The HighScope Pre-K Curriculum

Evaluation for 2.1
Materials are cross-curricular and integrated in an authentic way to support students’ unified experience throughout the day.

Within the materials, some lessons provide cross-curricular and integrated activities in an authentic way to create a unified experience for students throughout the day. However, these lessons are not organized around a common theme to support students’ ability to build background knowledge, make connections, and explore concepts in a variety of ways. The materials are associated with the Key Developmental Indicators (KDIs), which cover the same skills and domains as the Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines, but they do not state the exact guideline within the lesson.

Evidence includes but is not limited to: 

The materials provide some lessons that include specific, intentional, and purposeful cross-curricular connections and multiple developmental domains to create a unified experience for students. The resource “Let’s Read It Again!” includes lessons that contain cross-curricular connections to create a unified experience for students. Following the read-aloud of How to Make Bubbles, students participate in a writing experience: The teacher shows the students chart paper that contains the first step for making bubble solutions. The teacher models writing the next steps for how to make bubbles using the book as a guide. The writing experience connection with the read-aloud is specific and intentional; students can use this writing experience to follow the steps and make their own bubble solutions. These lessons are not organized around a common theme to support students’ abilities to build background knowledge, make connections, and explore concepts in a variety of ways.

In “150+ Preschool Activities for Active Learners,” students engage in both mathematics and art while completing the activity “Making a Collage.” During this activity, students cut and glue different materials to make a collage. As students complete this activity, the teacher and the students discuss the number of objects students have placed on their collage. To support further individualized learning, the teacher asks questions about why students grouped particular objects. In the activity “Solving Problems with Stories,” from the same resource, students solve problems by creating a story in a construction paper booklet. The teacher shares her observations of behaviors in the classroom that resulted in students having their feelings hurt. The teacher writes the title “Left Out” on the front cover of a construction paper book. The teacher then asks the students what it means to be “left out.” The teacher models drawing three characters on the first page of the booklet; above two of the characters, the teacher writes, “You can’t play with us.” The third character has a sad face and says, “I feel left out.” The teacher then asks the students to describe the feelings of each of these characters. After discussion, students imagine what the characters might say to solve the problem; teachers remind them that their first idea might not always solve the problem. The teacher challenges the students to think of alternative solutions. The completed story is placed in the book area for students to access and use as a resource when similar problems arise. This lesson provides literacy, writing, and social and emotional development within a single lesson.

The materials connect to the KDIs. The KDIs are the building blocks of thinking and reasoning at each level of development. The KDIs cover skills in the following areas; Approaches to Learning, Social and Emotional Development, Physical Development and Health, Language, Literacy and Communication, Mathematics, Creative Arts, Science and Technology, and Social Studies. These domains do not explicitly align with the prekindergarten guidelines, but they correlate to the same knowledge and skills. “KDI Scaffolding Charts” provide examples to the teachers about how to scaffold lessons and activities at the students’ current level of development. However, the activities do not include explicit connections to the Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines with domains, skills, and outcomes.

Evaluation for 2.2
Materials utilize high-quality texts as a core component of content and skill integration.

The materials utilize high-quality texts as a core component of content and skill integration. The texts included in these materials are strategically chosen to support content and skill development in multiple domains.

Evidence includes but is not limited to: 

Texts included in the materials are strategically chosen to support content and skill development in multiple domains; they serve as a foundation for lesson design and content and skill integration. “Let’s Read It Again!” includes 20 books written in a variety of genres, including both fiction and nonfiction. Fiction book titles include Elmer by David McKee; Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten by Joseph Slate; Pecan Pie Baby by Jacqueline Woodson; and Roller Coaster by Marla Frazee. Nonfiction book titles include How to Make Bubbles by Erika Shores, Charlie Parker Played Be Bop by Chris Raschka, and I Read Signs by Tana Hoban. This resource also includes two versions of the classic children’s literature title The Three Little Pigs; the teacher asks students to point out the numerous differences between the two versions. There are also a few current, popular, culturally relevant titles in this resource, such as Up, Down and Around and What Can You Do with a Rebozo? by Carmen Tafolla. Chris Raschka, the author of Charlie Parker Played Be Bop, opens up the conversation about music and its cultural relevance; Raschka is a recipient of the Caldecott Award. Carmen Tafolla, the author of What Can You Do With a Rebozo? mentions culturally relevant traditions like piñatas and the song “La Bamba.” Magaret Wise Brown, the author of The Important Book, is also the author of Goodnight Moon; Brown qualifies for the “famous author content” category. The texts selected to be part of these materials were strategically chosen to support content, including family, emotions, and traditions. The texts also support skills development in domains such as writing, emergent literacy, social and emotional development, science, social studies, and fine arts.

In the materials’ “150+ Activities for Active Learners,” the words to the nursery rhyme “Little Miss Muffet” are listed on a chart; teachers ask the children to listen for rhymes while saying the words. The teacher discusses the meaning of tuffet and curds and whey. While the class says the rhyme, one child wears a “Little Miss Muffet” nametag, sits on the pillow, and pretends to eat with the bowl and spoon. Another child, wearing the “spider” nametag, sneaks up behind Miss Muffet. The teacher adds the remaining lines of the nursery rhyme to the chart paper, leaving off the initial consonant of the words that rhyme—(m)uffet and (t)uffet)—so the children can guess which letter is missing. As an extension, the teacher asks students what other nursery rhymes they might know; then, the class acts them out. This activity allows the students to explore phonemic awareness through rhyming, performing fine arts, and literacy in the storytelling aspect.

Evaluation for 2.3
Materials support developmentally appropriate practice across all content domains.

The materials support developmentally appropriate practice across all content domains. The materials include a variety of opportunities for purposeful play that promotes student choice. The materials provide guidance to teachers on how to connect all domains to play. The materials provide clear teacher guidance for setting up the learning environment and facilitating activities to meet, reinforce, or practice learning objectives and promote positive early childhood outcomes. The lessons clearly indicate the appropriate learning setting for instruction in large groups or small groups. The materials have an intentional balance of direct (explicit) instruction and student choice, including purposefully planned learning centers as appropriate for the content and skill development.

Evidence includes but is not limited to: 

The materials include a variety of opportunities for purposeful play that promotes student choice. In “Essentials of Active Learning,” Chapter 7, “What is the HighScope Daily Routine?” includes information on the component daily routine component “Plan-Do-Review.” This component contains planning, work time, clean-up time, and recall time. During this component, students have the opportunity to create plans according to their interests. This activity could follow a lesson or activity that students participated in earlier or to respond to an interest or idea about which students are curious. During planning time, children develop specific ideas about what they want to do. As they develop their ideas and ability to communicate, they also begin to state how they will carry out their plan. Planning involves more purpose and is more intentional than just choosing where they plan to play/work. This fifteen-minute component of their day makes their play more purposeful and meaningful. After planning, students can go to the work area to carry out their plans; work time lasts about 50 minutes. Work time enables children to construct their own knowledge and to build new skills. The process of Plan-Do-Review is an integral part of the daily routine. During this time, students have the opportunity for purposeful play that promotes student choice.

Throughout the “150+ Preschool Activities for Active Learners” resource, students have the opportunity to choose where they get to play during planning time. For example, the “Hot Potato Planning” activity allows students to practice their gross motor skills by throwing a beanbag around to each other; each student explains their work time plans to the group. Another activity, “Drawing and Writing,” allows the students to create their work time plans on construction paper. The “I Spy Patterns” activity is a small group activity in centers to draw patterns, shapes, and shapes on felt boards. First, the teacher talks to the children about what a pattern is and holds up an example. The teacher points out pattern features and recites the pattern at least three times. Students think of other examples and have time to explore and talk about them with their peers. Then, the teacher says, “Let’s see what other things with patterns we can find around the room.” As an extension, students walk around the classroom, school building, or outdoors to find things with patterns. “Retelling The Three Little Pigs” is a reading activity where students retell the story using toy figures and building blocks. These activities provide opportunities for purposeful play and for children to broaden and deepen their knowledge through play. The materials provide guidance to teachers on how to connect all domains to play. 

The “Essentials of Learning” resource provides the teacher with research-based information that supports the teacher’s understanding of the importance of play as a foundation for learning across domain areas. It also provides guidance on how to provide and encourage critical interactions that turn play into learning. The resource, “Supporting Children at Work,” states that the teacher should participate in the children’s play and suggest ideas to them. It guides the teacher to be careful when making suggestions so as not to raise the level of complexity of children’s play.

Materials have an intentional balance of direct (explicit) instruction and student choice, including purposefully planned learning centers, as appropriate for the content and skill development. The materials do not include specific activities for each of these areas but do recommend materials that would allow open-ended exploration integrating mathematics, science, phonological awareness, reading aloud, letter knowledge, and book and print awareness in each of these areas.

Evaluation for 2.4
Materials fit within a developmentally appropriate programmatic structure.

The materials partially fit within a developmentally appropriate programmatic structure. The materials do not specify whether they are for three- or four-year-old children; they merely present a range. The materials provide guidance to teachers on how to scaffold for children who are at different developmental levels. Although the materials do include some opportunities to support individualized learning, not all activities clearly differentiate instruction for the level of development. The materials do not provide differentiated use recommendations for half-day and full-day prekindergarten programs.

Evidence includes but is not limited to: 

The materials do not specify whether they are for three- or four-year-old children; they specify that they are for children ranging from three to five years old. The 58 “Key Developmental Indicator (KDI) Charts” were developed for this group range. The resource states that the KDIs in this book were developed with the entire early childhood spectrum in mind. The ages of this spectrum are 0–8 years of age. Additionally, the “Child Observation Record” (COR) is the assessment tool that measures the students’ development from birth to age five. The lessons or activities do not specifically state that they are designed for the specific age group of three or four years old. There are no defining differences between the materials and whether they would be materials for a three-year-old or a four-year-old. 

Materials provide guidance to teachers on how to scaffold for children who are at different developmental levels. The “KDI Scaffolding Charts” were developed with children of ages 0 to 8 in mind. These charts provide scaffolding strategies for the teacher to support students at their current level of development and strategies to extend their thinking and reasoning to the next level. The KDI Scaffolding Charts give earlier, middle, and later development ideas, but this is not for an age group or a defined class level. There are no provided teacher editions in the materials that clearly designate or aid the teacher in choosing materials for any age group. 

A few activities in the resource “150+ Activities for Active Learners” include strategies for supporting individualized learning. “How Artists Color Their Days” is one activity that includes examples of strategies to support individualized learning according to where the students are developmentally. This activity, however, does not give guidance by the age of the student. The materials also include strategies in large group time and small group time. During small group time, materials suggest scaffolding based upon the individual student’s developmental level. For example, in the activity “Giant’s Birthday Party,” students use alliteration to make up people’s names to invite to a party. To support students’ different developmental levels for early development, the teacher acknowledges the student’s ideas “emphasizing the initial sound and making additional suggestions based on that sound” (e.g., “You want to invite Savannah. S-S-Savannah. We could also invite S-Sammy or S-Sophia”). Students at a later developmental level come up with other words that start with the same sound as the names (e.g., “Molly, Mad, Mighty”). Although the materials do include some opportunities to support individualized learning, not all activities clearly differentiate instruction for the level of development.

The Essentials of Active Learning guide lays out the daily routine components included in a half- and full-day program. These components include Greeting time/Message, Planning Time, Work Time, Clean Up Time, Recall Time, Large Group Time, Small Group Time, Outside time, and Read Aloud Time, including mealtimes, resting, and increased times with the above activities in the full-day program. 

“Lesson Plans for the First 30 Days” provides a daily lesson with a weekly overview to guide the teacher in planning. For example, the Week 1 overview provides the teacher with goals for the week, things to keep in mind, needed materials, and a brief look at each day’s objective. However, these lessons only occur for the first 30 days. The materials do not clearly identify or specify if the lessons work best with a half-day program or a full-day program, and they do not provide differentiated use recommendations for half-day and full-day pre-K programs.

Evaluation for 2.5
Materials include detailed guidance that supports teacher’s delivery of instruction.

The materials include some detailed guidance that supports the teacher’s delivery of instruction. The materials include some guidance for teachers that is evident and provides explicit instructional strategies for teaching prekindergarten skills. The materials provide explicit instructional strategies for teaching pre-K skills in only a few of the provided activities. The materials include detailed and explicit guidance for teacher and student actions that support student development and proficiency of content and skills. The materials provide detailed guidance for connecting students’ prior content knowledge and experiences to new learning.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

“Essentials for Active Learning” includes general teaching strategies for each of the following content areas: approaches to learning, social and emotional development, physical development and health, language, literacy, and communication, mathematics, creative arts, science and technology, and social studies. There are also teaching strategies for each “Key Developmental Indicator” (KDI) addressed in that content area. General teaching strategies for the mathematics content include providing a wide variety of mathematics materials in every classroom area, using mathematics words and terms, encouraging the children to use mathematics to answer their own questions and solve their own problems, and posing challenges that encourage mathematical thinking. Within the mathematics content, the materials list more specific teaching strategies for each mathematics KDI.

“150+ Activities for Active Learners” incorporates scaffolding strategies from the KDIs into some of the lessons; they contain suggestions of strategies for individualized learning. Some strategy examples are prompting discussions with students, acknowledging the students’ ideas or suggestions during activities, and offering a variety of solutions instead of just one. Materials provide opportunities for child-directed instruction and direct instruction from the teacher. For example, materials include child-directed instruction throughout students’ work time when students can use the materials the way they want to. Direct instruction occurs during “Message Board Time” and small group sessions (e.g., when the teacher shows students what different emotions look like in a mirror). The materials provide explicit instructional strategies for teaching pre-K skills in a few activities.

KDI charts include detailed and explicit guidance for teacher and student actions that support student development and proficiency of content and skills. The charts state that children develop on a continuum, and each child develops on different levels. Each KDI chart details three developmental levels (i.e., earlier, middle, and later) and includes examples of what young children at those levels might do and say as they engage with the content and skills addressed in the KDI. There are scaffolding ideas for children at the early, middle, and later levels. Each chart also includes corresponding examples of how teachers can support and gently extend learning at the three developmental levels as they play and interact with children throughout the day. For example, in “KDI 1 Initiative: Children demonstrate initiative as they explore their world,” at the earlier stage of development, the child might “Use materials the same way they see another child use them at small group time.” At the middle development stage, the child might “Explore a new material in one or two ways (e.g., poke their fingers in clay).” The materials suggest what the child might be doing, and then make suggestions to the teacher on how to support the child at the current level to help them grow in their development.

“Let’s Read It Again!” provides guidance, in the activities for the second and third reading of a book title, for connecting students’ prior content knowledge and experiences to new learning. The lesson for the second reading of the book Charlie Parker Played Be Bop starts with the teacher activating prior knowledge by asking, “What do you remember about Charlie Parker? and “What do you remember about bebop music?” During the first reading, the teacher introduces and defines the words Be Bop. In the second reading, the teacher refers to the word Be Bop and asks the children to listen to how the author made the students feel like they were listening to Be Bop music. These questions tie what students learn during the first reading of the book to what they will learn during the second reading of the book. The stories that have a second or third reading use knowledge gained in the first readings as prior knowledge to connect to the lesson materials teach in a later reading. 

Essentials of Active Learning explains the cognitive development model. This model states, “Learning is seen as a process of developmental change—a process in which we learn by relating and adding new information to what we already know.” For example, students know to take care of one small animal (e.g., a guinea pig), then they have a knowledge base to care for other pets. This base provides the teacher with an opportunity to connect new learning, like whether or not a guinea pig would eat or drink the same as another pet, to the students’ prior knowledge of how to feed and give water to a guinea pig. The included topics and themes, such as trains and bubbles, are interesting and engaging for students. These topics provide the teacher with opportunities to further develop students’ interests. For example, in the read-aloud How to Make Bubbles by Erika Shores, the book is read aloud to the students; students then have the chance to use an included recipe to make their own bubbles. Students can thus further investigate and explore a topic of interest (bubbles).

Evaluation for 2.6
Materials are supported by child development research on children’s development within and across all domains.

The materials include a clear description of how the curriculum is supported by child development research. Materials provide research-based guidance for instruction that enriches educator understanding of early childhood development and the validity of the recommended approach. The cited research is current, academic, and relevant to early childhood development. The materials do not include cited research that applies to Texas-specific context and demographics. The materials contain reference sections in their resources. A bibliography is present.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

Materials include a clear description of how child development research supports the curriculum. Chapter 3, “What Is the Theory Behind the [Program] Curriculum?” in “Essentials of Active Learning” includes information on how the curriculum is supported by child development research, specifically by Jean Piaget and John Dewey; current “cognitive-developmental research and brain research”; teaching practices derived from the works of Lev Vygotsky, a developmental psychologist and educator; and the concept of scaffolding introduced by Jerome Bruner. The resource states that developmentally appropriate practices are the best types of early childhood learning activities. These activities are also open-ended, allowing the students to provide their ideas and suggestions.

Essentials of Active Learning provides research-based guidance for instruction that enriches educator understanding of early childhood development and the validity of the recommended approach. Chapter 13, “What Is the [Program] Curriculum in Language, Literacy, and Communication?” begins with what research states about the importance of language, literacy, and communication for students’ future success. It goes on to explain the key components in early literacy and how literacy skills develop. The materials state that activities should be both developmentally appropriate and child-directed. Via these recommended teaching strategies, materials provide teacher guidance for instruction in language, literacy, and communication.

“150+ Preschool Activities for Active Learners” provides the teacher with a lesson/activity to guide the students on how to problem solve. The “Solving Problems with Stories” activity allows the students to create a story about how they would solve the problem of having their feelings hurt. Collaboratively working is another effective teaching strategy. “The SuperStructure” includes this activity; the teacher provides the students with materials and support on building a much bigger structure than they have built before. The students then work together to build with the materials provided. Although the previously mentioned resources provide research-based guidance for instruction that enriches educator understanding of early childhood development, there are no specifics as to why a teacher needs to add something to an exercise. There is also no expansion for the teacher’s understanding and planning or implementation of the lesson that shows the recommended approach’s validity.

The cited research is current, academic, and relevant to early childhood development. There is no evidence citing that the research applies to Texas-specific context and demographics. The materials include a “References” list that cites research presented throughout the resource; there is a bibliography. Essentials of Active Learning reference pages begin on page 235; “Let’s Read It Again!” include cite research presented throughout each resource. “Letter Links” offers a table of contents for the teacher to utilize.

Evaluation for 3.1
Materials include direct social skill instruction and explicit teaching of skills.

Although multiple lessons cover self-concept skills, self-regulation skills, relationships with others, and social awareness skills, the materials do not include full lessons, only suggestions to support the development of these social competencies. The materials do provide guidance for teacher modeling of prosocial behaviors sensitive to cultural differences that may impact children’s understanding; they include guidance for teacher modeling of only some social skills. Also, the materials do not include a list of additional books to support the development of competencies to understand and respond to emotions. 

Evidence includes but is not limited to: 

The materials contain “Key Developmental Indicator Scaffolding Charts,” which provide social and emotional development indicators. This resource guides teachers to help children regain control of their emotions (e.g., hold, stroke, murmur, or breathe with them). It also reminds teachers always to support children at their current level and occasionally offer a gentle extension, such as “Point out how children’s emotional expressions affect others.” Teachers teach emotions using the song “Itsy Bitsy Spider” and drawings of different emotions. Students identify the feeling for each emotion by adjusting their voices when they sing songs like “Really Angry Spider” and “Happy Smiling Spider.” The materials also support instruction for proper center time clean-up through teacher guidance. For example, the materials recommend using verbal warnings at ten minutes, five minutes, and then a final signal until clean-up.

The materials include the “150+ Preschool Activities for Active Learners” resource, which provides lessons and activities for teachers to use across the year. For example, the “Solving Problems With Stories” lesson supports children learning to develop relationships with others. As a follow-up activity, the resource guides teachers to create a class book; teachers write down student stories from the day involving feelings. The materials include an example: “Yesterday, I noticed some children were upset because they really wanted to play, but they felt left out.” Students can access this class book in the book area and refer to it throughout the day. The resource guides the teacher to acknowledge children’s feelings and reframe their words not to place blame and refer to the text when teaching problem-solving skills. The materials also include a resource that uses relevant content to support the development of social competencies, such as understanding and responding to emotions.

In the “Let’s Read it Again” resource, the text Elmer provides multiple cross-curricular connections to support teaching relationships with others and social awareness skills. The book’s theme is friendship; the main character wants to make friends with the other jungle creatures. The class infers what elephants think about being made up of different colors, which leads to the class discussing each other’s similarities and differences.

KDI 53 details learning about diversity, including knowledge development and teaching strategies. For example, the teacher models behaviors and includes diverse materials in the classroom areas and activities.

Evaluation for 3.2
Materials include repeated opportunities for students to practice social skills throughout the day.

The materials include repeated opportunities and full lessons for students to practice social skills, self-regulation skills, relationships with others, and social awareness skills, as laid out in the Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines. Materials provide authentic opportunities to learn, practice, and apply these skills throughout the day in various content domains. 

Evidence includes but is not limited to: 

The materials include repeated opportunities for students to practice new social skills throughout the day. In the “150+ Activities for Active Learners” resource, “Planning and Recall” lessons embed the social awareness skill by offering students the opportunity to take turns; these lessons occur daily and throughout the year. With Itsy Bitsy Spider Revisited, teachers use an interactive song to teach different emotions and self-concept. Teachers show children drawings one by one and ask them to help identify the spider’s feeling; children use a wide range of vocabulary words. In this activity, children can practice self-regulation in a cooperative whole group play setting; this taps into their relationships-with-others skill. Students integrate this skill throughout the day; in transition time, some examples include rolling a ball from one child to another as each one plans their next activity, using props such as phones or puppets to initiate planning, and drawing various pictures or writing words and letters involved in their plans.

“Key Developmental Indicator Scaffolding Charts” provide suggestions for the teacher to support children at their current developmental level of skills. For example, to support children with the self-awareness skill, a teacher can comment on children’s preferences: “You took lots of pretzels because you like their salty taste.” To support children with their sense of competence, a teacher can acknowledge, “You are really good at doing puzzles!” Key Developmental Indicator 11 includes these throughout domains and offers an opportunity for the teacher to support students at their current level by acknowledging when children take responsibility without being reminded: “You cleaned your paintbrushes before you went to play with the blocks.” Students participate in a math activity called “Basket Toss,” throwing tossable items into large baskets as they count and compare baskets with their peers. This activity reinforces social skills such as taking turns and appropriate social interactions. The activity “Fruit Salad” guides students to discuss the health benefits of consuming a healthy fruit salad and promotes cooperation and collaboration as students make the salad together.

Evaluation for 3.3
Materials include ideal classroom arrangements that support positive social interactions.

The materials include classroom arrangements that support daily opportunities for practice of social skills, including daily practice in learning centers. The resources also include teacher guidance on classroom arrangement to support positive teacher-student and student-student interactions; the guidance considers a variety of factors and the components of the physical space and their impact on the students’ social development. The materials are extensive and can be implemented easily and effectively within a classroom arrangement that supports positive social interactions; they provide many suggestions on how to engage students in the classroom arrangement in order to promote student ownership of the space.

Evidence includes but is not limited to: 

The materials support classroom arrangements that provide daily opportunities for the practice of social skills. In the “Essentials of Active Learning in Preschool” resource, teachers divide the learning environment into different interest areas. There are also suggestions for the materials to include and how to organize and label the materials; for example, the resource advises that the “Block Area” and the “House Area” should be next to each other so that students can share the toys in both areas. The arrangement supports opportunities to practice social skills in the learning centers by involving children in “exploring with all of their senses, building and creating things, pretending and role-playing, reading and writing, drawing and sculpting, solving simple puzzles, and playing simple games.” 

The materials provide teacher guidance on classroom arrangements to support teacher-student and student-student interactions. For example, the “Lesson Plans for the First 30 Days” resource suggests that teachers plan for small group structures in activities such as the “Planning and Recall” lesson and for large group structures in “Music and Movement” activities. Materials also support the four major principles for classroom arrangement: the space is divided into interest areas, the space is inviting to children, the space accommodates activities and storage needs, and the space is open and accessible. The resource provides teachers with reasons for these arrangements regarding the classroom’s function and teacher-student and student-student interactions; for example, small groups ensure students have consistent interactions with peers. For small groups, children sit at a table together, on the floor in one area of the room, or on the reading area’s chairs and couch. The materials state: “This consistency strengthens relationships and creates a supportive educational environment that supports and extends the learning experiences children have during different times of the day.” 

The “Essentials of Active Learners in Preschool” resource lists reasons why each classroom space contains a label for ease of movement: “One is that children’s play should not be interrupted by classmates going through one space to reach another. If children have to pass through an area, they should be able to quickly and easily to minimize disruption. Second, ease of movement from one area of the room to another encourages children to explore and expand their play.” These are elements in the environment that affect children’s communal progress. The materials consider a variety of components of the physical space and their impact on students’ social development. 

The “Lesson Plans for the First 30 Days” resource structures lessons and activities for whole group and small group instruction; teachers can use the provided materials to set up effective organization and management to support positive social interactions. Teachers receive guidance on choosing appropriate materials, setting up an attractive and well-organized environment, providing individual support, and meeting consistently with the same students daily. Planning and Recall activities and read-alouds occur in a small group setting; Music and Movement and “Message Board” during “Greeting Time” activities occur in a large group setting. “Big Beats for Young Peeps” has music to encourage positive peer interactions and smooth transitions. 

The materials present a balance of classroom set up before the students arrive at the beginning of the year and what is done with the students throughout the year to promote their ownership of the class space. “Lesson Plans for the First 30 Days” provide guidance on what to prepare before students arrive. For example, teachers prepare letter links to go with each student’s name; once students arrive at school, they pick their letter link that labels their belongings, their cubby, and where they sit. The resource describes students as “active learners,” which means they learn through discovery and through “direct experience with people, objects, events, and ideas.” Throughout the year, the teacher displays daily routines on the Message Board, including planning time, work time, clean-up time, and recall time. The materials also provide guidance on having students and families engage in the classroom arrangement to promote an encouraging environment.

Evaluation for 3.4
Materials include activities to develop physical skill and refine motor development through movement.

The materials reviewed provide numerous daily opportunities for students to develop physical dexterity and enhance motor development through various activities. There are numerous daily opportunities for students to develop their gross motor skills through movement and their fine motor skills through tasks that do not require writing.

Evidence includes but is not limited to: 

The “150+ Preschool Activities for Active Learners” resource includes several lessons that provide authentic movement opportunities to develop students’ gross motor skills; movements, such as jumping, kicking, and hopping, cross the midline of the body. For example, “Bucket Toss” is a hand-eye coordination game in which students toss sandbags into a basket. In the “Let’s Dance” activity, students dance to different kinds of music, making movements such as rocking side to side, raising and lowering their arms, and swaying back and forth. In this activity, children also use position, direction, and distance words to describe the movements of their bodies. The materials provide teachers guidance with directions, such as “I am taking one step forward, and now I am sliding sideways; now I am turning around.” The resource also includes fine motor skill activities, such as “Stirring Alphabet Soup,” which combines fine motor skills and letter-sound association. In this small group activity, the teacher gives each child a tub of rice with hidden letters and a magnetic wand; children stir their “soup” and see what letters they find. 

The “Essentials of Active Learning” resource includes activities and lessons to support daily opportunities not limited to writing to develop fine motor skills. The “Big Beats for Little Peeps” resource provides strategies to support the development of children’s movement skills; it includes activities for children to copy and imitate their peers’ movements and “high-quality, age-appropriate instrumental selections that provide rich musical beats and rhythms for movement activities.” The resource also provides suggestions for a variety of material types to use in various centers for fine motor skill development, including scissors (“Art” area), magazines (“Book” area), egg beaters (“House” area), and measuring spoons (“Sand and Water Table”). Teachers can integrate some activities into lessons; for example, children string beads in small groups; use miniature animals and interlocking cubes for the “Block” area during independent learning; and play with buttons, pegs, or bottle caps in whole group work. Children also use their fine and gross motor skills when playing with Legos: they explore how a shape remains the same even when its position or orientation changes when a child flips it over (horizontally or vertically), turns it (clockwise or counterclockwise), or slides it.

Evaluation for 3.5
Materials include activities that develop safe and healthy habits in students.

The materials include activities that develop safe and healthy habits in students; however, they provide only partial teacher guidance on modeling safe and healthy habits. The resources provide opportunities and activities for students to practice and reflect on safe and healthy habits, such as personal safety, nutrition, exercise, and personal health. Some materials communicate recommendations for both teachers and students about the connection between physical and mental health; they partially address unsafe habits in a positive, supportive way.

Evidence includes but is not limited to: 

The resource “150+ Preschool Activities for Active Learners” includes limited lessons that provide teacher guidance on modeling safe or healthy habits. Activities include “Fruit Density,” which provides an opportunity for the teacher to model proper handwashing and safety when using a knife to cut fruit. The activity suggests that the teacher can incorporate healthy habits by having students wash their hands with her, providing for another opportunity to model proper handwashing. The teacher then discusses the healthy properties of fruit and comments on how the ingredients in a recipe make it a healthy choice. In the activity “Trampoline Jumping,” children practice jumping on a trampoline; the teacher gathers students around a trampoline and encourages them to talk about their prior experience with trampolines, taking turns, their concerns about playing on a trampoline, and staying safe on a trampoline. Although the class discusses safe choices, the teacher does not talk through a model of safe play habits. In another example, students choose exercises to include in the large group area. “Teachers can start by asking children if they know people who like to exercise, give examples of the kinds of exercises they know, and have a chance to demonstrate the exercises they like to do.” However, resources include only teacher guidance and modeling of these activities and guidance on integrating them into large group areas. 

The “Key Developmental Indicator Scaffolding Charts” 16-20 include recommendations to help students carry out personal care routines, such as washing their hands in the classroom sink. There are step-by-step posters with drawings and an accompanying song for students to time themselves; teachers can use the poster recommendation for reference in the classroom toilet. The materials also provide scaffolding ideas to help students engage in healthy and safe practices, such as “cough into their elbow, wash their hands after toileting, use their own fork,” and “wear a bike helmet, not walk in front of a moving swing, walk around a spill.”

The “Essentials of Active Learning in Preschool” resource provides opportunities for students to practice safe habits. Support for teachers includes providing background knowledge detailing why these habits are important. Teachers guide children to “consider the impact of exercise on their body.” Students have a chance to reflect on healthy habits in the activity “Making Good Food Choices,” which recommends talking to the children about their favorite foods and how to address unsafe or unhealthy habits in a positive and supportive way. Children learn about cooking healthy foods, why they are important, and share their favorites. The materials provide information for teachers about the importance of developing physical skills, but the resources do not communicate to students the connection between physical and mental health. “Essentials of Active Learning in Preschool” communicates this connection to the teacher, but not to the students. It states: “Brain research shows children’s minds and bodies are inextricably connected—moving increases heart rate and circulation, sending more oxygen to the key areas of the brain.” The resource and materials help communicate to the teacher how to set up a daily schedule that includes outdoor play, but there is no direct lesson to support students’ understanding of the connection between physical and mental health.

Evaluation for 4.1
Materials provide direct (explicit) instruction in developing students’ listening and speaking skills.

The materials provide partial guidance on developing students’ listening skills. The materials provide teacher guidance on modeling active listening for understanding but not for independent engagement to support listening, understanding, and comprehension. There are some supports and scaffolds for daily opportunities to listen for understanding. However, materials do not include activities that support listening development organized around a strong theme. The materials provide some opportunities for students to hear sounds, appropriate sentence structure, and grammar in a variety of contexts. Students receive limited opportunities to hear conversations that follow conversation norms.

Evidence includes but is not limited to: 

The resource “Let’s Read It Again!” includes stories that teachers can read to students in a large group, small group, or individual setting. Many examples include teacher think-alouds that support lesson understanding and active listening for comprehension. For The Important Book, the teacher thinks aloud about the author’s point of view; this lesson focuses on students’ opinions that support their understanding of the concept. There is also teacher guidance for active listening and comprehension during the second reading of Charlie Parker Played Be Bop. The teacher thinks aloud to discuss the illustration with the students. The story Ruthie and the Not So Teeny Tiny Lie includes some opportunities for children to demonstrate listening for understanding and contains some levels of questioning to support children’s different listening abilities. The teacher says, “It seems that teeny tiny things are very important to Ruthie because she searches for them and carries them everywhere.” The class connects Ruthie’s love of small things and her feelings about finding the camera, and students have an opportunity to share their understanding. However, there are no visual supports to promote modeling of active listening behaviors, nor is there a specific way for the teacher to explain nonverbal conversational rules. “Meal Card” conversations provide daily practice and support for listening and understanding in large and small groups, but these cards are not specific to the read-aloud text.

Teachers have access to grammatically correct scripts with appropriate sentence structure and grammar. These scripts provide directions or comprehension support for the teacher as they conduct lessons. For example, the script for Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten guides the teacher to say: “It looks like Miss Bindergarten has arrived at school. What do you notice about her classroom? (Acknowledge the children’s answers.) Now I understand why Miss Bindergarten is carrying all the school supplies. What do you think she will do to get the classroom ready for the children?” This teacher guidance allows students to hear exemplar speech. Other texts, like Big Beats for Young Peeps, include digital copies that provide appropriate sentence structure and correct grammar, but they include no additional supports that promote individual engagement to support listening, understanding, or comprehension. Each text within “Let’s Read It Again!” is independent of the others, and no activities are organized around a strong theme. This structure limits students’ listening development by not providing repeated opportunities to hear language within a relevant context.

“150+ Activities For Active Learners” is another resource that gives students the opportunity to engage in conversations connected to play behaviors and work time. The activity “Telephone Recall” has the children “use old telephones to converse with each other and recall what they did at work time.” Materials state: “If there are enough phones for everyone, children can converse with one another while they wait to recall with you. As you converse, connect children’s play back to their plans.” The material provides opportunities for the teacher to model conversations in a variety of ways, including adult-child interactions. In the first lesson, “Solving Problems with Stories,” the teacher can “prompt discussion by objectively stating problems that occurred in the classroom: Yesterday I noticed some children were upset because they really wanted to play, but they felt left out.” The resource also provides guidance on how to model conversations connected to play behavior, including suggestions for adult modeling of conversational norms with guidance or tips. For example, one rule is about waiting your turn before speaking: “Have a walkie-talkie for yourself and provide one for the child who is recalling. Take turns ‘calling’ the children to hear details of what they did at work time. After a child has recalled, they listen to the details of what other children did at work time.”

Evaluation for 4.2
Materials provide guidance on developing students’ speaking skills.

The materials provide some guidance on developing students’ speaking skills. There are opportunities for students to practice producing sounds and using appropriate sentence structure and grammar in a variety of contexts. Teachers receive guidance on corrective feedback on students’ speech production, sentence structure, and grammar. However, teachers only receive some guidance on setting up and facilitating activities that allow students to practice speaking skills. This support includes partial support and guidance for students to work collaboratively through discussion.

Evidence includes but is not limited to: 

The various group settings found in “150+ Preschool Activities for Active Learners” provide students with opportunities to “use language to communicate their ideas.” In a small group activity, students have the opportunity to tell a story similar to that of The Three Little Pigs. In the lesson “How Artists Color Their Day,” students discuss things that happened that day and how they felt about them. Materials state: “Large-group-time experiences include singing songs, making music, moving and dancing, exploring classroom materials, storytelling and story reenacting, participating in cooperative group games and projects, and interacting with classroom visitors.” Reenactment helps students better understand the familiar rhyme “Rub-a-Dub-Dub.” The teacher posts chart paper with the words to the rhyme and points to terms butcher, baker, and candlestick maker as the class says them together; following this, the class discusses each of the three occupations. 

The materials provide some guidance for the teacher throughout the day to facilitate collaborative work and engage students in conversations that use specific norms. For example, work time gives the students the opportunity to interact with other students and adults. “Small-group time gives teachers an opportunity to observe and interact daily with the same group of children and provides children with regular peer contact and interactions.” During large group time, “children and adults come together for companionship, information sharing, a sense of community, and the enjoyment of doing things together.” The materials do not include instructional strategies and materials to set up theme-related centers to support conversations, and there are no instructional strategies on how to set up this center.

“KDI Scaffolding Charts” include guidance for teachers to provide corrective feedback for students’ speech production, sentence structure, and grammar. Charts 21 and 22 state that children understand language and express themselves through language; they provide the teacher with clear guidance on appropriate ways to support developmentally appropriate speech production. The charts also provide information on the level of language development students are in, guide the teacher to support the students at their current level, and instruct them not to correct the child for a missed pronunciation but rather restate the phrase, pronouncing the words correctly. In addition, to support children’s current level, teachers can use “running commentary” about what they are doing; for example, “I’m scooping water with the cup”; “We’re putting on our jackets to go outside.” KDI chart 23 includes information regarding vocabulary development. The materials do not provide much guidance on organizing the classroom environment or facilitating activities to provide opportunities to practice communication. Students do not use oral language, sound production, or appropriate sentence structure and grammar for authentic purposes.

Evaluation for 4.3
Materials support expanding student vocabulary.

Although materials support expanding student vocabulary, they only partially follow a progression of vocabulary development that is age and sequentially appropriate. Although high-frequency words are assumed to be in the materials, they are not present as vocabulary words, and there are no suggested strategies for spiraling them throughout the year. The materials only include some integrated strategies that support vocabulary development in authentically embedded content-based learning. 

Evidence includes but is not limited to: 

Every story in the “Let’s Read It Again!” resource includes new vocabulary with child-friendly definitions. However, these stories are not integrated nor thematically organized. There are suggestions on meaningful ways for children to interact with and use new vocabulary words, but the progression of vocabulary is not age-appropriate. Throughout the read-aloud Elmer, students stop and discuss four different vocabulary words. These words include child-friendly definitions; afterward, students use them in other contexts. For example, for the word bunch, teachers receive the following instructions: “Revisit new vocabulary words at other times of the day when appropriate (e.g., at snack time, show children a bunch of bananas or grapes; at work time, ask a child to hand you a bunch of a particular item such as beads, crayons, or connecting blocks).” The read-aloud of Freight Train provides more child-friendly definitions: freight is defined as “things that are carried and delivered by trains, trucks, ships, or planes”; a caboose is a type of train car that is at the end of the train, where the train workers ride; a tank car is a type of train car that carries liquids, such as fuel; a tender is a type of train car that holds coal fuel for a steam engine. The teacher reads the story two or three times throughout the year to support the previously introduced vocabulary. However, there is not a set scope and sequence for how the teacher is to use these materials in a year, nor do materials suggest strategies for spiraling vocabulary throughout the year. After reading the book, the teacher leads a discussion about the new things and words students learned about trains, “I didn’t realize that there were so many different types of train cars and that they did different things. What are some things you discovered about trains?” After reading the text a second time, the teacher expands her questioning: “Donald Crews had to learn about trains to make this book. You might choose to make a book about something you know about. Is there something you would like to write a book about?”

Although high-frequency words are assumed to be in the materials, they are not present as vocabulary words. There is no real balance of high-frequency vocabulary and new and rare words. “Let’s Read It Again!” suggests the use of pictures or objects to identify vocabulary words throughout the different stories. One example is in the read-aloud lesson for Charlie Parker Played Be Bop, which provides some strategies to support the children’s understanding of new and unfamiliar words in the text. The lesson focuses on instruction for new vocabulary words; the teacher points out that when she reads the letters J and Z together, it sounds like the word jazz. The teacher then encourages the children to say the new word with her, thus helping them to understand its meaning. The lesson then lists some strategies to help support students’ understanding: “Show a photo of Charlie Parker playing his saxophone, play an audio or video recording of Charlie Parker’s music to introduce the children to bebop, and revisit new vocabulary words at other times of the day when appropriate (e.g., use the word ‘musician’ to describe children as they play instruments during work or choice time).”

The “KDI Scaffolding Chart 23, Vocabulary,” provides suggestions to scaffold teacher talk so that children hear new vocabulary in familiar routines and conversations. For example, to gently extend the learning of a child who is in the middle developmental level, it suggests the teacher should “share their experiences on related subjects, using additional vocabulary words like ‘When I went camping, we took a lantern.’” This resource includes some useful scaffolding suggestions; however, they are not authentically embedded in the materials. All suggestions remain general, and materials place too much responsibility on the teacher to apply the suggestions to certain lessons.

Evaluation for 4.4
Materials support English Learners (ELs) in their development of English language skills and content knowledge.

The materials reviewed include appropriate strategies for supporting English Learners (ELs) in their development of English language skills and developmentally appropriate content knowledge. The materials include some strategies for supporting ELs at three different developmental levels; however, they only partially include the child’s first language as a foundation for learning English. The materials partially develop students’ vocabulary in both English and the home language. 

Evidence includes but is not limited to: 

In the “KDI Scaffolding Charts,” the “English Language Learning KDI #30 Chart” provides general strategies that educators can use to support ELs. One strategy is to repeat what children say in their home language before restating it in English (e.g., “You want la muñeca, the doll?”). Another suggestion is to translate children’s words for peers. The Charts resource states that beginning ELs might hesitate to communicate in their home language or English in front of others; the teacher should thus acknowledge when children listen to or observe others (e.g., “Kofi, you’re listening to Sue’s song”). Mid-level ELs may occasionally communicate in their home language or English, such as when naming a common object, like a toy or type of food. More advanced ELs communicate more regularly in English in pretend play and may even contribute to a story or a discussion. In addition, materials provide some support for teachers to build on a child’s first language, provided the teacher understands and knows the child’s home language. Materials instruct the teacher to respond if students try to communicate in their home language; for example, if the student says, “baño,” the teacher should “take the child to the bathroom,” provided the teacher understands. While these suggestions are useful in practice, they are general and do not describe what the teacher should do during specific lessons.

The “Essentials of Active Learning in Preschool” resource also provides teachers with strategies that can support ELs. Again, these strategies remain general: encourage children to communicate regardless of which language they use, use pretend play to expand the vocabulary of ELs, and use narrative to enhance the fluency of ELs. Another example suggests having the EL share something from home that is familiar (e.g., a familiar song or rhyme). ELs can “accompany their home language with gestures and materials to be better understood.” Materials state: “These practices enhance the retention of the home language, contribute to learning English, and validate the child and his or her family.” While these are useful suggestions, the curriculum does not follow a thematic learning structure, making it challenging for ELs to consistently make connections to new words with isolated lessons. The materials provide some support for teachers to identify the importance of developing children’s vocabulary in their home language as well as in English. The section “Teaching Strategies That Support English Language Learning” encourages teachers to have students teach common words to the class, thereby enhancing the retention of the home language and contributing to learning English as a second language. The resource goes on to state that students whose native language is English “will frequently fill in missing words spontaneously, thereby providing a natural learning opportunity for the English learners.” However, there is no guidance for teachers to support ELs when they do not speak that native language. There are few specific strategies beyond these general suggestions, and students do not receive lesson-specific or content-specific interventions.

Evaluation for 5.1
Materials provide opportunities for students to develop oral language skills, including through authentic text conversations.

The materials reviewed provide opportunities for students to develop oral language skills through authentic text conversations; however, there is no guidance to broaden the lessons. Materials provide opportunities for students to listen actively, ask questions, and engage in discussions to understand the information in texts. The materials also provide students with consistent opportunities to engage in discussions that require students to share information and ideas about the texts. The materials provide some support and guidance for students to work collaboratively to engage in discussions, but they do not provide tips for the teacher to expand upon children’s conversations related to texts.

Evidence includes but is not limited to: 

The “Let’s Read It Again!” resource includes opportunities for children to listen actively to a variety of texts, such as Charlie Parker Played Be Bop, How to Make Bubbles, and Magnets: Pulling Together, Pushing Apart. These books provide teachers with opportunities to engage students in reading behaviors such as active listening and participation in discussions. Lessons include well-planned questions and think-alouds that support oral language development and encourage children to engage in open-ended discussions related to the text they read. When reading Charlie Parker Played Be Bop, teachers “ask children what they notice about the picture of Charlie Parker and why the author might have chosen to place him upside down.” This open-ended question allows students to make connections to understand the text, participate in a discussion about the text they read, and use their oral language skills. 

The books The Three Little Pigs by Paul Galdone and The Three Little Pigs by James Marshall provide consistent opportunities for students to engage in discussions that require them to share information and ideas about the stories. The class compares the two versions of The Three Little Pigs and makes a chart of similarities and differences between the two books. The teacher then asks students to think about which version they preferred and why. The book How to Make Bubbles in this same resource supports the teacher in modeling how to use information gained from print: “We are going to make a bubble solution.” The teacher helps students follow the steps to make the solution, writing the steps on chart paper with student participation. These are examples of how the materials provide regular and varied opportunities for children to build oral language through authentic discussions and to share information and ideas related to texts read aloud.

The materials also provide support for students to work collaboratively to engage in discussion. The “Super Structure” activity in the “150+ Preschool Activities for Active Learners” resource allows students to converse about which objects would best fit their structure. In another example, during “Puppet Recall,” students hold a conversation with a peer and share what they did during work time that day. In preparation for the “Snapshot Recall” activity, the teacher takes pictures of students working in the different interest areas. During recall time, the teacher shows the pictures to the students and asks those who played together to form a group. Groups use the pictures to remind themselves of what they did during work time. Through discussion, children practice listening and speaking skills. As shown, materials support students working collaboratively; however, there are no tips for expanding children’s conversations related to texts.

Evaluation for 5.2
Materials provide direct (explicit) instruction and opportunities for student practice in phonological awareness skills.

The materials provide some direct and explicit instruction and opportunities for students to practice phonological awareness skills. The materials follow some of the research-based developmental continuums of how children acquire phonological awareness; some activity types engage students in identifying, synthesizing, and analyzing sounds. Materials allow some student practice of phonological awareness skills both in isolation and connected to alphabetic knowledge skills. No scope and sequence describes the rationale behind phonological awareness instruction.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The “Key Developmental Indicator (KDI) Scaffolding Chart 24” shows how instruction follows the research-based developmental continuum of how children acquire phonological awareness; for example, materials progress from large units of sound to smaller units of sound and consider task difficulty. The materials state: “The teacher may use non-alliterative words when asked for a word starting with the same sound (say ‘dog’ when asked what else begins with the /d/ sound); repeat alliterative words in a familiar rhyme without being aware that the initial sounds are the same.” Although the materials contain lessons to support phonological awareness, they do not provide ongoing support to review phonological awareness skills throughout the school year. The activities do engage the students in learning; however, the lessons do not become more complex as students’ knowledge increases. Additionally, no scope and sequence is found throughout the resources to provide balanced instruction in phonological awareness. The materials include activities on the different components of phonological awareness, such as rhyme, alliteration, and phoneme awareness and manipulation, but the materials do not order the activities according to the developmental continuum.

The materials attempt to follow current research concerning the developmental continuum of phonological awareness acquisition as described in the “Essentials of Active Learning in Preschool” resource. This resource states that “children become aware of the largest units of sound and then increasingly attend to the smaller ones.” It states that students need three aspects of word-sound connections to develop phonological awareness: rhyming, alliteration, and segmentation. Segmentation, however, is an aspect that many students do not master until kindergarten.

The “150+ Preschool Activities for Active Learners” resource includes a variety of activities that engage students in identifying, synthesizing, and analyzing sounds. The “Hickory Dickory Dock” and “Down by the Bay” activities require students to keep a steady beat as they recite the nursery rhyme or sing the song. The material also includes activities that offer opportunities to experience, manipulate, and interact with sounds. For example, for “Hickory Dickory Dock,” the teacher reads the nursery rhyme multiple times, and students engage by tapping the beat and doing finger play. After reading the nursery rhyme, the teacher can enhance the students’ phonological awareness skills by reading the rhyme to them again. During the second reading, the teacher models phonological awareness skills by changing the title so that all the words start with the /b/ sound, for example, and reciting the new rhyme: “Bickory Bickory Bock.” The materials, however, do not provide direct instruction for each newly acquired phonological awareness skill. The materials do include activities that allow children to practice phonological awareness skills both in isolation and connected to alphabetic knowledge skills. The “150+ Activities for Active Learners” resource includes the activity “Little Miss Muffet,” where children listen for rhyming words as they recite the nursery rhyme; they are also encouraged to role-play as the teacher reads the nursery rhyme. This activity provides opportunities for children to practice phonological awareness skills focusing on hearing and reenacting as students build up to alphabet knowledge. In the “Letter Land Express” activity, students are encouraged to associate sounds with letters as the train moves down the track: “It’s the letter T and it makes the /t/ sound. This must be where Tiffany lives!” Although there are materials that teach these skills and provide opportunities for practice, they are not frequent.

Evaluation for 5.3
Materials provide direct (explicit) instruction and opportunities for student practice in alphabetic knowledge skills.

The materials provide some direct instruction and opportunities for student practice in alphabetic knowledge and skills. While materials partially follow a research-based, strategic sequence for the introduction of alphabetic knowledge, they do not provide one for the individual letters. Lessons include minimal teacher guidance on directly introducing, modeling, and using letter names and sounds. Although there is exposure to and interaction with multiple letters, the materials do not provide complete guidance for teachers on activities to promote alphabetic knowledge. 

Evidence includes but is not limited to: 

The materials follow a research-based, strategic sequence for introducing alphabetic knowledge; however, there is no scope and sequence. The “Letter Links, Alphabet Learning with Children’s Names” resource includes research about the alphabetic principle and gaining letter knowledge through engagement in meaningful interactions. This resource states: “Young children learn alphabet letter names and sounds by talking about and attempting to write their own name and other printed words they regularly encounter, such as ‘Stop,’ ‘Art Area,’ and ‘I love you.’” In the letter recognition transition activity, “Compare Names and Letter Linked Pictures,” children find another person with the same first letter in their name and letter on their letter link (e.g., Flora and Fatima). When pairs of children find each other, they tell the teacher the name of their common letter and then transition to the next part of the day. This activity serves as a way to introduce alphabetic knowledge. The resource states: “Systematic teaching of the alphabet, one letter per week, is not as successful as teaching children letters that are meaningful to them.” Although the materials provide exposure to letters, there are no units; materials provide only individual lessons.

KDI 25 addresses learning alphabetic knowledge, including how it develops and teaching strategies to support alphabetic knowledge. The materials provide teacher guidance on directly introducing, modeling, and using letter names and sounds but do not provide direct instruction for each newly acquired letter/sound. The “150+ Preschool Activities for Active Learners” resource provides varied playful opportunities for students to experience, manipulate, and interact with letters. The “Popsicle Letters” activity gives the teacher scripted guidance on how to model alphabetic knowledge learning. The teacher models making letters with popsicle sticks and asks students to make their own letters. The materials give the teacher guidance on how to support children according to their individual needs: If a child is in the early stages of letter knowledge, the teacher can model alphabetic knowledge learning by matching letters and commenting on letter shapes, “This is an S. It’s curvy like a snake.” In the “Looking for Letters” activity, children look for letters on newspaper pages and circle them. Again, the materials give the teacher guidance on how to support children according to their individual needs: If a child is in the middle stages of letter knowledge, the teacher can model alphabetic knowledge learning by challenging children to look for certain letters by name or sound association: “Can you find the letter X?” or “Let’s look for the letter that says /b/.” The materials include purposeful learning experiences across a variety of instructional activities with embedded alphabetic knowledge concepts. Although materials provide guidance, they do not provide ongoing support to review alphabetic knowledge skills throughout the year or provide a scope and sequence. The materials do not include teacher guidance on introducing each newly acquired letter and sound, and they do not provide directions to the teacher for setting up a letter-rich environment.

Evaluation for 5.4
Materials provide direct (explicit) instruction in print knowledge and concepts and opportunities for student practice.

Although the materials provide direct (explicit) instruction in print knowledge and concepts, they do not follow a research-based, strategic sequence for teaching foundational print awareness skills. The materials connect print awareness to books/texts and provide opportunities for students to develop an understanding of the everyday functions of print in context to the students’ experience at school. 

Evidence includes but is not limited to: 

The materials include direct instruction, questions, and prompts about print awareness; they connect this knowledge to books and texts. In the “Let’s Read It Again!” resource, the teacher starts the read-aloud Elmer by introducing the book and the author. The teacher reads the story and prompts students with questions like “What do you think ‘patchwork’ means?” After the read-aloud, students recall the story’s events. Students return to the concept of print awareness with Miss Bindergarten Goes to Kindergarten. Children look at the front and back covers of the book to figure out what the story will be about. Teachers receive direct (explicit) instructions to say, “Let’s look at the front and back covers to see what we can figure out about the story.” The activity also provides a think-aloud tying the book’s title to the illustration found on the front cover: “Hmm, I wonder who this dog is on the front cover and what she’s doing.” Teachers acknowledge children’s ideas and ask them how they came to those conclusions: “I’m thinking (or I agree) that this must be Miss Bindergarten. Authors often put the main character of a story on the front cover.” 

The “Essentials of Active Learning in Preschool” resource includes opportunities for students to develop an understanding of the everyday functions of print around the school; the resource provides teacher recommendations for setting up a print-rich environment. Also, the resource details opportunities for students to observe, engage with, and experience authentic print during the school day. The resource includes a “Sample Materials List”; for the “Reading Area,” the list suggests “assorted published books (picture books, wordless books, predictable format books, poetry books, alphabet books, information books, folktale books), homemade and child-made books, and photo books.” These recommendations not only help teachers set up a print-rich environment but also give the students the opportunity to engage with and experience authentic print within the school day. 

In “Essentials of Active Learning in Preschool,” materials state that “it is important for [students] to realize that print takes other forms and serves other functions.” For example, when labeling a child’s picture, the teacher should explain to the student that they want to put their name on it so they know whose it is. The materials follow a research-based sequence of foundational skills instruction and include opportunities for sufficient student practice; however, materials do not follow a strategic sequence for teaching foundational print awareness skills or provide a review of print awareness concepts. The Essentials of Active Learning in Preschool document suggests labeling different areas of the classroom and their materials. The labeling system “allows children at various stages of literacy to comprehend the labels and practice literacy skills.” Labels also allow children the opportunity to practice print awareness skills in a way that is meaningful and practical. Students interact with print as they gather or return the materials that they use during the day. An additional resource, “Daily Routine Cards,” is a “set of easy-to-read pictures and time-of-day names that identify the parts of a typical preschool classroom day.” Materials state: “Using the pictures or words on the cards, children can easily read the Daily Routine Card sequence and anticipate what happens next.” Although the materials include some activities and resources that teach students about developmentally appropriate print, they do not follow a developmentally appropriate continuum for the complete development of print awareness knowledge. Noticeably, materials do not engage children in learning that becomes more complex as their knowledge increases.

KDI 27 addressed Concepts about Print, including how concepts about print develop and teaching strategies to support those concepts. 

Evaluation for 5.5
Materials include a variety of text types and genres across contents that are high-quality and at an appropriate level of complexity.

The materials’ text selections are at an appropriate level of complexity for students’ developmental level. The materials include both fiction and nonfiction texts; there is evidence of various types of texts. Content is engaging to prekindergarten students; students have opportunities to interact with the stories, including repeated parts. The materials include read-aloud texts that cover student interests and use purposeful environmental print throughout the classroom. 

Evidence includes but is not limited to: 

“Let’s Read It Again!” includes 18 books. These various texts are at the appropriate level of complexity for the children’s developmental level and can be used for interactive read-aloud activities. The resource includes a teacher’s guide with read-aloud booklets for each book. The Important Book gets the students involved in talking about what is important to them and guides them to discuss why those things are important. The Three Little Pigs is highly predictable with a controlled vocabulary that makes it easy for students to interact and retell the stories. The materials state: “Each read-aloud booklet in Let’s Read It Again! includes the following introductory information: the title of the book, the names of the author (or authors) and illustrator, and the genre of the book (e.g., fiction, nonfiction, poetry). The literacy focus identifies key literacy components and specific focus points...that are emphasized during each reading.” 

Examples of fiction texts include but are not limited to:

• Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten by Joseph Slate (realistic fiction)
• Elmer by David McKee
• Pecan Pie Baby by Jacqueline Woodson

Examples of nonfiction texts include but are not limited to:

• How to Make Bubbles by Erika Shores (recipe book)
• I Read Signs by Tana Hoban (instructional) 
• Magnets: Pulling Together, Pushing Apart by Natalie M. Rosinsky (scientific nonfiction)

Examples of the variety of text types include but are not limited to:

• The Three Little Pigs (classic children’s literature)
• Elmer (classic children’s literature)
• Here’s a Little Poem (book of poems) 
• Little Miss Muffet (nursery rhyme)

“Let’s Read It Again!” also provides children with opportunities to interact with the story and includes engaging content. In the lesson for the book I Read Signs, students have the opportunity to interact with the story by looking at the signs in the book and talking about the shapes of the signs. Children trace the shape of the sign with their fingers. Teachers read the sign, such as in “Come in we’re OPEN,” describe the shape of the rectangle by running their finger around it, and point out that it has four sides and four equal angles. 

Materials include books on various topics interesting to pre-K children; for example, Charlie Parker Played Be Bop; How to Make Bubbles; Roller Coaster, Up, Down, and Around; Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten; and Freight Train. Topics of interest include music, plants, kindergarten, trains, and bubbles. The booklets also include multiple read-aloud activities, each with a specific literacy focus, for repeated readings of each book throughout the week. These interactive read-aloud opportunities support the development of children’s comprehension strategies and vocabulary.

The “150+ Preschool Activities for Active Learners” resource provides opportunities for children to interact with nursery rhymes. For a Little Miss Muffet activity, the teacher writes the words to the nursery rhyme on chart paper, and children “read” the nursery rhyme with the teacher, pointing out words that rhyme. The class talks about the meaning of these words, allowing children to interact with the text. In Itsy Bitsy Spider Revisited, students engage and interact with the story: Students use finger play that goes with the story as they sing the song. This story is also engaging for preschoolers because of its repeated parts: The spider feels a different emotion each time she goes up and down the waterspout.

The “Essentials for Active Learning in Preschool” resource includes recommendations for the teacher to set up a print-rich environment and for the students to observe, engage with, and experience authentic print during the school day. The system of labeling “allows children at various stages of literacy to comprehend the labels and practice literacy skills.” Labels allow children the opportunity to see print throughout the learning environment; environmental print throughout the classroom supports the development of print awareness. The materials instruct: “Preschoolers need to engage with print in many ways to understand that print can be used to give and receive information, express ideas and opinions, create and maintain relationships, conduct business and accomplish tasks. Signs and labels should be meaningful to the children, posted at children’s eye level, and written in large print. Books should have their front covers facing out and be put on low shelves or in bins children can reach. Children also need to ‘touch’ print, so make sure three-dimensional letters, books, magazines, and writing tools are handy and sturdy.” The “Daily Routine Cards” included in the materials “are a set of easy-to-read pictures and time-of-day names that identify the parts of a typical preschool classroom day.” The materials state: “Using the pictures or words on the cards, children can easily read the Daily Routine Card sequence and anticipate what happens next.”

Evaluation for 5.6
Materials use a variety of approaches to develop students’ comprehension of text read aloud.

The materials include guidance for the teacher to connect texts to children’s experiences at home and school. There is also teacher guidance on basic text structures and their impact on the understanding of the text.

Evidence includes but is not limited to: 

The lesson for the book Ruthie and the (Not So) Teeny Tiny Lie introduces a new vocabulary word and guides the teacher to help children make a personal connection of how Ruthie might be feeling. In the lesson guidance, scripted statements move from think-aloud to prompting student contribution: “Ruthie loves teeny tiny things. She doesn’t expect to find a teeny tiny camera so she’s feeling lucky. I felt lucky just the other day when I found a parking spot close to the front of the store when it was raining outside. Did you ever feel lucky about something?” As the teacher continues to read, there is further guidance for teachers to build connections between students’ personal experiences and the text: “A question to use when you are bridging the text to a child’s experience would be, ‘Have you ever …?’ You would use this when the text content may relate to the child’s experiences.” This teacher guidance clearly pushes students toward making connections to their own experiences. Throughout the lesson, the materials suggest other questions that support comprehension based on the literary focus of the lesson: “A question to use when you are wanting the children to make an intertextual link would be, ‘How does this remind you of another book we have read?’ You would use this when the text or content is similar to something else you have read. A question to use when you want children to adopt authorship would be, ‘If you were the author, how would you end the story?’ You would use this when you are focusing on teaching children to think like authors.” These examples of quality questions encourage children to make connections to the text. 

The lesson on Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten also asks questions to support making personal connections to the texts: “It looks like these children are also getting ready to start their day. What are some of the things you do in the morning to get ready for school? What things do you see in these illustrations that we have in our classroom? Some things about kindergarten are going to be different compared to preschool, and some will be the same.” The materials also suggest that the teacher “give children opportunities to make connections between the characters’ experiences and their own experiences (e.g., having a backpack, carrying a lunchbox, riding a bus, using a wheelchair, hugging a parent).” This lesson successfully supports discussion about school experiences and promotes overall comprehension. 

“Let’s Read It Again!” also includes teacher guidance on basic text structures and their impact on the understanding of text. Teachers often introduce and model making predictions and inferences for students to understand the text being read. The lesson for Elmer includes a teacher think-aloud that encourages children to make predictions: “The title of this book is Elmer by David McKee. I wonder if the elephant’s name is Elmer. I know authors often put important characters on the book’s cover. What do you think this book might be about?” After the teacher reads the book, the teacher asks the children to make an inference: “Let’s remember how Elmer felt at the beginning of the story. (Accept all answers but supply the following statement if the children don’t address it in their discussion.) Yes! Elmer was unhappy because he wanted to look like the other elephants. How do you think he was feeling at the end of the story? Why?” This guidance helps the teacher use text to teach and model making predictions and inferences. 

During a nonfiction read-aloud of I Read Signs by Erika Shores, the teacher uses a think-aloud to help support student use of basic text structures. The teacher says, “Let’s look at this sign. What do you think the picture is telling us? The letters say ‘BIKE ROUTE.’ A route is a way to travel from one place to another. What do you think the arrow on this sign is telling us?” Students identify the all-caps text and connect the text structure to the illustration on the page. The think-aloud promotes making connections between these text structures and the necessary interpretation of the text.

The lesson on Roller Coaster guides the teacher on making text-based predictions and inferences. Teachers ask prompting questions, such as “Why do you think they would wait in such a long line to ride a roller coaster?” and “I see that the girl is standing by the measuring place. I think she is tall enough to ride the roller coaster. I wonder if she will. What do you think?” The same book also guides the teacher to use the illustration to support comprehension. This teacher prompt successfully builds upon previously introduced text-structure skills: “As you read, gather information from the pictures by asking the children what they notice. Look at all these people. I wonder why they are standing in this long line. Point out the little girl and big boy at the front of the line. Ask specifically, ‘What do you think the little girl might be thinking?’ Think aloud about your observations of the illustration and the little girl’s apprehension. Ask the children to look at and comment on the girl’s facial expressions.”

Evaluation for 5.7
Materials include appropriate strategies for supporting English Learners (ELs) in their development of emergent reading skills.

The materials include some appropriate strategies for supporting English Learners (ELs). Although there are useful strategies, materials do not scaffold teacher modeling and gradual release of responsibility within the units or across the year. There is some evidence of strategies that use ELs’ knowledge of literacy in their primary language as a vehicle to develop English language and literacy skills.

Evidence includes but is not limited to: 

“Let’s Read It Again!” provides effective read-aloud strategies to support ELs. The resource includes the following strategies to use with ELs: use interactive read-aloud to support ELs’ vocabulary, use visual cues and gestures as key vocabulary is introduced, provide the read-aloud books to parents and encourage them to read the books to their children in their home language, use a simplified sentence structure to summarize key details before turning the page, periodically turn back in the book to summarize and sequence story events, rephrase or retell the story with props such as pictures or puppets, and select books that respond to the interests of young ELs and authentically relate to their home culture. These strategies allow ELs to access text information, provide them with the opportunity to practice new vocabulary, and allow them to develop their oral narrative skills. Although the materials include a variety of strategies for supporting ELs, the suggestions remain general and are not unique to specific lessons. Without connecting these strategies to specific lessons, there is no assurance teachers will apply them with fidelity. 

Additionally, Let’s Read It Again! includes some strategies that support first-language knowledge as a means to transfer to English language and literacy skills. These strategies include “providing the read-aloud books to parents and encouraging them to read the books to their children in their home language” and “introducing the text and vocabulary (in home languages and English) to children.” There is a specific note to staff members who do not speak their students’ home language(s): “Invite family members or community volunteers to come into your classroom and read the book with the children in their language and learn additional vocabulary words from the text to introduce in the children’s home language. Use a dictionary or ask children’s family members for translation, if necessary.” Separate from these general suggestions, there are additional read-aloud lessons to help with literacy development. It would be beneficial if these lessons contained embedded strategies to leverage the students’ knowledge of literacy in their primary language. Strategies remain general and do not ensure students’ knowledge successfully helps English language development.

Let’s Read It Again! includes the book What Can You Do with a Rebozo? The book supports first language knowledge as a means to transfer to English language and literacy skills; it suggests activities and guidance for students who are familiar with a rebozo and makes suggestions for students who are not familiar with one. The teacher is to “show photos of the traditional ways rebozos are used (e.g., as a shawl, as a cloth to wrap and carry babies) or an actual rebozo and explain what it is.” Materials guide: “Summarize the many things the book has shown that a rebozo is used for and write those purposes on the chart paper.” This resource integrates students’ home culture into the classroom well, but it does not necessarily aid in English language development.

“Letter Links” is one strategy that actively integrates students’ knowledge of their first language into English language instruction. The rationale section of this strategy explains: “For children to understand written language, they also need to develop a sense of word—the ability to isolate words and hold them stable. That is, they need to understand spacing to indicate separation between one word and the next, and they need to understand that the letters C-h-r-i-s when written together, make up the name Chris every time. Names, then, offer a personally meaningful way for young children to develop the beginning skills in alphabetic principle, phonological awareness, and sense of words they need to become successful readers and writers. (Bloodgood, 1999).” Materials suggest the teacher can use the support of the child’s family to draw objects that share similar letter sounds in the students’ home language. For example, for a student with the name José, the teacher might draw “a jirafa (giraffe) or a jarra (pitcher), including a J in each corner of his letter link.” Materials state: “When José’s letter link is a jirafa and Josh’s letter link is juggler, the children in your class will discover that J represents the sound /h/ in Spanish and the sound /j/ in English.” This strategy successfully leverages other languages into instruction, but it once again remains general and lacks integration into the overall curriculum.

Evaluation for 6.1
Materials include a variety of experiences through which students can engage with writing.

The materials provide a variety of experiences through which students can engage with writing. The materials include direct instruction as well as opportunities for students to imitate adult writing. They also include opportunities for students to generate independent writing and for group writing on shared experiences. The materials include opportunities for illustration with detail, which transfers to writing. The materials include opportunities for students to write in response to reading and make explicit the connection between reading and writing. 

Evidence includes but is not limited to: 

Materials include direct (explicit) instruction as well as opportunities for students to imitate adult writing. The lesson for the book Elmer in the resource “Let’s Read It Again!” provides direct instruction of writing skills; students learn about what authors do while writing a book. Before reading the book, the teacher explains, “Sometimes authors write books to send their readers a message—something the author wants us to think about. As we read Elmer today, let’s think about what the author might be trying to tell us.” This statement provides the students the opportunity to think like writers. This think-aloud allows the teacher to instruct the students on different writing skills and discuss how writers use their writing to help students understand what they read. After reading the book, the teacher encourages students to use the skill they have learned in their writing, “Maybe if you are writing, you might like to try to make a list or write words large to get the attention just the way David McKee did in his book.” The teacher provides direct instruction on becoming a writer and invites students to imitate adult writing in authentic ways. In “Lesson Plans for the First 30 Days,” the students have the opportunity to imitate adult writing daily during check-in. The teacher writes their name and letter link symbol on the message board to show the students how to sign-in. The teacher then provides the sign-in sheets in the book area for the students to imitate each morning upon arrival. 

“Drawing the Story” in “150+ Preschool Activities for Active Learners” includes an opportunity for students to generate independent writing and use illustration and drawing. The teacher asks students to draw a picture about the story or about what might happen next if the story were to continue. This activity allows students to write independently at their own level. The teacher scaffolds the independent writing of each child, depending on his/her needs. Students who are not ready to write about what is next can name the characters from the story or simply restate the plot of the story. “Greeting Cards” in the same resource includes another opportunity for students to write independently. In this activity, the teacher asks the students to create a greeting card for one of their classmates or a family member. The teacher scaffolds this writing activity as appropriate for each student. Additionally, this resource includes the activity “Search & Report,” where the students receive a clipboard with paper and a writing utensil to write the name of objects that they see in the classroom that were not there the day before. These independent writing opportunities are developmentally and age-appropriate for prekindergarten students. 

In the resource “Launching Literacy Tool Kit,” the “Message Board” activity, “Introducing New Materials: Guess the Area Rhyme,” has the students guess the interest area and write the name/symbol for the interest area where they might like to play. The teacher assists students who need help writing by providing a thinking model. The teacher asks students what letters might be needed to write the word sand. The teacher uses the students’ interest in where to play to practice writing. In another Message Board lesson, “Who’s Not Here Today? Fill in the Name,” the teacher draws a no symbol over a question mark and puts the appropriate amount of lines on the board so that the students can guess which student is absent for the day. The teacher supports the students’ ideas about who it might be and writes the appropriate letters in the blank lines. Students are called upon to come to the board to write letters in the blanks. 

The materials include opportunities for group writing on shared experiences. For example, in the activity “Drawing for Recall,” the teacher gives the students a large sheet of butcher paper to recall and draw what they did during work time that day. This activity is completed in a large group through shared experiences as the students lie on the floor or sit at a table; it is found in 150+ Preschool Activities for Active Learners.

Materials include opportunities to write in response to reading and make explicit the connection between reading and writing. The teacher reads the book Freight Train. After reading the book, the teacher encourages the students to write their own books: “Donald Crews had to learn about trains to make this book. You might choose to make a book about something you know about.” The teacher also reads the book Z Is for Moose. The teacher says, “I noticed that this book had all the letters of the alphabet in it and that the author put the letters in the same order as our alphabet chart. When authors write alphabet books, they have to think of things that start with each letter of the alphabet.” She then suggests that the students use the information they heard from the story and the alphabet chart in the classroom to make an alphabet book of their own, just like the author. In the activity “Where’s the Rest,” “Students listen to the middle of a familiar story, then draw, write, and talk about what they think happens before and after the part they’ve heard.” These activities include opportunities to write in response to reading and make explicit the connection between reading and writing.

Evaluation for 6.2
Materials instruct students along the developmental stages of writing.

The materials do not instruct students along the developmental stages of writing. The materials include activities that fall along the developmental continuum of how children learn writing. The materials provide guidance for teachers on how to nudge students along the three levels included in the “Key Developmental Indicator” (KDI) chart for writing development. The materials do not include activities or lessons written in a sequence that follows the developmental continuum of how children learn to write. They also do not include guidance for teachers on how to include appropriate student contributions to writing and the writing process as specified by the Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines. 

Evidence includes but is not limited to: 

The materials do not include lessons for writing that follow the sequence of development stages of writing. These instructional materials have no set sequence of lessons in any area, writing included. The teacher picks and chooses the lessons from a bank to support students’ learning. The materials include opportunities for students to engage in writing activities. For example, the “Field Trip Story” in the resource “150+ Preschool Activities for Active Learners” provides the students the opportunity to write about a shared experience. After attending a class field trip, the teacher and students begin to create a story. However, the materials do not include lessons for writing that follow the sequence of developmental stages of writing or a true developmental continuum.

Materials provide guidance for teachers on how to nudge students along the continuum for writing development but not in a thoughtful way. Lessons address different parts of the continuum but not systematically. The KDI “Scaffolding Chart #29, Writing” provides guidance to the teacher on how to scaffold the learning for students at different developmental levels of writing. The chart includes three levels of development: “Earlier, Middle, and Later.” The chart includes children’s behaviors at each level to help the teacher identify where the students are in their development. If they are in the Earlier level of development, students explore writing materials and tools (e.g., crayons, markers, pencils, and computers) through writing or drawing. The teacher can provide a gentle nudge to students at this level by describing and encouraging children to describe the ways they use writing materials and by referring to what children write as “drawings,” “lines (shapes),” or “letters,” as the case may be. These are all strategies and guidance for teachers on how to nudge students along the continuum for writing development. 

The “Essentials for Active Learning in Preschool” resource encourages teachers to “respect and support each attempt on the continuum of learning how to write.” For example, if the student knows how to write his/her letters, the teacher can say each sound and spell the word for the student. Following a suggestion in this resource, the teachers provide drawing and writing materials and encourage the students to carry those materials with them around the room to support their play. The materials do not include a visual chart of the developmental stages of emergent writing with accompanying descriptors that support the teacher in identifying children’s stages of writing development.

Materials do not include guidance for teachers on ways to include appropriate student contributions to the writing process as specified by the Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines. There is no evidence of writing opportunities in which the teacher models the process of writing from thinking of an idea to developing a published or shared piece.

Evaluation for 6.3
Materials support fine motor development alongside and through writing.

The materials do provide support for fine motor development, but it is not alongside or through writing. Materials provide a variety of opportunities for children to develop their fine motor skills and do provide differentiation for the different levels of dexterity. The materials do not provide guidance on best practices for developing children’s fine motor skills toward writing, nor do they provide information for teachers on the importance of pre-writing strokes as part of developing fine motor skills. They use a variety of tools but do not recommend a variety of surfaces for student writing experiences.

Evidence includes but is not limited to: 

Materials provide a variety of opportunities for children to develop their fine motor skills. Chapter 12 of “Essentials of Active Learning in Preschool” includes information on materials to include in the work areas that give children a variety of opportunities to develop their fine motor skills. The teacher should provide engaging materials in all areas of the room, such as scissors in the art area, thin rods in the block area, magazines in the book area, small figurines in the toy area, egg beaters in the house area, measuring spoons at the sand and water table, and chalk on the playground. The teacher should also provide hard and soft materials that children can transform with their hands and fingers and that require varying levels of effort, such as playdough made with different amounts of flour to vary its thickness and moldability. The teacher uses similar strategies when planning small and large group times. The teacher provides a variety of materials and adjusts the content of these activities so children can use their hands and eyes to make and build; transform; investigate cause and effect; and represent things by writing, drawing, and sculpting. The teacher provides a variety of materials to meet individual students’ dexterity needs, such as Duplo and Lego blocks, knob puzzles and flat jigsaw puzzles, pegs and pegboards with different-sized holes, and thick and thin paintbrushes. The materials do not suggest using a variety of writing surfaces.

In the resource “150+ Preschool Activities for Active Learners,” in the activity titled “Cutting Out Area Signs,” students cut out the sign for the area in which they would like to work for the day. In the following activity, “Stringing Beads,” students use fine motor skills to make a necklace or bracelet by stringing beads. In another activity, “Drawing and Writing,” the teacher combines fine motor skill use with writing and art. The children construct a “pie” from cardboard and construction paper, with each “slice” of the pie representing an interest area. The teacher gives each child a turn, choosing where they will play first, second, and third by clipping a numbered clothespin on the corresponding slice of the pie. In “Stirring Up Soup,” the students use a magnetic wand to find, collect, match, and name letters hidden in a “soup” tub of rice or sand. All these are activities that develop fine motor skills in a variety of areas. In “Freeing the Frozen Toys,” the teacher provides two blocks of ice containing frozen animals. There is a story explaining how the animals got in there and that it is the children’s job to “free” them. Each child has an assortment of tools to work with, both melting tools (cups with warm water, eye droppers) and chipping tools (spoons, screwdrivers). 

In “Lesson Plans for the First 30 Days,” the students engage in fine motor tasks such as using scissors to cut paper and using string to tie around something. 

KDI 17 details teaching strategies for fine motor skills. However, the materials do not provide guidance on best practices for developing children’s fine motor skills toward writing, nor do they provide information for teachers on the importance of pre-writing strokes as part of developing fine motor skills. No evidence was found to support differentiation and guidance on how to develop students’ fine motor skills toward writing in a direct or explicit way.

Evaluation for 7.1
Materials follow a logical mathematical continuum of concrete, pictorial, then abstract representations.

The materials and instructions do not follow a logical, mathematical continuum of concrete, pictorial, then abstract representations. While some activities build conceptual understanding in necessary skills, instruction in mathematical competencies includes a limited variety of concrete manipulatives and pictorial representations. Materials do not include a variety of concrete manipulatives and pictorial representations besides a few resources mentioned. The materials include activities that build conceptual understanding in counting, adding to, taking away, geometry, spatial sense, measurement, classification, and pattern skills, as indicated by the Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines. While there are 2–3 activities that cover each concept, these few activities do not provide enough opportunities for the students to achieve mastery.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

Activities included offer instruction in the different mathematical competencies and use mostly abstract representations, though they do provide some concrete and pictorial representations. There are a few activities that do include the use of concrete manipulatives, pictorial representations, and abstract representations within the activity, but these activities do not follow a logical continuum over the year that progresses from concrete to pictorial representation, and then finally to abstract representations. “150+ Activities for Active Learners” includes math activities that use concrete materials, like manipulatives, and more abstract materials, like number cards. In the activity “Bowling and Beanbags,” students knock down bowling pins with a bean bag and then count the number of pins that have fallen. This allows students to count concrete items. In the same activity, students then find the number card that matches the number of pins that fell. This is more abstract because students have to know what the number on the card represents. Teachers encourage children to trace, copy, or write numerals. They demonstrate writing a plus (+) sign and a minus (-) sign and restate the results using plus or minus (e.g., “Five pins plus two makes seven.” “You had nine and knocked down four. Nine minus four pins leaves five.”) In the activity “Numeral Hopscotch,” students draw a number and hop along the hopscotch grid the corresponding number of times. The teacher scaffolds the learning by placing a large dot and numeral card onto each square of the hopscotch grid. Students then pick a card from a container and count the number of dots or read the number on the card and hop that many times along the hopscotch grid. The actual dots are a form of pictorial representation; the hopscotch grid is concrete; the numerals on the cards are abstract. Both of these activities are examples that use concrete, pictorial, and abstract representations; however, materials do not sequence activities to support the continuum of starting with concrete and moving toward abstract representations. 

Materials use manipulatives to teach counting, such as dice in “Roll a Die,” sand timers in “Choosing Sand Timers,” and beanbags in “Basket Toss.” Roll a Die begins with a concrete object, the die, and has the students count the number of dots they roll. In Choosing Sand Timers, students use a sand timer; based on the sand timer chosen, the student estimates how much time they have. In Basket Toss, students toss a bean bag into a basket and then count how many fell inside the basket and how many missed the basket. Students then make a pictorial representation of the number of baskets made and the number missed. This game provides strategies for supporting individualized learning at three different levels: early, middle, and later development.

The materials include activities that build conceptual understanding in counting, adding to, taking away, geometry, spatial sense, measurement, classification, and pattern skills, as indicated by the Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines. 150+ Activities for Active Learning includes a number of activities that cover these topics. The activity “Construction Zone Height” focuses on the concept of measurement. The activity “Bears on a Boat” focuses on the concept of counting. The activities “How Did You Build That?” and “Marshmallow Shapes” focus on the concepts of geometry, spatial awareness, and classification. The activity “I Spy Patterns” focuses on the concept of patterns. The activity “Number Fish” focuses on the concepts of addition and subtraction. “Bear Families” is an activity that teaches classification and sorting at three developmental levels. While there are 2–3 activities that cover each concept, these few activities do not provide enough opportunities for the students to achieve mastery.

Evaluation for 7.2
Materials promote instruction that builds on students’ informal knowledge about mathematics.

The materials promote instruction that builds on students’ informal knowledge about mathematics. The resources prompt teachers to inquire about students’ developmental status and mathematical knowledge; they include cross-curricular opportunities to authentically integrate mathematics throughout the day; they support the use of the classroom materials as vehicles to explore math concepts and skills. 

Evidence includes but is not limited to: 

Teachers have the opportunity to integrate math into the morning “Message Board” activity, during read-alouds, and during work time. Three main resources provide guidance for cross-curricular mathematics opportunities: “Essentials of Active Learning in Preschool,” “Let’s Read It Again!” and “150+ Activities for Active Learners.” To better understand and meet students at their developmental level, teachers can reference the “KDI Scaffolding Charts.”

Essentials of Active Learning in Preschool summarizes how teachers should set up their classroom environment and which materials are necessary for math exploration. Suggestions include materials for identifying and comparing attributes; making series and patterns; making ordered sets; counting, measuring, and comparing quantities; and exploring space. Specific everyday classroom materials include various blocks, “boxes, lids, plates, shape sorters, carpet squares, wallpaper samples, rings, dominoes, Cuisenaire rods, shaving cream, foil, paper with different textures, natural items, magnets, and containers.” The classroom set up integrates these materials so students can authentically explore math concepts and skills. The resource states: “You need not set up a separate mathematics area but do create an environment where children bump into interesting mathematics at every turn” (Greenes, 1999, p. 46). Materials state the teacher should focus on building real-world connections into everyday mathematical instruction. For example, the teacher can use mathematical phrases, such as “We need to add one cup of flour” when measuring, or “More children ate apple slices than pear slices at snack time.” Additionally, the teacher should place math and science materials around the classroom for student discovery: kitchen timers, pegboards, climbing structures, measuring tools, and noisemakers. When using computers and other interactive media, the curriculum suggests open-ended programs and applications that promote discovery instead of rote drill and practice.

Books within “Let’s Read It Again!” often include cross-curricular mathematics instruction. The book I Can Read Signs provides integrated math instruction about shapes. Vocabulary instruction covers the following math content words: rectangle, square, circle, octagon, and oval. During the second read, students describe the shapes they see; the teacher then shows examples of the shapes throughout the classroom. The book Ten Black Dots by Donald Crews allows the teacher to talk about number books, numerals, and number words. The teacher introduces the book and explains her reason for choosing it: “Do you know that there are people who have written books about counting things? These types of books are called number books. Today we are going to read Ten Black Dots by Donald Crews.” The numerals appear in counting order, and they always match the number of objects in the picture. As the teacher reads the book, students count the number of things on the page; then, together, they predict what number comes next.

The “150 + Activities for Active Learners” resource includes multiple cross-curricular activities that integrate math skills. For example, in the activity “Favorite Colors,” students sort, record, tally, and compare their favorite color(s) as they draw pictures. Each student chooses a favorite color; then, together, the class determines their collective favorite colors. With this information, students sort preferences into a graph and label favorites using ordinal numbers (first, second, and third). With the book I Spy Patterns, students practice pictorial pattern representations; they locate patterns in images, words, around the room, in the building, and outside. In the activity “Rhythm Stick Patterns,” pattern conceptualization progresses to the abstract; the teacher leads a lesson summarizing the AB sound pattern. As students gain a better understanding of patterns, they move onto more complex patterns such as ABC or ABB patterns. To learn spatial reasoning, students play with Legos in the activity “Flip-and-Turn Lego Worms,” exploring how shapes remain the same even when their position is changed through turning, flipping, and sliding. These activities guide the teacher with prompts and questions to build upon mathematical understanding; each activity has extensions that increase task complexity.

The KDI Scaffolding Charts provide teachers with scaffolding ideas meant to support students at different developmental levels. KDI Scaffolding Chart 31, “Number Words and Symbols,” includes scaffolding ideas for teachers to implement throughout instruction: “Point out written numerals on equipment and materials, such as toys, tools, books, timers, and snack charts. Use numerals on the message board; for example, indicate that there will be two visitors by drawing two stick figures and writing the numeral 2. You can also talk about the numerals on the clock and play board games that include spinners with numerals. At small-group time, plan activities in which children search for numerals in the classroom, outdoors, in the building, and in the neighborhood. Be creative in looking for opportunities to count with children during typical activities (e.g., blocks in a tower or steps up the ladder).” The teacher also has access to differentiated support for students who are earlier, in the middle, or later in their mathematical development. To support children at the early level, “adults can acknowledge the use of number words, repeat numerals children notice, acknowledge ordinal number words, or ask children to read the numerals they write.” Teachers can extend student understanding by attaching number words to quantity, pointing out the numerals children do not yet know, using new ordinal number words, or writing numerals during play. These scaffolding ideas build on students’ developmental status and their previously mastered mathematical knowledge.

Evaluation for 7.3
Materials intentionally develop young children’s ability to problem solve.

The materials develop children’s ability to problem solve. The resources develop children’s capacity to ask thoughtful questions, recognize problems in their environment, and use mathematical reasoning with materials both within and outside the classroom.

Evidence includes but is not limited to: 

“Essentials of Active Learning in Preschool” provides information on how to set up the classroom environment in a way that encourages playful exploration. Having materials that build math concepts and skills throughout the learning environment allows children to explore, make comparisons, discover, and problem solve. The resource states: “You need not set up a separate mathematics area but do create an environment where children bump into interesting mathematics at every turn” (Greenes, 1999, p. 46). Teacher guidance promotes problem recognition and student-focused critical thinking. Teachers should allow students ample time to figure out a solution on their own before teachers provide the solution. There are additional guidance questions teachers should use before providing the answers. For example: “At outside time, Leah, Jacob, and Perez argue about who is taller. ‘How could you find out?’ asks their teacher. ‘We could measure!’ says Perez. Leah gets a piece of chalk and asks the teacher to mark where the tops of their heads come on the side of the tool shed. ‘I’m tallest,’ announces Jacob. ‘Only a little,’ says Perez. ‘When I’m five, I’ll be tallest,’ declares Leah. Let children self-correct their thinking to match what they observe. It may take longer for them to arrive at an answer, but their brains will construct a better understanding of how mathematics works (Copley, 2010).”

The “Lesson Plans for the First 30 Days” resource provides some initial activities that encourage students’ ability to problem solve. In the lesson “Making Shapes,” the teacher leads students through shape exploration without providing obvious answers. Instead, the teacher thinks aloud, saying, “The circle reminds me of a cookie. Have you ever eaten a cookie shaped like a triangle or a rectangle?” This activity allows students to connect something familiar to them, a cookie, to the abstract concept of a circle. Students have an interactive discussion before the teacher moves on to other shapes. Instead of modeling each shape individually, the teacher uses student work as examples: “You’re holding a triangle, and Jenna is rolling a circle. I’m going to cut around the rectangle.” In Lesson 8, students use their knowledge of shapes to complete a puzzle piece. In this activity, the teacher again remains an observer, while the students are the participants. They have to problem solve and reason which pieces go where; materials provide guiding questions for the teacher to interject. The prompts allow teachers to help students figure out how to put pieces of the puzzle together without helping them physically (e.g., making specific comments about the shapes, sizes, or colors of the puzzle pieces).

The resource “150 + Activities for Active Learners” contains additional lesson plans. The activity “Construction Zone Height” encourages curiosity and questioning about informal mathematics. Teacher guidance focuses on providing feedback to children’s questions and is scaffolded at three different levels. In this activity, students build and measure the height of block structures using unconventional measuring tools. At the early development level, the materials suggest the teacher “talk about the height of children’s towers and the length of straws (e.g., ‘It measures four straws high!’)” At later development stages, materials suggest teachers “challenge children to make longer measuring tools and to find classroom objects of comparable height.” Here, students utilize their classroom environment to extend their understanding of measurement.

In the “150+Activities for Active Learners” lesson “Measuring Boxes,” students practice measurement as they look for the perfect box to wrap a present. The teacher introduces Unifix cubes and demonstrates how to use the vocabulary terms length, width, height, and dimension. Instead of modeling measurement, the teacher distributes different-sized boxes and Unifix cubes and asks, “How will you measure the dimensions of these boxes?” The teacher observes how children measure their boxes and listens for words that indicate they recognize the relationship between the size of the box and the number of Unifix cubes required for measurement. Using chart paper, the teacher makes two columns: one labeled with a drawing of a box, another with a drawing of a cube. The teacher models how to record measurements and encourages students to record their own measurements on paper too. Children answer the questions, “How do you know which boxes on the chart are the biggest? The smallest? Are there other ways of comparing the size of boxes?”

Evaluation for 7.4
Materials build students’ number sense.

While there is adequate guidance for teachers on building conceptual understanding in math, students do not receive frequent or spiraled opportunities to develop their number sense. The opportunities to build number sense present in the materials cover the variety of skills as outlined in the Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines.

Evidence includes but is not limited to: 

“Essentials of Active Learning in Preschool” provides teachers with strategies that build a conceptual understanding of math. These strategies can support development in any math concept, including number sense. Some example strategies include providing a wide variety of mathematics materials in every classroom area, using mathematics words and terms, encouraging children to use mathematics to answer their own questions and solve their own problems, and posing challenges that encourage mathematical thinking. The resource states: “Preschoolers see the world as an arena for counting. Children want to count everything.” The teacher is encouraged to support these number skills throughout the day. Some examples include having students count one-to-one as they distribute cups during snack time, group and regroup colored pencils in the “Writing” center, and manipulate shapes during the “Technology” center. 

The “KDI Scaffolding Charts” provide teachers with guidance to meet students at their different developmental levels and build on their conceptual understanding in math. This document covers numerous mathematical competencies; “KDI Scaffolding Chart 32, Counting” offers guidance specific to number sense. To scaffold student learning for those in the middle level of development, the teachers should “model counting objects correctly, noting the last number and repeating how many: ‘One, two, three—three kids here.’” When students compare matched and unmatched sets (nuts and bolts or beads and ice cube trays), the teacher notes when students say how they have more/fewer after they add/take away objects from each set. Then, to offer rigor and extend student understanding, the teacher can “recount with children by touching or moving objects” and “do simple addition and subtraction with objects during play.” With this guidance, teachers can build upon students’ conceptual number sense.

The resource “150+ Preschool Activities for Active Learners” includes some activities for students to practice number sense; however, the opportunities are not taught systematically. Although activities are varied, this curriculum does not contain a sequence of lessons to guide the teacher; students do not receive spiraled opportunities to build their number sense. That being said, most activities include teacher guidance that helps students build their conceptual understanding of math. In the activity “Gone Fishing,” students “catch fish” in numerical order (1–10), both counting up and counting down. The teacher fashions play fishing poles using wooden dowels, yarn, and magnets. Each student has access to a “pond” of ten dots and must practice one-to-one correspondence pointing to each dot and counting as they go. Throughout the activity, the teacher moves around the group, talks with children, and helps them sequence their fish. At times, the teacher models counting: “State the total number and draw children’s attention to the written numeral four. ‘There are four dots. This is the number 4.’” During the activity “Basket Toss,” students throw items into large baskets, counting and comparing baskets they make or miss. This activity includes differentiated intervention based on the child’s number sense skills. For students in the early developmental stage for number sense, the teacher should “count together with the child, pointing at each beanbag and saying the number.” For students in the middle developmental stage, the teacher should model strategies for keeping track while counting: “move the object to a different pile after it has been counted.” As a recommendation, students can record data using tally marks, written numerals, or bar graphs in this stage. In the later stages of development, the students can compare and contrast the numbers of beanbags in the basket versus outside of the basket: “How many more/fewer bean bags are in the basket than outside the basket?”

Evaluation for 7.5
Materials develop students’ academic math vocabulary.

The materials develop students’ academic math vocabulary. They include repeated opportunities to hear and practice using math vocabulary. Materials include guidance for teachers on how to scaffold and support students’ development and use of academic math vocabulary.

Evidence includes but is not limited to: 

The materials include opportunities to hear math vocabulary through read-alouds of different texts/books, such as during the second reading of the book I Can Read Signs. “Let’s Read It Again!” includes math vocabulary that students focus on during the reading, such as rectangle, square, circle, position, oval, and octagon. The resource offers suggestions to the teacher that give students the opportunity to hear the vocabulary at other times during the day: “Revisit new vocabulary words at other times of the day when appropriate. For example, when starting a large-group-time activity, you might say, Let’s join hands to make a circle.” In the same resource, there are a few books that are math-related, such as Ten Black Dots by Donald Crews, in which students count the dots on each page; and Fish Eyes by Lois Ehlert, which has number words and things to count. Materials provide guidance for identifying math vocabulary in these books. For example, Fish Eyes suggests that the teacher say, “What do you see on this page? Here’s the word one and the number 1. The little brown fish says, ‘1 green fish plus me makes 2.’ The fish adds one plus one.” In Ten Black Dots, the teacher addresses counting order and purposefully talks about math, saying, “I’m noticing that the numbers are in order: 1, 2, 3, 4. What number should be on the next page?”

The activities in the mathematics section of “150+ Activities for Active Learners” include intentional vocabulary for every activity and opportunities for students to utilize the vocabulary. For example, the activity “Basket Toss” lists the following words as intentional vocabulary: graph/chart, record, data, tally, compare/contrast. The resource gives the teacher guidance on which words to use with children at three different developmental levels to support their understanding of the math concept being taught. In the activity “Measuring Boxes,” the students measure different-sized boxes and record and analyze the data collected. This activity provides repeated and ongoing opportunities for students to practice using the math vocabulary words length, width, height, dimension(s), measure, graph/record, tally. The “Bear Families” activity supports teachers with strategies for layering academic math vocabulary into informal conversations about math in positive and supportive ways that honor the students’ language and ideas. The teacher provides additional bears and draws students’ attention to their attributes. The teacher then asks students to add them to a family (group) where they might belong. The teacher encourages them to use math vocabulary to describe how they chose each family for the bear. 

The resource “Essentials for Active Learning” includes information about vocabulary acquisition and the importance of repetitive exposure. It states: “Children’s vocabulary growth is cumulative: The more frequently they encounter a new word, the more attuned they become to its multiple meanings and shades of meaning” (Hohmann, 2010, p. 16). Their vocabulary growth is also active; they do not acquire new words by memorizing vocabulary lists but by exploring materials, having real conversations, reading books, and telling stories. These activities and guidance in the materials include opportunities for students to hear math vocabulary repeatedly. The resource encourages teachers to use math vocabulary for the students to understand. The teacher refers to the number of people and objects (e.g., “There are only six people in a small group today because Katie isn’t here.”). More provided examples are using words such as more for relative amounts and using measurement terms (e.g., “We need to add one cup of flour.”)

Evaluation for 8.1
Materials build science knowledge through inquiry-based instruction and exploration of the natural world.

The materials build scientific knowledge through inquiry-based instruction and exploration of the natural world. The materials develop children’s observation and questioning of their environment and develop their ability to communicate ideas. The materials include exploration with scientific tools and provide opportunities for students to explore physical science, life science, and earth and space science through hands-on experiences.

Evidence includes but is not limited to: 

“150+ Activities for Active Learners” includes many lessons that develop children’s observation and questioning of their environment. In the activity “Collecting Leaves,” children observe nature; the teacher asks students to collect leaves while they are outside. The students participate in a large group activity where they observe, classify, and use descriptive language as they collect fall leaves. The teacher then supports children in sorting and counting their leaves and asks children to describe how they have sorted their leaves into specific categories. In the activity “Falling Down,” children walk around nature; during their walk, the teacher encourages the students to collect things that are no longer living. The class discusses the properties of the objects they observe and collect and other characteristics of the outdoors (e.g., the quality of light, temperature, wind). Students utilize their senses to describe how things look, smell, feel, and sound. In the activity “Drawing the Sky,” students lie on a blanket and observe the sky. Then, they draw what they see or imagine in the sky. All activities allow for inquiry-based questions and hands-on experience and provide opportunities for children to develop observations and questioning of their environment and communicate those ideas. 

The materials include opportunities for children to explore with age-appropriate scientific tools. “Essentials of Active Learning” includes a chapter with information about the learning environment and the materials that should be placed there. The teacher distributes the science materials among the other interest areas so that children can engage with age-appropriate scientific tools in any area he/she chooses to work. Some materials that are recommended for the interest areas include materials to explore space (e.g., fill/empty, shape/arrange), continuous materials for pouring (e.g., sand, water, salt), discrete materials (e.g., beads, nuts, shells, buttons). Other materials the teacher provides are bottle caps, various scoops and containers, toys and blocks with interlocking parts, beads and string, keys and keyrings, paper and cloth, clay and dough, yarn and ribbon, and pipe cleaners. Essentials of Active Learning also includes a “Work Time,” during which children work in different work/interest areas. When they are in this part of the daily routine, students have the opportunity to explore age-appropriate scientific tools through play. In 150+ Preschool Activities for Active Learners, students use tools such as eyedroppers, chipping tools, spoons, and screwdrivers to excavate toy animals from ice cubes. In the activity “Exploring Ice,” children use goggles and tweezers to explore ice and the properties of melting. Another example can be found in the resource “Lesson Plans for the First 30 Days,” where the students use magnifying glasses, funnels, and dry plastic bottles or plastic food containers in an activity on Day 9. 

The materials provide opportunities for students to explore physical science in the activity “Completing the Circuit” in the resource 150+ Activities for Active Learners. The students explore physical science when the teacher presents lights to them that do not have a plug. The class then has to discover another way to power the lights. The students explore life science in the activity “Drawing the Sky.” After the children spend time observing the sky, the class discusses what they saw and connects those observations to weather conditions and seasons. In the activity “Out of This World,” the class explores space science. The class takes an imaginary trip to outer space. The children brainstorm what they might need (e.g., a spacesuit and helmet). The children look out the spaceship’s windows and tell what they see, such as stars, moon, planets, and aliens. The class pretends to land the spaceships on a planet and then explore. These activities provide children the opportunity to explore physical science, earth and space science, and life science.

Evaluation for 8.2
Materials build social studies knowledge through study of culture and community.

The materials build some social studies knowledge through the study of culture and community. The materials do not follow a logical sequence of social studies instruction (beginning with self and moving to family, community, city, state, and country). The materials provide opportunities for students to explore people and families in their classrooms through information and activities. These opportunities do not follow any logical sequence of social studies skills and concepts that move from self to family to community, city, state, and country. The materials provide opportunities for students to explore commonalities and differences in individuals and provide opportunities for students to learn about routines and events from the past, present, and future. The materials do not provide opportunities for students to explore the roles of consumers in their community. The materials do provide opportunities for children to learn about and enact economic events and roles of consumers. 

Evidence includes but is not limited to: 

The resource “Essentials of Active Learning” provides a list of materials that allow children to explore the diversity of people and families. The teacher places these materials in different work areas throughout the classroom. This placement allows children the opportunity to explore people and families in every area they choose to work in. Some of these suggestions include multiracial baby dolls in the “House” center, puzzles that depict familiar community settings and represent different occupations, and toy figurines that depict multiracial people and avoid sex-role stereotypes. 

In the “KDI Scaffolding Charts,” the activity “Community Roles” has children observe that people have different roles and functions in the community. The teacher is guided to talk about and play family roles (cook; rock a doll to sleep). Then, the children engage in simple pretend play that imitates others exchanging goods and services: Children play in a restaurant and find a token to pay for food; children pretend to cut a baby doll’s hair when playing barbershop. Teachers encourage and guide students to talk about or play less familiar roles and recognize their importance to the community, such as the zookeepers who feed the animals or the garbage collectors who “keep our streets smelling good, not stinky.” Additionally, in the activity “Diversity,” the teacher provides pretend play materials that reflect the children’s family cultures and traditions (e.g., uniforms for different types of jobs in the dress-up area, cooking utensils, and empty food containers from different cuisines in the house area).

In the activity “Mirror Self-Portrait,” in the resource “150+ Activities for Active Learners,” students explore physical similarities and differences between the people in their classroom and other aspects of a community. The teacher asks children to look at themselves in the mirror and draw what they see. The teacher engages students in discussions about what they see and are drawing, pointing out similarities and differences in children’s physical characteristics. Students create maps in the activity “Mapping the Neighborhood”; they explore the neighborhood around their school. In the activity “Family Drawings,” the students draw a picture of their family, noticing the dimensions and characteristics of each family member. Although materials do provide opportunities for students to explore people and families in their classroom through information and activities, these opportunities do not follow any logical sequence of social studies skills and concepts that move from self, to family, to community, city, state, and country because lessons are not provided in a specific sequence, and the teacher has the autonomy to choose what lessons are taught on each day. 

The materials provide opportunities for students to learn about routines and events, past, present, and future. Chapter 7, “What is the [Program] Daily Routine?” in Essentials of Active Learning, provides information to the teacher on daily routines and its importance to children. The daily routine is posted using picture cards; the teacher calls attention to the daily routine at the beginning of each day. As the day progresses, a student moves a marker to indicate where they are in the daily schedule. Children can tell what will come next and what has already happened in their day. The students explore past and present in the activity “When I Was Younger” in the resource 150+ Activities for Active Learners. The children put pictures of themselves in sequential order, using 3–4 pictures of themselves from infancy to now. The teacher guides the students in discussions about the past and how to sequence items. The teacher scaffolds the learning by modeling the use of time words like yesterday, today, earlier, later, past, and present. For example, “You were looking at pictures of yourself from the past and now you are drawing what you look like today.” In the resource “KDI Scaffolding Cards—History,” children talk about what happened in the past (e.g., “Yesterday, when I was a baby…”) and what will occur in the future (e.g., “When I’m bigger, I’ll go to my sister’s school.”) They describe a sequence of events (e.g., “First I painted a picture, and then I built a tower.”) This card suggests that teachers use sequencing words such as first, next, last, then, before, and after to introduce the idea of past, present, and future to children in a way that is age and developmentally appropriate. These activities provide children with the opportunities to learn about routines and events, past, present, and future. 

In the resource 150+ Preschool Activities for Active Learners, for the activity “Shopping List,” the students roll a die to “buy” items from the store. The students keep shopping until all items are gone and then properly put the items back in their storage place. The activity “Spinning for Dollars” in the same resource provides an engaging way to pretend and learn about the bank. Students roll a die (or use a spinner) to determine how many dollars they will withdraw from or deposit to the bank, counting, comparing, and totaling their money.

Evaluation for 8.3
Materials expose children to fine arts through exploration.

The materials expose children to fine arts through exploration. The materials include a variety of daily experiences through multiple mediums such as dance, music, dramatic play, painting, sculpture, drawing, and other movement. The materials also emphasize the students’ engagement in the process of creating rather than the product that is created. 

Evidence includes but is not limited to: 

The materials include a variety of daily experiences through multiple mediums (dance, music, dramatic play, painting, sculpture, drawing, and other movements). “Lesson Plans for the First 30 Days” include a descriptor of what happens during “Large Group Music and Movement Time” of the daily routine. This time focuses on the movement of students’ bodies and provides them with a choice in how to dance or move. Students also choose what songs to sing and participate in the motions of that song. The materials include singing “The Wheels on the Bus” in the activity “Animal Songs,” singing and dancing in the activity “Do Wah Diddy,” and playing handheld instruments to a familiar Christmas tune in the activity “Jingle Bells: Jingling in Many Ways.” 

“Essentials of Active Learning” includes guidance for the teacher on how to integrate fine arts during work time. Students choose to create a piece of art by painting or sculpting when working in the art area. Students choose to participate in dramatic play while working in the house area. The activities and guidance include a variety of daily experiences through multiple mediums: dance, music, dramatic play, painting, sculpture, drawing, and other movements.

In the resource “150 + Activities for Active Learners,” in the lesson “Acting Out a Familiar Story,” children move their bodies like the characters in the story and act out the details as the story is being read. In another activity, “Storybook Drama,” the children use props to retell the story about Max in Where the Wild Things Are. Students explore sculptural possibilities, working with aluminum foil in the lesson “Aluminum Foil Sculptures.” Students also paint with household and natural objects that are not typically used for painting in “Painting with Irregular Objects.”

Chapter 15, “What is the [Program] Curriculum in Creative Arts?” in the resource Essentials of Active Learning, emphasizes children’s engagement in the artistic process of creating rather than focusing on the product. This resource also includes general teaching strategies for teaching creative arts. Strategies include “Establish a climate that supports creative risk-taking and emphasizes process over product.” “Emphasize effort rather than results and allow time for experimentation. Cutting the creative process short or introducing too many materials at once can stunt the flowering of early creativity” (Thompson, 1995).

Evaluation for 8.4
Materials include technology applications.

The materials include technology applications. The materials do provide opportunities to link technology into the classroom experience, and they provide students the opportunity to explore and use various digital tools. Teachers guide the students using technology, thereby supporting and enhancing their learning as appropriate rather than distracting from it. The materials do include guidance for the teacher to ensure that the technology enhances child learning, but they do not provide any actual technology for them, and there are no child-facing materials.

Evidence includes but is not limited to: 

The materials do provide opportunities to link technology into the classroom experience. The students have multiple opportunities to use technology in the classroom through the resource “150+ Preschool Activities for Active Learners.” In the activity “Planning Work Time Photos,” the students use a tablet to take a picture of where they would like to work for that day. In the activity “Fact-Finding with Technology,” the students use technology (e.g., a tablet or another device) to research a topic they are interested in. The teacher models how to use a digital device to help find more information about the topic. For example, during work time, while children are pretending to go bear hunting, a child might ask, “Where do bears live?” The teacher responds, “I don’t know. Let’s get the tablet and look it up on the internet. We can use different websites to find more information about that topic.” When the teacher is modeling how to use the digital device to search for information, she is guided to use intentional vocabulary as she self-talks through the process. In the activity “Bee-Bot Recipe Steps,” the teacher shows the children a recipe that includes pictures. This activity is age-appropriate and uses arrow cards for children to write a linear sequence (a recipe) to program a Bee-Bot to reach a destination. The teacher says, “Today, we’re going to make a recipe for our Bee-Bot. We’ll figure out what moves our Bee-Bot needs to get to its destination. We will be using cards that look just like the buttons on our Bee-Bot to write our recipe.” The teacher passes out the command cards and a piece of grid paper to the children to use in order to move their Bee-Bot to its desired location. If the students need more time to complete the task of moving their Bee-Bot, they are instructed to put a work-in-progress sign on their project and come back to this activity when time allows.

The materials do provide students the opportunity to explore and use various digital tools. “Using Video to Plan” and “Using Video at Recall Time” allow students to use a tablet to take pictures of the interest area sign(s) or material(s) they want to use during work time; at recall time, they revisit the videos and compare their plan(s) to what they did at work time. These activities provide opportunities for children to use the video tool; they are age-appropriate.

The materials include guidance for the teacher to ensure that the technology enhances child learning rather than distracts from it. “Essentials of Active Learning” includes guidance for the teacher on technology. The materials provide guidance for teachers to identify the difference between interactive and passive use of technology and media. This guidance includes support for child development theory and practices to ensure the use of technology is educationally sound and effective. When using computer-based technology with preschool children, it is important that teachers follow the same developmentally appropriate practices they use when introducing any other material in the classroom. It is these developmentally appropriate practices that must guide teachers in deciding whether and when to use digital-based devices in the preschool classroom (National Association for the Education of Young Children & Fred Rogers Center, 2012). 

While the materials provide lots of interaction between students and technology, there are no student-facing online resources available to allow students to practice skills and gain knowledge through independent activities.

Evaluation for 9.1
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 provide developmentally appropriate diagnostic tools (e.g., formative and summative progress monitoring) and guidance for teachers and students to monitor progress. The materials include a variety of diagnostic tools that are developmentally appropriate (e.g., observational, anecdotal, formal). The materials include guidance to ensure consistent and accurate administration of diagnostic tools. The materials also include tools for students to track their own progress and growth. Materials include diagnostic tools to measure all content and process skills for prekindergarten and a checklist for the teacher to follow, as outlined in the Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

Materials include diagnostic tools that are developmentally appropriate. “Essentials of Active Learning” includes information about formal assessments. This resource is called the “Child Observation Record (COR) Advantage,” and it assesses children’s overall development. The “COR Advantage (Epstein et al., 2014) is an observation-based instrument for systematically assessing the knowledge and abilities of children from birth through kindergarten in nine areas of development.” The tools in the COR Advantage Assessment are designed so that the students can demonstrate their understanding in different ways. For example, the students can show their knowledge of patterns as their development level increases (e.g., handling single objects to lining up objects in order). This formal assessment is developmentally appropriate; it covers all areas of the Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines. Raters may also use information from anecdotal notes, portfolios, photos, or other types of documentation to score COR Advantage. 

In the resource “Lesson Plans for the First 30 Days,” there is information about an informal assessment. Informal assessments include teachers observing students engaging in different activities during different parts of the day, and other adults, such as a caregiver or parent, making observations and providing anecdotal notes on the students. The anecdotal notes based on those observations are included in the assessment. The teacher uses these notes to learn about children’s interests and determine what they are retaining. The assessment also provides feedback on the lessons that are being supported and where more guidance is needed. Additionally, it tells teachers what changes can be made to the materials or experiences to benefit the students. An anecdote should contain only facts, be as brief as possible, and be specific. Anecdotes also have the date, time of day, location, the students and adults involved, and a specific description of what the child did and said. This assessment allows students to demonstrate understanding in a variety of ways and settings.

The materials provide guidance to ensure consistent and accurate administration of the diagnostic tools. The assessment tool provides notes for each area, item, and level, along with two anecdotal examples for each level. This guidance ensures consistency and accuracy in the administration of the assessment. As stated in “Essentials,” teachers complete the COR 2-3 times a year (beginning, midpoint, and end), and in some programs, they complete the COR 3-4 times a year depending on if the program is all year. To guarantee accuracy, administrators send their teachers through training and complete a reliability test before implementing the assessment measure within their classrooms.

The materials include tools for students to track their own progress and growth. Essentials of Active Learning include, with the COR assessment tool, suggestions of a portfolio with which children interact and reflect on with the teacher. The student has conferences throughout the year with the teacher; this helps students track their own work in their own way. In “Lesson Plans for the First 30 Days,” during the “Plan-Do-Review” process, students get an opportunity to talk about their growth by telling an adult and a small group of children what they did and what they learned during work time.

Materials include diagnostic tools to measure all content and process skills for pre-K, as outlined in the Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines. The “COR Advantage Desk Reference,” found in the “Documents for Texas,” provides a checklist for teachers based on the Prekindergarten Guidelines. The COR Desk Reference includes a list of what is assessed using the COR Advantage. The nine areas assessed are: “Approaches to Learning, Social and Emotional Development, Physical Development and Health, Language, Literacy and Communication, Math, Creative Arts, Science and Technology, Social Studies and English Language Learning.” The teacher has an area to add observations, including anecdotes, pictures, or videos for each student. This assessment tool measures all content and process skills for pre-K, as outlined in the Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines.

Evaluation for 9.2
Materials include guidance for teachers 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. 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 the developmental level. The diagnostic tool yields meaningful information for teachers to use when planning instruction and differentiation. The materials provide a variety of resources and teacher guidance on how to leverage different activities to respond to student data. The materials provide opportunities and guidance for administrators to support teachers and create reports that allow them to analyze and respond to data.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

Materials support teachers with guidance and direction to respond to individual students’ needs in all domains based on measures of student progress appropriate to the developmental level. The “Key Developmental Indicator (KDI) Scaffolding Charts” provide guidance and direction to teachers on how to respond to individual children’s needs in all domains based on observations and anecdotal notes. Each chart also includes examples of how teachers can support and gently extend learning at the three developmental levels as the teacher plays and interacts with children throughout the day. Through the KDI Charts, activities offer extensions and remediations as needed for teachers based upon the assessment results. Reports through the online assessment component provide teachers with suggestions if interventions are needed. 

“150+ Preschool Activities for Active Learners” provides the teacher with the “COR Advantage” items that are assessed during the particular activity; the activity also provides the KDIs. For example, in “Solving Problems with Stories,” the teacher assesses students’ reflections, emotions, and relationship building with others. The teacher scaffolds learning, including prompting a discussion about any problems that caused certain emotions for the student. Materials provide these reflection notes and instructional strategies throughout the activities and through each domain, as appropriate, under the Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines.

The diagnostic tools yield meaningful information for teachers to use when planning instruction and differentiation. Within the COR Advantage diagnostic tool, the teacher receives reports on the entire class and results for each individual student. The results charts provided to the teacher are color-coded with the “school readiness” data. The COR Advantage “Texas Sandbox Demo” provides information on the types of reports that teachers can create to understand and interpret the assessment. Within this data, the scores for each student are either “school ready,” “not school ready,” or “insufficient data.” This scoring system is provided within each domain assessed. These growth charts allow the teacher to plan instruction and differentiation for each domain according to the students’ developmental levels. One available report is titled “Growth and Planning.” This report analyzes children’s performance to drive instructional planning. “Essentials of Active Learning” provides information on how the COR Advantage can be used. This resource provides suggested activities based on observations of children at different developmental levels. These activities help the teacher scaffold (support and gently extend) early learning in all the content areas.

Materials provide a variety of resources and teacher guidance on how to leverage different activities to respond to student data. The assessment tools used within the program are provided so that the teacher can “be more purposeful as they plan the most effective strategies to support early learning.” The COR Advantage reports give the teacher the ability to see whether each student is “school ready” or “not school ready.” This data can be used by the teacher in identifying areas of the materials that need modification. In addition, the assessment tools referred to in “Essentials for Early Learners” offer numerous ways to plot the learning progress of each child. The COR Advantage website has several tabs for the teacher to utilize to keep track of each child’s progress. By using this website, the teacher can quickly review the child’s progress and adjust or modify, as needed.

The materials provide guidance for administrators to support the teachers in analyzing and responding to data. The COR Advantage Texas Sandbox Demo includes reports that administrators can use for different purposes. The reports within the program provide data for each individual student as well as for the classroom. One report allows the administrator to export the student data from the teacher’s account so the data can be analyzed. The report includes the results of the assessment. The administrator can analyze information for individual children, classes, and the entire school.

The “Preschool PQA” (see Essentials of Active Learning, Chapter 19) also uses observation as a tool for focusing team discussion; in this case, it is on the quality of program implementation. The program’s teaching practices, described in the preceding chapters, are reflected in the 39 classroom items in the PQA. PQA enables the supervisor and teachers, who are both familiar with the PQA, to record objective anecdotes about what they observe in the classroom. Teachers might request that the supervisor, who is knowledgeable about the curriculum, look at a specific area or set of items that the teachers have identified as a concern. For example, teachers may want to know if children have adequate time to carry out their intentions in each part of the daily routine. Materials give guidance for grouping after assessing. These materials provide online support through the “Core Advantage Assessment,” which is now provided online for review.

Evaluation for 9.3
Materials include frequent, embedded opportunities for monitoring progress.

The materials include integrated progress monitoring opportunities. Materials include some routine and systematic progress monitoring opportunities that accurately measure and track student progress. Although the materials include suggestions to observe and take anecdotal notes on each child, there is no set routine for the frequency of the collection of information. Materials include multiple assessments but no scientifically reliable assessments; there are no multiple sources to be tracked by multiple people. The materials provide options for progress monitoring that are appropriate for the age and content skill. The materials do not give guidance as to when formal assessments should be done. The materials reviewed include frequency of progress monitoring, but they do not give evidence that it is appropriate for the age and content skill.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

Materials include some routine systematic progress monitoring opportunities that accurately measure and track student progress. Authentic and daily observations during real-world activities are annotated; conferences with students allow children to express interest and engage in their own progress and portfolios. “Essentials of Active Learning” includes information on how to complete the “COR Advantage.” Teachers are instructed to make several observations per child per week. Observations and anecdotes can be taken during work time when the children are interacting with other students and with materials in different work areas. Information can also be gathered during small group time, snack time, outside time, and large group time. There are opportunities to accurately measure and track child progress in all domains. The materials include suggestions to observe and take anecdotal notes on each child, but there is no set frequency of collecting the information. Furthermore, materials include multiple assessments, but they are not scientifically reliable assessments, and there aren’t multiple sources to be tracked by multiple people.

The materials provide options for frequent progress monitoring, but there is no evidence that it is appropriate for the age and content skill. The materials include informal and formal routine systematic progress monitoring opportunities that accurately measure and track student progress. Essentials of Active Learning includes information on the types of progress monitoring tools that can gather information for the COR Advantage, an assessment tool that provides the teacher with two periods of assessment. These tools include portfolios, photos, observations, and other types of documentation. The assessment tool does not give any indication as to when these two different periods of assessment will take place. The materials include suggestions as to how many times to observe students and write anecdotal notes. Essentials of Active Learning states that the COR Advantage can be administered 2–3 times per year. This assessment tool covers all domains according to the Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines. The materials do not give guidance as to when these formal assessments should be done.

Evaluation for 10.1
Materials include guidance, scaffolds, supports, and extensions that maximize student learning potential.

The materials reviewed provide some recommended targeted instruction and activities for students who struggle to master content and for students who have mastered the content. There are opportunities for students to explore and apply new learning in a variety of ways, but there are no enrichment activities for all levels of learners. 

Evidence includes but is not limited to: 

The materials provide guidance on scaffolding, instruction, and many activities for students who struggle to master content. The “Key Developmental Indicator and Scaffolding Charts” include guidance for strategies, differentiating the support for students at three developmental levels for each of the key indicators. These strategies include imitating and labeling the child’s actions, intentionally using content-related vocabulary to describe what the child is doing, and asking the child to describe what he or she is doing. Some supports suggested for struggling students involve connecting new vocabulary with children’s prior knowledge, providing clarification via simple sentences or use of gestures, choosing vocabulary words that are appropriate for the children in the classroom, and giving children sufficient time to formulate and express their ideas and respond to questions. The resource does not follow a scope and sequence, but it does give information and strategies for teachers to use at different developmental stages. The materials are not written with a thematic structure, so the enrichment activities do not make connections to themes.

In the “150+ Preschool Activities” resource, materials provide targeted instruction and exercises for students who have mastered content, including guidance for instruction. In addition, materials include general teacher strategies to extend students’ learning, which include drawing attention to another child’s actions by making a comment, asking the child to explain his or her thinking, or gently introducing a new concept or idea and posing a challenge. Other activities and targeted instruction in the resource involve extensions using higher-order thinking, questioning techniques, and extensions with cross-curriculum use. For example, the teacher can ask students, “How did you know that?” and give them an opportunity to defend their answer. Scaffolding suggestions include using students’ background or prior knowledge of the concepts being taught. The materials rarely consider language learners and have no real thematic structure; the enrichment activities do not make connections to themes.

Evaluation for 10.2
Materials provide a variety of instructional methods that appeal to a variety of learning interests and needs.

The materials include a variety of instructional methods that appeal to a variety of learning interests and needs. The materials include a variety of instructional strategies to engage students with content mastery. The materials support developmentally appropriate instructional strategies. The materials include information on grouping opportunities for the daily routine, which is extremely flexible and supports multiple types of practices (e.g., guided, independent, collaborative). Materials also use a gradual release model and provide enough guidance and structures to help teachers achieve effective implementation.

Evidence includes but is not limited to: 

The activities in the “Lesson Plans for the First 30 Days” resource support a balance of direct and indirect instruction, including teacher-directed activities during small group time, in play centers, and at snack times. “Let’s Read It Again!” provides teacher guidance on modeling, thinking aloud, how to choose a book, and activities to do before reading the book. There are also strategy ideas for engaging children at specific points in the story and ideas on how to retell the story. One section begins as teacher-led: The teacher is guided in discussing art materials found in the “Art Area.” It then becomes child-directed: Children explore other materials in the Art Area. The resource offers information on the daily routine and incorporates flexible grouping throughout the day. The “Activities for Active Learners” for the “Collecting Leaves” lesson support multiple types of practices (guided, independent, and collaborative) while providing guidance and structure. The lesson starts and ends with the whole group; independently, children use their own judgment to gather leaves outside; in small groups, children use critical thinking skills to brainstorm ways the leaves could be used. 

The “Key Developmental Indicator Scaffolding Charts” includes guidance to support the teacher’s understanding of developmentally appropriate strategies and how to scaffold students’ learning in order to support their needs. The resource includes 58 charts, each with developmentally appropriate strategies to use. For example, using “Key Developmental Scaffolding Chart 35,” teachers guide children to discover other ways to solve a problem: “I wonder if there’s another way to stack your blocks.” The resource also provides recommendations for think-aloud modeling with students, for example, using visual cues and gestures as key vocabulary is introduced and rephrasing or retelling the story with props such as puppets. “Let’s Read It Again!” gives teachers guidance on what to do before reading a book and makes suggestions on where to stop, what to ask, and what to comment on. The resource suggests ways to engage children at various points in the story. When students collect leaves and sort them, the resource supports and guides the teacher. The materials clearly guide the teacher in creating small groups and asking questions, such as “Does anyone know a person who collects or gathers something?” and “Encourage students to observe characteristics of leaves.”

Evaluation for 10.3
Materials include supports for English Learners (EL) to meet grade-level learning expectations.

The materials include few strategies to support English Learners (ELs) at grade level. Although the materials include some general recommendations that support ELs, linguistic accommodations are not commensurate with the different levels of English language proficiency. While there are some scaffolds for ELs, these strategies are not sequenced in any way. The materials include a few examples of how to use children’s first language as the foundation for developing their English language skills, but they do not encourage the strategic use of a student’s first language as a means to develop affective, cognitive, and academic skills.

Evidence includes but is not limited to: 

“Essentials for Active Learning in Preschool” includes some strategies to support ELs. One strategy is to encourage children to communicate regardless of which language they use. Materials state: “The more children know their home language, the better their ability to learn a second language (Cheatham & Ro, 2010). When possible, pair non-English-speaking children with bilingual peers to help them make the bridge. Sing songs, read books, and tell stories from children’s home languages as well as English. Encourage English language learners...to share familiar songs, fairy tales, and rhymes from home, and to teach common words to the class. These practices enhance the retention of the home language, contribute to learning English, and validate the child and his or her family.” Although the materials include a few accommodations to support linguistics, there is no regard for students’ level of English language proficiency. The materials do not include linguistic accommodations (changes to the instructional approach) based upon the different English language proficiency levels (i.e., Beginning, Intermediate, High, and Advanced High) in the four language domains of speaking, listening, reading, and writing. The research-based rationale found in this resource states: “Children learn English from storytelling, even if they cannot yet produce an English narrative (Cheatham & Ro, 2010).” While they recognize the importance of English learning, there is a lack of effective scaffolding throughout the material.

The “KDI Scaffolding Charts” is the main resource providing general scaffolding suggestions. The “KDI Chart 30: English Language Learning” provides teachers with EL recommendations depending on the child’s English language development. While the ranges on this chart do differentiate students by skill level, they are not commensurate with the different levels of English language proficiency. The three proficiency levels used are “Earlier,” “Middle,” and “Later.” For each level, there is a brief description of what to expect from a student at that level. For example, students at the Earlier level may “hesitate to communicate in their home language and/or English, silently observe group activities, or observe others but play alone at work time.” At the Middle level, students may “communicate occasionally in their home language and/or English, name common objects, or not be sure which language to use when and with whom.” Finally, at the Later level, students “communicate regularly in their home language and/or English, switch languages to match people and situations, and use many English words and phrases together with their home language.” These descriptions are useful context, but they do not provide the necessary scaffolding and strategies to support ELs. While there are some scaffolds and strategies listed in this resource, they remain general and isolated from specific lessons. To support children at the Earlier level, adults can “acknowledge when children listen to or observe others and not force children to participate.” A scaffolding strategy to support children in the Middle range is to “combine a few key English words or phrases with their home language: say ‘more juice’ or ‘more jugo’ and use the sign for ‘more’ and say ‘juice.’” For students in the Later category, adults can use words in children’s home language and English: “Hold up an empty cup and say ‘Agua, por favor.’” Although materials encourage some strategic use of students’ first language, these suggestions remain basic and do not adequately increase in their complexity. Also, these levels do not match the proficiency levels of Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, and Advanced High. The use of a student’s first language does not successfully serve as a means to linguistic, affective, cognitive, and academic development. These strategies would be more beneficial if they were embedded in the specific activities throughout the resource.

Evaluation for 11.1
Materials include year-long plans and supports for teachers to identify needs of students and provide differentiated instruction to meet the needs of a range of learners to ensure grade-level success.

The materials reviewed partially meet the criteria for the indicator. The materials include few year-long plans with practice and review opportunities that support instruction. The materials do not include a cohesive, year-long plan to build students’ concept development, nor do they consider how to vertically align instruction that builds year to year. The materials partially provide review and practice of knowledge and skills in all domains throughout the curriculum.

Evidence includes but is not limited to: 

Materials do not include a cohesive, year-long plan to build students’ concept development; they do not consider how to vertically align instruction that builds year to year. Additionally, there is no evidence of thematic units. The materials reviewed have lesson plans for 30 days. “Lesson Plans for the First 30 Days” includes lessons to help the teachers get started using the program’s curriculum. Once the 30 days are over, the teachers are expected to write their own lesson plans according to the needs of their students. 

The materials do not offer a plan that supports efficient planning for teachers by identifying directly-taught learning goals or a focus within each unit. Furthermore, the materials do not provide any outlining opportunities for review and practice of other content domains. There is a resource that has 150 additional activities, “150+ Activities for Active Learners.” This resource includes activities covering all content areas, but there is no continuum, curriculum map, or plan to follow. 

The “KDI Scaffolding Charts” support developmental progression across the early childhood continuum and allow teachers and administrators to offer support for optimal development and learning. These activities and materials align, both directly and indirectly, to skills, knowledge, and behaviors outlined for children in kindergarten through grade 2. These materials do not show direct connections to the Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines. In the KDI charts, which are generalized for kindergarten through 2nd grade, progression is marked “Earlier,” “Middle,” and “Later” with no link to pre-K progression. 

The materials provide some opportunities for review and practice of knowledge and skills in all domains throughout the curriculum. Lesson Plans for the First 30 Days provide students with some opportunities to practice skills across all content areas. For example, Activities 9–26 provide “Language and Communication” lessons; Activities 89–112 provide lessons within the “Science” domain. However, there are not enough opportunities for students to review and practice the knowledge and skills gained.

150+ Preschool Activities for Active Learners contain activities for “Emergent Reading,” “Writing,” “Mathematics,” and activities that cover content and skills for all domains of the Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines. Activities in the Mathematics domain cover skills in geometry, spatial sense, measurement, classification, and pattern skills. The skills taught are embedded throughout the learning day. The teacher receives guidance on using these skills within their “Morning Message” routine, small group, and large group. These skills can also be expanded upon during the students’ work time, recall time, and outdoor time. Although the activities are there, they are too few in each domain to allow the student opportunities to review and practice the skills covered and reach grade-level expectations. Additionally, there are activities covering all skills in the Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines, but some areas are limited. For example, there are only 33 math lessons provided in 150+ Activities for Active Learners.

Evaluation for 11.2
Materials include implementation support for teachers and administrators.

The materials do not include implementation support to help teachers and administrators. The materials are not accompanied by a scope and sequence aligned to the Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines, 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. The materials include only some supports to help teachers implement the materials as intended. The teacher is to plan her units or themes of study at will and gather her lessons from the various resources provided; the depth and focus of lessons depend upon the teacher and her ability to provide lessons based on her knowledge and experiences. The materials do not include resources and guidance to help administrators support teachers in implementing the materials as intended. The materials do not include a school year’s worth of prekindergarten instruction, including realistic pacing guidance and routines. 

Evidence includes but is not limited to: 

The materials are not accompanied by or reference a scope and sequences aligned to the Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines, 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. “150+ Activities for Active Learners” only includes activities that reference the “Key Developmental Indicators” (KDI). There is no outline that tells the teacher which essential knowledge and skills are taught. There are also no details that tell the teacher the order in which the essential knowledge and skills are presented and revisited.

The “KDI Scaffolding Charts” attempt to support children at different levels of development (in the program, these are “Earlier,” “Middle,” and “Later.”) This curriculum is for three-year-old to five-year-old children, and the levels are not explained any further. Materials suggest examples of instructional strategies that support the children in learning at the levels of Earlier, Middle, and Later, but they are the same for both three- and four-year-olds. 

Materials do not include supports to help teachers implement the materials as intended. “Essentials of Active Learning” only provides an overview, which describes the curriculum and covers the curriculum’s four components. The materials are not organized in a way that makes sense for ease of implementation because they do not have a scope and sequence.

The “Lesson Plans for the First 30 Days” section includes lesson plans to help teachers implement the curriculum for only the first six weeks of school. After the six-week period, the teacher must create her own lessons according to the individual development of each of her students. The materials do not contain an implementation guide that provides a visual map outlining a sequence of lesson implementation. The materials do not include an overview at the beginning of each week or unit of instruction that emphasizes the purpose of the lessons and activities that will follow. The materials do not support teachers in purposeful planning and making connections within lessons and between weeks of instruction, as they do not have any units of instruction for more than the first few weeks of school. 

The materials do not include all the information or the resources necessary for administrators to support teachers in implementing the materials as intended. The materials do not expand on the support or guidance given to help the administrators support the teachers. The Essentials of Active Learning includes information on two techniques to support curriculum implementation and solve problems in the classroom. The resource states that, in order to carry out the PQA effectively, the supervisor would have to “receive extensive training and practice in the techniques during the [Program] training of trainers course.” Additionally, it does not directly specify or give an example of what to do when the materials are not working.

The materials do not include a school year’s worth of pre-K instruction and do not include realistic pacing guidance or routines. 150+ Activities for Active Learners include activities that cover content and skills for all domains of the Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines, but there are too few activities in each domain to allow the student opportunities to review and practice the skills covered and reach grade-level expectations. There are only 33 math lessons in 150+ Activities for Active Learners.

Evaluation for 11.3
Materials provide implementation guidance to meet variability in programmatic design and scheduling considerations.

The materials provide some implementation guidance to meet variability in programmatic design and scheduling considerations. The materials do not 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 are somewhat designed in a way that allows LEAs the ability to incorporate the curriculum into district, campus, and teacher programmatic design and scheduling considerations.

Evidence includes but is not limited to: 

Materials do not 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 do not include recommendations for introducing and teaching skills and content in a process that follows any learning continuum. There are activities that focus on skills along learning continuums, such as the phonological awareness continuum, but the materials do not include when the skills should be introduced. They also do not provide content in an arranged manner; the content is not presented in a progressive sequence in any of the core subjects. Throughout the resources, no sequence of content is found; the content provided is sporadic; the material does not follow a scope and sequence pattern. There are no themes or themed units within the resources.

Materials are partially 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 support half-day and full-day programs. “Essentials of Active Learning,” Chapter 7, “What Is the [Program] Daily Routine?” includes information about the components that make up the daily routine. The daily routine is composed of “Greeting Time,” “Large Group Time,” “Small Group Time,” “Planning Time,” “Work Time,” “Clean Up Time,” “Recall Time,” “Read Aloud Time,” “Snack Time,” and “Outdoor Time.” In a half-day program, each part of the day only happens once, with the exception of transitions. The full-day program allows for flexibility in that teachers can choose which parts of the day to repeat. The routines provided define the type of activity but do not define what exactly the children are doing during that time. 

“150+ Activities for Active Learners” includes activities that cover skills, but they are not organized into a scope and sequence. The teacher can pick any activity that focuses on a skill she wants to cover. The “COR Advantage” website has a tab labeled “Lesson Plan,” which the teacher can easily utilize when creating daily lesson plans. The materials do not expound upon the details of a full-day versus half-day program routine. Lesson plans are only samples, and the materials do not provide templates or lesson plan designs that would allow LEAs to easily use the materials in different types of programs.

Evaluation for 11.4
Materials provide guidance on fostering connections between home and school.

The materials provide guidance on fostering connections between home and school. The materials support the development of strong relationships between teachers and families, but they do not specify activities for use at home to support students’ learning and development.

Evidence includes but is not limited to: 

The materials support the development of strong relationships between teachers and families. “Essentials of Active Learning,” “Chapter 8: How Do [These] Programs Work with Families?” includes information on how to develop strong relationships between teachers and families. Materials state: “Supportive relationships between early childhood programs and families benefit children, parents, staff, and the program as a whole. Educators can foster these relationships in many ways, for example, by talking to family members who drop off and pick up their children each day, inviting families to volunteer their time, conducting home visits, and becoming involved in the community themselves.” Family involvement is described in a variety of ways, including volunteering, providing supplies, and suggesting ideas. For example, families can work directly with their own child or help the child’s classmates. The resource states that family involvement is important because it builds a bridge between home and school, enhances teacher understanding of children, enhances families’ understanding of children, promotes child development at home, and enriches the school program. Strong relationships between the teachers and families also provide the teachers with home-life information that could be critical to help support the learning success of the student in school. Information on situations that could affect the student’s ability to concentrate at school allows the teachers and/or administration to provide assistance to that student and their family if needed. This resource also includes “Four Elements of Family Involvement”: “Examine your own family roots, beliefs, and attitudes. Learn from children and families about their traditions. Share information about child development with families. Join families in expecting excellence from each child.” The incorporation of materials from the student’s home plays a role in their ability to learn effectively. 

The materials do not specify activities for use at home to support students’ learning and development. Essentials of Active Learning, Chapter 8, includes a chart titled “50 Ways of Connecting with Families.” The chart lists newsletters (printed or online), family meetings and workshops, school and/or classroom website and blogs, personal notes, phone calls, e-mail and text messages, activity calendars (may be posted on the web page), home visits, family networks, and field trips as some ways to connect with families. However, the materials do not include online access to resources for parents and no home support materials in other languages.

Evaluation for 11.5
The visual design of student and teacher materials (whether in print or digital) is neither distracting nor chaotic.

The visual design of student and teacher materials (whether print or digital) is neither distracting nor chaotic. The materials partially include appropriate use of white space and design that supports and does not distract from student learning. Pictures and graphics are somewhat supportive of student learning and engagement without being visually distracting.

Evidence includes but is not limited to: 

Materials include limited appropriate use of white space and design that supports and does not distract from student learning. The “Let’s Read It Again Teacher’s Guide and Booklets” are designed with designated places for important information. Teacher guides are designed in a way that is not easily understood or user friendly. Each section in the Teacher’s Guide begins with a title that is bold and in a different-colored font. Important information within each section is in a table that has a blue background; each booklet is arranged the same way. However, the materials were only available to be reviewed digitally. Materials must be searched for by the teacher, and it is quite time-consuming to find specific information. There is no easy navigation of these materials. One resource only has 30 days of lessons given for the teacher to use. After 30 days, the teacher has to research to put her lesson plans together, and there are no teacher editions to reference. Utilizing the example lesson plans, the teacher must spend extra time sorting through the numerous program resource materials just to implement daily lesson plans. 

Each resource book has its own teacher’s guide at the beginning, with a table of contents, but it is not designed with clear designated places for important information. An example is the resource “Essentials for Active Learning,” which gives a sample lesson plan that can be found on page 88; in the table of contents, it is listed under the section “Staff Support and Supervision” and begins on page 86. There are no big books mentioned as a resource for the teacher to use; the small books are easily seen by all children. The materials do not follow the “Guidance for Visual Design Rubric” by TRR. There are no vocabulary cards provided.

Pictures and graphics are minimally supportive of student learning and engagement without being visually distracting. “Daily Routine Cards” are a set of easy-to-read pictures and time-of-day names that identify the parts of a typical preschool classroom day. The cards are black and white and include only the name of the time of day and a very simple picture. This minimizes distractions for the students as they go through their schedule using the cards. The “Large Area Signs” and “Small Area Signs” mark the interest areas of the learning environment. These include “House Area,” “Toy Area,” “Sand and Water Area,” “Block Area,” “Book Area,” and “Art Area.” This signage supports the children as they go through “Planning Time,” “Work Time,” and “Recall Time.” Reviewers were only able to view digital resources, which did not include a lot of pictures.