checklist to check for errors. The checklist includes “Utilized uppercase letters for names. Put one finger space between each word.”

In Module 4, “Felices y saludables,” the materials include instruction in print handwriting for students. The materials give opportunities for students to trace each letter. “Know it, Show it,” embedded in this section, includes a “Handwriting” section where students trace each uppercase and lowercase letter. The Teacher’s Guide provides guidelines for modeling, such as “Display the Alphabet card ‘Rr.’ Point to the uppercase letter and say, ‘Esta es la letra R. ¿Que letra es esta? (r) ¿Conocen alguien que su nombre empiece con r?’” The teacher then models how to write uppercase R on the board as she describes the strokes. Instructions are provided in Spanish. The teacher ensures that children repeat the strokes chorally while they first write the letter in the air and then write the letter in their palms. Students use the “Write and Reveal” activity to form the letter R on a small dry-erase board and then repeat for lowercase r. Finally, students complete the “Know it, Show it,” which provides instructions for students on how to trace the letter Rr, such as step by step arrows and tracing dotted letters on the worksheet to continue practicing how to form letters. 

In Module 8, “De la planta al plato,” the materials offer diverse opportunities for students to practice their writing. This module includes a “Printables” tab, under the Teacher’s Guide, where students can complete the literacy center activity “Write the room: The Alphabet.” During this work center, students write a word that starts with every letter of the alphabet. Students write down words they find around their classroom. Students write words using different colors. Finally, students draw a picture of nature and then write down how it looks like a person. 

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

Materials support students’ listening and speaking about texts by providing students the opportunity to listen actively and ask questions to understand information. There is evidence of consistent opportunities for students to engage in discussions that require them to share information and ideas about the topics they are discussing. 

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

Module 2, “Somos Especiales,” uses the realistic fiction text I Am René, the Boy by René Colato Laínez. The materials include a teacher’s supplement “BookStix” (“PagiNotas”) sticky notes that include the dialogic reading prompts from the Teacher’s Guide. In this module, the BookStix is divided into two lessons. Lesson One includes questions during read-aloud to “Develop Listening Comprehension” and “Engage and Respond.” The questions are intended to guide students to identify the characters, setting, and main events. Lesson Two includes questions for accountable talk during “Interactive Reading.” These questions include open-ended questions and recall questions.

In Module 3, “Héroes de Nuestra Comunidad,” the materials provide consistent opportunities to respond about information and topics of texts. The Teacher’s Guide includes literacy centers, where students are given the opportunity to share what they have learned as they answered the unit’s Essential Question, “What Makes a Community?” During “Dramatic Play (Dramatización): Community Heroes,” the teacher sets up an area that includes books about community helpers, uniforms and props, and opportunities to write, such as post-office supplies. Students use a variety of props to role-play scenes that show everyday community heroes at work. As they role-play the community hero they have chosen, students engage in “productive talk” that models their learning through collaborative activities.

In Module 4, “Felices y saludables,” the materials provide opportunities for students to listen actively and ask questions to understand information from text. Each unit includes “Lectura y vocabulario,” which has a “Check for Understanding” section with questions at the end of the read-aloud. The module provides guidelines for the teacher after he/she reads aloud Una vida saludable by Valerie Bodden. The teacher reads, pauses, and gives a brief meaning for unfamiliar words that may impact comprehension. The teacher also points out any pictures that support the word’s meaning. Additionally, the teacher stops and asks questions in Spanish that are provided within the section to check for understanding. After that, the students turn and talk to discuss their responses. They use evidence from the text in their answers. The questions from the Spanish column are “What happens when you are healthy?” “Why is it important to eat healthy?” and “How does being healthy help you?” 

In Module 5, “¡Podemos hacerlo!” the materials provide consistent opportunities for students to engage in discussions that require students to share information and ideas about the topics they are discussing. The materials provide consistent opportunities to respond about information and topics of texts. In this module, students learn the topic “I Can Do It!” After the students watch a video, “Training Wheels,” from the “Curious Minds Video” section, they discuss the topic. The materials include guidelines for the teacher to discuss that topic. The teacher asks the students to “Think-Pair-Share” to respond to the question using the following sentence frame: “What is something that you want to practice? I want to practice....” Additionally, the module also includes the “Engage and Respond” section after the read-aloud Jabari Salta by Gala Cornwall, where students discuss the read-aloud. The materials provide guidelines for the teacher to initiate discussion by asking students to work in pairs and think about “How does Jabari get ready for his first jump?”

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

Materials provide students consistent opportunities to engage in collaborative discussions by practicing grade-appropriate speaking skills using the standard conventions of Spanish language. Additionally, students have the opportunity to develop social communication skills that are appropriate to their grade level.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

In Module 2, “Somos Especiales,” the materials provide opportunities for students to practice grade-appropriate speaking skills using the standard conventions of Spanish language. The materials include the realistic fiction text I Like Myself! by Karen Beaumont. In the section “Desarrollar la comprensión auditiva,” the teacher asks text-based questions about the characters and events in the story. Students turn and talk to answer questions using the response frames provided. Students point to a page in the story that supports their answer. After reading, students identify the characters, setting, and main events. The materials offer simple sentence frames for each unit that goes with what is being taught to facilitate conversations. 

In Module 3, “Héroes de mi Comunidad,” the materials provide consistent opportunities for students to engage in discussion. In this module, during the oral language development stage, the teacher reviews the week’s academic words. The teacher reminds students of the meaning of vocabulary words and uses the strategy on the back of the Vocabulary Card to give an example. After reviewing each word, the teacher reads aloud the sentence frame and models completing the sentence. The sentence frame consists of a sentence with a blank for the students to fill in. Afterward, students and a partner use the strategy of “Think-Pair-Share” to discuss responses.

In Module 6, “Tierra de Libres y Valientes,” the materials provide consistent opportunities for students to engage in discussions. The materials include protocols for students to practice their think-pair-share using the “Cartel didáctico de pensar-emparejarse-compartir.” The materials provide pictures and words for the students to think-pair-share. The theme topic is “home of the free and the brave.” To encourage the students to discuss that topic, the materials provide a short video about the USA. After watching the video, students are asked to think-pair-share and respond using a sentence frame: “How is our country special?” There is a sentence frame provided that reads: “Our country is special because....”

In Module 8, “De la Planta al Plato,” students engage in structured collaborative activities like Think-Pair-Share, Round Robin, and Stand Up, Hand Up, Pair Up. In this module, during the informational text read-aloud of Plants Feed Me by Lizzy Rockwell, students identify the central idea (plants feed us). Later, the teacher uses a “Knowledge Map” to connect to the module topic. Students use Think-Pair-Share to discuss the question: “How does this text tell them more about how plants become food?” Possible answers range between “It shows how plants grow/how we can eat different parts” and “It shows how plants are turned into bread and other things we eat.”

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

Materials engage students in both short-term and sustained recursive inquiry processes for different purposes by providing students with opportunities to ask and generate general questions for inquiry and generate and follow a research plan with adult assistance when applicable.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

In Module 4: “Felices y Saludables,” the materials support instruction for students to ask and generate general questions for inquiry. In this module, under the “Writer’s Workshop,” “What do you wonder?” divides generating questions into stages. In the first stage, “I Do: Generate Questions,” the teacher reminds the students that the class can research how to keep germs from making people sick. Doing research is how writers become experts on a topic. The teacher explains that asking questions about a topic is an important part of planning research writing. “When we plan our research writing, we ask questions then do research to answer those questions in order to learn more about a topic.” The teacher tells the students that they can work together to make a list of questions they can research about how to keep germs from making people sick. The teacher thinks aloud and models how to ask a question about the topic. “I wonder how washing my hands helps keep me from making people sick.” The teacher records the question on chart paper. In the next stage, “We Do: List Questions,” the teacher guides children in brainstorming questions they can research to learn more about keeping germs from making people sick. They record questions on the chart paper, pointing out the question marks. The teacher uses echo reading to read aloud the questions. Finally, on the last stage, “You Do: Write Questions,” the teacher has children turn to their “Cuaderno del escritor.” The teacher reads aloud the directions and gives students time to make their lists and choose their favorite questions. The teacher invites children to “Turn and Talk” to share their questions. Finally, the teacher asks a few children to share their favorite questions. 

In Module 6: “Tierra de Libres y Valientes,” the materials support student practice in understanding, organizing, and communicating ideas and information in accordance with the purpose of the research (K-1). In this module, students write a type of informational text called a “how-to” book. The teacher reviews key features of informational writing using the Anchor Chart: “Writing to Teach.” The teacher explains that a how-to book is one type of informational text. How-to books teach readers how to do or make something, such as how to play checkers or how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The teacher provides familiar examples of “how-to” texts, such as instructions for a simple game, a recipe, or directions for assembling a toy. Students share key features they notice as the teacher records them on chart paper, including numbers and pictures for each step, steps in order, and labels for pictures.

In Module 7: “¡Miremos de cerca!” the materials support instruction for students to ask and generate general questions for inquiry with adult assistance. In this module, the materials for the lesson for I Know the River Loves Me (Yo sé que el río me ama) by Maya Christina González, Lexile Level AD440, Guided Reading Level B, include the Anchor Chart: “Ask and Answer Questions” (Cartel didáctico: Hacer y contestar preguntas) to teach how to ask and answer questions about a text. The teacher tells students to ask questions about a text if they are curious or confused before, during, or after reading. Then, use the text to answer the questions. The teacher reminds the students to use question words when asking questions. “When you ask a question, you start with a question word. What are the questions words we learned? (who, what, where, when, why, how).”

In Module 8: “De la planta, al Plato,” the materials support instruction for students to ask and generate general questions for inquiry with adult assistance. They include support instruction for students to ask and generate general questions for inquiry. For example, the materials have suggested topics at the end of each module that students can use to generate questions, as well as suggestions for places to gather information from a variety of sources. In this module, students collaborate to generate ideas, research, complete, and present an inquiry-based project during a four-week period. The first week, students launch the project “Watch my plant grow.” During that same week, the teacher guides students to think-pair-share to brainstorm what plants need to grow: soil, water, and sunlight. The teacher records their ideas on a chart and models how to plant seeds in a pot. Finally, after students plant their own seeds, they record their observations on their printable document provided in this module using module texts, books, or media about plant life cycles. 

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

Materials contain interconnected tasks that build student knowledge through questions and tasks designed so that students build and apply knowledge and skills in reading, writing, speaking, listening, thinking, and language. Tasks integrate reading, writing, speaking, listening, and thinking; include components of vocabulary, comprehension, and syntax; and provide opportunities for increased independence.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The materials include tasks that are designed so that students build and apply knowledge and skills in reading, writing, speaking, listening, and thinking. In Module 1: “Curiosos sobre el Kinder,” the Teacher’s Guide provides guidance that includes sentence stems to be used in pairs that guide the students to first discuss the topic with each other (Think-Pair-Share), prompting for listening and speaking. The students then write about the topic, and ultimately, they read each other’s writing. The module’s learning objective is that students work collaboratively to generate questions and share ideas. Later in the lesson, students gather and record information from sources and experiences (generate ideas for writing). Towards the end of the module, students write and draw to share information: “Todo Sobre el Kinder.” Some of the learning objectives include students working collaboratively to generate ideas and a text, and also working on language, sharing ideas using an audible voice.

In Module 2: “Somos especiales,” the integrated tasks require students to build knowledge on a worthwhile topic. For example, the materials guide students to study a topic, such as plants, and read a variety of fiction and nonfiction texts. Activities include writing, speaking, and listening. The materials provide students opportunities to build and demonstrate learned knowledge of plants. In this module, the teacher reads aloud the title and author’s and illustrator’s names, then introduces the book Soy René, el niño by René Colato Lainez, a fiction text with a 540 Lexile Level. The teacher explains that the story is told in both Spanish and English. Following that, the teacher shows the cover of the book, and children identify René on the front cover. The teacher encourages them to share what they notice about the illustration by asking, “What do you see on the cover? What do you think this story might be about?” Students “Turn and Talk” to share the name of a book they have read that is fiction, and some students share their responses with the class. The teacher sets a purpose for reading: “to listen carefully to and enjoy the story.” The teacher includes pauses while reading Soy René, el niño and gives a brief meaning for unfamiliar words that may impact comprehension. The teacher points out any pictures that support the word’s meaning. After reading, students identify the characters (René, his class, his parents, Renee), setting (René’s school and home, over several weeks), and main events.

In Module 5: “Puedo Hacerlo,” the tasks integrate reading, writing, speaking, listening, and thinking, include components of vocabulary, comprehension, and syntax, and provide opportunities for increased independence. The teacher uses the text Jabari Jumps (Jabari salta) by Gaia Cornwall, which has a Lexile Measure AD 490L and a Guided Reading Level L with a slightly complex narrative text, during small group instruction. The readers point out any pictures that support word meaning. The reader stops and asks the questions provided in the “BookStix” resource to check for understanding. Students confer with each other to discuss responses. Partners use the “Turn and Talk” strategy, using the sentence frames to describe Jabari’s feelings. In the beginning, Jabari feels.... In the middle, he feels.... At the end, he feels.... The students independently write, draw, and label one or more events that take place in the story on their own story maps. Afterward, students share what they wrote for the end of the story with the class. The group gives “put-ups” to tell what each child did well.

In Module 8: “De la Planta, al Plato,” the materials include interconnected tasks and activities to practice and demonstrate integrated skills. Those questions and tasks are designed to build and apply knowledge and skills in reading, writing, speaking, listening, thinking, and language. During this module, the teacher presents the unit, allowing students to share their background knowledge (thinking) about how the plants we use for food grow in nature. After that, the teacher goes over some vocabulary words, such as cosechar, huerta, and planta, and students use those words to Think-Pair-Share (speaking, listening, language) using a sentence stem provided in the teacher’s guide that says “After seeds are planted....” The teacher reads aloud Las plantas me alimentan by Lizzy Rockwell, and students engage and respond, identifying the main idea of the text. Students are asked to do an interactive read-aloud about the “Text Characteristics Chart” and continue to have conversations about the theme through accountable talk: “How the text features help to learn more about plants?” The writing workshop provides a mentor text, “The peach is the best fruit.” Students are asked to discuss and then write the reasons the writer gives for her opinion that the peach is the best fruit. Students are provided with the following sentence stem: “One reason is….” The material tasks integrate reading, writing, speaking, listening, and thinking; include components of vocabulary, comprehension, and syntax; and provide opportunities for increased independence. For example, the read-aloud lesson includes opportunities for students to discuss key vocabulary in the context of the story and use sentence stems that include increasingly complex grammatical structures as appropriate to help the students develop oral language.

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

The materials provide distributed practice over the course of the year. The design includes scaffolds for students to demonstrate the integration of literacy skills that spiral over the school year.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

In Module 1: “Curiosos sobre el Kinder,” the materials support distributed practice over the course of the year. For example, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year, writing tasks have increased in complexity and rigor to demonstrate additional mastery opportunities for students. In this module, under the “Writer's Workshop” tab, students learn about authors and what they do. Then with teacher guidance, students brainstorm ideas for what they might want to write about. The teacher tells the students that they can write to tell people about what they like or don’t like, to entertain friends with a story, or to teach people about something they know. Students draw a picture and then write letters and words that connect with the picture to tell the idea. 

In Module 4: “Felices y Saludables,” the materials support distributed practice over the course of the year. Lessons at the start of each “Into Reading” and “¡Arriba la Lectura!” module begins by building knowledge about the topic. Each module has a “Building Knowledge Web” (“Desarrollar redes de conocimientos”) section with the Essential Question in the center. The center circle stems off to other circles that surround it, creating a visual image of a spider. Each connected leg and circle have the weeks’ themes for that unit written inside. At the beginning of the module, the teacher introduces the module topic to preview what the students can expect to learn. Weekly, the teacher returns to the Web and adds information to that weeks’ web, or she can fill in the Web at the end of the module. As a wrap-up to the module, teachers revisit the Essential Question and guide children to synthesize what they learned. For example, in this module, students learn how to take care of themselves by being fit and staying clean. Teachers use “Printable: Wrap-Up” to guide children to reflect on the topic. Additionally, the teacher asks children to write a checklist of things they can do every day to stay healthy, and children draw a picture to go with each idea. For example, children might write “I eat healthy foods.”

In Module 6: “Tierra de Libres y Valientes,” the materials include scaffolds for students to demonstrate integration of literacy skills that spiral over the school year. Each shared reading lesson in “Into Reading” and “¡Arriba la Lectura!” includes a print concepts focus, a comprehension focus, and activities to review foundational skills in the context of the Big Book. The focus is to reinforce previously taught foundational skills weekly by having students perform different activities to identify letters, sound-spellings, and high-frequency words in the Big Book. Teachers can choose to teach the foundational skills in context in whole class or small groups. For example, in this module, the print concepts to focus on are the concept of a word for two lessons and the concept of a sentence for two lessons. Print concepts include book handling, book parts, text direction, the concept of a word and a sentence, one-to-one correspondence, and punctuation.

In Module 7: “¡Miremos de cerca!” students write a narrative in the Writer’s Workshop. They learn about characters and settings of a story. Students use their imagination to make up characters and settings and use graphic organizers to learn about the features of narrative writing. For example, what happened at the beginning, middle, and end of the story.

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

The materials provide explicit instruction in print concepts and opportunities for student practice. Additionally, they provide explicit instruction in print awareness and connect print awareness to books and texts. 

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The materials provide opportunities for students to connect print awareness knowledge to texts and practice and apply print concept knowledge to texts. The materials include stories that have predictable words in the text. In kindergarten, the “Rigby Leveled Library” (“Rigby Lecturas por niveles”) includes the text At the Pond (En la laguna) by Alan A. Rubin, illustrated by Helle Urban, Lexile level BR70L, Guided Reading Level A. This predictable text gives multiple repetitions of words and phrases so that students memorize the patterns and can predict the picture clue. 

The materials provide explicit instruction in print concepts. For example, they point out the organization and basic features of text. The “Guided Principles and Strategies” resource guide includes a section “Teaching and Learning” that provides guidelines about shared reading and print referencing. Shared reading is when “children have the opportunity to learn and practice print concepts, fluency, and reading with expression.” Print concepts “include book handling, book parts, text direction, concept of a word and a sentence, one-to-one correspondence, and punctuation.” The Teaching and Learning section also offers a visual with description about how to teach print concepts. Some examples are: “Holding a Book: Hold a book so the pictures and words are right side up and the cover opens from the right-hand side. Text Direction: ‘I will start reading at the top left and move across the line. When I get to the end, I move down to the next line.’ Turn Pages: Turn pages in a book this way—from right to left. Concept of a Word: Words are separated by spaces. Put your finger on the first word and count the words on this page.”  

In Module 7: “¡Miremos de cerca!” the materials provide opportunities for students to practice and apply print concept knowledge to texts. For example, they include stories that have predictable words in the text. This module includes the big book No es una caja by Antoinette Portis. The text includes predictable words like “¡No es una caja!” The shared reading section includes the “No es una caja” text and provides guidelines to teach the concept of print: End Punctuation. The teacher reviews sentence types, end punctuation, and question and exclamation marks. She says to the students that end marks are like stop signs at the end of sentences. The end marks tell us where the sentence ends. They are also special because they can give us clues about how to read a sentence. 

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

The materials provide explicit instruction in phonological skills and opportunities for students’ daily practice in rhyming, syllabication, blending, segmenting, and manipulation for kindergarten level. Additionally, the materials provide opportunities for students to practice oral language activities, including explicit instruction in each newly taught sound and sound pattern, sound/phoneme, syllable pattern, and finally, practice blending spoken phonemes to form syllables and syllables to form multisyllabic words.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The materials provide explicit instruction in phonological skills. In Module 1: “Curiosos sobre el Kinder,” the teacher tells students that they are going to practice reading words with ma, me, mi, and mo. The teacher uses the syllable blending routine to model how to read a word with “m.” The teacher displays “Tarjetas de letras: m, a, m, i,” located on the “Mostrar and Motivar” tab in Lesson 2: “Blend and Read,” and points at them while reading the letters out loud. The activity helps the students internalize the concept of what a syllable is, and they rehearse reading words that have been previously introduced to them. The teacher repeats this activity with most of the words shown on the Spanish column and reads a context sentence after the students have blended the syllables to read each word. The teacher explains that the syllables ma, me, mi, and mo can appear at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end of a word.

In Module 2: “¡Somos especiales!” the materials provide opportunities for students to practice oral language activities as well as frequent and adequate practice in phonological awareness. In this lesson, under the “Phonological Awareness” tab in week 1 of the module, the materials direct teachers on how to sort syllables. In the “Identify Syllables” (Identificar sílabas) section, the materials include an activity with the learning objective to count syllables in words and group words by number of syllables. The materials direct the teacher to “Tell children they will be playing a counting game. ‘I will say a word and you will take a step forward for each syllable. Listen: hamburger. Take three steps forward as you say the syllables: ham-bur-ger. I took three steps because “hamburger” has three syllables.’” The teacher has children form a line and listen to the word “arándano.” The teacher asks the children to use choral response to step and say the word, then give the number of syllables. A list of words is included in the Teacher’s Guide for further practice. The materials also include an independent work activity, where students color and cut out pictures of words. Then they sort the pictures by one, two, or three syllables, gluing them into three columns on a piece of construction paper.

In Module 7: “Maravillas de la Naturaleza,” under the “Destrezas Fundamentales” tab in week 1 of the module, the materials provide clear guidance for teachers to routinely and directly instruct students how to blend, segment, and manipulate syllables in spoken words. The teacher shows the students “Tarjetas de fotos” for the words edificio and aceituna. The students identify and say those words out loud. Then the teacher explains to the students that many words have more than one syllable and that they will listen carefully to those two words. The teacher tells the students: “Listen how I segment the word edificio into syllables e-di-fi-cio.” Then the teacher repeats the same process with the word aceituna and again for the words grúa and baúl. At the end, the teacher asks for a volunteer to segment the word triciclo from the “Tarjeta de Fotos.” The class listens carefully to each syllable in the word, and finally, the teacher asks the class, “How many syllables are in that word?” (three), followed by “Let’s say them together: tri-ci-clo.” 

Additionally in Module 7: “Maravillas de la naturaleza,” the materials provide explicit instruction and frequent and adequate practice for each newly taught sound and sound pattern. For example, the materials provide ideas for activities such as word sorting. Students orally sort words that have the same syllable. In week 3, under the “Destrezas fundamentales” tab, there is a section that includes a word sort activity. The teacher displays the “Tarjetas de palabras de ortografía” from the weekly focus skill ce and ci. Students read each word. The teacher explains that the word sort focuses on whether the syllables ce, ci are at the beginning of the word, like in cena, in the middle of the word, like in anciano, or at the end of the word, like in nueces. On chart paper, the teacher draws a three-column chart and writes cena as the heading for the first column, anciano for the second one, and nueces for the third one. She displays and reads cepillo. The teacher models how to decide whether the syllable ce is at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end. The teacher says cepillo and repeats the word, dividing it into syllables: ce-pi-llo. The teacher asks, “Which is the syllable with c?” (ce), “Is the syllable ce at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end of the word?” (at the beginning) “Where does cepillo belong?” (below cena). The teacher posts the card below cena. For column 2, the teacher repeats using the word pecera and posts the card below anciano. The teacher continues to model other words and asks the children if they notice anything about the words in each column; if no one mentions it, she points out that there are more words with the syllables ce, ci at the beginning. The children work together to repeat the sort, using the weekly “Tarjetas de palabras de ortografía.”

In Module 8: “De la planta al Plato,” in week 1, in the “Foundational Skills” section, there is a tab “La Fonética” that includes “Tarjeta y video de Alfamigos: Koko Koala.” The video includes a Koko Koala song; the module also includes the “Tarjeta del abecedario: Kk.” Additionally, the materials include audio files teachers can use or play for the students. Within the same section and tab, the materials help students pronounce sounds by using videos. Materials provide opportunities for students to practice each newly taught sound/phoneme and syllable pattern. The module presents a particular card that includes a picture of a koala along with the letters Kk. The audio helps the students learn proper pronunciation by listening to the “Audio de pronunciación k /k/.” The one-minute audio file explains the sounds and syllables of the word kiwi.

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

The materials provide explicit systematic instruction in phonetic knowledge and opportunities for students to practice both in and out of context. Materials include a research-based sequence of grade-level foundational skills instruction and opportunities for ample student practice to achieve grade-level mastery. Additionally, materials systematically develop knowledge of grade-level phonics patterns as addressed in the SLAR TEKS for grades K-2. Materials provide opportunities for students to apply grade-level phonetic knowledge to connected texts (e.g., decodable reader). Materials include building spelling knowledge as identified in the SLAR TEKS.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The materials include a research-based sequence of grade-level foundational skills instruction and opportunities for ample student practice to achieve grade-level mastery. Students learn phonological awareness in a developmental sequence from larger to smaller units of sound. Teachers follow the scope and sequence provided with the materials in the Teacher’s Guide to move from easier to more difficult skills and tasks. For example, students work on blending syllables before blending individual phonemes. Students practice blending before segmenting. In Module 1, “Curiosos sobre kinder,” Lesson 2 guides the teacher to use the display card “Tarjeta de Alfamigos: Oto Oso.” The teacher tells the children that this is the vowel /o/, as in oso. The teacher asks, “¿Deberíamos de darle un abrazo al Oto oso? ¿Qué tienen en común la palabra Oso y Oto?” The materials start with o. The teacher then plays the Video de Alfamigos.

The materials provide opportunities for students to apply grade-level phonetic knowledge to connected texts (e.g., decodable reader) and tasks. In Module 2, “Somos Especiales,” Lesson 5, the materials provide opportunities for students to read high-frequency words in and out of context. The teacher reviews this week’s and last week’s Words to Know. She displays each “Tarjeta de palabras,” reads it, and asks students to repeat it. Students share a sentence with each word. The teacher distributes the “Tarjetas de letras” and places the Tarjetas de palabras in a large jar or container. The teacher chooses a student to pull a Tarjeta de palabras out of the jar and show it to the group without looking at it. The group uses choral response to read the word aloud. Students point to the word on the Word Wall and read the word. Then the student forms the word using Tarjetas de letras. Another student repeats the process until the word jar is empty.

The materials systematically develop knowledge of grade-level phonics patterns as addressed in the SLAR TEKS. The materials provide scope and sequence with teacher suggestions on how to teach the skill. For example, the “Secuencia de instrucción” (Scope and Sequence) provides an overview of each week’s phonic skills with the corresponding Standards/TEKS. Module 7: “¡Miremos de cerca!” Week 2, the “fonética” lesson is “Sílabas con ñ /ñ/.” One suggestion to teach the skill is: “Telling students how to read words with ña, ñe, ñi, ño, and ñu.” Another suggestion is for the teacher to display “tarjetas de letras ñ, o, q, u, i, s.” The teacher slides the second letter next to the first one to form the first syllable. She puts her index finger under the letters as she reads the syllable. “¿Qué sílaba es esta?” (ño). 

The materials provide frequent and adequate opportunities for students to apply grade-level phonetic knowledge to connected texts and tasks. For example, the materials provide the “Lista de palabras,” which includes the list of decodable words and high-frequency words for each “Lectura inicial.” Module 8: “De la planta al plato,” Week 2, includes the list of “Palabras que quiero leer” from the weekly decodable text, “Palabras que quiero saber” and “Palabras de repaso.” These words come from the text “De la planta al plato,” and they serve as a tool to activate prior knowledge of the students and work on building new concepts.

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

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.

The materials include developmentally appropriate diagnostic tools and guidance for teachers, students, and administrators to monitor progress in a variety of settings (observational, anecdotal). They also provide guidance to ensure consistent and accurate administration of diagnostic tools. Additionally, the materials include diagnostic tools to measure content and process skills for SLAR K-2, as outlined in the SLAR TEKS.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

Materials include a variety of diagnostic tools that are developmentally appropriate (e.g., observational, anecdotal, formal). At the beginning of the school year, the online platform offers screening assessments like the “iRead” to monitor all students for reading difficulties. For kindergarten, the materials focus on Letter Identification and Phoneme Segmentation assessments to obtain an idea of a student’s skills upon entry into the grade level and again in the middle of the year. The Diagnostic Assessments provide information on students’ performance on the essential skills and strategies necessary to prepare and become a successful reader. These assessments are based on students’ performance on the Screening Assessments. The materials provide guidance to ensure consistent and accurate administration of diagnostic tools. The Diagnostic assessment “iRead,” offered three times a year at the beginning, middle, and end of the year, provides the teacher with detailed instruction on how to enable the test for students. It also provides constant reminders to the teachers, so they are aware of when the testing window opens and closes. 

The teacher uses this data to group students according to ability level and evaluate performance and growth throughout the year. The materials recommend assessing students three times a year, at the beginning, middle, and end of the year. Reports are available immediately for teachers and administrators. They outline in detail those areas where students need assistance and those areas that students have mastered. The materials include resources for Screening, Diagnostic, and Progress-Monitoring Assessments (Evaluaciones preliminar, diagnóstica y para verificar el progreso). The materials encourage teachers to hold data meetings with students to share the results with them and work on tracking their personal goals in order to keep up with their own progress and growth. This is done through data trackers offered in the materials. Students are also encouraged to keep up with the reading log included in the materials to keep track of the books they read in school and at home. The Intervention Assessments provide screening, diagnostic, and progress-monitoring assessments to identify students who are at risk for reading difficulties and provide recommendations on the amount of support students are likely to need during reading instruction.

The materials include a separate assessment guide/section that supports the teacher in understanding the types of informal assessment tools included. To locate the intervention assessments component, “Evaluaciones para la intervención,” the teacher needs to navigate the Grade K digital platform, HMH Ed: Your Friend in Learning. Under the Resources panel, the teacher selects the “Evaluación” icon. Finally, in the Filters panel, the teacher opens the “Componente” section and selects the “Evaluaciones para la intervención” tab.

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

The materials include guidance for teachers and administrators to analyze and respond to data from diagnostic tools. Materials support teachers with guidance and direction to respond to individual students’ needs in all domains, based on measures of student progress appropriate to developmental level. Diagnostic tools yield meaningful information for teachers to use when planning instruction and differentiation. Materials also provide a variety of resources and teacher guidance on how to leverage different activities to respond to student data. 

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The materials support teachers with guidance and direction to respond to individual students’ needs in all domains, based on measures of student progress appropriate to their developmental level. The materials include “Recommendations for Data-Driven Instruction” (“Recomendaciones para la enseñanza basada en los datos”) in the section for Screening, Diagnostic, and Progress-Monitoring Assessments. Before providing recommendations, an overview is given with steps to follow: First, the teacher needs to identify student needs; if a student shows a weak area on the Screening Assessment, the teacher is instructed to administer a more specific diagnostic test to pinpoint the missing skills. Once that has taken place, the teacher provides intensive instruction based on assessment results, using the “Foundational Skills and Word Study Studio.” Later, the teacher scaffolds the Core; in addition, the teacher continues providing scaffolded support (which may include strategic, or Tier II, intervention) during core instruction for two weeks. Finally, the teacher monitors progress using the Progress-Monitoring Assessments and core assessments. The materials offer recommendations in detail for each grade level that support interventions. The materials also offer action steps that need to be applied after the assessments have concluded. Some of the suggestions are as follows: “Below Goal” in the Screening Assessments for Letter Identification, Phoneme Segmentation. The assessment results can be utilized to understand the learning of a specific student.

The materials provide a variety of resources and teacher guidance on how to leverage different activities to respond to student data. The material recommends that the teacher should assess all students at the beginning of the year using “Intervention Assessments” and use the data to plan flexible groups for foundational skills lessons. Teachers are encouraged to use whole-class instruction to teach skills that the majority of children have not mastered. The materials offer guidance on grouping students into small groups according to reading ability to teach skills that a cohort of children in the class need to learn or review. The materials provide separate resources intended to reinforce the development of literacy skills. Suggestions for the “Guided Reading group” (“Grupos de lectura guiada”) include Rigby Leveled Readers, Take and Teach Lessons, and Tabletop Minilessons: Reading. Additionally, the materials offer suggestions for the “Foundational Skills group” (“Grupo de apoyo de destrezas y estrategias”): Start Right Reader, Reinforce Foundational Skills lessons, Learning Cards, Foundational Skills and Word Study Studio.

The materials provide guidance for administrators to support teachers in analyzing and responding to data. The materials suggest: “Using Data to Drive Decision-Making: The first step in developing a multi-tiered system of support is assessment. Different types of assessment can help educators and administrators identify areas in which children need additional support. Screening: Screen children to assess their academic performance against grade-level standards. Diagnostic: For children whose initial assessment scores show areas of concern, administer assessments to determine the focus for intervention. Progress Monitoring: Use ongoing progress monitoring to measure the effectiveness of instruction or intervention.” Administrators are able to access these reports under the “Reports” tab on the main page of the materials online. They have access to each individual class and can easily spot which are the weakest areas so that they can assist teachers with targeting certain skills. In each module, there are weekly assessments (Evaluaciones semanales), module assessments (Evaluación del módulo), and Module Inventories (Inventario del modulo), which assess select children’s progress with foundational skills at the end of each module for more information. When teachers assign any program assessment, they can review students’ scores in the Assessment Report. This report highlights the standards on the test that students struggled with most and allows them to review responses to each item. It also allows them to automatically create groups based on students’ scores so that they target the areas of greatest need.

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

The materials include frequent, embedded opportunities for monitoring progress. The materials include routine and systematic progress monitoring opportunities that accurately measure and track student progress. Additionally, the frequency of progress monitoring is appropriate for the age and content skill.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The materials include routine and systematic progress monitoring opportunities that accurately measure and track student progress. Each module includes a two-page layout of the “Assessment and Progress Monitoring” (“Evaluación y supervisión del progreso”) available for the following weeks. The teacher can assess using these resources: selection quizzes, weekly assessments, ongoing formative assessments, module assessments, performance-based assessments, and writing assessments. When the students take the Weekly and Module Assessments online, the teacher is able to access data reports to analyze gaps and gains, form groups for differentiated instruction, and locate resources to target children’s needs. In the Assessment Report, the teacher can view class scores for each assessment and analyze student proficiency data. In the Standards Report, the teacher can follow the students’ progress in standards proficiency and access resources that support learning those skills.

The materials recommend embedded systematic observations of students’ everyday activities and interactions as opportunities to track progress and assess skills in authentic situations. The materials provide systems for documenting observational assessment of students’ oral language skills during literacy centers, free play, and other daily activities. Teachers are instructed to utilize Learning-Explore foundations as well as best practices for building literacy skills, and they are encouraged to implement routines to actively engage young children in learning.

The materials recommend informal assessments that allow teachers to observe and document children’s learning and behaviors over time. Continued progress monitoring provides teachers with feedback for identifying each child’s skill level and how they change over time. The “Evaluaciones para la intervención” (intervention assessments) include progress-monitoring assessments to monitor the progress of students who are receiving intervention and to help determine when they are ready to exit the intervention program. Each grade level has multiple tests designed to assess students’ reading ability frequently throughout the school year.

Frequency of progress monitoring is appropriate for the age and content skill. The Progress Monitoring Assessments provide biweekly checks on students’ progress. The oral reading tests are administered individually and assess students’ growth or problems in pre-reading/reading skills throughout the school year. The assessments provide checks on students’ beginning reading skills as they progress from letter sounds to decoding words and reading high-frequency words and sentences and should take three to five minutes.

The materials include recommendations for assessing students with formal progress monitoring measures at least three times in a school year, such as at the beginning of the year, the middle of the year, and the end of the year. This frequency allows teachers to identify which students are not showing sufficient progress. “Medida de Crecimiento” for beginning, middle, and end of the year. The beginning-of-year test window opens from July 1 through October 31, the middle-of-year test window opens from November 1 through March 1, and the end-of-year test window opens from March 2 through June 30. 

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 are provided for students who have not yet mastered the content as well as for students who have mastered the content. Additional enrichment activities for all levels of learners are provided in the material.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The Teacher’s Guide includes recommended activities targeted for differentiation of all learners. The differentiation section in the guide includes a list of suggestions that meet the needs of students who have mastered the content. The daily options for differentiation in the section “Into Reading and ¡Arriba la Lectura!” provide support for students. The materials include a wide array of materials geared to provide enrichment activities for all grade-level learners, such as the Rigby Leveled Readers for levels A-E, which are aimed at supporting students who have mastered the content. The “Take and Teach Lessons” focus more on those students who have not yet mastered the content. 

The Teacher’s Guide for Module 2, week 1, “Somos Especiales,” provides an introduction to the module “Por qué somos todos Especiales” that displays a teaching concept map divided into teaching weeks 1 through 4. The module offers suggestions on how to introduce the teaching concepts to build student knowledge in an appropriate developmental manner. Topics such as “Celebrar las diferencias” and “Sentirme bien como soy” offer instructions, suggestions, and strategies readily available to use with learners who have not yet mastered the content. “Súperlibros” allow teachers to meet with those learners in a smaller setting to monitor, adjust and reteach. Books such as ¡Me encanta ser diferente! offer probing questions like “Why does the author think that being different is great?” and highlighted vocabulary words, imperative for students who have not mastered the content. 

Throughout Module 7, the materials provide copies of Little Books, which are small versions of Big Book texts used during daily lessons. The books range from Guided Reading Levels A–J, such as Una luna junto a la laguna and Una caja. These texts are geared for children who have mastered the content and are ready to read higher-level texts in small groups or independently and for students who have not mastered the content. The materials also offer a set of “Revista Aventura” geared to support students at their particular reading level. The purpose of Revista Aventura is to attract all students to learn and connect knowledge between all disciplines; they are available in six different versions and set by reading levels. The Teacher’s set of materials includes the “Tabletop Minilessons for Reading.” This resource, offered to teachers to utilize during small group reading instruction, provides flexibility to support all level learners (according to their reading ability) in applying comprehension skills they are learning with the whole class to higher-level texts they are reading independently. 

Another component relevant to the set of materials is “iRead,” an adaptive software that adjusts to all level learning needs and provides fast-track assessments and individualized pacing. This is an important virtual resource since it provides the teacher with an important tool to measure students’ reading ability as well as relevant feedback required to adapt lessons to develop more targeted instruction. Students take an assessment three times a year, and by the end of the academic year, the teacher gathers reliable data to verify improvement of students’ reading and comprehension abilities. 

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

The 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 content in an array of multimodal instructional strategies, such as visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. The materials support whole and small group instruction. Additionally, the materials offer guided, independent, and collaborative instruction practices, providing guidance and structures to achieve implementation.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

In Module 1: “Curiosos sobre el Kinder,” in week 4, the materials support developmentally appropriate multimodal instructional strategies (e.g., visual, auditory, kinesthetic, tactile). The materials include “Práctica de la destreza de la lección: Manipular sílabas.” This section offers picture cards intended to be used with “Foundational Skills” lessons to support instruction and practice for Phonological Awareness, Phonics, and Spelling. This week’s lesson introduces the word botella. Students are able to see the picture card to learn the correct spelling of the word and segment the word into syllables when prompted by the teacher. The card also shows an illustration of the word intended to help learners visualize the concept. Students are able to manipulate the card to enhance comprehension during small group instruction.

The materials provide a balance of direct and indirect instruction and multimodal instructional strategies to support literacy skills through the use of activities designed to use questioning, collaboration, and kinesthetic learning. The materials include two primary ways children develop oral language and vocabulary skills in the kindergarten program. In the “Academic Word Instruction,” students learn general academic and domain-specific words using a consistent vocabulary routine and vocabulary cards. Instruction focuses on how to pronounce each word, understand its meaning, and use it in context. Teachers will: “1. Say the word. Ask children to repeat it. 2. Explain the meaning. Read aloud the child-friendly meaning. 3. Talk about examples. Use the image or strategy on the card to talk about examples.” The “Word-Learning Strategies,” “Vocabulary Strategy,” and “Generative Vocabulary” lessons allow students to see connections between words, deepen their understanding, and provide them with a growing bank of tools to help them unlock the meanings of unknown words.

The materials provide support for students’ reading comprehension and vocabulary development through experiences with texts and opportunities to practice and apply new skills. Weekly Reading and Vocabulary instruction includes “1. Read Aloud lessons to introduce each Read Aloud Book and Big Book. 2. Oral language to teach and review academic words and reinforce word-learning strategies. 3. Interactive reading with dialogic reading prompts to encourage discussion.” Each week, students practice and apply comprehension skills, draw or write a response to text, and review word-learning strategies. The lessons incorporate a variety of different instructional approaches for teaching literacy skills.

The materials provide learning experiences that can be incorporated for individual exploration, and they support flexible grouping. “Alphafriends Cards” and “Alphafriends Videos” engage children in connecting letters and sounds through songs. Children can revisit the videos during Literacy Centers or beyond the classroom. Students have access to videos online. Students can use a whiteboard while practicing writing their letters as they follow the video. “Pida a los niños que repitan los trazos a coro mientras ‘escriben’ la letra en el aire primero y luego, mientras la ‘escriben’ en la palma de la mano. Use la rutina de Escribir y Revelar para que los niños formen la letra en pizarras blancas.” The materials include recommendations for activities that can be embedded into learning center areas for student-led practice in collaborative groups and independently.

The materials provide daily lessons designed for small-group instruction, giving more opportunities for oral language development and providing the teacher with opportunities for scaffolding with shared and guided reading practice. The materials include a variety of instructional approaches to engage students in mastery of the content. Module 5, “Podemos Hacerlo,” includes “Enseñanza en grupos pequeños: Lectura guiada,” which provides the teacher with lessons for small group instruction to ensure that all learners understand the concept. During small group instruction, the teacher assigns books based on student reading level, content, theme, or genre; the texts are provided with the materials and are outlined in the Teacher’s Guide. Additionally, the materials offer the teacher suggested lessons outlined in the “Minilecciones de rotafolio de mesa” booklet intended to provide targeted instruction based on individual student needs. 

In Module 9, “Hábitats, Animales,” Lesson 7, the materials support multiple types of practices (e.g., guided, independent, collaborative) and provide guidance and structures to achieve effective implementation. The objective of this lesson is to successfully identify the main idea and key details of the text Hogares. The module provides an Anchor Chart, “Idea Principal y Detalles,” that can be accessed through a link in the online Teacher’s Guide to review how the main idea relates to key details from this lesson’s text. The teacher asks students to work in pairs to review and share the text’s main idea out loud (los seres vivos necesitan hogares). Additionally, the materials suggest the teacher present and explain the the task of how to determine key details in an informative text by saying “Vamos a buscar datos o ejemplos que den más información sobre la idea principal: los seres vivos necesitan hogares.”

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

Materials do not include support for English Learners (ELs) to meet grade-level learning expectations. Materials do not include accommodations for linguistics (communicated, sequenced, and scaffolded) commensurate with various levels of English language proficiency. 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:

The materials in kindergarten are in Spanish and support the development of literacy skills in the Spanish language. Units 1–9 support Spanish language acquisition through the use of videos, visuals, and high-quality texts in Spanish. However, there is no evidence that the materials provide accommodations for English learners with various levels of English proficiency. Also, materials do not encourage strategic use of students’ primary language as a means to develop linguistic, affective, cognitive, and academic skills in English. The goal is to develop literacy skills in the Spanish language. 

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. Additionally, they include a cohesive, year-long plan to build students’ concept development and consider how to vertically align instruction that builds year to year. Finally, the materials provide spiraled review and practice of knowledge and skills in all domains throughout the span of the curriculum.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The materials include a cohesive, year-long plan to build students’ concept development and consider how to vertically align instruction that builds year to year. The materials’ plan supports efficient planning for teachers by identifying directly taught learning goals of focus within each unit as well as outlining opportunities for review and practice of other content domains. The Teacher’s Guide includes, at the beginning of each module, “Desarrollar los conocimientos y destrezas” section. The section provides support for teachers to help their students build topic knowledge and develop foundational reading, writing, and oral language skills through daily whole- and small-group instruction. The information is divided into five sections: “Learning mindset: Build knowledge and Language,” “Foundational Skills,” “Reading Workshop & Vocabulary,” “Writing Workshop,” and “Demonstrate knowledge.”

The materials include weekly “Foundational Skills” that provide a clear content plan for instruction. The activities are clearly connected within each unit, and the introduction of new concepts builds upon prior knowledge. Some of the activities include:

• High-Frequency Words lessons to teach and practice reading, spelling, and using high-frequency sight words. Teachers use the High-Frequency Words routine to teach these commonly used words each week. Following that, the teacher builds students’ automaticity by having them practice the words throughout the week in varied activities that focus on reading, writing, spelling, and using the words in conversation. A weekly printable word list is available for students to review with their families at home.
• Phonological Awareness skills lessons that aim to have children identify, produce, and manipulate the sounds in spoken words and syllables. The lessons engage students to enhance their rhyme recognition skills and help them produce rhymes using familiar songs, rhymes, and poems. The teachers use Picture cards to help students work with sounds. Teachers cycle through phonological awareness skills—as students develop decoding and encoding skills, this spiraling review benefits students that did not grasp the concept when the skill was introduced.
• Phonics lessons to introduce sound-spellings that help children associate consonants, consonant blends, digraphs and trigraphs, short and long vowels, vowel digraphs and diphthongs, and other common vowel spellings with the sounds they represent and to read words with these sound-spellings. They build children’s skills to master the phonics focus each week. Early in kindergarten, teachers use the sound-by-sound routine to help children connect letters to sounds and blend letter sounds to read words. 

The materials provide spiraled review and practice of knowledge and skills in all domains throughout the span of the curriculum. The materials include activities that support repeated opportunities to learn and practice using knowledge and skills in all domains. The materials include recommendations for review and practice of specific literacy skills in listening, speaking, reading, and writing, noting connections within and across units. Each week, the materials include “Vistazo a la semana,” where teachers can visualize how to preview and build understanding of the topics of the week. It includes support in language, foundational skills, reading, and writing. The “Guiding Principles and Strategies/Teacher and Learning” section provides guidance about how children build networks of knowledge that help them construct meaning. It gives the definition of prior knowledge and background knowledge. Both components are included in each lesson. 

The materials include weekly academic vocabulary called “Palabras Poderosas.” The Power Words lessons introduce and review high-utility academic and content vocabulary from the students’ text. The techniques used are: 

• Directly teach words: Focus on sophisticated words that appear in a variety of texts and across content areas, using a consistent routine. 
• Address language differences: Directly teach the language of school and make direct comparisons between “school language” and “home language.” 
• Share words in context.
• Provide repeated exposures to words: Find ways for the words to “crop up” throughout the year, to provide repeated exposure to them over time, and take note when students use the words. 

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

The materials include implementation support for teachers and administrators that are accompanied by an SLAR TEKS-aligned scope and sequence outlining the essential knowledge and skills that are taught in the program, the order in which they are presented, and how knowledge and skills build and connect across grade levels. Additionally, materials include a school year’s worth of instruction, including realistic pacing guidance and routines. The materials include resources and guidance to help administrators support teachers with implementation.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The materials are accompanied by a SLAR TEKS-aligned scope and sequence outlining the essential knowledge and skills that are taught in the program, the order in which they are presented, and how knowledge and skills build and connect across grade levels. Each module is divided into the weeks allocated for the module. Each week includes the skills that will be taught. The components include the TEKS that correspond to the skill. The TEKS are cited on the pages of the “Teacher’s Guide” where that particular TEKS is being covered. The materials include a scope and sequence for instruction. The scope and sequence shows alignment to the appropriate grade-level SLAR TEKS and outlines the sequence of instruction towards the end-of-year outcomes. The scope and sequence outlines the materials’ focus and how the plans support students at different levels of knowledge, building across grade levels. The Teacher’s Guide and online resources include an organized chart that clearly delineates which knowledge and skills are introduced and which are reviewed within each unit. The resource “Conocimientos y destrezas esenciales de Texas” in the “Correlación con los estándares” section provides a description of the standard correlation with the student and teacher materials from the Teacher’s Guide. 

The materials include support to help teachers with implementation and navigation of the resources. For example, the materials are color-coded to easily identify the content on the page. Each instructional component of the materials has its own color-coded pages. These are sorted as follows: “Desarrollar los conocimientos y el lenguaje” in red, “Lectura y vocabulario” in light blue, “Destrezas fundamentales” in purple, “Taller de escritura” in green, and “Demostrar conocimientos” in navy blue. The materials include an overview at the beginning of each week or unit of instruction that emphasizes the purpose of the lessons and activities to come. The section is located on week 1 of each module for all grade levels and is intended to support every student as they work towards building upon known concepts. The section also supports teachers in purposeful planning and making connections within and between the weeks of instruction. For example, in week 1, Lesson 1 for each module includes a “Week at a Glance” that outlines the topic of each lesson for the components of the day. It includes a comprehensive materials list for preparation as well as additional books and resources to support instruction. 

The materials include resources and guidance to help administrators support teachers in implementing the materials as intended. The materials include guidance for evaluating and supporting the classroom environment and implementation of the lessons. For example, the materials include “The Lenguaje dual: Guía de implementación/Dual Language Implementation Guide,” which has best practices such as how to group students and assessment strategies such as running records or module evaluations. Also included are ideas for reaching out to families and community members by providing family letters in every module that outline the different activities parents can do at home to support their child’s learning, like reading to them or creating a reading corner at home. 

The materials include a school years’ worth of literacy instruction, including realistic pacing guidance and routines. The pacing guides are year-long plans that showcase lessons and activities for a full year of instruction. The lessons can be reasonably implemented within the time constraints of a school year. For example, the pacing guides or yearly plans give evidence that the materials include lessons to support systematic pacing of SLAR TEKS-based instruction throughout the year. The materials include a weekly “Secuencia de instrucción” scope and sequence instruction for each module. It includes the five instructional components for each week: “Taller de lectura, vocabulario, destrezas fundamentales, taller de escritura, and dual-language settings.” The “Secuencia de instrucción” can be found in the “Recursos para maestros.” 

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

The materials provide implementation guidance to meet variability in programmatic design and scheduling considerations. Additionally, materials provide guidance for strategic implementation without disrupting the sequence of content that must be taught in a specific order following a developmental progression. They also allow LEAs the ability to incorporate the curriculum into district, campus, and teacher programmatic design and scheduling considerations.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The materials provide guidance for strategic implementation without disrupting the sequence of content that must be taught in a specific order following a developmental progression. The materials include lessons divided into three weeks, and each lesson takes one day; there are five lessons in a week. The materials recommend the teacher start on Week 1, Day 1, and use the Week-at-a-Glance (“Vistazo a la semana”) pages for guidance on the skills and tasks to focus on. The Teacher’s Guide provides a pacing calendar that includes the Week-at-a-glance for each instructional week. A summary of the week is divided into three main areas: 1) Suggested Daily Times: Used as a guide for scheduling each block in the lesson. The color tabs match the colors of each block in the lesson breakdown next to it. 2) This Week's Words: Found here are the different types of vocabulary words that will be taught over the week; for example, power words, high-frequency words, etc. 3) Assessment Options and Intervention: Teachers can check here for the assessments for the lesson. Intervention options are in Small-Group Instruction in the lesson breakdown. Next to the overview is a breakdown of each lesson in the week that describes which skills students will be working on and what tools are needed to teach them. Lessons include instructional blocks on foundational skills, vocabulary, reading, writing, and communication. 

The materials are designed in a way that allows LEAs the ability to incorporate the curriculum into district, campus, and teacher programmatic design and scheduling considerations. The materials include a “TEKS aligned by standard” section. The alignment of the program's resources to the TEKS can support teachers by using instructional resources that align with the district’s framework. The Standards search also allows teachers to determine appropriate texts for students to pair with standards, using information about text complexity. The materials facilitate choosing from the program’s resources for each standard or set of standards. The materials also include a suggested allotment of time in the Instructional Model: A Day of Into Reading targets children’s diverse needs using whole-class instruction, teacher-led small groups, and options for collaborative work and independent practice. The schedules are included for a 45–60 minute block of instruction.

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

Materials provide guidance on fostering connections between home and school by supporting development of strong relationships between teachers and families. Additionally, materials specify activities for use at home to support students’ learning and development.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

In the “Guiding Principles and Strategies” resource, the materials suggest that teachers create a culture of collaboration by engaging families as learning partners. The materials suggest that the teacher communicate early in the year with parents and caregivers and work to build trustful relationships in order to leverage their ongoing support. The teacher is instructed to focus initial communications on accomplishments and positive observations. The materials provide “Family Letters” in English and Spanish at the beginning of each module to inform parents and caregivers about what their children are learning and to offer practical ideas for reinforcing skills. In the “Family and Community” section, the materials suggest that the teacher provide parents, caregivers, and after-school staff with login information so children can access online resources to support their learning. Based on children’s individual needs, the teacher can email or provide copies of Printable Resources for parents or caregivers to use outside of school. The teacher can also share printable versions of “Start Right Readers” (“Lecturas iniciales”) for children to practice decoding and fluent reading. The teacher encourages children to read the texts to family members and favorite dolls or stuffed animals. Weekly, the teacher can share the focus sound-spellings and “Words to Know” with families so that they can reinforce them while reading. Students do the activities on the last page with a family member to review foundational skills.

In Module 1: “Curiosos sobre el Kinder,” the materials support development of strong relationships between teachers and families. The school-to-home connection section provides tips and examples of exemplary family engagement practices. For example, each module includes a family letter that is shared with the families at the beginning of each module to inform parents and caregivers about what children are learning and to offer practical ideas for reinforcing the skills. This module offers a family letter that includes ideas for practicing the skills that students are learning at school. One of the suggestions in the letter for this module is “Word play.” “Play with letters, sounds, and syllables to help develop skills that are important for reading: Sing the ABCs and songs that rhyme. Play ‘I Spy’ to find alphabet letters around your home or when you are out and about. Read alphabet books and recite nursery rhymes. Ask your child to name the letters or tell you words that rhyme.”

In Module 2: “¡Somos especiales!” the materials specify activities for use at home to support students’ learning and development. They provide tips for parents to practice new literacy skills at home in an explicit, systematic, and multisensory manner. The suggested ideas include items that are typically available in the home and do not require parents to buy anything or have special training. When students learn about characters and setting, the monthly family letter suggests the parents or caregivers use a photo so their child writes stories with characters and a setting. The guidelines say the child will look at the photo and tell about it, and parents or caregivers write down what he or she says. Parents or caregivers ask, “Who is in the picture? Where did we take the pictures? When did this happen?” Then the parents or caregivers tell their child the story of his or her name and stories from when they were a child. 

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 print or digital materials is neither distracting nor chaotic. They include appropriate use of white space and design that supports and does not distract from student learning. Additionally, pictures and graphics are supportive of student learning and engagement without being visually distracting. 

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The materials include appropriate use of white space and design that supports and does not distract from student learning. In Module 2: “Somos Especiales,” the alphabet cards used to connect letter and letter-sound include the letter and a picture to support the sound and are absent of other distracting visuals. In this module, under the “Teaching with Instructional Routines” (“Enseñar con rutinas de enseñanza”) section, the “Alphafriends Cards” (“Tarjetas AlphaAmigos”) introduce new sound-spellings. The cards have a standalone animal picture with the letter that represents the animal's name embedded in the picture. For example, for the letter “T” there is a tiger with the letter “T” written on its body. The teacher guides the students to practice pronouncing a target sound-spelling and connecting the letter(s) and sound. The materials provide large cards to teach each letter-sound and be displayed in the classroom and small cards to review letter sounds in pocket chart activities and small groups.

In Module 7: “¡Miremos de cerca!” the Teacher’s Guide is designed in a way that teachers can locate important information for lesson planning and implementation. For example, in each module, there are tools to support easy navigation of resources, such as color-coded pages to easily identify content on that page. Throughout this module, the Teacher’s Guide targets students’ diverse needs using whole-class instruction, small groups, and options for building independence through four instructional components. Each component has its own color-coded pages: Build knowledge and language - red; Reading and vocabulary - blue; Foundational skills - purple; Writing workshop - green. The Module Poster in Module 8: “De la planta al plato” includes a color picture with five different steps of the path from plant to plate and a picture of a smiling boy eating corn. 

Pictures and graphics are supportive of student learning and engagement without being visually distracting. The materials provide quality picture support in lesson resources. For example, each module begins with a discussion of the Module Poster, which introduces children to the module topic, builds background knowledge and vocabulary, and encourages children to make personal connections to the topic by exploring and discussing an Essential Question, a quotation, and key concepts. The materials provide some text resources as picture books and some as Big Books. For example, there is a balance of text for Read Alouds that includes Big Books with simple text and colorful pictures. The materials in kindergarten include a collection of 72 high-interest and diverse Read-Aloud texts that creates an authentic literacy experience to get children reading, writing, talking, and thinking. Included are 36 authentic Read Aloud Picture Books and 33 Big Books plus 3 Big Book Poems. The Big Books are more accessible and often repetitive texts intended to teach print concepts, develop the relationship between oral and printed language, and reinforce letter and word learning during shared reading. The Read-Aloud Books are more complex and sophisticated texts that build children’s knowledge, academic vocabulary, and understanding of text through interactive Read Alouds and comprehension lessons.