Listos! + Antologias - Grade 3

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

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

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The “Teacher Edition” of “Antología 3” includes eight units with three types of text, which include leveled books. These leveled books include legends, poems, stories, and informational texts. Stories vary in complexity level to target beginning, intermediate, and advanced learners’ needs. As such, the materials provide texts that are at the appropriate readability level for students in third grade.

Antología offers a brief rationale explaining the educational purpose and placement of texts within the three varying levels of Spanish proficiency: beginner, intermediate, and advanced. This rationale is located under the “Teachers and Parents” section found at the beginning of each book. This is the only section that explains that the text is part of “a carefully-curated selection of authentic Spanish literature and informational texts.” Materials also state that these sections were “organized according to geography and theme.” 

Unit 3 of Antología offers three different types of text; each caters to students’ specific reading needs based on their respective reading levels. For example, El fútbol en Honduras by Judy Cortes is an informative text designated for beginner readers; it is about the popularity of soccer in the country of Honduras and helps students easily understand the topic by relating to this very popular sport. 

“Copán,” written by Pedro Urbina, explores the former Mayan Empire city by the same name and its historical significance in present-day Honduras. This intermediate text helps students understand some of that civilization’s contributions to Honduran culture. 

Advanced students have access to the story La educación maya by Lourdes Cobeilla. This informative text tells students about the Mayan educational system and compares it to that of present-day Honduras. 

Texts in Antología expose students to other cultures, beliefs, biographies, and customs. Antología provides a variety of children’s literature in increasingly complex genres. For example, the informational text “Descubre México” by Judy Cortez includes a cross-discipline connection with social studies. 

“¡Listos!” offers minimal evidence of increasingly complex texts. In “Investiga la cultura—Las tradiciones de los gauchos,” students are exposed to other cultures, but the exposure is limited to one to two paragraphs and a side note that gives information such as “actividades de los gauchos, el desfile, la fiesta, la jineteada, el asado.” Although this provides information about a certain culture, there is not enough content-rich text to apply most TEKS. It is also not complex enough to make inferences, refer to events, or apply other higher-order-thinking skills appropriate for third grade.

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

The materials include some texts that are appropriately challenging and are at an appropriate level of complexity to support students in grade 3. Texts are accompanied by a limited text-complexity analysis provided by the publisher. Some texts are at the appropriate quantitative levels and have the appropriate qualitative features for third-grade students.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

“Antología” and “¡Listos!” provide limited text-complexity analyses for the teacher to use during planning and instruction. However, due to the leveling system in the program (i.e., “principiante, intermedio, avanzado”) the teacher can select stories that may somewhat align with students’ reading abilities.

¡Listos! has a “Biblioteca Tematica Reading Level Chart” that includes the approximate correspondence of the ¡Listos! “Thematic Library” readers to the Fountas and Pinnel leveling system. For example, under the “Resources” tab, the chart shows that Unit 3 beginning reader texts are equivalent to a C in Fountas and Pinnell; intermediate reader texts equal E; and advanced equal J–K. The chart does not include specific texts from each unit, but rather provides holistic information for the unit. This equivalency may assist teachers in selecting appropriately leveled texts to use with students depending on their level of Spanish language development. Antología includes “Reading Performance Assessments,” which is a quantitative measurement system for Spanish reading. This resource includes a quantitative chart for grades K–5, which provides “a comparative view of [texts’] different levels, their corresponding equivalent grade levels, and their approximate levels according to the Fountas and Pinnell readability system.”

The materials include some grade-level-appropriate texts based on qualitative features; texts increase in length and complexity as the students advance in proficiency level from beginner to advanced. For example, in Unit 3 of Antología, at the intermediate level, the story “El fútbol en Honduras” includes beginning-level vocabulary words such as equipo, portero, anota, and jugó. At the advanced level, for “La educación Maya,” the words are sacerdote, destinado, metas, rango and nobleza. Words in the texts grow in syllable length and complexity, starting with common everyday language and progressing to more uncommon words with more complex spelling patterns. The texts themselves also grow in complexity. However, ¡Listos! does not include grade-level-appropriate texts. For example, in Unit 3, Lesson 1, “El carnaval de la amistad,” the main text used in the lesson is dialogue that is only six sentences long. This level of text complexity is not appropriate for grade 3, and the text does not include grade-level vocabulary. Similarly, in Unit 4, Lesson 2, “Los animales del zoológico,” the main text is a traditional children’s song. It does not include academic vocabulary, appropriate quantitative levels, or appropriate qualitative features.

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

The materials include some text types and genres across content that meet the requirements of the third-grade TEKS, but they are lacking procedural texts and are limited in argumentative texts. Materials include some print and graphic features in a variety of texts as well as informational texts that are connected to science and social studies topics in the TEKS for grades 3–8. Students have opportunities to recognize and analyze characteristics of multimodal and digital texts.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

“Antología” includes four stories, three legends, six poems, and 11 informational reading passages for three levels: beginner, intermediate, and advanced. The material provides some fictional and informational stories that are grade-level specific according to the TEKS. Literary texts such as folktales, poems, and legends for this grade are included in Antología 3. In Unit 1, “Nos conocemos descubre Perú,” for beginners, there is El zorro y el topo (a Peruvian legend). Meanwhile, students at the advanced level read an Incan traditional folktale titled Inca y mamá chocha. For “Nos conocemos descubre Nicaragua,” the advanced level selection is the argumentative text De viaje en Nicaragua! by Patricia Acosta. The text includes subtitles (“Isla de Ometepe, Charco Verde, Tesoros arqueológicos”) as well as photographs (“volcán Concepción,” “Estatuas precolombinas”). There is no evidence of a biography or a procedural text in the third-grade materials.

Antología uses content-rich informational text to teach description. In Antología Unit 3, “Vamos a aprender descubre a Honduras,” the intermediate level selection is the informational text “Copán” by Pedro Urbina. The text describes who lived in Copán (“Los mayas eran muy avanzados…”); what Copán consisted of (“Copán era una ciudad grande con edificios impresionantes…”); and what Copán is like today (“El parque está dividido en las cinco siguientes áreas….”) Text features include photographs of the ruins of Copán, a map locating Copán, captions that describe each illustration and photograph, and outlines of the different areas in Copán today: “La Acrópolis, Los Túneles, La Corte de la Bola.” 

In each unit, Antología texts embed a variety of print and graphic features. In Unit 5, the intermediate level informational text Los deportes en Cuba by Patricia Acosta includes pictures of different sports with corresponding captions (e.g., “Niños haciendo ejercicios y niños practicando béisbol”). There are also subtitles for the sports played in Cuba (e.g., “El béisbol, el voleibol, otros deportes”).

In Antología Unit 7, the informational text “El canal de panamá” includes several photographs showing the expansion of the Panama canal from 1912 until today.

Each unit of “¡Listos!” includes a thematic library with leveled texts (i.e., beginner, intermediate, advanced). However, the materials do not list the genre of these texts.

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

The materials contain some questions and tasks that support students in analyzing and integrating knowledge, ideas, topics, themes, and connections within and across texts. Questions and tasks build conceptual knowledge and integrate multiple TEKS. Some are text-specific/dependent but few target complex elements of the texts. Questions and tasks often require students to make connections to personal experiences but less frequently to other texts and the world around them. Materials rarely pose questions or tasks that require students to identify and discuss important big ideas, themes, and details.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

Every lesson, both in “¡Listos!” and “Antología,” integrates pre-reading questions or guiding questions that target the story being read or the lesson presented. Questions include “¿Cómo usamos el lenguaje para relacionarnos con la comunidad? ¿Quiénes son las personas más importantes y cuales son las ubicaciones más importantes en la comunidad?” Although these questions promote discussions and require students to make connections, the questions do not often support students in analyzing and integrating knowledge, ideas, topics, themes, and connections within and across texts, since the materials’ goal is to facilitate students’ study of Spanish and the customs of different Latin American countries rather than their language arts and reading proficiency. 

The materials provide some questions that prepare the students for what they will be reading and allow them to make connections to personal experiences. In all of the “Antología” units, the “Antes de leer” section contains questions to activate students’ prior knowledge. In Unit 1, at the advanced level, questions include “¿De qué forma nos ayuda el sol? ¿Qué pasaría si no existiera la luz del sol? ¿En qué piensas cuando miras a la luna?” In Unit 3, at the advanced level, under “Comprendo lo que lei,” teachers help students read the comprehension questions and choose the correct answers (e.g., “¿De qué dependía la educación de los niños?” “¿En qué se parecen la educación Maya y la educación que reciben los niños y niñas en tu comunidad?”) In ¡Listos! Unit 3, Lesson 2, under “Identify Key Ideas and Details,” questions include “¿Cuál es la primera clase del día de Lucila?” and “¿Dónde almuerza Lucila?” Questions and activities encourage students to answer or create products using different formats (e.g., written, visuals, media). For example, in Unit 3, under “Performance Assessments,” the teacher polls the class on “popular after-school and cultural activities, creating a graph with the results….” This prepares the students for what they will be reading and helps them make connections to personal experiences, but less frequently to other texts and the world around them.

Some well-crafted questions in ¡Listos! lead to student discussions about important big ideas, themes, and details. For example, in Unit 4, the guiding question is “¿Como hablamos de nuestras mascota y de sus características?” This question expands on the lesson’s language focus, cultural objectives, and vocabulary.

In Unit 5, for “El baile del merengue,” comprehension-based questions include “¿Cual es el baile nacional de la República Dominicana? ¿Qué instrumento se usa para tocar el merengue? ¿Te gusta el merengue?” These questions address comprehension of the text but do not target important ideas or themes. 

Questions and tasks integrate multiple TEKS. For example, in ¡Listos! Unit 7, “El canal de Panamá,” under “Social Studies Connection,” the materials guide teachers to “obtain an animated video on the internet of how the canal works and show it to the class.” In Unit 8, “El Dia del nino” under “Mathematics Connection,” teachers organize “the class into small groups and ask them to stand in line.” Students “write commands and include a reason” to practice ordinal numbers. Teachers model an example: “El segundo estudiante de la fila debe levantar la mano para hacer una pregunta.” Students read and perform the commands.

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

The materials contain some questions and tasks that require students to analyze the language, key ideas, details, craft, and structure of individual texts. Some questions and tasks support students’ analysis of the literary/textual elements of texts, but they rarely ask students to analyze, make inferences, and draw conclusions about the author’s purpose in cultural, historical, and contemporary contexts and provide evidence from the text to support their understanding. Students do not compare and contrast the stated or implied purposes of different authors’ writing on the same topic. Materials minimally cover the author’s choices and how they influence and communicate meaning (in single and across a variety of texts). The materials also include minor opportunities for students to make and correct or confirm predictions using text features, characteristics of genre, and structures with and without adult assistance. Materials do not ask students to study the language within texts to support their understanding.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

“¡Listos!” includes passages that guide readers to learn a second language accompanied by discussion questions that connect with the Spanish language, customs, and language structures but do not necessarily support students’ analysis of the literary/textual elements of texts. For example, in Unit 2, guiding questions include “¿Cómo describimos nuestro barrio y hogar? ¿Cuáles son las personas y los lugares importantes de la comunidad? ¿De color es tu ropa? ¿Cómo describimos dónde estamos y dónde están los lugares de la comunidad?” With these questions, students discuss the unit topic of communities; they do not analyze the literary/textual elements of texts. 

“Antología” exposes students to some literary analysis that targets the author’s purpose, text-to-text connections, and text structures. For example, in Unit 3, students understand the author’s purpose by answering questions such as “¿Cuál es el propósito del autor al escribir este texto? ¿Que describe el autor en este texto? En ‘Copán’ el autor: ¿explica, describe o responde a algo? ¿Por qué piensas eso?” However, Antología also provides questions and tasks that do not foster textual analysis through meaningful classroom discussions. For example, the “Analiza” section in the story “Las estrellitas miedosas” (for advanced readers) provides the question “¿Por qué los niños usan zapatos y los animales no?” No questions about this text require readers to identify and support the author’s purpose or to evaluate the text. The materials minimally include opportunities to analyze the author's choices and how they influence and communicate meaning (in single and across a variety of texts). 

Antología includes questions that can be answered by directly referring back to the text. For example, at the advanced level in Unit 3, under “Comprendo lo que leí,” questions include “¿De qué dependía la educación de los niños? ¿Qué niños recibieron una educación especial?” At the beginning level in Unit 4, under Comprendo lo que lei, students answer “¿Cuales de los animales del poema tienen alas? ¿Quién es el rey de las flores? ¿Por qué Doña Colombia va tan feliz?” 

Antologia provides minimal opportunities for students to make predictions; students consistently predict what a text might be about but do not often make predictions within texts. For example, in Unit 5, “El baile del merengue,” under the “Preview and Predict” section, the teacher reads the title and author’s name and asks students to look at the illustrations. Students “discuss what they think the text is about.” The teacher writes students’ answers on the board, and they confirm or adjust their predictions after reading the text.

Neither Antología nor ¡Listos! includes questions and tasks that require students to study specific language within texts.

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

The materials do not include a cohesive, year-long plan for students to interact with and build vocabulary in and across texts. The materials include some scaffolds and supports for teachers to differentiate vocabulary development for all learners, but the vocabulary development is for basic Spanish words, not text-based academic vocabulary.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

Every lesson in “¡Listos!” includes a vocabulary list of basic Spanish words that correlate with the lesson being taught, along with teacher guidance under the “Preview Vocabulary, Vocabulary Development, and Reinforce Vocabulary” sections. For example, Unit 1, Lesson 1, is titled “Saludos y Despedidas.” The materials organized the vocabulary in sub-categories such as “Saludos: Buenos dias, Buenas tardes, Buenas noches, Hola!; Despedidas: Adios!, Hasta Luego!; Presentaciones: ¿Como estas?, Muy bien, gracias, Te presento a…, Mucho gusto,; etc.” The class previews the vocabulary on Day 1 as teachers ask students to share, “how they greet and say goodbye in English.” The teacher explains that “in Spanish, you say hi or hello by saying hola and adios.” On Day 2, the teacher models using the vocabulary words, and students practice, engaging in exchanges with a peer. On Day 3, students break into groups of 3 and create their own dialogue using patterns found in texts or provided sentence stems, such as “Hola yo soy... El es...Mucho gusto yo soy.” The same format is followed in every subsequent lesson from beginning of year to end of year; however, as previously mentioned, vocabulary is not of academic nature.

To help differentiate instruction, lessons in ¡Listos! include a “Differentiated Instruction” section that sometimes provides a scaffold for vocabulary instruction. For example, Unit 4, Lesson 1 “El Carnaval de la Amistad,” includes the vocabulary “me gusta” and “no me gusta.” The “Tarjetas fotográficas” section under “Differentiated Instruction” guides teachers to “display a picture of something you like, and use gestures as you say Me gusta. Do the same for No me gusta.” The teacher displays other pictures, and students respond with their preference. However, the vocabulary these scaffolds pertain to are not text-based academic vocabulary. 

Some sections in “Antología” instruct teachers to “Introduce highlighted vocabulary, adding any additional terms you predict will be difficult for students. Word definitions can be found at the end of the book…” However, no further explanation or examples are given for these highlighted vocabulary words. The materials do not include any additional suggestions for the use of academic vocabulary in Antología. There is no sequence in the use of the vocabulary words included.

Additionally, Antología does not include scaffolds and supports for teachers to differentiate vocabulary development for all learners. Although there are different vocabulary words for beginners, intermediate, and advanced readers, the material does not include supports for the teacher. The materials do include visuals that correspond to vocabulary; however, since the words are basic Spanish words, there is no differentiation included. 

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

The materials do not include a clearly defined plan to support and hold students accountable as they engage in independent reading. Procedures and/or protocols, along with adequate support for teachers, are not provided to foster independent reading. Materials do not provide a plan for students to self-select texts and read independently for a sustained period of time. They do not include planning and accountability for achieving independent reading goals.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

 Neither “Antología” nor “¡Listos!” incorporates guidance to foster independent reading, and neither explicitly includes independent reading time in the daily teacher schedule. The materials do not contain procedures and/or protocols to foster independent reading, and there is no planning or accountability for achieving independent reading goals. While “Antología” provides several reading strategies, students do not specifically use them while reading independently since there is no mention of independent reading in “Antología.”

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

The materials provide some support for students to develop composition skills across multiple text types for a variety of purposes and audiences. Materials provide students some opportunities to write literary texts to express their ideas and feelings about real or imagined people, events, and ideas. The materials provide students opportunities to write informational texts to communicate ideas and information to specific audiences for specific purposes. Materials do not provide students opportunities to write argumentative texts to influence the attitudes or actions of a specific audience on specific issues. Materials do not provide students opportunities to write correspondence in a professional or friendly structure.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The materials offer limited student opportunities to write literary and informational texts. Neither “Antología” nor “¡Listos!” offer opportunities for students to write argumentative texts, nor do they provide students with opportunities to write correspondence in a professional or friendly structure. The ¡Listos! section titled “¡A escribir!” includes a four-step writing process activity at the end of each lesson in the unit. The steps included in the process are as follows: “1. Planifica, 2. Escribe, 3. Revisa, and 4. Presenta.” These steps are meant as a guide to help students move from their brainstorm writing exercise to their final published writing piece. In Unit 1, the prompt is “Mi familia.” The materials guide students to write about their families by drawing them. This presents a limited opportunity for students to engage in writing, as students are only guided to present their pictures and read the words and sentences out loud. The materials do not provide any additional guidance in the writing process for this lesson. In ¡Listos! Unit 5, “Platos típicos de la República Dominicana,” states: “Have students read the line ‘Tema: La comida y el cuerpo.’ Explain to students that in the next few lessons, they will prepare stories about their favorite foods.” However, the prompt does not include any guidance or instruction for students to write about an experience or event that they had with their favorite foods.

The materials provide limited guidance for scaffolding and do not sufficiently teach the elements of the writing process throughout the school year. In addition, the materials do not provide teacher support to help students grow their composition skills. The materials offer limited to no amount of teacher ideas for stand-alone writing lessons and projects. For example, under “Apply Writing Skills,” in Unit 4 of ¡Listos!, the materials offer minimal guidance for teachers to “Organize the class into groups of three and ask students to write a presentation similar to the one Paola and Pedro gave in activity A. Tell them to use the dialogue as a pattern, but have them choose different animals.” 

In Unit 4 of ¡Listos!, students write informational compositions. For example, the materials provide the prompt “Los animales: Vas a escribir sobre un animal que te gusta.” Students follow the previously learned writing steps, “1. Planifica, 2. Escribe, 3. Revisa, and 4. Presenta.” Much like the literary writing section, this section on informational text offers students some opportunity to move through the writing process. However, there is no other teacher support offered for educators to scaffold or assist students through the process of writing an informational text. In Unit 8, under “Investiga la cultura,” the materials state: “Compara el Día de los muertos con Halloween. Investiga uno de los elementos de las ofrendas.” Although the materials ask students to compare and contrast two holidays, they do not give clear directions for the composition of informational writing. 

Antología also contains a section titled “¡A escribir!,” but it does not guide students into the steps of the writing process. For example in Unit 8, “Nivel Avanzado,” the section guides teachers to discuss how the “Dia del Nino” is celebrated in Mexico and then have students “write three sentences on a separate sheet of paper.” The materials do not include any additional guidance on writing for teachers or students.

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

The materials do not contain written tasks that require students to use clear and concise information and well-defended text-supported claims to demonstrate the knowledge gained through analysis and synthesis of texts. Materials provide limited opportunities for students to use evidence from texts to support their opinions and claims. Materials provide minimal opportunities for students to demonstrate in writing what they have learned through reading and listening to texts.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

Materials provide limited opportunities for students to use evidence from texts to support their opinions and claims. For example, in “Antología” Unit 4, students engage in writing by responding to the following questions: “¿Cuál es tu verso o estrofa favorita de los poemas? ¿Por qué te gusta?” Teachers ask students to respond using three sentences to explain their answers, but these questions do not require students to use evidence from the texts to support their opinion. Under the “Analiza” section of this same lesson, the question reads: “¿Que tienen en común los cuatro poemas?” This allows more of an opportunity for students to engage with the text and gather evidence to compare the poems. However, the materials do not provide any instruction that explicitly requires students to use textual evidence.

Materials provide minimal opportunities for students to demonstrate in writing what they have learned through reading and listening to texts. Unit 6 of Antología, “La sandía de Toya,” contains a writing task in which students provide evidence to substantiate their response to, “¿Cuál de estos se parece más al viento del cuento? ¿Por qué? Escribe tres oraciones.” This writing task does not provide a full opportunity for students to show what they did or did not learn from the text, because a three-sentence response is all that is required.

¡Listos! does not provide opportunities for students to use evidence from the text to support their opinion or claims. The majority of the activities are questions that require fill-in-the-blank answers. 

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

Over the course of the year, composition convention skills are not applied in increasingly complex contexts, and students have few opportunities to publish their writing. Materials do not facilitate students’ coherent use of the elements of the writing process (planning, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing) to compose multiple texts. In addition, materials do not provide opportunities for practice and application of the conventions of academic language when speaking and writing, including punctuation and grammar. Grammar, punctuation, and usage are not taught systematically, neither in nor out of context, and materials do not provide editing practice in students’ own writing as the year continues.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

“¡Listos!” has a writing process composed of four steps (plan, draft, revise, and publish). However, it is very low rigor for a SLAR student, because it is intended for students engaging in Spanish language acquisition versus Spanish-speaking students engaging in developing Spanish Language Arts and Reading skills. For example, in Unit 2 lessons 1-4, the materials call for students to engage with step 1 (plan), instructing teachers to “Ask students to draw a picture of the inside of their home. Then tell them to label all the spaces and bedrooms.” For step 2 (draft), students “use the labels as a guide and write sentences describing their favorite room in their home. They include items in the room, colors, and other descriptive words.” For step 3 (revise), students “correct, add to, or rewrite their work as necessary.” For step 4 (present) students “review their drafts one last time, present their final work, and display it in the classroom.” Although there is a clearly established writing process, each phase is presented through a task that is targeted for students engaging in Spanish language acquisition and not for core SLAR instruction.

“Antología” provides a scope and sequence for “Phonics, Spelling, and Structures” that focuses on word study and grammar related to the Spanish language. Students practice listening and speaking skills by engaging in a section called “Asi se dice.” In Unit 2, teachers teach “la sílaba tónica,” but the only explanation for students that the materials provide reads: “Las sílabas son sonidos o grupos de sonidos que se pronuncian juntos. Algunas palabras están formadas por una, dos o tres sílabas.” Although this approach does provide an opportunity for students to practice, there is no application. There is also no evidence or guidance for students to orally engage with the grammar learned in this unit.

Additionally, Antología does not provide multiple and varied opportunities for students to practice the application of conventions of academic language when speaking and writing. However, the materials do include minimal opportunities to practice punctuation and grammar in isolation. Antología contains a section titled “¡A escribir!” at the end of each unit. In Unit 3, the materials provide minimal explanation for students that states: “Corrige las oraciones escribiendo el plural del sustantivo subrayado, Completa el artículo el, la, los, o las” However, there is no other mention of punctuation or editing practice.

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

The materials do not include practice for students to write in cursive. Materials do not include instruction in cursive handwriting for students in the appropriate grades. Materials do not include a plan for procedures and supports for teachers to assess students’ handwriting development.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

Neither “Antología” nor “¡Listos!” includes any instruction in cursive handwriting. Neither resource includes a plan for procedures and supports for teachers to assess students’ handwriting development in cursive. 

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

Materials support students’ listening and speaking about texts; however, opportunities are not focused on the text(s) being studied in class, which would allow students to demonstrate comprehension. Some oral tasks require students to use clear and concise information but do not require students to use well-defended text-supported claims to demonstrate the knowledge gained through analysis and synthesis of texts.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

“Antología” contains potential speaking and listening opportunities that encourage students to demonstrate comprehension of the text, but materials do not note whether students should answer questions orally or in written form. For example, in Unit 3, using the informational text “Copán,” students use text clues to find the author’s purpose. Students answer questions: “¿Cuál es el propósito del autor al escribir este texto? ¿Qué describe el autor en este texto? En ‘Copán,’ el autor: explica, describe o responde a algo? ¿Por qué piensas eso?” Although these questions provide some speaking and listening opportunities about the text, the materials do not specify whether students answer these questions in written or oral form. Additionally, questions are not wholly focused on the text(s) studied in class, but rather students listen and speak in Spanish on a specific topic provided to develop Spanish language skills.

“¡Listos!” provides some speaking and listening opportunities focused on the text being studied in class, allowing students to demonstrate comprehension. For example, in Unit 4, the teacher plays a recording of a traditional Hispanic song. Then, the teacher reads the lyrics, and students listen, chorally repeat, and answer the question “¿Que ves en el zoológico?” The follow-up question for this lesson lacks in complexity: “¿Qué están mirando Pedro y sus compañeros en clase?” No other questions are provided. 

The oral tasks in Antología are vague and do not provide readers with sufficient opportunities to create well-defended claims. For example, in Unit 5, at the intermediate level, with the text “El carnaval en la República Dominicana,” students answer the following questions: “¿Cuándo es el carnaval en República Dominicana? ¿Cómo se disfrazan las personas en el carnaval de República Dominicana?” While the reader can return to the text to find the answers to these questions, the materials do not specify whether the students answer these questions in written or oral form. Questions do not allow students the opportunity to develop well-supported claims based on text evidence. Additionally, ¡Listos! includes oral tasks that help students develop Spanish language skills, but students don’t make text-supported claims to demonstrate the knowledge gained through analysis and synthesis of texts. For example, in Unit 7, after reading the text “Mi profesion del futuro,” oral tasks include students working in pairs to interview one another regarding their future professions. The materials guide the teacher to “mention two possible professions and workplaces” as students answer the questions. This oral task helps students practice the Spanish vocabulary they learned, but it does not require thinking critically about the text or demonstrating knowledge gained through analysis or synthesis.

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

The materials provide some opportunities for students to speak, but they do not provide guidance and practice with grade-level protocols for students to express their own thinking. The materials provide some guidance for students to develop social communication skills, but these skills are not appropriate to the grade level. Materials provide limited opportunities for students to give organized presentations and performances and to speak in a clear and concise manner using the conventions of language. The materials do not provide guidance for students to use nonverbal communication when presenting before an audience.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The materials provide some guidance for students to develop social communication skills, but these skills are not appropriate for third grade. For example, in “¡Listos!” Unit 1, Lesson 1 is titled “Saludos y despedidas.” During the first part of this lesson, students learn how to properly use a variety of greetings and goodbyes at different times of the day. The teacher writes a guiding question on the board: “¿Cómo nos saludamos y despedimos en español?” Volunteers answer the question. Students practice saying “hola” and “adios,” taking turns greeting their peers. Aside from this initial lesson, the materials do not provide further guidance on developing social communication skills. Additionally, this lesson’s primary purpose is Spanish language acquisition, not instruction in grade-level-appropriate social skills.

Materials do not provide guidance and practice with grade-level protocols for discussion for students to express their own thinking. All grade levels limit speaking to having students answer questions verbally or participate in some speaking tasks, but the materials do not provide structured collaborative activities or gradual release. For example, in ¡Listos! Unit 2, Lesson 3, “La ropa y la moda!” students have the opportunity to roleplay. Under the “Challenge/Roleplay” section, the materials note: “Using the dialogues on page 82 as a model, ask students to create and write additional dialogues for Lucila, Alana, and Kai. When students have finished, invite them to act out their version of the dialogues in front of the class.” Students act out conversational dialogues; however, the materials do not provide grade-level protocols for discussion in which students can express their own thinking. 

The materials provide limited opportunities for students to give presentations; these opportunities are not organized, do not contain guidance, and do not take into consideration the conventions of language. For example, in ¡Listos! Unit 6, Lesson 4, “El tiempo en tu comunidad,” the section “¡A escribir! Presenta stage” guides students: “1. Presenta tus oraciones y el dibujo. 2. Lee las oraciones en voz alta. 3. Explica el dibujo.” The materials guide teachers to have students “present their final work, and display it in the classroom.” The materials provide no further guidance on how to organize the presentations nor on how to present them.

In “Antología,” “Nivel Principiante,” Unit 7, “Descubre Panama,” “Teaching Tips” guide the teacher to have “students read the text together in a choral reading.” Also: “Make sure to demonstrate proper fluency and inflection for students to mimic. Ask students to pay attention to when your tone of voice changes.” Even though this allows for some modeling of speaking in a clear and concise manner, the intent is to develop fluency, not to provide opportunities for students to give presentations or performances.

Neither ¡Listos! nor Antología provide guidance for students to use nonverbal communication when presenting before an audience.

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

The materials engage students in short-term inquiry processes but not in sustained recursive inquiry processes to confront and analyze various aspects of a topic using relevant sources. The materials do not support the identification and summary of high-quality primary and secondary sources. They provide some support for student practice in organizing and presenting their ideas and information in accordance with the purpose of the research and the appropriate grade-level audience. Materials provide minimal guidance to use an appropriate mode of delivery (written, oral, or multimodal) to present results.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

“¡Listos!” provides some opportunities for students to engage in short-term inquiry and research. The end of each unit of ¡Listos! includes a section called “Investiga la cultura.” It provides information and activities regarding the country studied in each unit. For example, at the end of Unit 2, students read “Las tradiciones de los gauchos.” Students answer guiding questions to frame their research opportunity, including “¿Quienes son los gauchos? ¿Qué tradiciones tienen los gauchos? ¿Cúal es la ropa tradicional del gaucho y de la paisana?” Students compare “los gauchos” from Argentina to “los vaqueros” from “los Estados Unidos.” Although the activity centers on learning about people in Argentina, the text provides the research information, and students only complete the questions and comparison activity.

Materials provide minimal guidance on an appropriate mode of delivery, whether written, oral, or multimodal, to present results. After learning about Honduras in Unit 3 of ¡Listos! the “Culminating Activity” states: “Have students work in pairs to choose and research one of the traditional toys or games mentioned. They should write a list of instructions telling how to play the game or play with the toy, based on the lists they created previously. Have pairs present their instructions and final products to the rest of the class.” Students have the opportunity to engage in the delivery of ideas and information gathered from sources. However, there is minimal guidance on how students should organize and present their findings.

Materials do not support the identification and summary of high-quality primary and secondary sources. In “Antología” Unit 5, at the advanced level, students “research and make a poster about their assigned music genre, portraying its history, variations, its well-known musicians, and the instruments used to play it.” The materials guide teachers: “Assist students with this project. Suggest reference materials and online sources for information and images. Have the students present their creations to the class.” In this example, the materials tell teachers to show students these sources. They do not provide teacher guidance to complete this task, nor do they offer further details to teach primary and secondary sources.

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

The materials do not contain interconnected tasks that build student knowledge and provide opportunities for increased independence. Questions and tasks are designed to help students learn Spanish and not necessarily build and apply knowledge and skills in reading, writing, speaking, listening, thinking, and language. Materials contain some coherently sequenced set of high-quality, text-dependent questions and tasks that require students to analyze the integration of knowledge and ideas within individual texts but not across multiple texts. Tasks attempt to integrate reading, writing, speaking, listening, and thinking but do not include components of vocabulary, syntax, and fluency, as needed. Tasks provide few opportunities for increased independence.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

“Antologia” includes questions that provide some opportunities for students to apply knowledge in reading, writing, listening, and speaking. For example, in Unit 3, “Nivel Principiante,” the “A escribir” section guides teachers to “discuss with students how to play their favorite sport and then have them write three sentences “that answer the following questions: “¿Cuál es tu deporte favorito? ¿Cómo se juega? Escribe tres oraciones.” This task allows students to integrate reading, speaking, listening, and writing about a familiar topic but does not provide opportunities for increased independence.

The materials include some questions and tasks designed to help students build and apply knowledge and skills in reading, speaking, listening, and thinking about a piece of text. For example, in Antología Unit 4, students read the text “El Señor Mono y Don Tortuga.” Teachers are then instructed to “Help students identify the order of events in the selection by asking: ‘¿Me pueden decir que pasó al principio, en medio y al final del cuento? ¿De que se trata esta historia? ¿Cuál es el mensaje principal de esta historia?’” Students have the opportunity to respond orally and listen to each others’ answers, but they are not required to provide evidence of understanding or to engage in any other integrated activities associated with these questions. 

In Unit 3, lesson 1, of “¡Listos!,” the materials provide some language functions for students. Before reading the text, “Los Pasatiempos,” the materials provide the guiding question, “What are some of the activities and hobbies that students enjoy?" The materials guide the teacher to “Write the question on the board; Read the question and have students repeat it; Have volunteers try to answer the question.” Students: “(1) talk about various activities and hobbies and say whether they enjoy them or not and (2) describe the activities they and others do each day of the week.” Even though this task integrates speaking and reading, no further guidance is given for students to practice vocabulary, syntax, or fluency with increased independence.

The materials do not follow a coherent sequence of text-focused tasks. Most tasks involve learning about different cultures and their customs along with using the Spanish language in context. In ¡Listos!, there are no text-dependent questions or tasks that require students to analyze the integration of knowledge and ideas in the texts. Antología attempts to analyze texts with only 5-6 comprehension questions that do not push students to apply, analyze, or synthesize their knowledge. For example, questions include, “¿Puedes recordar..?” or “¿Cuándo pasó eso?“ However, neither provides opportunities for increased independence. The material ultimately does not contain interconnected or multifaceted tasks that allow for increased independence. 

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

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

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The materials in “¡Listos!” support distributed practice over the course of the year. The Language Arts Scope and Sequence of ¡Listos! includes a legend that marks introduced skills with an “(I),” skills reviewed with an “(R),” and skills maintained with an “(M).” This shows the teacher how the skills spiral throughout the year. For example, in Unit 1, a reading strategy is to “use ideas to make and confirm predictions (I).” The (I) indicates that this concept is being introduced. In Unit 2, under “Reading Strategies,” this same objective is shown but now with an (R) for review (i.e., it is being spiraled). Because this concept is continued in all units, there is an (M) for Units 3–8 (i.e., the concept was introduced, then reviewed, and will continue to spiral and be maintained throughout the units). 

“Antología” also includes guidance for distributed practice over the course of a year. The Antología “Scope and Sequence” lists the theme, language functions, structure, and culture to review in each unit. The content in Antología also varies by Spanish language level: beginner, advanced, or intermediate. This organization provides scaffolding for the teacher to use based on each student’s individual level of Spanish language development but not based on the Spanish Language Arts and Reading TEKS explicitly.

Antología includes questions that spiral skills (e.g., main idea, inference, prediction) repeatedly as students engage with the reading passages. For example, in Unit 4, “Nivel Intermedio,” students are engaged in prediction in the “Reading Strategies Preview and Predict” section and discuss “what they think Matrimonio de gatos, Pastorcita, El niño y El corderito, and El niño y la mariposa are about.” Next, students “write their answers on the board to confirm or correct their predictions after the reading.” The students integrate reading and speaking through this initial activity at the beginning of each reading passage. Similarly, in Unit 5, “Nivel Avanzado,” under “Reading Strategies Preview and Predict,” students discuss “what they think the text is about” and “write their answers on the board to confirm or correct their predictions after the reading.” Even though this skill spirals throughout the year, it does not increase in rigor, as it asks students to predict in the same format over the course of the various units.

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

Materials provide some systematic instruction and practice of foundational skills, including opportunities for phonics and word analysis skills. The materials include a research-based sequence of grade-level foundational skills instruction and some opportunities for student practice to achieve grade-level mastery. The materials provide some regular practice for decoding and encoding words. The materials include systematic instruction of orthographic rules and patterns. The materials provide teacher guidance for students who need additional support or remediation with foundational skills. 

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

Materials provide a research-based scope and sequence that aligns with foundational skills instruction. “¡Listos!” includes a Language Arts Scope and Sequence that denotes foundational skills addressed in the second lesson of each unit. For example, in Unit 1, Lesson 2 introduces students to “the vowel sounds,” while in Unit 2, Lesson 2, students work to “decode accurately, r and rr.” However, due to the frequency of the lessons, foundational skills are not addressed as often as needed to achieve grade-level mastery. The instruction is very basic because the purpose of these materials is Spanish as second language development. 

The material’s instruction is not explicit in foundational skills, and the activities and tasks provide minimal opportunities for students to practice. For example, in ¡Listos!, Unit 1, Lesson 2, the student activity book states, “Escucha y repite abuela, elefante, iguana, oso…Completa. Lee en voz alta. _ strella, __so ,__buela, __glú, __vas.” The material guides the teacher to “Write the word abuela on the board and have students repeat it after you. Underline the vowel a at the beginning and the end of the word.” The students “repeat it after you several times.” Additional guidance includes, “Encourage students to produce a sound similar to the e in ben or met.” There is no other guidance for teachers to model or explicitly teach the associated skills.

Materials attempt to systematically develop knowledge of grade-level phonics patterns and word analysis skills; however, skills are not delineated for the TEKS for grades 3–5. For example, “Antología” provides a scope and sequence for the instruction of phonics and word recognition. This scope and sequence can be found under the section titled “Phonics, Spelling, and Structures.” In Unit 1, students learn about “the sound of h,” while Unit 2 includes “the sound of s/z/ce/ci.” Antología also includes a section called “Asi se dice” that includes phonics practice. “¡Listos!” provides a Language Arts Scope and Sequence that includes the instruction of phonics and word recognition. For example, Unit 2 asks students to “decode accurately r, rr and familiarity with -que and -qui.” The opportunities presented to practice and apply word analysis are only in isolation.

Materials include some opportunities to build spelling knowledge. For example, Antología includes some spelling knowledge, but it is missing the c, k, and q spelling pattern when spelling words are represented by different letters, diphthongs, hiatus, and their implications for orthographic accents, spelling words with hard and soft r, homographs, or diacritical accents. It does include synonyms, antonyms, silent h, prefixes, and others. 

Materials specifically attend to supporting students in need of effective remediation. ¡Listos! includes activities for students who may be struggling with their foundational skills in a section titled “Differentiated Instruction/Benchmark” that helps guide the reader with different skills. This section focuses on students struggling with distinguishing sounds and correct pronunciation. For example, the materials offer students assistance with the hard and soft r. The materials guide the teacher to “Assist students who have difficulties distinguishing and pronouncing the two r(erre) sounds by working with them on the words loro and perro. You may also work with the sentence El loro es verde, pero el perro es negro…” providing several opportunities for students to practice and master the content.

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

The materials include diagnostic tools and provide opportunities to assess student mastery, in and out of context, at regular intervals for teachers to make instructional adjustments. The materials include some tools to support and direct teachers to assess students’ growth in and mastery of foundational skills (e.g., skill gaps in phonics and decoding) both in and out of context. Materials offer minimal support for teachers to respond to individual students’ literacy needs based on tools and assessments appropriate to the grade level. Materials do not include support for the teacher to work with students to self-monitor, use context to confirm or self-correct understanding, and employ rereading when appropriate.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

“Antología” includes some tools to support and direct teachers to assess students’ growth and mastery of foundational skills. For example, “A Reading Performance Assessment” under “Teacher Resources” in the online materials allows an instructor to measure students’ reading ability as they read a passage from a book. There are eighteen assessments included in this program, the equivalent of three for each grade level, K–5. Levels are easily identified by color: Magenta, Yellow, Orange, Red, Green, and Blue. These Reading Performance Assessments include both fiction and nonfiction passages taken from Antologías: Lecturas culturales. The materials state, “We recommend to administer the Reading Performance Assessments three times during the year, beginning at the start of the year; however, a teacher may opt to assess individual students as often as he/she deems necessary.” Antología also includes assessments after every unit. For example, in Unit 1 at the advanced level, comprehension questions include, “¿Quienes son los padres de Inca y Mama Cocha? ¿Por que Inca y Mama Cocha fueron enviados a la Tierra?” Foundational skills questions include, “Encierra en un círculo las palabras con el sonido fuerte de la r, Encierra en un círculo las palabras con el sonido s. Escoge las palabras que está escrita correctamente.”

“¡Listos!” includes some assessments of foundational literacy skills throughout all the units and in the separate workbook “Cuaderno de práctica anotada.” These are quick assessments to gauge if the student has grasped the concept. For example, in Lesson 2 in the Unit 5 planner, students fill in whether the missing letter is y or ll. Similarly, in the “Cuaderno de práctica anotada,” students have additional opportunities to practice the skills of ll and y. 

¡Listos! also includes the section “Evaluaciones.” However, these assessments do not focus on mastery of foundational skills. They assess students in four areas: “A escuchar” (Listening), “A conversar” (Speaking), “A leer” (Reading), and “A escribir” (Writing). The section “¡A escribir!” requires students to demonstrate writing production in three different formats: “writing a word to match an image prompt (Section A), writing a phrase to complete a sentence that matches an image prompt (Section B), and writing a complete sentence to match an image prompt (Section C).” 

Materials include diagnostic tools and provide opportunities to assess student mastery. ¡Listos! includes an initial assessment administered at the beginning of the year and a post-assessment used at the end of the year. The materials also include unit assessments. The materials note: “Levels A to F offer assessments for both Separate Domains and Integrated Domains. For Separate Domains, the unit assessments consist of a battery of tests that evaluate levels of listening, speaking, reading, and writing. For Integrated Domains, a holistic approach is used to evaluate comprehension and production.” The Separate Domains rate students in the four domains of communication. Listening, reading, and writing are administered in a group setting, while speaking is administered individually. Additionally, the materials include informal assessments used at the end of each lesson, culminating activities at the end of each lesson, and cooperative activities throughout the units. The materials note: “Combined, they offer teachers, administrators, and parents a comprehensive overview of how students are performing at different stages of the Spanish acquisition process, as well as documenting progress over time.”

Antología includes placement tests and unit quizzes by level (beginner, intermediate, advanced). The quizzes consist of three comprehension questions. It also includes sections titled “Asi se dice” that assess phonics; “Asi se escribe” that assess grammar; and “escribir,” where students write four to five sentences about a given topic. 

Materials do not include support for the teacher to work with students to self-monitor, use context to confirm or self-correct understanding, and employ rereading when appropriate.

Most readings in both ¡Listos! and Antología are read by the teacher while students repeat after the teacher. Because the text focuses on students learning Spanish as a second language, there is no emphasis on self-correction or self-monitoring.

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

The materials provide some opportunities for students to read grade-level texts as they make meaning and build foundational skills. The materials include minimal explicit instruction in fluency, including phrasing, intonation, expression, and accuracy. Materials provide minimal opportunities and routines for teachers to regularly monitor and provide corrective feedback on phrasing, intonation, expression, and accuracy.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The materials provide some opportunities for students to practice and develop reading fluency while reading grade-level texts. For example, in “Antología,” Unit 1, “Nivel Intermedio,” in the text “La leyenda de la araña,” the materials guide the teacher to read the text aloud and to “have students read the text together in a choral reading.” The teacher is also guided to help the students with any unfamiliar words and structures. This same guidance is found throughout all the “Nivel Intermedio” and “Nivel Avanzado “ units of Antología. Though students have opportunities to do choral readings together, Antología does not include any other explicit guidance to have students develop oral and silent reading fluency. 

“¡Listos!” includes minimal explicit instruction in fluency, including phrasing, intonation, expression, and accuracy. For example, in Unit 3, Lesson 1, “Pasatiempos en Honduras,” the section titled “Echo Read” guides the teacher to “read the text out loud and point as you read to build student’s fluency and print knowledge.” The students repeat or echo after each segment. Similar guidance is found throughout the various units, with no other explicit instruction on fluency mentioned.

Antología provides minimal opportunities and routines for teachers to monitor fluency regularly. The “Reading Performance Assessment” in the Resources section allows the teacher to evaluate students’ decoding and comprehension skills; however, this opportunity is not explicitly to assess fluency, though it is measured. The teacher’s guide notes that the “...purpose of these Reading Performance Assessments is primarily to evaluate the decoding and comprehension skills of students in a quick, effective, and ongoing fashion.” The guide does provide directions on how to administer the assessment and how to calculate the words-correct-per-minute (WCPM) and accuracy. For example, the materials state, “In order to calculate a student’s accuracy rate and a percentage, the total number of errors must be subtracted from the total words read and then divided by the total number of words read. The result must be multiplied by 100.” The materials provide five comprehension questions at the end of each passage designed to “check the comprehension level of students who have decoded the passage at 90 percent or better.” These questions are divided into five levels, “Beginning, Early Intermediate, Early Advanced, and Advanced,” which align to the five WIDA levels: “Entering, Emerging, Developing, Bridging, and Expanding.” The materials do not provide a suggested time to perform the evaluations and to provide feedback to students. 

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

The materials include some developmentally appropriate diagnostic tools (e.g., formative and summative progress monitoring) and guidance for teachers but do not contain guidance for students and administrators to monitor progress. Materials include diagnostic tools that are developmentally appropriate (e.g., observational, anecdotal, formal). Materials provide guidance to ensure consistent and accurate administration of diagnostic tools. Materials do not include tools for students to track their own progress and growth. Materials do not include diagnostic tools to measure all content and process skills for SLAR, as outlined in the SLAR TEKS.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The materials include a variety of diagnostic tools that are developmentally appropriate, which include formative and summative assessments used to measure students' language development and reading in Spanish. For example, in “¡Listos!,” the “Evaluación de Ubicación” is a pre-test used when students enter the program, and “Evaluación Final” is a post-test used at the end of the school year. The complete battery of assessments includes four distinct tests: “A escuchar (Listening), A conversar (Speaking), A leer (Reading), and A escribir (Writing).” These summative assessments provide information on general Spanish language development as well as specific skills. Additionally, “Antología” contains a resource titled “Reading Performance Assessments.” The materials note: “A Reading Performance Assessment allows an instructor to measure a student’s reading ability as he/she reads a passage from a book. There are eighteen assessments included in this program, the equivalent of three for each grade level, K–5.” The assessment guides the teacher to fill out the observation form to assess accuracy and comprehension while the student reads a passage from the Antología. 

Materials provide guidance to ensure consistent and accurate administration of diagnostic tools. ¡Listos! includes an “Administration” manual that provides teachers with an overview of the assessment and its components and guides the teacher into understanding each of the parts contained in the summative unit tests called the “Evaluación de Ubicación,” and “Evaluacion Final.” The “Evaluación de Ubicación” and “Evaluación Final” are administered and scored in the same way as the unit assessments, allowing for consistent administration across various assessments. There is also a “Manual del maestro” under the section “Evaluaciones” that contains instructions to administer the test by providing step-by-step guidance for administering each of the four domains, “A escuchar,” “A conversar,” “A leer,” and “A escribir.” For example, to administer the domain “A escuchar," the materials guide teachers to “[r]ead the following instructions to the group. Repeat instructions and examples as needed. Assist students as necessary.” The materials also contain a scoring rubric titled “Separate Domains Assessment Rubric” for teachers to evaluate answers provided by the student on the conversational component of the test. 

Neither Antología nor ¡Listos! includes tools for students to track their own progress and growth or includes guidance for administrators to monitor student progress. Materials do not include specific SLAR TEKS in the diagnostic tools used for assessment.

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

The materials include some guidance for teachers, but little for administrators, to analyze and respond to data from diagnostic tools. Materials provide some support to 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. Diagnostic tools yield minimal meaningful information for teachers to use when planning instruction and differentiation. Materials provide few resources and teacher guidance on how to leverage different activities to respond to student data. Materials provide little guidance for administrators to support teachers in analyzing and responding to data.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The materials provide some support to teachers with guidance and direction to analyze and respond to data from diagnostic tools based on individual students’ needs. For example, “¡Listos!” includes a Reading Performance Assessment that allows an instructor to measure a student’s reading ability as they read a passage from a book. There are eighteen assessments included in this program, the equivalent of three for each grade level, K–5. Levels are easily identified by color: Magenta, Yellow, Orange, Red, Green, and Blue. This color-coding allows the teacher to see the student level to provide differentiation. Similarly, “Antología” includes the “Evaluación de Ubicación,” a pretest used for initial assessment and placement. This assessment can also be used as a posttest for year-end evaluation of progress. This assessment is divided into four sections: “Escucha (Listen), Lee (Read), Escribe (Write), and Conversa (Speak).” This test informs teachers if a student is a “beginner, intermediate, or advanced.” Although the materials include these diagnostic tools, they target Spanish language development and not Spanish language arts. 

Both ¡Listos! and Antología include some guidance that supports the teacher in planning, differentiating, and scaffolding instruction based on the student’s demonstrated aptitude level within each literacy skill. Antología includes a “Spanish Reading Performance Assessment” located under the section “Reading Performance Assessment” in the Resources tab. In this reading assessment, students read a passage while the teacher follows along and fills out the form that includes the passage the student is reading. Using this data, teachers form guided reading groups. Materials state, “Depending on students’ instructional level as determined by their assessment, teachers may use stories from the Antologías for the lower grades, or other stories from lower grades, in order to adapt to these students’ needs. Similarly, teachers may elect to use stories from the Antologías in the higher grades and/or from the advanced sections in order to meet the needs of students reading above their grade level.” This component provides a recommendation for placing students in the correct level, beginner, intermediate or advanced. 

¡Listos! includes the assessments “Evaluación de Ubicacion” and “Evaluación Final,” which help the teacher calculate the student’s Spanish level. After the educator has given the test in small groups or one-on-one for the speaking component, teachers go to the section “Interpreting the Results” on the “Resources” tab. In this section, teachers calculate “the score for each assessment (and) use the charts to convert the numerical scores into proficiency levels.” After determining the proficiency level, there are “general descriptions of skills at the beginning, intermediate, and advanced levels for each of the four domains of listening, speaking, reading, and writing.” This assessment, however, is used to measure a student’s Spanish level and is not TEKS-based.

Materials provide some resources and teacher guidance on how to leverage different activities to respond to student data. For example, ¡Listos! includes the sections “Differentiated Instruction” and “Scaffold and Apply” within each lesson to offer additional support for students who may need more practice to grasp the content. In Unit 1, Lesson 2, “La fiesta de bienvenida,” students learn vocabulary for family. The “Differentiated Instruction” section includes “Strategic” and “Challenge” portions. The “Strategic” section guides teachers to “have them [students] listen to the audio of the reading several times and practice the pronunciation of selected words, such as bienvenida, abuela, and abuelo.” These sections offer an opportunity for teachers to use different strategies to respond to the data.

The materials include minimal guidance for administrators to support teachers in planning for instruction to respond to data. For example, the available data reports yield individual student levels but do not offer overall information on classroom performance or grade-level performance as a whole. In addition, the materials do not provide guidance to support administrators in analyzing data to design targeted programmatic and professional development. 

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

The materials include frequent, embedded opportunities for monitoring progress throughout the units. Materials include routine and systematic progress monitoring opportunities that accurately measure and track student progress using a rubric. The frequency of progress monitoring is appropriate for the age and content skill assessed.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The Teacher's Edition of “¡Listos!” includes frequent, embedded opportunities for monitoring progress. The materials include performance tasks, formative assessments, or informal assessments throughout each lesson and unit. The Unit planner for each of the eight units includes differentiated summative performance tasks such as interpretive, interpersonal, and presentational. The “Summative Performance Tasks” support the teacher's ability to assess students’ use of language in context, application of the language structures learned, and provide an opportunity to use multiple intelligences. A “Lesson Planner” is included for each of the unit’s four lessons. The lesson planner includes formative assessments to be administered using online practice, “cuaderno de practica,” close activities, and “hojas de actividad.” The lesson planner also includes summative performance assessments through the use of “album de recuerdos, actividades, and aplica” sections. Formative assessments include but are not limited to the “I Can Statements,” where students and teachers review the objectives for the day. At the end of each day, students complete a close activity by completing individual or group tasks. On day four of each lesson, the materials support the teacher in providing informal assessments in the “Apply” section. 

The “Individual Student Record” sheet is also used to keep track of each child’s performance on the “Separate Domains and Integrated Domains Assessments” throughout the school year. In this form, all possible scoring information may be recorded, such as all unit assessments, closing activities, summative performance assessments, or summative performance tasks. The materials also provide an “Individual Integrated Domains Assessment Rating” sheet, which is an observational tool teachers use to record information about students’ performances. For example, the “Integrated Domains Assessment” allows teachers to rate the student’s ability to comprehend and produce Spanish. Teacher guidance states, “For this process, rely on teacher observation notes and a child’s writing sample (if appropriate) produced by the activity.” “¡Listos!” also includes pre- and post-assessments: “Evaluación de Ubicación” and “Evaluación Final.” The forms only indicate the basic levels of language proficiency established by the ACTFL; however, there is no indication of grade-level SLAR TEKS.

“Antología” includes routine and systematic progress monitoring opportunities that accurately measure and track student progress. The materials include recommendations that students be “assessed three times during the year, beginning at the start of the year; however, a teacher may opt to assess individual students as often as he/she deems necessary.” The materials include pre- and post-assessments for each of the eight units. Each unit includes formative assessments in the form of quizzes for decoding, print awareness, and reading comprehension at the end of each lesson. The materials support the teacher by providing an answer key for each quiz, including instructions and ELAR TEKS addressed for each item. However, there is no indication of grade-level SLAR TEKS provided.

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

The materials include guidance, scaffolds, supports, and extensions that maximize student learning potential. Materials provide recommended targeted instruction and activities for students who have not yet mastered the content in addition to students who have mastered the content. The instructional materials provide enrichment activity opportunities for all levels of learners.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

In “¡Listos!” Unit 2, the materials provide activities for students who have not mastered the content. For example, in the read-aloud, “El hogar de Julio,” the materials note: “If students exhibit difficulty learning the meaning and/or pronunciation of most words, have them listen to the audio of the dialogues several times. Then have them practice the pronunciation of keywords such as comedor, apartamento, dormitorio, baño, and cocina.” This differentiation is labeled as “Strategic,” and is targeted toward students who are slightly below level or who may need to have a concept re-taught to them or periodically reviewed. 

The “Differentiated Instruction” section in Unit 4 of ¡Listos! includes teacher guidance to reinforce instruction for students who exhibit difficulty learning the meaning or the pronunciation of many words. Students listen to the audio of the dialogues several times and practice the pronunciation of keywords: “mascotas, loro, pequeño, perro, grande, pez.” In Unit 5, under “Cuaderno de practica,” the instructions ask teachers to “explain the directions and model the activity/activities. Then have students complete the page as independent classwork or homework.” These activities take place before the lesson’s closing activity, and teachers use them as needed. 

The materials also offer challenge activities for students who have mastered the content. For example, there are more challenging leveled readings for advanced students. In the “¿Qué recuerdas?” section of ¡Listos! Unit 6, there is a “challenge” activity that states: “In pairs, have more advanced students and/or heritage speakers write sentences that compare the weather.” The teacher gives directions for students to compare two locations or two seasons using examples in their book or a bilingual dictionary. When students write their sentences, they write the new words on the board and read their sentences to the class. Stories connected to writing and literacy activities are also challenging. The “advanced” levels are targeted toward students who have mastered the grade-level content. The “Principiante, Intermedio, y Avanzado” readings found in “Antología” offer scaffolds and support that maximizes the learning potential for students at all levels. The introduction to Antología states, “These reading selections allow teachers to accommodate the needs of students of Spanish as well as heritage speakers.”

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

The materials provide a variety of instructional methods that appeal to learning interests and needs. Materials include a variety of instructional approaches to engage students in the mastery of the content. Materials include support of developmentally appropriate multimodal instructional strategies (e.g., visual, auditory, kinesthetic, tactile, etc.). Materials support some flexible grouping (e.g., whole, small, individual). Materials support multiple types of practices (e.g., guided, independent, collaborative) and provide guidance and structures to achieve effective implementation.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

At the beginning of all “Antología” lessons, there is a section called “Preguntas previas a la lectura” that supports student engagement by engaging them in discussion. For example, in Unit 1, the teachers discuss various legends with students. The materials guide teachers to “Explique que cada comunidad ha utilizado leyendas para transmitir historia, tradiciones y moral.” Students answer the questions, “¿Conoces leyendas de tu país o de tu comunidad? ¿Qué lección o moral has aprendido de una leyenda?” and discuss their answers with the class. The stories in Antología are meant to be used for whole-group instruction, and learners either hear the story through an audio recording, or the teacher reads it aloud. 

The materials use instructional approaches such as discussions, questioning, and explicit teaching of language arts to engage students. For example, in Unit 3 of Antología, there is a role-play section where students gather in pairs and discuss their plans for an imaginary week. The materials provide the following teacher guidance: “Aliéntelos a desempeñar el papel de un atleta, un presidente, un maestro, una estrella de cine o algún otro personaje que les atraiga. Anímese a utilizar el diccionario y, si es necesario, a pedir su ayuda. Llame a los voluntarios de París para compartir sus planes para la semana con la clase.” Students engage in these types of collaborative role-playing activities in each subsequent unit.

The materials include support of developmentally appropriate multimodal instructional strategies. For example, in “¡Listos!” Unit 4, students engage in a discovery task: “Investiga un zoológico local y recrea un mapa que indique dónde se aloja cada animal. Incluye una breve descripción del animal.” In this lesson, students participate in kinesthetic learning when asked to act like an animal that best represents them. Additionally, each unit of ¡Listos! includes a “Multiple Intelligences” task that engages students through different modalities and multimodal instructional strategies. For example, in Unit 5, the lesson asks students to go online and view a video of people dancing the mambo. The materials guide the teacher to have “the students watch, read steps in the book, and try to follow the steps.” Students are also guided to write out the steps and hand them out to younger students. The task concludes with students performing the mambo, thus allowing them to engage with a combination of kinesthetic, auditory, and visual instruction.

¡Listos! uses instructional approaches such as building background knowledge, discussion, explicit teaching, hands-on project building, role-play, questioning, and collaboration. The materials include activities designed specifically for instruction; these activities encourage participation through questioning. The teacher “reminds students that Alana and Kai are traveling [and] direct students’ attention to the images.” Students answer: “¿Dónde están los estudiantes? ¿Está la maestra con los estudiantes?” The materials include some activities designed specifically for group or partner work, which encourages participation through collaboration.

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

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

Materials do not encourage strategic use of students’ primary language as a means to develop linguistic, affective, cognitive, and academic skills in the target language (e.g., to enhance vocabulary development).

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The materials include no evidence that supports English Learners in meeting grade-level expectations. “¡Listos!” is designed for learning Spanish, and no section of the book was designed for students to be more proficient in English. The intent of ¡Listos! and “Antología” is to use English as a bridge to learning Spanish; consequently, the materials are focused on the usage and development of the Spanish language and not the English language. 

No evidence was found in either resource that addresses any particular strategy for English Learners (ELs). The materials are for students learning Spanish. Therefore, the materials do not encourage the strategic use of Spanish to develop English. Instead, they encourage some strategic use of English to develop Spanish.

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

The materials include year-long plans with practice and review opportunities that support instruction. Materials include a cohesive, year-long plan to build students’ concept development but do not consider how to vertically align instruction that builds year-to-year. Materials provide some spiraled review and practice of knowledge and skills in all domains throughout the span of the curriculum.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

“Antología” and “¡Listos!” include a year-long plan which builds students’ concept development but does not consider how to vertically align instruction that builds year to year. Antología’s scope and sequence includes reading strategies, objectives, oral and written conventions, vocabulary development, sentence structures, and media literacy. Each unit has a big idea, essential questions, objectives, and activities. Additionally, Antología includes a Scope and Sequence from K-5 organized by grade level. These are separated, limiting the program’s vertical alignment. There are no clear connections between grade levels showing the progression of skills over time. ¡Listos! includes a separate scope and sequence at the beginning of the materials. This resource lists “Themes, Language Functions, Structures, and Culture” as the major headings and corresponding content covered through the year. 

Materials provide some spiraled review and practice throughout the span of the curriculum. ¡Listos! has a second scope and sequence found in the appendix of each level. The “Language Arts Scope and Sequence” is divided into thematic Units 1 through 8, named after a Spanish-speaking country such as “Honduras, Peru, Republica Dominicana, España, Mexico, Argentina, Panama, [or] Colombia.” Each thematic unit includes four lessons divided into four days of instruction for “reading strategies, vocabulary development, oral/written conventions, phonics, and print awareness.” Each standard is labeled with a letter “I, R, or M” indicating “(I) for introduce, (R) for review, and (M) for maintain,” allowing teachers to know which standards are taught for review or for maintenance. For example, under “Reading Strategies,” in Unit 1, “use ideas to make and confirm predictions” is listed as “I” for “Introduce,” and in Unit 2, the same skill is listed as review. Since the materials support the development of Spanish as a second language, each level is unique and separate. The levels were not created to build on each other and therefore lack vertical alignment. The teacher’s guide includes this information by stating “each level is self-contained.” It is important to note that none of the scope and sequence documents include the TEKS, Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills standards. 

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

The materials partially include implementation support for teachers and administrators. Materials are not accompanied by a TEKS-aligned scope and sequence outlining the essential knowledge and skills that are taught in the program, the order in which they are presented, and how knowledge and skills build and connect across grade levels. Materials include support to help teachers implement the materials as intended. Materials do not include resources and guidance to help administrators support teachers in implementing the materials as intended. Materials include a school year’s worth of instruction, including realistic pacing guidance and routines.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The materials include some support to help teachers implement the materials as intended. The planner section in “¡Listos!,” for example, includes “lesson objectives that provide guiding questions, vocabulary for the lesson, and “I Can Statements.” The section titled “Evidence of Learning” provides teachers with formative and summative performance assessments, along with “expansion” suggestions. In the Unit 1 lesson, “Saludos y Despedidas”, for example, the expansion suggestion under the “Summative Performance Assessment” instructs teachers to “ask students to write a brief dialogue one might have with someone at the store. Have them introduce themselves, greet the person, and say goodbye to them.” The students then present their dialogues to the class. The planner also includes a section titled “Meeting the Standards,” which includes communication and culture, connections, comparisons, and communities. At the end of the planner, there is a section titled “Additional Components,” which includes a list of print and online materials that students can use during the lesson. The planner also includes suggestions for additional books and resources to support instruction; however, it does not include a comprehensive materials list for preparation.

In addition, ¡Listos! sections like “Program Components” and “Program Walkthrough” are essential in supporting teachers in the first steps of using the product. Both of these resources explain all of the sections contained in the book and provide an easy synopsis for teachers. This material also has a “Lesson Overview” prior to each unit, which outlines the main components that will be taught throughout the unit.

“Antología” describes the resources that it contains under the “Unit Walkthrough.” This section contains “pre-reading questions and tips [to] foster communication and activate student’s prior knowledge; teaching tips, cultural notes, and reading strategies [to] support instruction; phonics, spelling, and vocabulary development activities, etc.” “Reading Comprehension Skills and Strategies,” meanwhile, offers teachers additional information for each of the 3-5 grade level books. Antología also includes tools to support teachers with navigating resources. This includes a table of contents and color-coded pages to easily identify the content on that page. For example, each of the lessons is a different color (pink, purple, orange, and blue), and the unit overviews are green. 

The materials include a school year’s worth of instruction, including realistic pacing guidance and routines. ¡Listos! Includes a “Five-Day Pacing Guide” for each lesson under the “Resource” section. The pacing guide includes routines such as “warm-up, present, practice, communicate, and close” to guide the teacher through the lesson cycle for classes that meet for longer than 120 minutes. The materials state that “the pacing suggestions are based on 30 minutes per instructional session or class, with five sessions per lesson, for a total of 150 minutes of instruction per lesson.” The materials also include an alternate “Three-Day Pacing Guide” for classes that meet for less than 120 minutes per week. 

The materials are not accompanied by a TEKS-aligned scope and sequence, and the material does outline the essential skills that are taught in the program nor the order in which they are presented. For example, ¡Listos! is accompanied by a “Language Arts Scope and Sequence” in the appendix. The scope and sequence does not directly denote what TEKS are being addressed, nor does it include all TEKS. The materials do not include a list or any type of chart that directly relates lessons in these materials with the SLAR TEKS.

The materials do not include resources and guidance to help administrators support teachers in implementing the materials as intended.

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

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

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

Materials provide guidance for strategic implementation without disrupting the sequence of content that must be taught in a specific order following a developmental progression. 

In the “Resources” tab on “¡Listos!,” teachers find a “Five-Day Pacing Model” and another document titled “Alternate Pacing Suggestions.” Their resources provide guidance for strategic implementation. For example, the “Five-Day Pacing Model” is designed for classes that meet more than 120 minutes per week. “Pacing suggestions are based on 30 minutes per instructional session or class, with five sessions per lesson, for a total of 150 minutes of instruction per lesson…” This pacing guide is for classes that meet regularly during the week. ¡Listos! also contains a “Three-Day Pacing Guide,” designed for classes that meet three times a week and 40 minutes per class. This implementation resource is organized in a table format and tells the teacher exactly which lessons to combine or skip in order to be able to follow the progression of the program. “Antología” can also be taught out of order, due to the nature of the spiraling skills and the varied reading levels available at the beginning, intermediate, and advanced levels.

Similarly, ¡Listos! identifies the progression of content skills in order to ensure that students are supported and that the instruction is able to meet their individual needs. The “Language Arts Scope and Sequence” section includes guidance for when the grade-level skills will be taught, but it does not necessarily review the previously taught material. The “Cuaderno de Práctica,” however, does include additional practice for students to review the material learned throughout the unit. 

Both Antología and ¡Listos! are designed in a way that allows LEAs the ability to incorporate the curriculum into district, campus, and teacher programmatic design and scheduling considerations. If districts follow a specific pacing guide, lessons can be taken out of the pacing guide or out of order to be used according to the district's needs. Since the materials are designed to teach the Spanish language, they contain minimal program design that can be adjusted to align with district curriculums. Even though reading and writing skills are presented in the materials, they do not have the TEKS listed and do not address the skills the depth and rigor needed. 

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

The materials provide some guidance on fostering connections between home and school. Materials provide some support in specifying activities for use at home to support students’ learning and development. Materials provide minimal support in the development of strong relationships between teachers and families.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

“Antología” includes a letter to parents and teachers that describes the program’s structure and the different instructional components. For example, a section of that letter that is called “Habilidades de Competencia Lectora y Estrategias” defines each of the reading skills and then explains how to help students master them. The skills included are point of view, author’s purpose, cause and effect, compare and contrast, drawing conclusions, reading aloud, problem and solution, main idea and details, making inferences, making connections, retelling, sequencing, summary, and visualization. Additionally, the letter explains how parents and teachers can encourage students to use reading skills after reading a story or piece of text.

Materials specify activities for use at home to support students’ learning and development. “¡Listos!” includes a parent letter for each unit. The letter provides a brief description of what students are learning in Spanish; it also provides expansion activities to complete at home. For example, in Unit 1, “Peru,” the parent letter advises parents to “Ask your child what he or she is learning to say in Spanish at school. Encourage your child to act as if he or she is your teacher. Ask: ¿Cómo me saludas? How do you say hello to me? ¿Cómo me presentas? How do you introduce me? ¿Cómo te presento? How do I introduce you?” Home activities that support students’ learning and development include using a world map to “ask your child where Peru is located and ask your child to write one or two sentences about themselves.” 

In Unit 4, students explore the country of Colombia. The letter advises parents that students

“will learn vocabulary associated with pets, zoo animals, and farm animals.” Additionally, the letter includes questions that parents can ask their children, as well as additional suggested activities like asking the children to “imagine he or she could have a conversation with any animal he or she chooses. Then, have your child write down a couple of questions to ask the animal along with the answers your child imagines would follow.” These activities allow parents to support their children in their learning and development.

Though the parent letters in Antología and ¡Listos! are helpful to start building relationships between teachers and family, these are the only resources available. They thus provide minimal support in the development of strong relationships between teachers and families.

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

The materials include a visual design of student and teacher materials that are neither distracting nor chaotic. Materials include appropriate use of white space and design that supports and does not distract student learning. The pictures and graphics are supportive of student learning and engagement without being visually distracting.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

Materials include appropriate use of white space and design that supports and does not distract from student learning. For example, the “¡Listos!” teacher’s guide design allows teachers to easily locate important information for lesson planning and implementation. ¡Listos! supports teachers through the use of color-coded or tabbed pages that quickly identify content on each page of the different units. The unit planner also includes “Unit Overview, Summative Performance Tasks, Literacy Center, Culture Connections, Technology Integration, and Pacing Suggestions.” The components are well designed without being distracting, and everything is well organized and easy to find. The educator sees the same content in the same place throughout the book. ¡Listos! has clear and designated spaces for educators to quickly see and locate important information. 

“Antología’s” teacher book is divided into three levels, “Nivel Principiante, Nivel Intermedio, and Nivel Avanzado.” Each “Nivel” is color-coded and includes eight units for each. The teaching instructions are bolded in pink throughout the pages. The subheadings include, “Vocabulary development, Echo Read, Differentiated Instruction, Practice and Apply, and Scaffold and Apply.”

Additionally, Antología includes pictures and graphics that are supportive of student learning and engagement without being visually distracting. Tables, charts, and visuals included are clear and concise. There are many pictures in each story to help readers comprehend and grasp the meaning of new words. 

Similarly, ¡Listos! includes photographs and illustrations that are supportive of student learning and engagement. These visuals add to the students’ understanding of the skill at hand. The student materials of both Antología and ¡Listos! are designed with appropriate use of white space; the workbooks, texts, worksheets, and digital components are neither distracting nor chaotic. For example, photo images to teach the unit vocabulary online are clear and utilize appropriate colors. The images are real pictures that support the stories and vocabulary that are taught. For example, in Antología, Lesson 5 the “El Carnaval en República Dominicana” supports the learning of vocabulary word “carrozas” by including a real picture of the “Desfile de carrozas.” The stories also include characters who interact in dialogue, and sentences are often accompanied with a visual in order to assist emergent readers with comprehension.