Listos! + Antologias - Grade 4

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 4” includes eight units with three types of texts, including fables, poems, stories, biographies, and informational texts. Text complexity varies, targeting beginning, intermediate, and advanced learners’ needs. As such, the materials provide texts that are at the appropriate readability level for students in fourth grade. 

The materials include texts that expose students to other cultures, beliefs, biographies, and customs; there is also a variety of children’s literature. For example, the informational text “La artesania Nicaraguense by Patricia Acosta” includes a cross-discipline connection with social studies. The story “De viaje en Nicaragua” has a cross-discipline connection with science.

In Unit 2 of Antología, three different stories target students with different Spanish skill sets. For example, La carta del abuelo is a story for Spanish beginners. While learning about the country of Paraguay, students acquire vocabulary and focus on comprehension. The well-crafted realistic fiction stories Jorge se mudó a la ciudad (intermediate) and Atyraá, un ejemplo de ciudad (advanced) allow students to similarly engage at the reading level appropriate for their skills. 

“¡Listos!” provides some variety of genres, but stories lack the complexity required by the TEKS. Texts are limited to one to two paragraphs, and they are not rich enough in content to apply most TEKS or for students to make inferences, understand events, or apply other higher-order-thinking skills appropriate for fourth 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 4. 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 fourth-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. This equivalency may assist teachers in selecting appropriately leveled texts to use with students depending on their level of Spanish language development. However, this resource does not vary from grade level to grade level. 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 texts with grade-level-appropriate qualitative features; texts increase in length and complexity as the students advance in proficiency level from beginner to advanced. Texts in both Antología and ¡Listos! are selected based on the country featured in each specific unit. For example, in Unit 1 of Antología, at the beginning level, the story “Lo que más le gusta a Martita” includes beginning-level vocabulary words such as harina and campanas. At the advanced level, students read“¡De viaje a Nicaragua!” and vocabulary includes arqueológico, turismo, and ecología. Antología Unit 5, beginning level, the story “Platanitos maduros fritos” includes beginning-level vocabulary such as platanal, fritos, and roncaban. At the advanced level, the story is “Huertos en la ciudad,” and vocabulary words include consumen, huertas, and toneladas. As evidenced, words grow in syllable length and complexity, from common everyday language 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 6, Lesson 1, “Las estaciones y el tiempo,” the main text is a short piece of dialogue. This level of text complexity is not appropriate for grade 4, and the text does not include grade-level vocabulary. Similarly, in Unit 7, Lesson 2, “Los aparatos electronicos,” the main text is also a short piece of dialogue. 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 fourth-grade TEKS, but they lack procedural 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. The materials include few argumentative and biographical texts.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

“Antología” includes 11 stories, one fable, one fable/play, eight informational texts, and two biographies in total for all three levels: beginner, intermediate, and advanced. Literary texts such as folktales, poems, and legends for fourth grade are included in Antología 4. There are some fictional and informational stories but no procedural texts. 

Unit 1 of Antología includes a fictional text titled Lo que mas le gusta a Martita by Georgina Lazaro and “iDe viaje a Nicaragua!” which is an argumentative text persuading the reader to visit Nicaragua. The text, however, is only labeled as “informational” in the materials.

Unit 4 of Antología, “Los animales descubren Costa Rica,” includes the folktale El mono y el jaguar by Pedro Urbina in the beginning level section. At the intermediate level of the unit, “Vamos a aprender descubre México,” the materials include the drama La fábula del buen hombre y su hijo by Mireya Cueto. 

Antología’s Unit 6 includes “El Valle de la Luna,” an informational text that describes a valley in Chile. 

In Antología Unit 7 (“Cómo funciona? Descubre Venezuela”), there is the advanced level biography Gustavo Dudamel: el músico que inspira a los niños by Gustavo Dudamel. This unit also includes the biography Romulo Gallegos by Patricia Acosta. Students use it to predict, look for the main idea and details, and make cross-discipline connections.

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 describimos nuestras comunidades y hogares? ¿Cómo formamos comunidades que nos ayuden en nuestra vida?” 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. 

Some well-crafted questions in ¡Listos! lead to student discussions about important big ideas, themes, and details. For example, in Unit 3, students discuss the big idea of the unit: “¿Cómo influye la educación en nuestra vida?” In Unit 3, Lesson 1, guiding questions generate additional discussion (e.g., “¿Cuáles son algunas de las actividades y pasatiempos que los estudiantes disfrutan?”) This lesson also includes questions that promote students making connections to the world around them (e.g., “¿Qué deportes te gustan? ¿Cómo comparan los deportes populares de tu comunidad con los de Honduras?”).

The end of ¡Listos! Unit 3 connects to Spanish culture and social studies, but few questions target complex elements of texts or ask students to discuss important ideas and themes. In “Investiga la cultura,” students read about Frida Kahlo’s life. Students can answer the questions posed within the text without drawing upon higher-order-thinking skills. For example, in the “Conversa y compara” section, questions include “¿A dónde van Amy y John el lunes? ¿Con quién? ¿Sobre qué otra artista aprenden en la exposición? ¿Cuándo comienza Frida Kahlo a pintar? Comparar. Escoge un pintor o una artista y compara su vida y arte con la pintura Kahlo.” These questions scaffold students’ understanding and culminate in students comparing Kahlo to another artist of their choice.

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 Antología units, the “Antes de leer” section contains questions to activate students’ prior knowledge. In Unit 4, these include “¿Cuantos amigos y amigas tienes? ¿Cómo es tu mejor amigo o amiga? ¿Por qué es tu mejor amigo o amiga?” In ¡Listos! Unit 6, “Los Medios de transporte,” the teacher “distributes magazines and asks students to point out and name the means of transportation they see.” Students write sentences such as “Ellos viajan en tren.” 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.

The materials offer some teacher support in guiding students to create inferences. 

Under the section “Critical Thinking Skills” in ¡Listos! Unit 6, the class reads a short play about the character’s favorite seasons. Then, teachers give students sentences to read, and students infer which character would say each sentence based on the play. To offer some support, the instructions guide the teacher to “have students name a character who might enjoy the scenario.” For example, one sentence is “Hace frío.” Students read it and respond by pointing out who, based on text evidence, would be most likely to say it.

Questions and tasks integrate multiple TEKS. For example, in ¡Listos! Unit 7, “Otras Profesiones,” under “Social Studies Connection,” teachers “display the photo cards and images of the science and art professionals presented into the unit up to now.” The teacher draws a two-column chart on the board and labels the columns Profesiones científicas and Profesiones artísticas. Students “organize the professionals into the proper categories using masculine and feminine forms.” 

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 describes el vecindario y los lugares de la casa? ¿Qué palabras usamos en español para la ropa, los colores y el dinero? ¿Cómo describes las labores de la casa?” With these questions, students discuss the unit topic of communities; they do not analyze the literary/textual elements of texts. 

“Antología” includes questions that can be answered by referring directly back to the text. For example, at the beginning level in Unit 3, under “Comprendo lo que leí,” questions include “¿A donde fue Juan? ¿Quién es Chichen Itza?” At the intermediate level in Unit 4, under Comprendo lo que lei, students answer “¿Que trato hicieron los animales del bosque con don León? ¿Qué le pasaba al que perdía la partida de naipes?” 

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, “Los deportes en cuba,” 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.

Antología exposes students to some literary analysis that targets the author’s purpose, text-to-text connections, and text structures. For example, in Unit 6, “El valle de la luna,” students study the author’s purpose by answering questions such as “¿Cuál es el propósito de la autora al escribir este texto? ¿Qué describe la autora en este texto? En ‘El Valle de la luna,’ la autora: ¿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 y compara” section of this same text contains the questions “¿Por qué crees que ‘el Valle de Luna’ se le ha dado ese nombre? ¿Hay desiertos en tu país? ¿Cómo se comparan con ‘el Valle de la Luna?’” 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). 

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, in ¡Listos! Unit 3 Lesson 1, is “Las actividades en la escuela.” The vocabulary is presented in sub-categories such as “Saludo a la bandera: bandera, escuela, himno nacional, etc.; Los útiles escolares: borrador, papel, cuadernos, etc.; Las clases de Patricia: arte, ciencias, historia, etc.” The vocabulary is previewed on Day 1 as teachers point to pictures in the materials and “tell students that these are called calcetines.” Students name other clothing articles the teacher points out in the pictures. Day 2, new vocabulary such as “patio, bandera, escuela” is introduced as students look at Patricia’s school. The teacher “asks students to point out and say the name in Spanish of any other items they know.” This particular lesson on Day 3 does not include a vocabulary reinforcement activity. A similar 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. For example, Unit 5, Lesson 1 “Cuba: Los especiales del Dia,” includes the vocabulary “arroz, batido, frijoles, postres, etc.” The “Tarjetas fotográficas” section under “Differentiated Instruction” guides teachers to “display the cards depicting foods mentioned.” Teachers “call out the name of each of the foods one by one,” and students “identify the corresponding card.” However, the vocabulary these scaffolds pertain to is 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 provide 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 of the lessons in each 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 2 of ¡Listos!, teachers “Explain to students that in the next few lessons, they will prepare stories and make a presentation to the class about what they have learned.” However, the materials provide limited guidance for teaching all the elements of the writing process within informational text. In Unit 4, the “Culminating Activities ¡A escribir! Writing Process: Step 3” states, “Discuss the meaning of the Revisa stage and have students take out their writings and drawings from the previous lesson. Have them correct or rewrite as necessary. Encourage them to add descriptive words.” Teacher guidance is limited, and the materials do not provide information regarding what students should correct in their writing. 

In ¡Listos! Unit 3, “Investiga la cultura” guides the teacher to “Brainstorm with students a list of possible artists to research for comparison with Frida Kahlo. Artists could be from Spanish-speaking countries or the United States. Have them compare their life, art, and the influences in their work.” Although this example provides an opportunity for students to write an informational text, it does not include any further teacher guidance for supporting students through the process of doing so. 

In ¡Listos! Unit 7, the prompt is “Mi visita a Venezuela. Vas a escribir sobre tu viaje a Venezuela.” Students brainstorm ideas answering questions, such as “¿Con quién vas a viajar? ¿Qué cosas vas a ver? ¿A qué personas vas a conocer? Escribe palabras y frases para cada idea.” Although this provides students with an opportunity to write literary texts, the purpose and audience are not varied, and the support for teachers is minimal. The section titled “Culminating Activities” offers some guidance for the teacher, but it is not very specific. The directions instruct teachers to “Ask students to gather all their work from previous lessons. Help students with any vocabulary they need to finalize their writing. Have them present their final work to the class,” but no additional guidance is provided for the teacher or students on how to further expand on their ideas or present the information.

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 “ask students to imagine they are artists and they belong to an art period and discuss the colors and characteristics,” and then to 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 Unit 2 of “¡Listos!,” after reading the story “La Carta del Abuelo,” the section “¡A escribir!” asks students: “¿Cómo buscas a una persona en tu vecindario? Escribe un párrafo.” This writing prompt does not require students to demonstrate what they have learned, nor does it require them to utilize evidence from the text. Similarly, under the “Analiza” section of this lesson, the questions reads, “¿Por qué los niños no saludan a las personas que están en el parque?” In this case, the students are asked their opinion versus being asked to connect their writing with text evidence to support a claim. 

Few of the writing prompts provide opportunities for students to demonstrate in writing what they have learned through reading and listening to texts. In Unit 7, a writing prompt asks students, “Imagina que eres un autor y escribes una novela. ¿De qué trata tu novela? ¿Quiénes son tus personajes? ¿Dónde se desarrolla? Escribe un párrafo.” Students are not asked any details regarding the information they just read, and they do not need to provide evidence for any of their answers. Because “Antología’s” writing prompts are opinion-based rather than evidence-based, students are not provided the opportunity to synthesize or analyze evidence from the text to support their claims in the material that they have read. The materials offer only limited opportunities for students to demonstrate in writing what they have learned. For example, in Unit 8, Lesson 1, “La Noche de San Juan” asks students to write about “Mi visita a España.” The materials guide students to “piensa en qué lugares visitaste y tus actividades ahí. Escribe palabras o frases para cada idea,” but, again, this does not require students to use knowledge gained from text to support a claim. 

¡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 “Have students create a dictionary by writing words they have learned and their definition on the activity sheet.” For step 2 (draft), students “take out their plan about their trip to Paraguay from the previous lesson [and] add newly learned word to their dictionaries.” For step 3 (revise), students “take out their work from a previous lesson and add newly learned words to their dictionaries.” The teacher asks students to “correct or rewrite as necessary.” For step 4 (present), students “add newly learned words to their writing [and] present their final work to the class.” 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.

In “Antología,” students are not encouraged to follow the steps listed in the indicator (planning, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing) in order to complete their writing tasks. The materials do not provide opportunities for students to write in a variety of genres, and most writing prompts only state “write about.” For example, in Unit 1, “A escribir” section, the materials guide the teacher to “discuss with students the adventure activities mentioned in the reading. Have them pick their favorite and write a paragraph.” No further guidance is provided.

In Antología, there are minimal opportunities to practice grammar, and there are even fewer opportunities for punctuation. Writing, grammar, and word study are either in the section “Asi se dice” or “Asi se escribe,” with only about 4-6 practice exercises for each concept. For example, in Unit 2, students are asked to “Identifica los adjetivos en estas oraciones. Completa las oraciones con un adjetivo. Identifica el tiempo de los verbos subrayados en estas oraciones.” The “Así se dice” and “Así se escribe” approaches are minimal.

Antología does not have a systematic approach to grammar, punctuation, and usage. This type of instruction is not found in or out of context. In addition, there is not a clear year-long plan for studying grammar and conventions. The materials do not provide editing practice in students’ own writing as the year continues.

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 7, students use text clues to identify the main idea and detail in the informational story “Rómulo Gallegos.” Students answer questions: “¿Dónde nació Rómulo Gallegos? ¿Por qué Rómulo Gallegos tuvo que irse de Venezuela? ¿Qué describe Rómulo Gallegos en su obra Doña Barbara?” 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 texts being studied in class, allowing students to demonstrate comprehension. For example, in Unit 2, Lesson 1, “El apartamento de Aníbal” includes some dialogue about a visit to a friend’s apartment. The teacher reads the first line of the dialogue, and students read it again by themselves. The teacher asks the following questions to identify key details: “¿De quién es el apartamento? ¿Cuántos dormitorios tiene?” “¿Donde esta el baño? ¿Qué está enfrente de la cocina? ¿Dónde está el comedor?” Students engage in speaking and listening to answer.

The oral tasks that are present in Antología are vague and do not provide readers with opportunities to create well-defended claims. For example, in Unit 8, students answer the following questions regarding “Nuestras celebraciones”: “¿Qué son los tablaos? ¿Por qué el flamenco suena como un llanto o un lamento?” While students can return to the text to find the answers to these questions, the questions do not allow them the opportunity to develop well-supported claims based on text evidence. The materials also do not specify whether the students answer these questions in written or oral form. Additionally, ¡Listos! includes oral tasks that help students develop Spanish language skills but not text-supported claims to demonstrate the knowledge gained through analysis and synthesis of texts. For example, in Unit 8, after reading the text “Un anuncio informativo,” oral tasks include students working in pairs to discuss an Internet ad and writing their findings. This oral task helps students practice the vocabulary learned (e.g., obra de arte, taller de arte), but students are not thinking critically about the text nor 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 social skills for fourth-grade students to learn and develop. For example, in “¡Listos!” Unit 1, Lesson 1 is titled “Los Saludos.” During the first part of this lesson, students learn how to properly greet and introduce themselves. The teacher writes a guiding question on the board: “¿Cómo saludamos y nos presentamos a otras personas?” Volunteers answer the question. With their peers, students take turns to practice saying “Yo soy el señor/la señora/la señorita” and “¿Cómo te llamas?” 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 3, Lesson 3, “¿A dónde vamos?” students have the opportunity to roleplay. Under the “Challenge/Roleplay” section, the materials note: “In groups of three, have students role-play the dialogue substituting places in their own community.” Students act out conversational dialogues; however, the materials do not provide grade-level protocols for discussion for students to express their own thinking, and there is no further guidance. 

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 (“Una carta para John”), the section “¡A escribir! Presenta stage” guides students: “Presenta tu trabajo sobre tu viaje a la clase. 1. Revisa una vez más tu texto. Añade nueva información sobre monumentos históricos. 2. Lee en voz alta.” The materials provide no further guidance on how to organize the presentations nor on how to present them.

In “Antología,” “Nivel Principiante,” Unit 8, “Descubre España,” “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 activity allows for some modeling of speaking in a clear and concise manner, the intent is to develop fluency and 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 throughout each unit. For example, at the end of Unit 2, students learn about Paraguay. In the “Investiga and compare” section, the materials guide the students in “researching traditional dances and festivals in Paraguay, the different jerseys from different Paraguayan soccer teams, etc.” The students select and make an outfit. Research opportunities are minimal and do not offer guidance for students to complete their research or write about what they learned.

Materials provide minimal guidance on an appropriate mode of delivery, whether written, oral, or multimodal, to present results. In ¡Listos! Unit 4, after learning about Costa Rica, the “Culminating Activity” explains that students are now at the “Presenta” stage. Students add new vocabulary words they have learned to their writing from an earlier lesson. They then “present their final work to the class and, if time allows, [teachers] encourage students to draw pictures or gather photos related to their presentations, and display them while presenting.” There is no additional guidance on how to select the pictures or how to present the information to their classmates.

The materials do not support the identification and summary of high-quality primary and secondary resources. For example, in “Antología” Unit 7, at the advanced level, the materials state: “Have [the students] research a musician and write a paragraph about them, including pictures. Then have students talk about their musicians for the rest of the class.” Even though the materials require the students to look at sources, there is no guidance for teachers to support students in choosing the most high-quality and relevant sources. There are also no examples of high-quality primary or 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 to build and apply knowledge and skills in reading, writing, speaking, listening, thinking, and language. Materials contain some coherently sequenced, 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:

“Antología” includes questions that provide some opportunities for students to apply knowledge in reading, writing, speaking, and listening. For example, at the “Intermediate Level,” in Unit 2, for the text “Jorge se mudó a la ciudad,” under the “Preview and Predict” section, students discuss “what they think ‘Jorge se mudó a la ciudad’ is about.” The teacher writes student answers on the board, and the class revisits their answers after reading the text. “Antes de leer” includes the questions “¿Qué pasa cuando uno se muda de barrio, ciudad o pueblo a otro? ¿Qué hay que preparar?” 

In ¡Listos!, Unit 5, Lesson 2 provides some opportunities for vocabulary tasks; however, the tasks presented lack depth. For example, the lesson includes the guiding question: “What foods should you eat to be healthy?” Under the “Language Functions” section, students “(1) learn the names of more Cuban foods. (2) discuss nutrition and the food groups.” The vocabulary list provided for this lesson includes words such as cabeza, estomago, menú, delicioso, carne, and dulce. As noted, the guiding question and tasks are designed for students to learn more about a particular culture and their customs; they do not develop increased independence via vocabulary or address syntax and fluency.

The materials do not use a coherent sequence of text-focused tasks. Most tasks involve learning about different cultures and their customs. Questions and tasks are not text-dependent, nor do they require students to analyze the integration of knowledge and ideas in the texts. “Antología” focuses on learning Spanish as a second language and provides students the opportunity to practice what they have learned in class. Tasks and questions center around the usage and practice of conversational Spanish vocabulary; they do not provide opportunities for increased independence. For example, comprehension questions include “¿Puedes recordar?” or “¿Cuando paso eso?” The material 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 1, “Nivel Intermedio,” students use prediction in the “Reading Strategies Preview and Predict” section. Materials instruct: “Read the title and the author’s name and ask students to look at the photos. Discuss what they think and write their answers on the board to confirm or correct their predictions after the reading.” Students integrate reading and speaking through this initial activity at the beginning of each reading passage. Similarly, in Unit 6, “Nivel Intermedio,” under “Reading Strategies Preview and Predict,” students discuss “what they think La historia de Manu 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.” 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 some opportunities for students to practice. For example, in ¡Listos!, Unit 1, Lesson 2, the materials guide the teacher to “Reinforce the vowel sounds in both languages. Write the word mama on the board, pronounce it and have students repeat it after you.” The teacher follows by underlining the syllable, emphasizing the vowel sounds, and guiding students to repeat. The student activity book states “Escucha y repite las vocales...1. a, e, i, o, u. ” The students “repeat it after you several times.” There are additional opportunities for students to practice the vowels in the “Apply and Expand” sections.

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 2, students learn about “the sound of s/z/ce/ci,” while in Unit 3, the students learn about “ the sounds of c/s, j/g, and y/ll.” Antología also includes a section called “Asi se dice” and “Asi se escribe” that includes phonics practice. For example, in Unit 5, the lesson reviews “palabras llanas o graves.” The students identify which words require an orthographic accent. 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 important spelling TEKS, like diphthongs, hiatus, and prefixes but is missing important ones as well like sobreesdrújulas, diacritical accents, suffixes, homographs, or homophones. ¡Listos! includes hard and soft r, segmenting syllables, diphthongs, g and j, ll and v, i and y, etc. In order to build spelling knowledge in accordance with the TEKS, the teacher has to find where each of those skills is addressed through both materials.

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. For example, in Unit 6, lesson 2, the materials offer students assistance with the diphthongs. The materials guide the teacher to “Assist students who have been identified as having a learning disability by having them circle the diphthongs ue, au, isu, isa, io, in each word. Then have them repeat the words after you.” These sections provide 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, under the “Assessment Program Quizzes” in the “Resource” section, comprehension questions include, “Según la lectura, ¿cual es un buen lugar para ver volcanes? ¿Qué son las huellas de Acahualinca? ¿Que actividad es muy popular en el Río San Juan?” Foundational skills questions include, “Encierra en un círculo los sustantivos, Encierra en un círculo las palabras con el sonido fuerte de la r, 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, when learning about the sounds of c, s, and z in Lesson 2 of Unit 4, students are given multiple words in which they must add the correct letter. Words include “sandalia, zapato, cerdo, seta, zorro and sapo.” Similarly, in the “Cuaderno de práctica anotada,” students add the letter and then write a sentence with the word “cerdo” and another one with the word “zapato.” 

¡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 Principiante,” in the text “Lo que as le gusta a Martita,” the materials guide the teacher to have the students listen to the story as they read using the online audio. It also states, “You may want to use reading strategies such as echo reading.” The teacher is also guided to “introduce highlighted vocabulary, adding any additional terms you predict will be difficult for your student in the story.” Similar guidance is found throughout all the “Nivel Intermedio” and “Nivel Avanzado” units of Antología. Though students have opportunities to do echo and 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 5, Lesson 1, “A poner la mesa!” the section titled “Echo Read” guides the teacher to “read the first line and have students read the sentence aloud by themselves, matching your intonation.” The students practice reading the dialogue aloud with a partner. 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 or who need additional challenge. In Unit 2, Lesson 4, “¿Dónde están?” students read a short text about a family going to the market. The “Differentiated Instruction” section includes “Strategic” and “Challenge” portions. The “Strategic” subsection guides teachers to “help students who experience difficulty understanding the story by presenting only half of it at a time. Ask comprehension questions about the first half.” 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:

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.” Additionally, before each reading, the materials provide pre-reading tips as a scaffold to prepare the students for what they are about to learn. For example, in “Nivel Principiante,” the pre-reading tip in “Lo que más le gusta a Martita” suggests, “tell students they are about to read a work of fiction created in the author’s imagination.” This helps students to understand that they are about to read a fictional text.

The materials provide enrichment activities for students at different levels. In “Activate Prior Knowledge,” students preview material through background and context-building activities. For example, the Unit 1 Teacher Edition of “¡Listos!” explains: “to put vocabulary in context, the teacher displays cards with pictures of popular foods. Students repeat each word after the teacher and share if they are familiar with those types of food.” The teacher uses gestures to introduce expressions such as “tengo hambre.” The variety of activities in this section provide opportunities for students to develop an array of necessary skills.

Additionally, the Teacher Edition lists an enrichment activity located in the “Cuaderno de Practica,” under the Resource tab. The activity directs the teacher to “Explain the directions and model the activity/activities. Then have the students complete the page as independent classwork or homework.” The first part asks students to put five sentences in the correct order. The second part asks them to write five sentences using the correct punctuation. The section “Differentiated Instruction” in Unit 2 of the Teacher’s Edition states: “encourage more advanced students and/or heritage speakers to create additional interrogative and exclamatory sentences using vocabulary they have learned in this lesson. Have them write the new sentences in their notebooks, and then read them to the class.”

The materials include recommended targeted instruction for students who have not yet mastered the content. In ¡Listos! Unit 2 of the Teacher’s Edition, “Differentiated Instruction” includes the following direction: “Assist students who have difficulty understanding the concepts and/or who have been identified as having a learning disability by focusing on one concept at a time.” Teachers focus on words that sound similar in English and in Spanish. For example, teachers say the word blouse and tell the student to say the word “English.” Teachers say the word blusa, and students say the word “Español.” 

During a lesson focused on the text “Una Visita al Volcan,” there is a “Multiple Intelligences” verbal and linguistic activity included as an extension. The materials state: “Ask students to research, on the Internet or in Spanish books, the topic arbol genealogico or arbol familiar. Ask them to fill in a family tree with their immediate family. Challenge students to add other family members, for example, tío, tía, primo, prima, bisabuelo, bisabuela.” Students present their family tree to the class. This extension requires students to research what a word means and then create a project based on the content that they master. 

In the ¡Listos! Unit 4 lesson planner, the summative performance tasks include “presentational” and “expansion” tasks. The materials note: “Have students imagine that their illustrated poster/bulletin board display pets in Costa Rica will be used to help find homes for the pets. After they have written descriptions in Spanish of each pet, [...] students from other classes can come in and choose a pet to ‘adopt!’” This extension activity allows learners to make connections with their learning. 

Additionally, the ¡Listos! Unit 7 lesson planner includes “interpersonal” and “aplica” performance tasks. The materials instruct teachers to “Have pairs of students imagine that they are reporters interviewing workers about a new electronic device they will be making for professionals. Ask about that person’s job, where he/she will work, what device he/she will make, and which professionals will use that technology and where.” This extension activity allows students to practice the content that they learn about jobs. Additional differentiation in this unit creates opportunities for “Advanced and heritage speakers [to] create additional challenges for three characters in a video game,” as “students illustrate and write the instructions for each of the characters.” Students then share their work with the class. 

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

The materials provide a variety of instructional methods that appeal to a variety of learning interests and needs. Materials include a variety of instructional approaches to engage students in mastery of 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:

The materials include a selection of instructional approaches. In Unit 2 of “¡Listos!,” explicit teaching is done when teaching reading skills. The students’ objective here is to identify key information. The materials note: “Are the following statements true or false? Have students answer using Spanish.” Students work independently to identify true or false statements then proceed to answer multiple-choice questions based on what they read. In “Antología,” there is explicit teaching that involves reading comprehension skills. For example, in Unit 2, students further their reading comprehension skills by reading for a story’s main idea and details. Teacher guidance states: “Ayude a los estudiantes a identificar la idea principal de la historia preguntando: ¿De qué trata esta historia? ¿Cuál es el mensaje central de esta historia? ¿Puedes contarme los detalles clave de la historia?”

In Unit 6, the teacher does an “Echo Read” of the new vocabulary. In this instructional strategy, teachers ``leen el diálogo en voz alta y los estudiantes lo siguen.” Teachers read the text again, and students follow with choral reading. “Role-play,” meanwhile, offers a collaborative approach to review. The teacher divides the class into four groups, and each group is assigned a season without others knowing which one it is. Students “escriben una parodia en la que hablan sobre las razones por las que les gusta esa temporada.” Students present their skit while the other students guess the season. This role-play activity also has a collaborative and a kinesthetic approach. 

The materials include activities that provide opportunities for students to engage in indirect learning through the process of discovery. For example, the section “Investiga la cultura,” provides opportunities for students to learn about new countries and to practice new vocabulary. At the end of Unit 6 the teacher assigns students a city in Chile and they “investigan su ubicación y clima durante cada una de las estaciones.” The students engage in collaborative partnerships to complete their investigations.

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 supports 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 2, Lesson 1 section, “El Lugar Donde Vivimos,” the expansion suggestion under “Summative Performance Assessment” tells teachers: “after students have completed their maps of Paraguay and answered the questions, ask them to write a small paragraph on the back of their paper describing their home.” 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, sections like “Program Components” and “Program Walkthrough” in ¡Listos! 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 “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 2, “Paraguay,” 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 describes el vecindario y los lugares de la casa? How do you

describe the neighborhood and the rooms in a house? ¿Qué color te gusta más para tu ropa? What color do you like best for your clothes?” Home activities that support students’ learning and development include using a world map to “ask your child where Paraguay is located and ask your child to write a paragraph describing his or her job and what a day in the life is like at his or her job.”

In Unit 5, students explore the country of Cuba. The letter advises parents that students “will learn vocabulary associated with Cuban food, the food pyramid, and the

five senses. In addition, your child will learn to use Spanish descriptive words when talking about staying healthy.” Additionally, the letter includes questions that parents can ask their children, as well as additional suggested activities that include asking their child to “write a paragraph describing Cuban food and why everyone would like it. Remind your child that he or she is trying to sell Cuban food to someone who has never tried it before.” 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 1, the “La Artesania Nicaraguense” supports the learning of the vocabulary word “hamacas” by including a real picture of a colorful hamaca. 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.