myView Literacy Texas Grade 1

Evaluation for 2.1
Materials include systematic, year-long plans for phonics instruction.

The materials meet the criteria for this indicator. Materials include systematic, year-long plans for phonics instruction.

Materials include a cohesive, TEKS-aligned scope and sequence that outlines the essential knowledge and skills that are taught throughout the year. Materials clearly demonstrate vertical alignment that shows the progression of skill development from year to year. Lessons follow a developmentally appropriate, systematic progression from simple to more complex concepts (e.g., CVC words before CCCVCC words and single-syllable words before multisyllabic words).

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

Materials include a cohesive, TEKS aligned scope and sequence that outlines the essential knowledge and skills that are taught throughout the year.

• The materials include a cohesive scope and sequence that outlines how phonics skills are taught throughout the units and/or year. For example, the grade 1 program materials include a yearlong scope and sequence in the “Getting Started” section of the table of contents in each of the five grade 1 units.
• The materials provide a document on the digital platform called “English Foundational Skills and Word Study Scope and Sequence.” This document clearly outlines the phonological awareness skills, phonics skills, and high-frequency words taught within each of the five units in grade 1. The materials begin by reviewing the letter-sound correspondences for all consonants and short vowels in Unit 1. Unit 3 introduces consonant trigraphs; contractions; the VCe pattern with long o, long u, and long e; the inflectional ending -ed; the vowel sounds of y; syllable pattern VCCV; consonant patterns ng and nk; open syllables; compound words; and the r-controlled vowels or and ore. Unit 5 reviews consonant blends and trigraphs; covers additional spellings of long o (oa, ow, oe); long i spelled igh; suffixes -er and -or; vowel teams ue, ew, ui; prefixes re-and un-; suffixes -ly and -ful; open and closed syllables; vowel teams oo and ou; and final stable syllable le.

• The materials provide a document called “TEKS K-8 Vertical Alignment” that lists all of the TEKS for K–5 and notes the level of implementation in each grade level using the symbols I (“Introduced”), • (“Continued”), M (“Mastery”), and (“Maintained”). For example, “Distinguish between long and short vowel sounds in one-syllable words” is introduced in grade 1, mastered in grade 2, and maintained in grade 3 and beyond. “Decode multisyllabic words with closed syllables, open syllables, VCe syllables, vowel teams” is introduced and mastered in grade 1 and maintained in grade 2 and beyond. “Spell words with initial and final consonant blends, digraphs, and trigraphs” is introduced and mastered in grade 1 and maintained in grade 2 and beyond.

• Grade 1 continues to work on phonological and phonemic awareness as well as review letter-sound correspondences and decoding and encoding words with the CVC pattern in Unit 1, before reviewing initial and final consonant blends and then teaching alternating letter-sound correspondences (e.g., /s/ and /z/ spelled s; /s/ spelled c; /j/ spelled g), inflectional endings, and consonant digraphs in Units 2 and 3.
• Syllable pattern CVCe (Unit 2) is taught before other syllable patterns such as VCCV (Unit 3) and open and closed syllables (Unit 5).
• The materials teach decoding and encoding single-syllable words first (Unit 1) before introducing two inflectional endings (-s and -ing) in Unit 2, adding additional endings to CVC words such as other inflectional endings, plural endings, prefixes, suffixes, and final stable syllable -le in Units 3–5.

Materials clearly demonstrate vertical alignment and that shows the progression of skill development from year to year. Lessons follow a developmentally appropriate, systematic progression from simple to more complex concepts (e.g., CVC words before CCCVCC words and single syllable words before multisyllabic words).

• The materials provide a document called “TEKS K-8 Vertical Alignment” that lists all of the TEKS for K–5 and notes the level of implementation in each grade level using the symbols I (“Introduced”), • (“Continued”), M (“Mastery”), and (“Maintained”). For example, “Distinguish between long and short vowel sounds in one-syllable words” is introduced in grade 1, mastered in grade 2, and maintained in grade 3 and beyond. “Decode multisyllabic words with closed syllables, open syllables, VCe syllables, vowel teams” is introduced and mastered in grade 1 and maintained in grade 2 and beyond. “Spell words with initial and final consonant blends, digraphs, and trigraphs” is introduced and mastered in grade 1 and maintained in grade 2 and beyond.

Lessons follow a developmentally appropriate, systematic progression from simple to more complex concepts (e.g., CVC words before CCCVCC words and single syllable words before multisyllabic words).

• Grade 1 continues to work on phonological and phonemic awareness as well as review letter-sound correspondences and decoding and encoding words with the CVC pattern in Unit 1, before reviewing initial and final consonant blends and then teaching alternating letter-sound correspondences (e.g., /s/ and /z/ spelled s; /s/ spelled c; /j/ spelled g), inflectional endings, and consonant digraphs in Units 2 and 3.
• Syllable pattern CVCe (Unit 2) is taught before other syllable patterns such as VCCV (Unit 3) and open and closed syllables (Unit 5).
• The materials teach decoding and encoding single-syllable words first (Unit 1) before introducing two inflectional endings (-s and -ing) in Unit 2, adding additional endings to CVC words such as other inflectional endings, plural endings, prefixes, suffixes, and final stable syllable -le in Units 3–5.

Evaluation for 2.2
Materials provide direct (explicit) and systematic instruction in developing grade-level phonics skills within and across lessons.

The materials meet the criteria for this indicator. Materials provide some direct (explicit) and systematic instruction in developing grade-level phonics skills within and across lessons.

Lessons include detailed guidance for each component of the gradual release of responsibility model. Materials contain a teacher edition with some annotations and suggestions on how to present the content in the student materials.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

Lessons include detailed guidance for each component of the gradual release of responsibility model.

• Each phonics lesson begins with a minilesson that contains a “Focus” segment that is teacher-directed, a “Model and Practice” segment that contains modeled instruction and guided practice, and an “Apply” segment that contains additional guided practice and provides independent practice. For example, one lesson in Unit 2, Week 4, focuses on decoding words with long e. The Focus segment of the script reads: “Remind students that a sound can be represented by different spellings. Write bee, easel, monkey, and bunny. Point to the word bee as you say it, emphasizing the long e sound. Point to the digraph ee as you say the word again. Repeat for the remaining words. Explain that each has the long e vowel sound, but the sound is spelled differently in each word. Point to bee again. Say the word, emphasizing the vowel sound. Then, underline the digraph ee, and have students tell what vowel sound the digraph ee has in the word bee. (/ē/) Repeat for the remaining words.” The Model and Practice segment reads: “Point to and say the word feel in the chart on p. 337. Say, ‘I can see that feel has the vowel team ee. When I say feel, I hear the long e sound, /ē/.’ Point to leap, and have students say the word. Ask them what vowel team makes the long e sound in the word.” The Apply section has two activities—“My Turn” and “Turn, Talk, and Share.” The My Turn segment reads, “Have students decode the words in the chart on p. 337.” The Turn, Talk, and Share reads, “Ask partners to underline the letters that make the long e sound in the words in the chart on p. 337 and then use those words in sentences.”
• In Unit 3, Week 3, the Apply “Rhyme” lesson clearly follows the gradual release of responsibility model. The teacher tells students that words with the same middle and ending sounds rhyme. The teacher reads a poem with rhyming words and says: “Today I am going to write a poem that has rhyming words. You are going to help me think of rhyming words to use.” The teacher writes sentence frames on the board, and students complete the poems with a rhyming word. Finally, students complete the activity by decoding and highlighting rhyming words and writing a line from the poem that rhymes.
• In Unit 4, Week 1, the lesson begins with the teacher telling the students that when a word is segmented, it is said sound by sound, and that words are put back together when sounds are blended. The teacher points to a picture of a barn and tells the students to listen for each sound. The teacher then asks students for beginning, middle, and ending sounds. Students say the sounds and repeat the spelling. The teacher and students repeat the activity with the words shark and card. Students practice decoding and blending sounds independently on a page in the “Student Interactive.”

Materials contain a teacher edition with ample and useful annotations and suggestions on how to present the content in the student materials.

• Materials include a limited number of annotations and suggestions to support how to present the content. In Unit 1, Week 3 the materials provide a sidebar with the “Consonant Cc Answer Key”: “Model the sound of the consonant c by saying the words cat and critter. Say the word for each picture. Tell students to circle all the pictures that start with the sound of the consonant c and to write the letters Cc under the circled pictures.”
• Annotations within the lessons provide extensions and some tips for feedback. These do not support how to present the content. In Unit 5, Week 5, the “Foundational Skills Extension” in the margin refers the teacher to a vowel team extension activity later in the unit. In this activity, the teacher reviews vowel teams oo and ou with students. After reading the text Signs of Winter by Colleen Dolphin, the teacher directs students to specific pages and has students find two words that have the sound /ü/ spelled oo (too, food) and one word that has the sound /ü/ spelled ou (you).
• Annotations within the lessons provide extensions and some tips for feedback. These do not support how to present the content. In Unit 5, Week 5, the margin highlights a “Quick Check” to remind teachers to notice and assess if students are decoding and writing words with vowel teams. It also provides suggestions for small group instruction for students who are struggling and for those showing understanding.

Evaluation for 2.3
Materials include detailed guidance that supports teacher’s delivery of instruction.

The materials partially meet the criteria for this indicator. Materials include some guidance that supports teachers’ delivery of instruction.

Guidance for teachers includes some information about common phonics pattern misconceptions and guiding principles related to specific phonics skills. Guidance for teachers provides detailed, specific instructional strategies with consistent routines for teaching each phonics skill. Materials include some guidelines for feedback but do not include specific guidance for providing students with immediate, corrective feedback. Materials provide detailed guidance for connecting previously taught phonics skills to new learning. Materials provide some guidance for lesson pacing, but they do not include clear guidance on how to pace each lesson, including specific time suggestions for each component of the gradual release model.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

Guidance for teachers includes information about common phonics pattern misconceptions and guiding principles related to specific phonics skills.

• The materials do not include information for teachers about common misconceptions related to specific phonics skills. In Unit 2, Week 2, there is a mini-lesson for the words jump, she, take, walk, and what. During the “Focus” section, the teacher writes or displays the high-frequency words. In the “Model and Practice” segment, the teacher asks questions in a rhythm or as a chant and has the students answer in chorus. An example of the activity is the teacher saying: “What will she do? She will take a walk. What will she do? She will jump! What will you do? (I will take a walk). What will you do? (I will jump!) Now let’s spell the words together. How do we spell she?” The teacher repeats the process with the rest of the words.
• The materials share limited guiding principles related to specific skills. In the margins, occasionally there is a box labeled “High-Frequency Words” that gives some information. For example, in Unit 2, Week 1, the High-Frequency Words section gives directions to the teacher to display the high-frequency words come, help, little, my, and saw. The teacher tells the students that they need to practice reading these words.
• In Unit 4, Week 1, the teacher tells students the difference between segmenting and blending sounds. For example, the teacher tells students that segmenting sounds means saying the word “sound-by-sound” and blending sounds means putting the sounds together “to say the complete word.” The teacher points to the barn picture in the “Student Interactive.” The teacher says: “This is a picture of a barn. Listen carefully to each sound in barn.” The teacher pronounces the word barn and pauses after the /b/, /är/, and /n/. The teacher asks students for the medial sound in barn. The teacher script reads, “Repeat saying the sounds with students, then say: Yes, we hear the sound /är/ in the middle of barn.” The teacher continues the activity by repeating the instructional routine using the Student Interactive pictures for shark and card.

Guidance for teachers provides detailed, specific instructional strategies with consistent routines for teaching each phonics skill.

• Most lessons include using picture cards to emphasize the letters/letter pattern sounds. In Unit 2, Week 1, the teacher uses “Sound-Spelling Card 41” (train) to introduce initial consonant blends. The teacher tells the students that the sounds at the beginning of train are /t/ /r/, and the sounds /t/ /r/ are spelled with the letters tr. The teacher explains that when two consonants are at the beginning of the word and both consonant sounds are heard, they are called an initial consonant blend, like the tr in train. During Model and Practice, the teacher writes and says the word flag. The teacher says: “The word flag has two consonants at the beginning, the letters f and l. You hear both the sounds /f/ and /l/, but they are blended together when you read the word. This is how I read the word /f/ /l/ /a/ /g/, flag. The sounds /f/ /l/ are spelled with the letters fl.” The teacher then writes the words crab and frog and has the students decode them. In the “Apply/My Turn” component of the lesson, the teacher has the students practice blending and decoding the words with initial consonant blends on the bottom of the page in the Student Interactive.
• The materials include a variety of instructional strategies with specific and detailed routines for phonics skills. In Unit 4, Week 1, the teacher points to the picture of the watch and says: “I see a picture of a red watch. What is the last sound that you hear in the word watch?” Then, the teacher says: “I see a picture of two watches. What are the final sounds you hear in the word watches?” The teacher continues the same instructional routine using the pictures of foxes in the Student Interactive.
• The materials include explanations of instructional routines for phonics. The routine in the “Teacher’s Edition” is framed with a model that reflects the gradual release of responsibility (“I do, we do, you do”). In Unit 2, Week 2, the Focus section instructs the teacher to tell the students that the letter s spells the sound /z/ at the end of some words, such as with the word dogs. The teacher then tells the students that the letter s also spells the sound /s/ at the end of some words. The teacher uses Sound-Spelling Card 22 (cars) to model /z/ spelled s and a picture that models the sound /s/ spelled s, as in cats. The Model and Practice section has the teacher write the following sentence on the board: “I like cats and dogs.” The teacher reads the sentence and emphasizes the final sounds /s/ and /z/. The teacher says, “Sometimes we add the affix -s to the end of a word to mean ‘more than one of something.’ The letter s spells the sound /s/ or /z/.” The teacher then writes and reads the following sentence: “The duck ran to me.” The teacher asks: “What would you add to duck to mean more than one [s]? (The teacher then writes ducks). What sound does the letter s make in ducks? Yes, the sound /s/.” During Apply/My Turn, the students decode words at the bottom of the page in the Student Interactive.

Materials include specific guidance for providing students with immediate, corrective feedback.

• The materials provide some guidance for providing feedback in the “Reading Routine Companion.” In “Identify Alliteration: /m/,” the segment reads, “IF students cannot identify alliteration of sound /m/, THEN the teacher models how to identify alliteration of sound /m/, using Steps 2 and 3.” Next, the teacher works through the “Make It Easier” activity.
• The materials provide only general guidance on providing immediate, corrective feedback within the lesson in the “Teacher’s Edition.” For example, in Unit 2, Week 2, the teacher introduces and writes the rimes -ack, -eck, -ick, and -uck on the board. The teacher says, “There are other words that end with the sound /k/ spelled ck.” The teacher then says each word part and points to it. After the students repeat the word parts, the teacher asks them how the words are similar and how they are different. The teacher should monitor for understanding and correct as needed.

Materials provide detailed guidance for connecting previously taught phonics skills to new learning.

• In Unit 2, Week 1, the teacher has the students identify the letters Qq, Vv, Yy, and Zz, as the teacher points to them. The teacher reviews the sounds for the sound /kw/ spelled qu; the sound /v/ spelled v; the sound /y/ spelled y; and the sound /z/ spelled z. The teacher is reminded to be sure to mention that the sound /kw/ is spelled qu. The teacher then says: “Whenever we see the letter q in a word, the letter u always comes after it. The sound /kw/ is spelled qu.”
• In Unit 3, Week 2, the teacher reminds the students that they have learned the sound /o/, short o spelled with the letter o. The teacher says, “Today we are going to learn a new sound for the letter o.” The teacher displays the Sound-Spelling Card 84 (rope), and says: “This is a picture of a rope. The sounds in rope are /r/ /ō/ /p/. The word rope is spelled r-o-p-e.”
• The materials provide sufficient opportunity to review previously taught phonics skills before learning new skills. After a lesson has been practiced for a few days, it is implicitly reviewed in a “Decodable Story.” In Unit 3, Lesson 4, the teacher has the students turn to the Student Interactive and says: “We are going to read a story today about a fox and a crab. The title of the story is Big Fox, Little Fox. I hear the sound /ks/ in the word Fox. In this story, we will read other words with the sound /ks/ spelled x and words with consonant blends.” Before reading, the teacher reviews the week’s high-frequency words: come, help, little, my, saw. The teacher then displays the words and has the students read them to the teacher.
• In Unit 4, Week 2, Lesson 2, students read and practice decoding and encoding words with diphthongs oi and oy, which they learned in Unit 4, Week 2, Lesson 1. Previously learned oi, oy words include oil, boy, coin, toy, join, and joy. The teacher writes the words choice and toy on the board. The teacher uses specific language used in the previous lesson: “The sound /oi/ can be spelled oi.” The teacher underlines the oi. The teacher points to the word toy while students sound it out. The teacher then says, “What vowel sound do you hear in the word toy? (/oi/) How do you spell the sound /oi/ in toy?” Students decode words including noise, joy, join, oil, Roy, boil, and Troy.

Materials include clear guidance on how to pace each lesson, including specific time suggestions for each component of the gradual release model.

• The materials include guidance on the recommended length for each lesson. The “Teacher’s Edition” includes a “Suggested Weekly Plan” that includes recommended blocks of time for each lesson. In Unit 2, Week 1, the following time slots are suggested for lessons: “Reading Workshop” 10–20 minutes; “Reading-Writing Workshop Bridge” 5–10 minutes; “Small Group/Independent” 20–30 minutes; “Writing Workshop” 5–10 minutes; “Independent Time” (conferences with teacher) 30–40 minutes; and Reading-Writing Workshop Bridge 5–10 minutes.
• The materials do not provide specific guidance on how much time to spend on each lesson component. For example, in Unit 2, Week 2, the first component is Focus, which has the teacher use Sound-Spelling Card 36 (lock) to introduce the sound /k/ spelled ck. During Model and Practice, the teacher points to the picture of the lock and says its sounds. The teacher asks, “What is the ending sound in lock? Yes, lock ends with the sound /k/. The sound /k/ in lock is spelled ck.” The teacher points to the letters ck on the card, writes the words sock and rock, and has the students decode them.
• The materials do not include specific pacing suggestions for each component of the gradual release of responsibility. In Unit 3, Week 1, in the Focus section, the teacher tells the students that when two letters spell one sound, the letters are called a consonant digraph, like when the letters sh spell the sound /sh/. During Model and Practice, the teacher displays Sound-Spelling Card 34 (chair) and reads the word on the card aloud. The teacher then says, “In the word chair, the sound /ch/ is spelled ch.” Next, the teacher shows Sound-Spelling Card 46 (phone) and reads the word aloud. The teacher says, “In the word phone, the sound /f/ is spelled ph.” The teacher then displays the Sound-Spelling Card 52 (whale) and reads the word aloud. The teacher says, “In the word whale, the sound /hw/ is spelled wh.” The teacher tells the students that some digraphs can appear at the ends of words, too. The teacher writes the word much and graph on the board and reads the words. The teacher points out the digraphs ch and ph in these words and says, “The sound /ch/ in much is spelled ch and the sound /f/ in graph is spelled ph.” Finally, the teacher displays Sound-Spelling Card 49 (watch) and reads the word aloud. The teacher tells the students: “In the word watch, the sound /ch/ is spelled tch. In this word, there are three letters that spell one sound. The letters -tch are called a trigraph.” In the Apply/My Turn segment, students work in the Student Interactive and practice decoding each word.

Evaluation for 2.4
Materials include frequent and distributed review of phonics skills with cumulative practice opportunities with decodable text.

The materials meet the criteria for this indicator. Materials include frequent and distributed review of phonics skills with cumulative practice opportunities with decodable text.

Materials include intentional cumulative review and practice activities throughout the span of the curriculum. Practice opportunities include only phonics skills that have been explicitly taught. Decodable texts incorporate cumulative practice of taught phonics skills

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

Materials include intentional cumulative review and practice activities throughout the span of the curriculum.

• Previously taught phonics skills are intentionally practiced and maintained over the course of the year. Spiral reviews are integrated into the lessons to practice and maintain skills over the year. In Unit 3, Week 2, the teacher displays the consonant digraphs wh, ph, ch, and th. The teacher reviews that the letters are digraphs, or two letters that spell one sound. The teacher then writes the trigraph -tch, explaining that trigraphs are three letters that spell one sound.
• In Unit 3, Week 4, there is a phonics lesson called “Spiral Review Long e Spelled e, ee; Inflectional Ending -ed.” The teacher reviews the spellings of the sound /ē/ spelled e and ee. The teacher then reviews the inflectional ending -ed and tells students that this ending is added to words that are verbs to make an action happen in the past. The teacher is also instructed to tell the students that the ending -ed can have three different sounds: /d/, /t/, and /ǝd/.
• Routines for introducing new phonics skills and reviewing previously taught skills are consistently practiced throughout the materials. Reviewing syllables to teach phonics is consistent in the materials. In Unit 3, Week 4, the teacher reviews with the students that words are made up of syllables and that each syllable has only one vowel sound. The teacher also reviews that words that have the syllable pattern VCCV can be divided between the consonants to make the word easier to read.
• High-frequency words are taught throughout the materials. In Unit 3, Week 4, the teacher tells the students that high-frequency words are words that they will hear and see over and over in texts. The teacher writes the words now, down, there, drink, and together. The students work with a partner and take turns spelling the words.
• In Unit 4, Week 1, after introducing r-controlled vowels in previous lessons, a “Notice and Assess Quick Check” is introduced. Students are tasked with decoding and writing words with r- 

  controlled vowel ar. Later, in Unit 4, Week 3, the materials include intentional “Spiral Reviews” that have students recall the spelling lesson on r-controlled vowels er, ir, and ur from the previous week. Teachers remind students that the letters spell the sound /ėr/. Teachers model and practice with students by reading these words: her, girl, turn. Students help spell the words on the board, circle words with the sound /ėr/, and point out that these letters spell the sound /ėr/.

Practice opportunities include only phonics skills that have been explicitly taught.

• The materials explicitly teach how to add and delete phonemes in spoken words. Teachers begin by stating the objective and modeling the specified skill. For example: “Tell students to listen carefully to the ending sound as you say the word two. Repeat the sounds in the word several times, emphasizing the final sound: /oo/.” Then, the script reads: “Name each picture for students and have students repeat the words. Have students identify the sound that was dropped from the word beach to make the word bee. (/ch/) Tell students to listen carefully to the final sounds in each set of words and tell what sound has been added or dropped.” Students then independently complete an exercise in the “Student Interactive.”
• In Unit 2, Week 1, the teacher uses “Sound-Spelling Card 41” (train) to introduce initial consonant blends. The teacher tells the students that the sounds at the beginning of train are /t/ /r/, and the sounds /t/ /r/ are spelled with the letters tr. The teacher explains that when two consonants are at the beginning of the word and both consonant sounds are heard, they are called an initial consonant blend, like the tr in train. During “Model and Practice,” the teacher writes and says the word flag. The teacher says: “The word flag has two consonants at the beginning, the letters f and l. You hear both the sounds /f/ and /l/, but they are blended together when you read the word. This is how I read the word /f/ /l/ /a/ /g/, flag. The sounds /f/ /l/ are spelled with the letters fl.” The teacher then writes the words crab and frog and has the students decode them. In the “Apply/My Turn” component of the lesson, students practice blending and decoding the words with initial consonant blends on the bottom of the page in the Student Interactive.
• During a Spiral Review, students revisit skills learned from previous lessons. In Unit 3, Week 1, the teacher uses Sound-Spelling Cards 4 (cereal), 9 (giraffe), and 80 (lime) to review the sound /s/ spelled c, the sound /j/ spelled g, and long i spelled i_e. During Model and Practice, the teacher models decoding and reading these sentences: “Mike is nice. Look at his face. What is his age? Mike is five.” The students pair up to decode and read the remaining sentences.
• In Unit 3, Week 2, the teacher reviews the sound of long o, /ō/, spelled o_e. In the Model and Practice component of the lesson, the teacher tells the students that when o is followed by a consonant and the consonant is followed by an e, the letter o says its name and is pronounced /ō/. To help students practice the sound-spelling correspondence of long o spelled o_e, the teacher displays a chart of VCe words missing the long o. The teacher writes an o in the blanks and has the students decode the words. During “Turn, Talk, and Share,” the students get into pairs to decode the words on top of the page in the Student Interactive.

Decodable texts incorporate cumulative practice of taught phonics skills.

• In Unit 4, Week 2, students practice decoding high-frequency words and words with the vowel sound /ėr/ by reading and listening to the decodable reader They Work Hard. After students 

  finish reading the text, they look back through the story to find a high-frequency word or a word with the vowel sound /ėr/. This practice reinforces previous lessons that taught the /er/ sound.

• The decodable texts increase in complexity, allowing students to practice previously taught skills while applying new ones. In Unit 2, Week 2, the teacher introduces the decodable book The Stems. The teacher points to Stems in the title and says: “I hear the sound /z/ in the word Stems. What letter in Stems spells the sound /z/? Is it the first s in the word Stems or the last s in the word Stems that spells the sound /z/?” The teacher tells the students they will read more words with the sound /s/ and the sound /z/ spelled s and words with the sound /k/ spelled ck. Before reading the story, the teacher reviews the week’s high-frequency words: jump, she, take, walk, and what.

Evaluation for 3.A.1
Materials provide systematic and direct (explicit) instruction, practice, and review related to alphabet knowledge.

Evaluation for 3.A.2
Materials provide systematic and direct (explicit) instruction, practice, and review related to the alphabetic principle.

The materials meet the criteria for this indicator. Materials provide systematic and direct (explicit) instruction, practice, and review related to the alphabetic principle.

Materials systematically introduce letter-sound relationships in an order that quickly allows for application to basic decoding and encoding. Materials provide scripted direct (explicit) instruction for connecting phonemes to letters within words. Materials incorporate a variety of activities and resources for students to develop, practice, and reinforce (through cumulative review) their understanding of applying letter-sound correspondence to decode simple words both in isolation and in decodable connected text.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

Materials systematically introduce letter sound relationships in an order that quickly allows for application to basic decoding and encoding.

• During Unit 1, the common letter-sound correspondences for all consonants and short vowels are reviewed. Each week focuses on a few consonants and one short vowel sound, so that students can immediately begin reading and writing words with the CVC pattern learned in kindergarten. For example, in Unit 1, Week 1, the letter-sound correspondences for Mm /m/, Tt /t/, Ss /s/, and short vowel Aa /a/ are taught first so that students can begin reading and writing CVC words with these letters (e.g., mat, tam, sat, Sam) as well as reading and writing sentences that contain the same patterns (e.g., “Sam sat. Sam sat at a mat.”)
• ● Unit 2 begins with introducing initial consonant blends, other common sounds that letters make
• (e.g. Ss spelled /s/ and /z/), final consonant blends, consonant digraphs, long a, vowel digraphs al and aw, and /s/ spelled c and /j/ spelled g.
• Unit 3 introduces consonant trigraphs, the vowel sounds of y, consonant patterns ng and nk, open syllables, compound words, and the r-controlled vowels or and ore.
• Unit 4 focuses on r-controlled vowels, specifically ar, er, ir, and ur; the trigraph -dge; diphthongs ow, ou, oi, oy; and vowel digraphs ai, ay, ea, and ie.
• Unit 5 reviews consonant blends and trigraphs, covers additional spellings of long o (oa, ow, oe), 

  long i spelled igh, vowel teams ue, ew, ui, and vowel teams oo and ou.

Materials provide scripted direct (explicit) instruction for connecting phonemes to letters within words.

• Phonics lessons are presented within the “Word Work” segment of each lesson. There is a clear objective; the activity is summarized in the title; and there is a focus statement for the teacher in each minilesson. For example, in Unit 1, Week 1, the objective reads, “Decode words in isolation and in context by applying common letter sound correspondences.” The title reads, “Phonics: Decode and Write Words with Short a and Consonants Mm, Ss, Tt.” The minilesson focus reads, “Review the letter names and sounds for a /a/;m /m/;s /s/; and t /t/.”
• In Unit 2, Week 5, the teacher tells students that the sound /ă/ in cat is spelled a. Next, the teacher writes the word cat and points to each letter as students spell the word. Students segment and blend the sounds in cat. Next, the teacher says: “Today we are going to learn a new sound for the letter a. [Display Sound-Spelling Card 74 (rake)]. This is a rake. [Point to the letters on the card.]” The teacher slowly segments the sounds in the word: /r/ /ā/ /k/, and then quickly blends the sounds to read the word.
• The Word Work segment of Unit 4, Week 1, focuses on decoding words with r-controlled vowel ar. The script tells teachers to use “Sound-Spelling Card 55” (artist) to introduce r-controlled vowel sound /är/ spelled ar. Then the teacher says: “When the vowel a is followed by the consonant r, it makes the sound /är/ as you hear in the words bar and jar. The letter r controls and changes the sound of the letter a.” The teacher writes the word art on the board. The teacher says the word art and has the students repeat the word as the teacher underlines ar. The teacher repeats this process with the word start.
• On the digital platform, the “Reading Routines Companion Grade 1” provides a two-page document for each letter-sound correspondence taught and contains a step-by-step routine with a script for clear modeling and explanation of tasks. The first page contains the segments of the gradual release of responsibility model: “Step 1: Introduce, Step 2: Model, Step 3: Guide Practice, Step 4: On Their Own.” The second page of the document contains three segments: “Corrective Feedback, Make it Easier, and Make it Harder.” Within these pages, teacher actions are in black, and the script for what the teacher says is in blue.
• One of the pages in the “Reading Routines Companion Grade 1” booklet is called “Final Consonant Blends.” In Step 1: Introduce, the script reads: “Display the word stop. We know how to read this word: stop. Point to s and t: Listen as I blend the letters s and t: /s/ /t/, /st/. Say it with me: /s/ /t/, /st/. The letters s and t spell a blend of two sounds at the beginning of stop. Today we will read words that blend the sounds of two letters at the end of the words.” Step 2: Model reads: “Display the word dust using letter tiles or cards. This is how I read the word dust. Point to the sound spellings as you segment the letter sounds, exaggerating the final sounds /s/ and /t/: /d/ /u/ /s/ /t/. Listen to how the letters s and t blend, or go together, at the end of dust: /s/ /t/, /st/. Say it with me: /s/ /t/, /st/. Then sweep your hand under the tiles as you blend the sounds and read the word: /d/ /u/ /st/, dust. Model how to write dust. Repeat with the words sent and help.” The corrective feedback on the back says: “IF students cannot decode words with final consonant blends, THEN model how to read words with final consonant blends, using Steps 2 and 3. Next, work through the Make It Easier activity.”

Materials incorporate a variety of activities and resources for students to develop, practice, and reinforce (through cumulative review) their understanding of applying letter sound correspondence to decode simple words both in isolation and in decodable connected text.

• In Unit 1, Week 1, the teacher directs student attention to the picture of the cat on the “Student Interactive” page. The teacher says each phoneme in the word cat and holds up a finger for each sound, c, a, t, to indicate the number of sounds. The students repeat the procedure using the pictures with short a in their Student Interactive workbook. Additional phonics work is downloaded from the digital platform (specifically, a phonics worksheet that accompanies the lesson). Here, the student says the name of each picture. If the name of the picture contains the short a sound, the students write the letter a underneath the picture on the line provided.
• In Unit 1, Week 6, the phonics minilesson focuses on decoding and writing words with consonants Vv, Yy, and Zz, demonstrating the gradual release of responsibility model. The teacher leads the students in a review of the letter sounds and then moves into reading words. The teacher points to and reads the word zap. Students repeat the word. The teacher points to the blank space in …um and asks, “What letter could go in the blank to make the word you say when you eat food that tastes really good? (y).” The teacher writes y on the line and says the word yum, emphasizing the sound /y/; students say the word with the teacher. This process continues with the remaining words. After this modeled and guided practice, the students participate in a “Turn, Talk, and Share” activity where they work with a partner to practice blending and reading the words on a page in the Student Interactive.

• In Unit 1, Week 1, the teacher assesses the students’ prior knowledge of words with the short a sound. The teacher reads aloud spelling sentences and asks the students to spell each word with the short a sound. For example, the teacher reads the sentence, “I am going to school.” The student spells the word am. Later, the teacher displays the short a words tap, as, and Sam and reads each word out loud. The teacher guides the students to point out that the letter a spells the short a sound in each word presented.

• In Unit 4, Week 1, the teacher introduces the r-controlled vowel ar, and students practice reading words with ar on the corresponding page in the Student Interactive (e.g., park, hard). Later, the teacher reviews the sound of ar and supports the students as they read and write ar words on the corresponding pages in the Student Interactive; students then complete a page from the phonics workbook that is downloaded from the “Resource Download Center” on the digital platform. The students also read the decodable story Star Art, which provides numerous opportunities to read and decode words with r-controlled a spelled ar with the sound /är/.

Evaluation for 3.B.1
Materials provide systematic and direct (explicit) instruction, practice, and review to support the development of oral syllable awareness skills, as outlined in the TEKS.

Materials provide some systematic and direct (explicit) instruction, practice, and review to support the development of oral syllable awareness skills, as outlined in the TEKS.

Materials do not provide a systematic sequence for introducing oral syllable awareness activities that begins with simple skills (detecting, blending, and segmenting syllables) and gradually transitions to more complex skills such as adding, deleting, and substituting syllables. Materials include scripted direct (explicit) instruction for teaching oral syllable awareness skills. Materials do not incorporate a variety of activities and resources for students to develop, practice, and reinforce skills (through cumulative review).

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

Materials provide a systematic sequence for introducing oral syllable awareness activities that begins with simple skills (detecting, blending, and segmenting syllables) and gradually transitions to more complex skills such as adding, deleting, and substituting syllables.

• The materials provide a document called “English Foundational Skills and Word Study Scope and Sequence,” which provides a list of phonological awareness skills taught in each unit. According to this document, first graders work with syllables in Unit 3. This unit includes only one phonological awareness lesson on oral syllable awareness. In this lesson, students review segmenting, counting, and blending syllables in words (e.g., happy, hap-py, two syllables, happy).

Materials include scripted direct (explicit) instruction for teaching oral syllable awareness skills.

• Unit 3, Week 5, contains the only lesson devoted to oral syllable awareness skills. The teacher has students open to the appropriate page in the “Student Interactive.” The teacher points to the picture of the tiger and says: “This is a picture of a tiger. Listen to the syllables, or word parts, in the word tiger: /tī/ (pause) /gr/. Now say the syllables with me.” Then, the teacher asks students to blend the syllables to say the words and repeats this process with the pictures for robot (/rō/ /bot/) and meter (/mē/ /tr/). Next, the script reads: “Say each of the following words: spider, zebra, yogurt, tiny, total. Work with students to say each word syllable by syllable, identify the sound at the end of the first syllable, and then blend the syllables to say the word.” 

Materials incorporate a variety of activities and resources for students to develop, practice, and reinforce skills (through cumulative review).

• The daily instructional materials for first grade only contain one lesson devoted to oral syllable awareness skills. In this lesson, the teacher and students use the Student Interactive to practice syllable segmentation and blending. Unit 3, Week 5, contains the only lesson devoted to oral syllable awareness skills. The teacher has students open to the appropriate page in the Student Interactive. The teacher points to the picture of the tiger and says: “This is a picture of a tiger. Listen to the syllables, or word parts, in the word tiger: /tī/ (pause) /g r/. Now say the syllables with me.” Then, the teacher asks students to blend the syllables to say the words and repeats this process with the pictures for robot (/rō/ /bot/) and meter (/mē/ /t r/).
• The only lesson on syllables in the “myFocus Intervention Teacher’s Guide” focuses on understanding syllables, counting syllables, and identifying closed and open syllables. The teacher script and directions include the following: “Today we are going to clap the syllables in words. Say num•ber slowly, holding up your thumb for num and your index finger for ber. Now clap with me for each syllable: num•ber.” The teacher points out that separate word parts heard are syllables. The teacher then tells students: “Many short words, such as the, have one syllable; other short words, such as picnic, have two syllables. Now clap with me as I read aloud The Picnic. The teacher reads the passage, and the students and teacher clap each syllable said.

Evaluation for 3.B.2
Materials provide systematic and direct (explicit) instruction, practice, and review to support the development of phonemic awareness skills, as outlined in the TEKS.

The materials meet the criteria for this indicator. Materials provide systematic and direct (explicit) instruction, practice, and review to support the development of phonemic awareness skills, as outlined in the TEKS.

Materials provide a systematic sequence for introducing phonemic awareness activities that begins with identifying, blending, and segmenting phonemes (the smallest unit of sound) and gradually transitions to more complex manipulation practices such as adding, deleting, and substituting phonemes. Materials include scripted direct (explicit) instruction for teaching phonemic awareness. Materials include direct (explicit) detailed guidance for connecting phonemic awareness skills to the alphabetic principle, helping to transition students from oral language activities to basic decoding and encoding. Materials incorporate a variety of activities and resources for students to develop, practice, and reinforce skills (through cumulative review).

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

Materials provide a systematic sequence for introducing phonemic awareness activities that begins with identifying, blending, and segmenting phonemes (the smallest unit of sound) and gradually transitions to more complex manipulation practices such as adding, deleting, and substituting phonemes.

• The “English Foundational Skills and Word Study Scope and Sequence” lists all of the phonological awareness skills taught in each of the five units. In Unit 1, students learn to recognize initial, final, and medial sounds; recognize alliteration; segment and blend phonemes; add phonemes; and change phonemes. In Unit 2, students continue to practice the skills learned in Unit 1 as well as learn about rhyming words, how to change and manipulate phonemes, and how to distinguish between short and long a and short and long i. In Unit 3, students continue to review and reinforce previous learning as well as the new skills of distinguishing between short and long u, short and long e, and final long i and e. Unit 4 reviews all previously taught concepts and adds distinguishing between short and long o. Unit 5 reviews the previously taught skills and focuses on identifying middle and final sounds, segmenting and blending phonemes, manipulating and removing phonemes, and manipulating sounds.

Materials include scripted direct (explicit) instruction for teaching phonemic awareness.

• In the “Word Work” section of Unit 2, Week 2, students learn to add phonemes to words. For example, the teacher points to the picture of the dog in the “Student Interactive” and says: “This is a picture of a dog. Listen to the sounds in dog: /d/ /o/ /g/.” The teacher has the students repeat the sounds, and then point to the picture of the dogs on the same page. The teacher has the students name the picture, and then says: “Let’s say the sounds in dogs: /d/ /o/ /g/ /z/. Dog (pause) dogs. What sound do you hear in dogs that you don’t hear in dog? Yes, the sound /z/. Is the sound /z/ at the beginning, middle, or end of dogs? Right, at the end.” The students listen to three sentences and complete the third sentence using a word with an added phoneme. The teacher script reads: “Listen carefully to these three sentences. You will complete the third sentence. Let’s begin: I have one new bed. I bought another one. Now I have two… What word completes the sentence? (beds) What sound did you add to bed to make it beds? (/z/).” Additional practice includes the words head/heads, sled/sleds, and bug/bugs.
• In Unit 3, Week 1, students learn to segment and blend phonemes. The teacher script includes pointing to a picture of a ruler. The teacher says: “This is a picture of an inch on a ruler. Listen carefully as I say the sounds in inch: /i/ (pause) /n/ (pause) /ch/. Now let’s say the sounds together: inch.” Instruction continues with students repeating sounds for pictures (e.g., whale, /hw/ /ā/ /l/; match, /m/ /a/ /ch/; and phone, /f/ /ō/ /n/). Further practice includes segmenting and blending words, including which, patch, photo, pinch, and white. The teacher dictates a word, and students segment sounds, and then blend them to repeat words.
• In Unit 3, Week 2, the teacher reviews isolating phonemes and then removing the initial sound. The teacher says: “This is a picture of a farm. The sounds we hear in farm are /f/ (pause) /ar/ (pause) /m/. Listen to these two words: farm, (pause) arm. What is different? I removed, or took away, the sound /f/ from farm to create the word arm.”
• In the Word Work section of Unit 5, Week 4, students learn to manipulate phonemes. The teacher script begins by telling the students that sounds in a word can be moved to different places. The teacher says, “We are going to manipulate the sounds in a word. Let’s say the sounds in pit: /p/ /i/ /t/. Now let’s switch the first sound, /p/, and the last sound, /t/: /t/ /i/ /p/, tip.” The students practice manipulating phonemes to create new words. For example, tame becomes mate, tub becomes but, and pat becomes tap.
• In Unit 5, Week 5, the script reads: “Tell students that when you manipulate sounds in a word, you move, or switch, the sounds to different places.” The teacher models how to manipulate sounds in a word by listening to the sounds in the word list: /l/ /i/ /s/ t/. The teacher says, “Now let’s switch the first sound, /l/, and the final blend, /s/ /t/: /s/ /t/ /i/ l/, still.” The teacher and students continue to manipulate phonemes to make new words: late (tale), teen (neat), leap (peal), tone (note).

Materials include direct (explicit) detailed guidance for connecting phonemic awareness skills to the alphabetic principle, helping to transition students from oral language activities to basic decoding and encoding.

• In Unit 3, Week 4, the phonological awareness focus of Lesson 1 is final y with the sounds /ī/ and /ē/. The teacher says, “This is a picture of a fly. Listen carefully to each sound in the word fly: /f/ (pause /l/ (pause) /ī/. What sound do you hear at the end of fly? Say the sounds with me very slowly.” The teacher repeats the sounds with the students and says, “The final sound in fly is /ī/.” The teacher points to the picture of a puppy in the Student Interactive and says: “This is a picture of a puppy. Listen carefully to each sound in the word puppy: /p/ (pause) /u/ (pause) /p/ (pause) /ē/. What sound do you hear at the end of puppy? Say the sounds with me very slowly.” The teacher repeats the sounds with the students and then says, “The final sound in puppy is /ē/.” The phonics segment follows the phonological awareness segment and is focused on decoding words with vowel sounds of y. The teacher tells the students that the sounds /ī/ and /ē/ can sometimes be spelled with the letter y. The teacher displays “Sound-Spelling Card 77” (bunny). The teacher says: “This is a picture of a bunny. We hear the sounds /b/ /u/ /n/ /ē/ in the word bunny. The word bunny is spelled b-u-n-n-y. The sound /ē/ is spelled with the letter y.” The teacher repeats the process with Sound-Spelling Card 81 (sky) to teach the sound /ī/ spelled y.
• In Unit 5, Week 3, the teacher script reads, “When you segment sounds, you separate the word into each of the sounds.” The teacher models segmenting and blending the phonemes in plant and snow. Then, the teacher displays the block picture card, and students segment and blend the sounds, naming the picture. Instruction continues using picture cards for boat, clock, dress, green, and nest. Next, the focus shifts to working with blends in print. The teacher models segmenting blended sounds using the word snap. Students listen for the blend. The teacher repeats the word several times while running a finger under the word. Then, the teacher and students repeat the word and identify the blend sn. The teacher writes the word snack on the board and elongates each sound before saying it in word form. The students read the word. Students review and practice repeating blends and words with teacher guidance (e.g., sn/snug, cl/clap, tr/trim). At the end of the lesson, the teacher dictates words, and students tell which word includes the blend (e.g., sn: snip, sip, sack, snap; cl: cub, club, cap, class).

Materials incorporate a variety of activities and resources for students to develop, practice, and reinforce skills (through cumulative review).

• In Unit 1, Week 2, the teacher tells the students that sometimes a group of words begins with the same sound. The teacher points to the picture of the nest in the Student Interactive. The teacher says: “What sound does nest begin with? Listen as I say the sound: /n/ (pause) /n/ (pause) /n/ (pause) nest. Nest begins with the sound /n/. Say the sound with me: /n/.” The teacher repeats the process with the words nine and net. The teacher then says: “What sound do nest, nine, and net begin with? Yes, they all begin with the sound /n/.” During practice, the teacher says the tongue twister “Nana needs nine nuts now,” and has the students repeat the words. The teacher asks, “What is the initial, or beginning, sound in these words?” The teacher affirms that the words start with the sound /n/. Then, the teacher asks, “Are the beginning sounds of these words the same?” The teacher affirms by saying, “Right! All the beginning sounds are the same.”
• In Unit 2, Week 1, students practice segmenting and blending phonemes in words. The teacher points to the picture of the flag on the specified page in the Student Interactive and tells students to listen to each sound in the word flag. The teacher repeats the word, segmenting and blending several times (“/f/ /l/ /a/ /g/, flag”). Then, the teacher repeats the activity with the pictures for crab and frog. Next, the teacher says the following words and has students segment and then blend the phonemes: /b/ /l/ /a/ /k/, black; /g/ /r/ /a/ /b/, grab; /s/ /t/ /a/ /k/, stack; /s/ /t/ /o/ /p/, stop; /b/ /r/ /i/ /k/, brick; /g/ /l/ /a/ /d/, glad. The teacher displays other picture cards with initial consonants for additional practice as needed.
• In Unit 4, Week 2, students practice blending and segmenting phonemes. The teacher tells the students that segmenting sounds in words means saying the words sound by sound, and that blending the sounds means putting the sounds back together to form a word. The teacher points to the picture of dirt in the Student Interactive and says, “This is a picture of dirt. Listen carefully to each sound in the word dirt: /d/ (pause) /ėr/ (pause) /t/. What sound do you hear in the middle of dirt? Yes, we hear the sound /ėr/ in the middle of the word dirt.” The activity is repeated with the pictures of girl and skirt. Additional practice includes the teacher saying the following words: stir, purse, shirt, her, and hurt. Students segment the words, tell the sound heard in the middle of the word, and then blend the sounds to form the word.

Evaluation for 3.C.1
Materials provide systematic and direct (explicit) instruction, practice, and review to develop students’ knowledge of grade-level sound-spelling patterns, as outlined in the TEKS.

The materials meet the criteria for this indicator. Materials provide systematic and direct (explicit) instruction, practice, and review to develop students’ knowledge of grade-level sound-spelling patterns, as outlined in the TEKS.

Materials provide a systematic sequence for introducing grade-level sound-spelling patterns, as outlined in the TEKS. Materials provide scripted direct (explicit) instruction for grade-level sound-spelling patterns. Materials incorporate a variety of activities and resources for students to develop, practice, and reinforce skills (through cumulative review). Materials provide a variety of activities and resources to decode and encode words that include taught sound-spelling patterns in isolation (e.g., word lists) and in decodable connected text that builds on previous instruction (e.g., within sentences or decodable texts).

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

Materials provide a systematic sequence for introducing grade level sound spelling patterns, as outlined in the TEKS.

• The “Unit Skills Overview” and “Unit at a Glance” within the teacher’s guide for each unit outline the phonics focus for each week. For example, in Unit 3, students learn consonant digraphs and trigraphs, contractions, the VCe pattern with long o and long u, inflectional ending -ed, syllable pattern VCCV, and open syllables with r-controlled vowels or and ore.
• The materials provide a document called “Correlations of Texas MyView Literacy Grade 1, Print + Online to the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for English Language Arts and Reading (TEKS) and the Teacher English Language Proficiency Standards (ELPS).” This document lists each of the specific grade-level spelling patterns and provides at least one example from the materials that illustrates how that sound-spelling pattern is covered.

Materials provide scripted direct (explicit) instruction for grade level sound spelling patterns.

• The Teacher’s Edition demonstrates steps of the gradual release model by highlighting sections titled “Focus on Strategies,” “Model and Practice,” and “Apply” in each lesson. Each section provides a detailed script for teachers to say while instructing learners.
• The Teacher’s Edition for Unit 3, Week 1, provides clear, direct instruction for segmenting and blending phonemes. The objective for this lesson is clearly stated: “Blend spoken phonemes to form one-syllable words, including initial and/or final consonant blends.” The materials direct the teacher to point to the picture of an inch on the ruler in the “Student Interactive.” The teacher says: “This is a picture of an inch on a ruler. Listen carefully as I say the sounds in inch: /i/ (pause) /n/ (pause) /ch/. Now let’s say the sounds together: /i/ /n/ /ch/ inch.” The teacher repeats with the sounds for the pictures of whale, /hw/ /ā/ /l/; match, /m/ /a/ /ch/; and phone, /f/ /ō/ /n/.
• In Unit 5, Week 6, scripted instructions guide the teacher to teach the final syllable -le using “Sound-Spelling Card 134” (candle). The teacher says, “The word candle has the final syllable dle.” Demonstrating the gradual release model, the teacher writes the words bundle, riddle, dazzle on the board, models syllable division, and points out the consonant +-le final syllable in each word. Students then sort the words into columns according to the final syllable consonant + -le in each word.

Materials incorporate a variety of activities and resources for students to develop, practice, and reinforce skills (through cumulative review).

• In Unit 1, Week 4, students identify letter-sound correspondence when completing words, including t…n, n…t, m…n, -...t, m…t, p…n, by placing the letter e in the blank provided. Students progress to more complex opportunities by determining words that rhyme, such as ten, men, pen; net, pet, met. Previous lesson review includes recalling that middle and ending sounds are the same in rhyming words.
• In Unit 2, Week 4, students review the lesson on final consonant blends. The lesson spiral reviews final consonant blends -nd, -mp, and -ft; students also learn new consonant blends to spell words such as ask, best, help, pond, left, ramp, went, and land. At the end of the lesson, student pairs apply knowledge by writing a sentence with a final consonant blend word.
• In Unit 2, Week 5, Lesson 2, students learn the long a spelling pattern VCe. The teacher presents Sound-Spelling Card 74, which shows a picture of a rake, the word rake, and the pattern a_e. The teacher writes incomplete words on the board, such as l…ke, g…te, pl…te, g…me. Students insert the letter a to complete each word and draw and label a picture that shows one of the words.

Materials provide a variety of activities and resources to decode and encode words that include taught sound spelling patterns in isolation (e.g., word lists) and in decodable connected text that builds on previous instruction (e.g., within sentences or decodable texts).

• In Unit 2, Week 3, students learn the spelling rule for words with -ck: letters -ck make the /k/ sound. Students say words with -ck and emphasize the /k/ sound made by the consonant pattern. The teacher provides a list of words such as back, belt, and pick, and students identify which words include the sound /k/ and consonant pattern -ck.
• In Unit 5, Week 3, students read the decodable story Best Time of the Year in the Student Interactive. The teacher introduces the story and tells students they will be reading words with the vowel teams ue, ew, and ui and words with the prefixes re-and un-. The first page of the book reads: “Drew likes summer because of the hot sun and blue sky. He can unzip his coat. He can take off his hat.”
• The “Reading Routines Companion Grade 1” document, found on the digital platform, provides routines for decoding and encoding words with the CVC and VCe pattern. For example, one page is titled “Long a (VCe) Words.” The teacher tells students they know how to spell the word cap and discusses the short a sound in the word. Then, the teacher tells students they will read words with the long a sound in the VCe pattern. Words read include cap, cape, mad, and made. Students read and write the words sale, cave, fame, take, base, and wave.

Evaluation for 3.C.2
Materials provide systematic and direct (explicit) instruction, practice, and review related to accurately identifying, reading, and writing regular and irregular high-frequency words.

The materials meet the criteria for this indicator. Materials provide systematic and direct (explicit) instruction, practice, and review related to accurately identifying, reading, and writing regular and irregular high-frequency words.

Materials provide a systematic sequence for introducing regular and irregular high-frequency words. Materials provide scripted direct (explicit) instruction for decoding and encoding regular and irregular high-frequency words. Materials incorporate a variety of activities and resources for students to develop, practice, and reinforce skills (through cumulative review). Materials provide a variety of activities and resources for students to recognize, read, and write high-frequency words in isolation (e.g., word lists) and in connected text (e.g., within sentences or decodable texts).

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

Materials provide a systematic sequence for introducing regular and irregular high frequency words.

• The materials provide a systematic sequence for introducing regular and irregular high-frequency words in grade 1. In these materials, students are taught 30 high-frequency words per unit for a total of 150 high-frequency words during the year. Five high-frequency words are taught and practiced in each week of instruction.
• In Unit 1, students learn the following high-frequency words: a, I, is, his, see, we, like, the, one, do, look, you, was, by, are, have, they, that, two, up, he, as, to, with, three, where, here, for, me, go.
• In Unit 3, students learn the following high-frequency words: round, good, said, no, put, could, be, old, why, of, or, live, work, who, out, there, down, drink, now, together, grow, full, around, find, under, eat, play, so, their, some.
• In Unit 5, students learn the following high-frequency words: would, buy, people, about, write, once, done, water, wash, upon, sentence, off, because, laugh, open, move, learn, eight, house, only, today, warm, years, should, world, mother, father, another, through, picture.

Materials provide scripted direct (explicit) instruction for decoding and encoding regular and irregular high frequency words.

• Unit 2, Week 1, “Word Work,” “High-Frequency Words,” includes explicit instruction for the teacher. For example, the materials read: “Display the high-frequency words come, help, little, my, saw. Tell students that they need to practice reading these words.” The teacher then points to each word, reads it, and spells it. The students read the words with the teacher, and then spell and say as in the guided instruction.
• Unit 3, Week 1, Lesson 3, High-Frequency Words, includes explicit instruction for reading the words no, put, good, said, and round. For example, the materials state: “Tell students that high-frequency words are words we learn by remembering the letters in the words rather than saying the sounds. Tell them there are three good ways to learn the words: say the word, spell the word, and use the word in a sentence.” The teacher displays the words good, no, put, round, and said. Students create sentences using the words. The “Student Interactive” page includes opportunities to intertwine decoding and encoding the high-frequency words as students select and complete sentences using the words good, no, put, round, and said.

​​​​​​​Materials incorporate a variety of activities and resources for students to develop, practice, and reinforce skills (through cumulative review).

• The materials include “High-Frequency Words Practice Pages” focusing on identifying and reading high-frequency words. In Unit 2, Week 5, words include four, five, ride, part, yours, he, and have. In Unit 2, Week 6, words include into, don’t, know, many, and other. In Unit 5, Week 6, words include father, mother, another, picture, and through.
• Unit 2, Week 4, Lesson 4, provides an opportunity to review and practice previously taught high-frequency words as students read the decodable story “Beth and Nash.” The teacher reminds students of the week’s high-frequency words: all, goes, her, make, too. Then, the teacher displays the words and reads them aloud with the students. The teacher tells them that they will practice reading these words in the story. Within the text of this decodable story, the students read previously learned high-frequency words such as has, to, the, she, and get. The first page of the story reads: “Beth has to rush to the path. She goes to get nuts. All the nuts make Beth glad.”
• In Unit 4, Week 1, Lesson 1, the “Teacher’s Edition” provides activity suggestions for remembering and practicing high-frequency words, including making word cards with the week’s words (always, found, please, new, thank) for students to practice reading the words with their partners.
• The game “Word Island” is provided on the digital platform to support students’ development of high-frequency-word knowledge. This game provides opportunities for students to identify, select, and review high-frequency words as they progress from Level 1 to Level 3 in each of the 40 islands included in the game. For example, Level 1 on the first island, Cod Island, includes words such as is, to, my, and a.
• The digital platform contains a resource called “High-Frequency Word Cards.” These flashcards are organized by unit and week and contain a single card for each word taught. For example, the flashcards for Unit 5, Week 3, are sentence, off, because, laugh, and open. These flashcards can be saved from week to week for cumulative review and practice of the high-frequency words learned.

Materials provide a variety of activities and resources for students to recognize, read, and write high frequency words in isolation (e.g., word lists) and in connected text (e.g., within sentences or decodable texts).

• During Unit 2, Week 1, Lesson 1, students learn the high-frequency words help, little, come, my, and saw. The teacher displays the word and tells students that they need to practice reading these words. The teacher points to each word and reads it aloud. Then, the teacher spells the word and reads it again. Finally, students spell and say the words with the teacher. During Lesson 3, the students review those high-frequency words. Then, the teacher displays the word saw and says: “This is the word saw. It has three letters. The letters in saw are s, a, w.” The teacher has students say and spell the word. Students say a sentence using the word. The teacher repeats this process with the remaining high-frequency words. Later in the same lesson, the students complete a page in the Student Interactive that reviews these words, then practice reading sentences and writing the correct high-frequency word in the blank (e.g., The fox…me. saw).
• In Unit 2, Week 1, Lesson 4, students read a decodable story called “Big Fox, Little Fox” to apply the newly learned sound of x /ks/. Before reading, the teacher reviews the week’s high-frequency words: come, help, little, my, saw. The teacher displays the words, reads them aloud with the students, and tells the students that they will practice reading these high-frequency words in the story. The first page of the decodable story reads: “Rex is a little fox. His mom is a big fox. Rex saw a crab. The crab is on my grass.”

Evaluation for 3.C.3
Materials include systematic and direct (explicit) instruction, practice, and review related to using knowledge and application of syllabication to decode and encode one-syllable or multisyllabic words.

The materials meet the criteria for this indicator. Materials include systematic and direct (explicit) instruction, practice, and review related to using knowledge and application of syllabication to decode and encode one-syllable or multisyllabic words.

Materials provide a systematic sequence for introducing grade-level syllable types and syllable division principles, as outlined in the TEKS. Materials provide scripted direct (explicit) instruction for applying knowledge of syllable types and syllable division principles to decode and encode one-syllable or multisyllabic words. Materials incorporate a variety of activities and resources for students to develop, practice, and reinforce skills (through cumulative review). Materials provide a variety of activities and resources for students to practice decoding and encoding one-syllable or multisyllabic words, using knowledge of syllable types and syllable division principles, in isolation (e.g., word lists) and in decodable connected text that builds on previous instruction (e.g., within sentences or decodable texts).

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

Materials provide a systematic sequence for introducing grade level syllable types and syllable division principles, as outlined in the TEKS.

• The “English Foundational Skills and Word Study Scope and Sequence” provides a list of phonics skills and syllable patterns taught in each unit; these skills and patterns fully address the grade-level TEKS. Unit 1 reviews short vowels and consonants in closed-syllable CVC words. In Unit 2, students learn the CVCe pattern and work with words that have the CCVC and CVCC patterns. Unit 3 formally introduces the VC/CV syllable division pattern; introduces vowel teams and r-controlled syllables; and teaches about open syllables. Unit 4 continues the focus on r-controlled syllables and vowel teams; introduces vowel digraphs and diphthongs; and teaches consonant trigraphs. Unit 5 continues to teach vowel teams; works with open and closed syllables; and introduces the final stable syllable -le.

Materials provide scripted direct (explicit) instruction for applying knowledge of syllable types and syllable division principles to decode and encode one syllable or multisyllabic words.

• In Unit 1, Week 5, students learn about open and closed syllables. The teacher introduces the “Sound-Spelling Card” with a tiger depicted on it and the VCV heading. The teacher writes the word tiger on the board and says: “There are two syllables in this word. I wonder if the first syllable has a long vowel or a short one. I will try each one. Oh, I know the word tiger and see that this is a picture of a tiger. The word is tiger.” The teacher uses the Sound-Spelling Card lemon to review closed syllables. The teacher guides the students to break words into syllables. The words include remix, compact, spider, and never. The words are broken into syllables, and the vowels in the first syllable are identified as long or short.
• In Unit 3, Week 4, students learn about the VCCV syllable pattern. The teacher begins by telling students that a syllable is a word part that has a vowel sound. The teacher displays the word rabbit and says: “In the word rabbit, I hear the sounds /r//a/ /b/ /e/ /t/. The vowel sounds I hear are /a/ and /e/. The word rabbit has two vowel sounds, so it has two syllables. [Point to the VCCV letter pattern.] We can use the pattern of letters to help us read two-syllable words.” Next, the teacher displays Sound-Spelling Card 147 (basket) and says: “This is a picture of a basket. The word basket has two vowel sounds so it has two syllables. [Write the word basket, and above the letters a and e, write the letter V for vowel.] What two letters in basket come between the two vowels? (s, k) [Above the letters s and k, write the letter C for consonant.] When a word has two syllables and there are two consonants between the two vowels in the word, we can break the word into two parts between those two consonants: bas/ket. In words with the syllable pattern VCCV, the syllables end in consonants and vowel sounds are usually short. The syllables are called closed syllables. [Write these words and have students read them: velvet; mitten; dentist.]”
• In the “Word Work” section of Unit 4, Week 2, the teacher begins by telling the students that the lesson objective is decoding and writing multisyllabic words with VCV patterns and open syllables. The teacher writes the word tiger and says, “I want to decode the word tiger and divide it into syllables.” The teacher acknowledges the vowel i, the consonant g, the vowel e, and the long i sound in the first syllable. The teacher’s instruction includes, “When a two-syllable word has a long vowel sound in the first syllable, the word is usually divided after the vowel.” The teacher models dividing the word tiger between i and g. The lesson continues with the words bacon, begin, final, major, and recess. The teacher selects individual students to decode, write, and draw a line showing syllable division.

Materials incorporate a variety of activities and resources for students to develop, practice, and reinforce skills (through cumulative review).

• In Unit 1, Week 5, students learn about open and closed syllables. Later, in Unit 5, Week 5, students review the concepts of open and closed syllables as they learn about the syllable division pattern VCV. The teacher explains that words are composed of syllables and that there is one vowel sound in each syllable. The teacher further explains that in words with VCV patterns, syllable division may occur before or after the consonant, but usually the word is divided before the consonant beginning the second syllable. The vowel in the first syllable is long and is called an open syllable. Words divided with the consonant in the first syllable are closed and yield a short vowel sound. The teacher writes the word robot on the board. The teacher says: “The word robot is a two-syllable word. Remember, if a word has one consonant between two vowels, the consonant usually goes with the second syllable and the first vowel sound is long.” The teacher draws a line between o and b then says, “This is how I segment and blend the word: ro-bot, robot.” The teacher and students continue this practice using the words never, baby, melon, and lazy.
• Students have multiple opportunities to practice blending and decoding words with VCe patterns. Students are introduced to the VCe pattern with long a in Unit 2. The teacher writes cat on the board. Students spell cat, and then segment and blend the sounds. The teacher says: “Today we are going to learn a new sound for the letter a. (Display Sound-Spelling Card 74 [rake]) This is a rake.” The teacher segments the sounds, pointing out the medial sound long a. The teacher script reads, “When the vowel letter a (point to the a) appears before a consonant (point to the k) and the vowel letter e (point to the e) follows the consonant, the letter a says its name and its sound is called long a.” The teacher then writes the word cake on the board, and students supply the medial sound long a. Students practice segmenting and blending more words with long a. Words include vase, case, cape, and tape. Finally, students practice saying new VCe words, changing the initial sound, and highlighting VCe words with the long a sound in the “Student Interactive.” Students continue to work with the VCe syllable pattern as they are introduced to long i later in Unit 2 and then long o and long u in Unit 3.

Materials provide a variety of activities and resources for students to practice decoding and encoding one syllable or multisyllabic words, using knowledge of syllable types and syllable division principles, in isolation (e.g., word lists) and in decodable connected text that builds on previous instruction (e.g., within sentences or decodable texts).

• Materials include student practice and review opportunities to practice words with VCe patterns. In Unit 2, Week 5, students work with partners on decoding and encoding words with the /ū/ and /ē/ sounds. Students use the letter tiles e and u to complete sentences with missing letters. For example: “St…ve sang a c…te t…ne to th…se kids.” The decodable book Maps and Globe provides additional practice in decoding VCe pattern words as they read words like globe, use, and Eve.

• Students use the Student Interactive to practice segmenting and blending sounds in single-syllable words. For example, in Unit 4, Week 1, students “Turn and Talk” with a partner to practice segmenting and blending sounds. Then, students read sentences and underline r-controlled vowels in words. Additional student practice for decoding and writing r-controlled vowel ar words is found on the practice page downloaded from “Resource Download Center” practice page. The teacher names the pictures on the page (farm, yarn, cart, shark, arm, star, card, car), and students write ar in the blank spaces to complete the words.

• In Unit 5, Week 5, students review open and closed syllable patterns addressed in Unit 3, Week 5, with teacher guidance. The teacher reviews open and closed syllables using the tiger Sound-Spelling Card. Students segment words including remix, compact, spider, and never into syllables. Students identify long and short vowels in the first syllable of each word. Additional resources include using letter tiles to build words to identify the long and short vowels in each word. In addition, students locate and draw a picture of or write a sentence using an open-or a closed-syllable word from the decodable reader Time for Bed. Decodable text includes “‘No, it’s not time to eat,’ said Mom.” “Ted hid down low behind the couch.”

Evaluation for 3.C.4
Materials connect phonics instruction to meaning by providing systematic and direct (explicit) instruction, practice, and review related to developing morphological awareness.

The materials meet the criteria for this indicator. Materials connect phonics instruction to meaning by providing systematic and direct (explicit) instruction, practice, and review related to developing morphological awareness.

Materials provide a systematic sequence for introducing grade-level morphemes, as outlined in the TEKS. Materials provide direct (explicit) instruction for supporting recognition of common morphemes. Materials provide direct (explicit) instruction for using the meanings of morphemes (e.g., affixes and base words) to support decoding, encoding, and reading comprehension. Materials incorporate a variety of activities and resources for students to develop, practice, and reinforce skills (through cumulative review). Materials provide a variety of activities and resources for students to decode and encode words with morphemes in isolation (e.g., word lists) and in decodable connected text that builds on previous instruction (e.g., within sentences or decodable texts).

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

Materials provide a systematic sequence for introducing grade level morphemes, as outlined in the TEKS.

• The materials provide a systematic sequence for introducing grade-level morphemes, beginning with less complex lessons. Specifically, the TEKS for grade 1 specify that students must use knowledge of base words to decode common compound words and contractions as well as decode words with inflectional endings, including -ed, -s, and -es. In Unit 2, the materials teach the inflectional ending -s; in Unit 3 the inflectional ending -ed, contractions, and compound words; and in Unit 4 -es as an inflectional ending and as a plural ending. The materials extend the TEKS for grade 1 as well, teaching the inflectional ending -ing in Unit 2; and comparative endings, the suffixes -er, -or, -ly, -ful, and the prefixes re-, un-in Unit 4.

Materials provide direct (explicit) instruction for supporting recognition of common morphemes.

• In Unit 3, Week 1, the lesson includes explicit language and instruction for teachers to use in introducing contractions. The script reads: “Explain that contractions are made up of two words that have been shortened into one. Write I’ll on the board and point to the apostrophe. Say: The missing letter or letters in contractions are replaced with an apostrophe. I’ll is the contraction for the words I will.” The teacher then displays “Sound-Spelling Card 110” (she’ll) and says, “If I’ll is the contraction for I will, for what words is she’ll the contraction? (she will).”
• In Unit 5, Week 3, the teacher tells students that a prefix is a word part added to the beginning of a word that changes the word’s meaning. Next, the teacher uses Sound-Spelling Card 162 (replant) and 163 (unwrap) to introduce the prefixes re-and un-. The teacher says, “The prefix re-means again. The prefix re-is added to the word plant to make the word replant. The word replant means to plant again.” The teacher repeats this process with the word unwrap on Sound-Spelling Card 163. Then, the teacher writes the words remake and unsafe on the board for students to decode and tell the meanings.

Materials provide direct (explicit) instruction for using the meanings of morphemes (e.g., affixes and base words) to support decoding, encoding, and reading comprehension.

• In Unit 2, Week 3, the phonics lesson includes decoding and encoding words with inflectional ending -s. The teacher explains that adding -s to a verb changes its meaning by showing that one person, animal, or thing is doing the action. The teacher models with the verb clap and says: “Clap is a verb. If we add the letter s to the word clap to make claps, we know the action is happening now.”
• In Unit 3, Week 1, the teacher writes the following words and their contractions: can not (can’t), he is (he’s), I am (I’m). The teacher points to can not and reads the words. Then, the teacher points to can’t and reads the word. The teacher asks: “What two letters are missing? (n and o) What takes the place of the missing letters? Yes, an apostrophe. Let’s read the other words.” The teacher models writing the words he and is and reads the words. The teacher erases the letter i, replaces it with an apostrophe, and reads the word he’s. The teacher repeats this process with I and am and other words and their contractions, such as she will, she’ll; they will, they’ll; does not, doesn’t; and is not, isn’t.
• Later in Unit 3, Week 1, the teacher tells the students that shortened forms of two words when added together form contractions and that an apostrophe substitutes for the missing letters or letter in such words. For example, the teacher writes she will on the board. The teacher erases the wi from will and replaces the letters with an apostrophe. The teacher says: “Without an apostrophe, the letters s-h-e-l-l spell the word shell. If you are writing a contraction, don’t forget to put in the apostrophe for the missing letters.”

Materials incorporate a variety of activities and resources for students to develop, practice, and reinforce skills (through cumulative review).

• The materials include clear, direct lessons that emphasize word meaning. In Unit 2, Week 2, the students work in the “Student Interactive” to add -s to the words cat and bed and draw a picture of what the word depicts: more than one cat and more than one bed. Students then write a sentence using one of the words.
• In Unit 2, Week 2, during an “Independent Activity,” students use letter tiles to practice forming plural forms of words. The teacher displays words including pig, block, cup, pot, sled, bug, and hat. Students use tiles to spell the singular words, and then add the s tile to form the plural. Students then use a worksheet to fill in blanks in sentences such as “I have one pig and two bugs.”
• In Unit 5, Week 2, in a “Reading Workshop” segment, there are opportunities for purposeful practice. Students identify the picture on Sound-Spelling Card -er as painter and Spelling Card -or as sailor. Students then create a book depicting pictures of words with suffixes -er and -or.

Materials provide a variety of activities and resources for students to decode and encode words with morphemes in isolation (e.g., word lists) and in decodable connected text that builds on previous instruction (e.g., within sentences or decodable texts).

• In Unit 2, Week 2, “Word Work,” students practice reading words with ending -s and listening for the sounds /s/ and /z/. Students complete a 3x3 grid with the words big, bits, dog, dogs, duck, ducks, car, and cars. Students use counters to cover squares the teacher says aloud after identifying the word, touching it, and saying it. The teacher asks students whether the ending sounds make a /s/ or /z/ sound.
• In the Word Work section of Unit 3, Week 6, students sort words into two columns. Students select one word from each column to create a compound word (e.g., sun + shine = sunshine). Students then write a sentence with a newly formed compound word, such as “The sunshine felt warm on my face.”
• In the Word Work strategy group section of Unit 3, Week 6, the teacher draws three circles side by side and places a plus sign between circles one and two and an equal sign between circles two and three. The teacher writes the words bath, back, pop, and sun in circle one and the words set, corn, pack, and tub in circle two. Students combine a word from circle one and circle two to create a compound word. The teacher writes the compound word in the third circle.
• In the Word Work activity of Unit 3, Week 6, students work with letter tiles. The teacher distributes tiles to students and directs them to make the words pad, box, time. The teacher then challenges students to make as many compound words as possible using those words.

Evaluation for 3.D.1
Materials provide frequent opportunities for students to practice and develop word reading fluency, by using knowledge of grade-level phonics skills to read decodable connected texts with accuracy and automaticity.

The materials meet the criteria for this indicator. Materials provide frequent opportunities for students to practice and develop word reading fluency, by using knowledge of grade-level phonics skills to read decodable connected texts with accuracy and automaticity.

Materials include embedded modeling and practice with word lists, decodable phrases/sentences, and decodable connected texts in the lesson. Materials provide practice activities for word reading fluency in a variety of settings (e.g., independently, in partners, in guided small groups, etc.). Materials provide a variety of grade-level decodable connected texts that are aligned to the phonics scope and sequence.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

Materials include embedded modeling and practice with word lists, decodable phrases/sentences, and decodable connected texts in the lesson.

• In Unit 1, Lesson 2, students practice reading words with short i and consonants c /k/, p /p/, and Nn /n/. Before reading the story, students turn to page 59 in the “Student Interactive.” The teacher says: “We are going to read a story today about Tip. [Point to the title of the story.] The title of the story is Tip the Cat. I hear the short i sound in the word Tip. What letter in Tip spells the sound /ĭ/? [Wait for responses.] Right! The i spells the sound /ĭ/. [Point to the i in Tip.] We will read other words with the short i sound spelled /ĭ/ and words with the letters c, p, and n in our story.” Students read with a partner, in a small group, or independently.
• In Unit 4, Week 1, the teacher tells the students that segmenting a word means saying a word sound by sound, and blending a word means putting the sounds together to complete the word. The teacher points to a picture of the word barn in the Student Interactive. The teacher says the word barn in segments and asks students for the sound heard in the middle. The teacher and students continue the same routine with pictures for card and shark. Students practice reading r-controlled a in the words park and hard in the Student Interactive.
• In Unit 5, Week 1, the teacher models and guides a review of the words with short and long o. The teacher holds up the fox picture card. The teacher says: “This is a picture of a fox. Listen to the sounds in the word: /f/ /ŏ/ /ks/. I hear the sound /ŏ/ in the middle of fox. Say the sound /ŏ/ with me.” The teacher turns the card over and reminds students that the sound /ŏ/ is spelled o.

• Next, the teacher holds up the nose picture card. The teacher says: “This is a picture of a nose. Listen to the sounds in the word: /n/ /ō/ /z/. I hear the /ō/ in the middle of nose. Say the sound /ō/ with me.” The teacher turns the card over and reminds the students that the sound /ō/ is spelled o_e. Later in the lesson, the teacher emphasizes the long o sound when saying the word toe: “The word toe has the long o vowel sound. Point to the spelling of the long o sound, oe. Say: In the word toe, long o is spelled with the vowel digraph oe.” Students repeat the word and spelling. Then, students practice the long o spelling with the oa and ow vowel digraphs using words such as grow and goal.

Materials provide practice activities for word reading fluency in a variety of settings (e.g., independently, in partners, in guided small groups, etc.)

• In Unit 1, Week 1, students read the decodable reader Who Is Up? in a small group with the teacher to reinforce using the sounds of short u and p to decode words. After small group work, students reread the text independently or with a partner.
• In the “Word Work” segment of Unit 4, Week 4, students use letter tiles to independently practice creating words with the diphthongs ou and ow such as shout, loud, cow. The students also practice naming the letters that spell the /ou/ sound. The teacher uses the “Quick Check” questions to determine if students are able to decode and write words using diphthongs ow, ou.
• In the Word Work segment of Unit 4, Week 4, students work with partners to decode vowel digraph ai and ay words in the Student Interactive. Words include rain, main, chain.

Materials provide a variety of grade level decodable connected texts that are aligned to the phonics scope and sequence.

• The materials provide digital and hard-copy decodable texts that emphasize specific phonics patterns. During each week of instruction, students read one new decodable story as well as an additional decodable reader for additional practice with the skills learned.
• In Unit 2, Week 1, students read the decodable story The Sleds to practice reading initial consonant blends, such as Fred, sled, sleds, and high-frequency words, such as a little, the. Some examples of the text are “Peg can get a little sled. Get Fred.”
• In Unit 2, Week 1, students read the decodable text Big Fox, Little Fox to practice decoding words with the sound /ks/ spelled x and words with consonant blends. The teacher introduces the book Big Fox, Little Fox to the students, points to the title, and says, “I hear the /ks/ sound in Fox.” The teacher tells students they will read words with the /ks/ sound spelled x and consonant blends. Then, the teacher reviews high-frequency words with students, including come, help, little, my, and saw. One sentence from this story is “Rex is a little fox.”
• During Unit 4, Week 1, the students read the decodable story Star Art, which provides numerous opportunities to read and decode words with r-controlled a spelled ar with the sound /är/, taught earlier in the unit. During Week 6, students learn about changing the final y to i before adding the endings -es, -ed; review r-controlled r spelled or and ore; and are introduced to e-drop before adding endings (e.g., bake > baking) and vowel team ie. They then read the decodable text A Piece of the Past. Students also read the decodable reader A Day at the Park during independent/collaborative work time to reinforce their understanding of inflected endings and high-frequency words.

Evaluation for 4.1
Materials include developmentally appropriate diagnostic tools (e.g., formative and summative) and guidance for teachers to measure and monitor student progress.

The materials meet the criteria for this indicator. Materials include developmentally appropriate diagnostic tools (e.g., formative and summative) and guidance for teachers to measure and monitor student progress.

Materials include a variety of diagnostic tools that are developmentally appropriate. Materials provide clear, consistent directions for accurate administration of diagnostic tools. Materials include data management tools for tracking individual and whole class student progress.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

Materials include a variety of diagnostic tools that are developmentally appropriate.

• The “Baseline Test,” “Middle-Of-Year Test,” and “End-Of-Year Test” are the diagnostic tools in these materials and are provided in the document “Texas Summative Assessments—Teacher’s Manual with Student Reproducibles—1.”
• The Baseline Test is used to determine each student’s starting profile to help guide and inform instruction. It features a group-administered assessment for “Phonics, Word Recognition, and Listening Comprehension,” an individually administered “Phonemic Awareness Test,” and an optional, individually administered “Fluency Test.” The materials state that the Baseline Test is aligned to the TEKS, with approximately half of the items testing the previous grade’s TEKS to determine if students have retained what they learned, and the other half testing the current grade level’s TEKS.
• The Middle-Of-Year Test is used to monitor student progress on skills and standards taught in Units 1–3. The skills assessed are “Conventions, High-Frequency Words, Listening/Reading Comprehension, Phonics, and Writing.”
• The End-Of-Year Test is used to monitor student progress on skills and standards taught throughout the course of the year. The skills assessed are “Conventions, High-Frequency Words, Listening/Reading Comprehension, Phonics, and Writing.”

Materials provide clear, consistent directions for accurate administration of diagnostic tools.

• The materials provide a document called “Texas Summative Assessments—Teacher’s Manual with Student Reproducibles—1.” The overview and description segment of this document states that full teacher scripting is provided for the Baseline Assessment. The next section describes how to administer the Baseline Test, with prompts for the teacher to introduce the assessment and its purpose. For example, the directions state: “Prior to administering the assessment, review assessment-taking procedures with students. Explain to students that the purpose of the assessment is to understand what they know about sounds and words and how well they understand text that is read aloud to them.”
• The materials include notes for the teacher about how to administer each of the sub-assessments. For example, directions include: “The group-administered portions of the Baseline Test can be administered in one sitting. Or, you may wish to administer the Phonics and Word Recognition in one session and the Listening Comprehension in another session. Use your professional judgment to determine the method of administration that best suits the needs of your students.”
• A section called “Teacher Scripting” for the Baseline Test provides a detailed teacher script in bold and corresponding actions in normal type. For example, the script for the “Phonics—Initial Consonants” sub-assessment begins: “Turn to page 1. Use the following directions to administer the test. Directions in bold are to be read aloud; others are for your information only. Look at page 1 of your test. I will ask you about beginning sounds. We will do a practice question first. Listen carefully. [Sample] Look at the picture in the first row by the star. It is a box. Circle the letter for the sound that begins the word box. (Pause.) Which letter begins the word box? (Have a student give the answer, b.) Yes, that’s correct. Box begins with the letter b. You should have drawn a circle around the b, the second letter in the row.”

Materials include data management tools for tracking individual and whole class student progress.

• The overview and description segment of the “Texas Summative Assessments—Teacher’s Manual with Student Reproducibles—1” document states that full teacher scripting is provided for the Baseline Test. The next section describes how to administer the Baseline Test, with prompts for the teacher to introduce the assessment and its purpose. For example, the directions state: “Prior to administering the assessment, review assessment-taking procedures with students. Explain to students that the purpose of the assessment is to understand more about the sounds and words they know and how well they understand what they read.”
• There are also notes for the teacher about how to administer each of the sub-assessments. For example, directions include: “The Phonics, Word Knowledge, Vocabulary, and Reading Comprehension subtests of the Baseline Test can be administered to the entire group in one sitting. Modify the directions as needed based on how you decide to administer the test. The Phonemic Awareness subtest is administered individually.”
• The directions and script, if necessary, for administering each sub-assessment in the Baseline Test is provided with each sub-assessment. For example, the “Phonics Directions” read: “Questions 1–6 test a student’s understanding of phonics. In this portion of the test, students will be reading questions about word sounds and parts and then answering them. Have students turn to page 1. Explain to students that they will be reading questions about words and sounds and choosing the best answer. Have students read the directions and answer items 1–6 on their 

  own.”

• The “DATA” tab of the digital platform offers class and student data reports, including scores by assessment, question, and standard; overall progress; and time on task for content completed online. Teachers can view data for individual students in the class, scores by standards, progress reports, and usage reports.
• Materials do include recommendations for students who score 90%, 60%–89%, and below 60% on Baseline Tests. For example, materials suggest students who score below 60% may benefit from “regular instruction during whole-class time, intervention activities during small-group time, more scaffolding, more practice with critical skills, more opportunities to respond, decodable books to practice word-reading skills, being matched with text appropriate for developing learners through leveled readers, receiving more frequent additional support and intensive instruction.”
• The program provides support to help teachers understand the data on individual and whole class progress. The teacher types the word data in the search field and selects the video “Analyzing Qualitative and Quantitative Data” to inform instruction. A professor from Harvard explains the variety of assessments and how to analyze the data to improve instruction for individual students and the class as a whole.

Evaluation for 4.2
Materials include integrated progress monitoring tools, with specific guidance on frequency of use.

The materials partially meet the criteria for this indicator. Materials include some integrated progress monitoring tools, with specific guidance on frequency of use.

Materials include progress monitoring tools that systematically and accurately measure students’ acquisition of grade-level skills in word reading fluency. Materials include some guidance on determining frequency of progress monitoring, but it is not based on students’ strengths and needs.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

Materials include progress monitoring tools that systematically and accurately measure student’s acquisition of grade level skills.

• The materials list “Unit Tests” and “Progress Checkups” as progress monitoring tools. These tools, however, are curriculum specific to units and weeks of study and do not systematically and accurately measure students’ acquisition of grade-level skills in phonemic awareness, phonics, or morphological awareness over the course of the school year.
• The materials do provide a booklet called “Cold Reads for Fluency and Comprehension,” which is designed to provide differentiated reading comprehension practice using selections that students have not seen previously. Across each unit’s “Cold Read” selections, high-frequency words are strategically placed within the text to give students an additional opportunity to practice reading these words in context for meaning and fluency.
• The Progress Checkups are designed to measure students’ progress based on the high-frequency words, phonics, comprehension, conventions, and writing taught in each week of instruction. Some items in these assessments are formatted to help students gain experience with the item format and stem language they will experience in the state test.
• In grade 1, there are 25 Checkups, one for each instructional week in the “myView Literacy” program. Progress Checkups assess grade 1 students in a developmentally appropriate manner. Units 1 and 2 present answers as pictures to accommodate the expectation that many students may not be strong readers; Units 3–5 transition into full-text assessments. Each Progress Checkup contains four sections:
  • The “High-Frequency Words” section consists of five multiple-choice questions that assess students’ knowledge of the week’s high-frequency words. In Units 1 and 2, teacher scripting is provided for each item.
  • The “Phonics” section consists of five multiple-choice questions that assess students’ knowledge of the week’s phonics skills. In Units 1 and 2, teacher scripting is provided for each item.
  • In Units 1 and 2, the “Listening Comprehension” section consists of a selection read aloud to students and four multiple-choice questions and one short-response question that assess students’ knowledge of the week’s comprehension focus. Many answer choices in Units 1 and 2 are provided as pictures. Students draw and write their answer to the short-response question.
  • In Units 3–5, the “Reading Comprehension” section consists of a selection that students read themselves and four multiple-choice questions and one short-response question that assess students’ knowledge of the week’s comprehension focus. Students write their answer to the short-response question.
  • The “Writing” section consists of a writing prompt that asks students to draw and write in a particular writing mode.
• The “Cold Reads Teacher’s Manual” includes the following: (1) notes on how to use the Cold Read tests, (2) instructions on how to administer and score a fluency test, (3) a chart on which the teacher may record student progress, (4) item analysis charts that provide teachers the opportunity to track students’ strengths and areas of need, and (5) annotated copies of all the Cold Read tests indicating the answers to all questions.

Materials include specific guidance on determining frequency of progress monitoring based on students’ strengths and needs.

• The materials list Unit Tests and Progress Checkups as progress monitoring tools. The frequency of administration is tied to the instructional pacing of content, not based on student need. There are no additional tools for progress monitoring based on students’ strengths and needs in phonemic awareness, phonics, or morphological awareness.
• The materials provide Cold Reads as progress monitoring tools for fluency. Each week, the materials provide three passages that are written to assess varying levels of proficiency— “Developing (D),” “On-Level (OL),” and “Advanced (A).” The materials specify that these Cold Reads are used weekly regardless of student need.
• In grade 1, there are 25 Progress Checkups, one for each instructional week in the myView Literacy program. The Progress Checkups are administered at the end of the instruction for each week.
• The “Progress Checkups Teacher’s Manual” includes the following: (1) a description of the Progress Checkups, (2) instructions for administering the check-ups, (3) instructions for scoring and recording assessment results, (4) reproducible charts on which to track students’ progress,
• (5) item analysis charts with alignments to assessment items’ skills and standards, (6) a scoring rubric for writing, (7) top-level responses for the short-response and “Writing” portion of each Progress Checkup, (8) an answer key, and (9) reproducible student assessment pages.
• The Unit Tests are designed to assess students’ progress in “Phonological Awareness, Phonics, High-Frequency Words, Listening Comprehension, and Writing” at the end of each unit. All items test content that has been taught within the unit. Selections and questions on the Unit Tests become progressively more difficult from Unit 1 to Unit 5 to reflect the increasing sophistication of materials students are able to handle.

• The materials do provide weekly Cold Reads for monitoring student reading fluency and comprehension. According to the materials, the purpose of the Cold Read test is to give weekly opportunities for students to practice the comprehension focus and high-frequency words covered in myView Literacy. There are three leveled Cold Read tests for each week that assess the weekly comprehension focus, associated TEKS, and previously learned skills.

Evaluation for 4.3
Materials include guidance for teachers to analyze and respond to data from diagnostic tools.

The materials meet the criteria for this indicator. Materials include guidance for teachers to analyze and respond to data from diagnostic tools.

Materials support teachers’ analysis of diagnostic data to inform response to individual students’ strengths and needs. Diagnostic tools provide teachers with guidance on how to plan and differentiate instruction based on student data. Materials include a variety of resources that align to data, allowing teachers to plan different activities in response to student data.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

Materials support teachers’ analysis of diagnostic data to inform response to individual students’ strengths and needs.

• The materials guide the teacher to analyze the assessment data. In the “Summative Assessment” booklet, the directions tell the teacher to score by sub-assessment and by total assessment because both types of scores will be useful in interpreting assessment results and informing instruction for each student.
• The Summative Assessment booklet states that specific literacy skills are assessed during the course of the assessment and that those are the skills that students should use and master. It also explains that assessment results can help teachers identify which core skills students understand and which will require additional practice or reteaching. Further, the Summative Assessment booklet explains that by using the “Item Analysis Charts,” the teacher can determine specific areas in which students need additional help. For example, if the student answers six questions incorrectly on a skill, the teacher needs to plan additional instruction of this skill for the student.

• The materials support the teacher’s interpretation of the data. In the Summative Assessment booklet, “Interpreting Baseline Test Results,” it states that the initial baseline for a student should not be based exclusively on the “Baseline Test,” but instead the teacher should use all available information about a student. Additionally, the materials recommend that the teacher compare the Baseline Test results for each student only with other students in their class to allow the teacher to inform future instruction by examining general trends in their students’ grade-level knowledge and abilities.

• The “DATA” tab of the digital platform shows teachers how to view the results of assessments taken online by class and by student. For assessments aligned to standards, teachers can also view the score results by question and standard. The materials note that the report data is cumulative, so students’ scores will change as new tests are completed.

Materials tools provide teachers with guidance on how to plan and differentiate instruction based on student data.

• The materials support teachers in their efforts to analyze data and determine paths for meeting student needs. For example, materials suggest students who score below 60% on the Baseline Test may benefit from “regular instruction during whole-class time, intervention activities during small-group time, more scaffolding, more practice with critical skills and more opportunities to respond, decodable books to practice word-reading skills, being matched with text appropriate for developing learners through leveled readers, receiving more frequent additional support, and intensive instruction.” For students who score between 60% and 89% on the Baseline Test, a suggested strategy is being matched with text appropriate for on-level learners through leveled readers. The materials also advise the teacher to have these students use “myFocus Readers” to practice word reading skills. If students score more than 90% on the Baseline Test, differentiated instruction includes but is not limited to students beginning “regular instruction during whole-class time and being matched with text appropriate for advanced learners through leveled readers.”
• The teacher’s manual for Summative Assessment provides teachers with remediation suggestions in the “myFOCUS Intervention Guide.” The teacher uses the results from assessment questions to place students in remediation lessons corresponding to items missed. For example, Baseline item number 16 (TEKS 1.6B) corresponds to remediation opportunities in separate lessons in the myFOCUS Intervention section of the materials. “Unit Assessments” and “Progress Checkups” also suggest remediation opportunities in the myFOCUS Intervention Guide according to the item and TEKS missed.
• The information gathered from the diagnostic tools helps teachers plan their core phonics instruction. In the Summative Assessment booklet, guidelines help the teacher determine how best to help improve students’ areas of need and build upon students’ areas of strength. Ultimately, for all students, the materials state that teachers should use flexible grouping options and formative assessment, such as “Quick Checks,” to monitor progress and inform and differentiate instruction throughout the year.

Materials include a variety of resources that align to data, allowing teachers to plan different activities in response to student data.

• The myFOCUS Intervention teacher’s guide includes resources aligned to student assessment 

  data. This resource includes scaffolded lessons, including reproducible student pages and checkpoint assessments. Lessons address foundational skills, reading literature, reading informational text, writing, language and conventions, and inquiry and research. The grade-level skills lessons align with the assessments and include guided and independent practice and progress monitoring on a step-by-step basis, ensuring mastery; this helps teachers assess student proficiency and determine next steps. The materials state: “The goal is to make intervention as quick and efficient as possible. Pacing should be adapted as students’ skill level increases.”

• Materials do include digital games and decodables that align to student data. For example, decodable books correspond to unit objectives, providing an opportunity to practice objectives that require reinforcement as well as extending opportunities to practice on-level and extension opportunities for students who have mastered skills. Digital games such as “Word Island” include opportunities for teachers to reinforce objectives as needed by assigning lessons according to student need. Online games may also be used at school or at home and progress according to student need.

Evaluation for 5.1
Materials include guidance, scaffolds, supports, and extensions that maximize student learning potential.

Materials meet the criteria for this indicator. Materials include guidance, scaffolds, supports, and extensions that maximize student learning potential.

Materials provide targeted instruction and activities to scaffold learning for students who have not yet mastered grade-level foundational phonics skills. Materials provide targeted instruction and activities to accelerate learning for students who have achieved grade-level mastery of foundational phonics skills. Materials provide enrichment activities for all levels of learners.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

Materials provide targeted instruction and activities to scaffold learning for students who have not yet mastered grade level foundational phonics skills.

• The materials include the “myFocus Intervention Teacher’s Guide” with scaffolded lessons addressing “Foundational Skills, Reading Literature, Reading Informational Text, Writing, Language and Conventions, and Inquiry and Research.” The guide states that instructional focus strategies include the development of skills and strategies to help students achieve on-gradelevel expectations. Materials further state, “Discrete skills are scaffolded into small, manageable minilessons for thorough coverage, focused practice, and built-in progress monitoring.”
• In the myFocus Intervention Teacher’s Guide, specific lessons addressing foundational skills needs can be found in the table of contents. For example, the “Identify Short Vowels” lesson includes the students listening for the middle phoneme as the teacher models saying words with /ĕ/ and /ŭ/. The teacher says: “I will say two words. You tell me if the middle sounds are the same in both words, or if the middle sounds are different.” Words include wet, web, tub, and tube. The teacher monitors student progress, and if students experience difficulty, the teacher slowly says the sounds in each word and has students repeat them. Then, the teacher isolates the middle sound in each word to help students pinpoint the one indicated.
• The materials provide additional lessons for targeted instruction that include differentiated instructional approaches. Each lesson in the “Reading Routines Companion” offers a strategy to differentiate the instruction to make the skill easier to learn. For example, when working with words that have initial qu, it states that some students may benefit from a tactile activity. The instructions for the teacher are to first display letter tiles for the word quit, leaving space 

  between each letter. The teacher taps q and u and says the sound /kw/. Next, the teacher taps each sound spelling and says the sound: /kw/ /i/ /t/. The teacher then blends the sounds to say the word, pushes the tiles together from left to right, and says, quit. The teacher asks: “How do we spell the sound /kw/ in quit (q, u)? How do we spell the sounds in quit (q, u, i, t)?” The teacher then provides each student with letter tiles i, n, q, t, u, and z. The teacher has the students spell quilt, Quin, and quiz. Next, the teacher has the students tap the letters as they say the sounds and then push the tiles together as they blend the sounds and say the word.

• In the Reading Routines Companion, “Initial qu words, Side B,” it states that some students who cannot decode words with v, y, and z may benefit from a tactile blending activity. The teacher displays letter tiles for zap, leaving space between each letter. The teacher models tapping each letter and says the sound: /z/ /a/ /p/. The teacher then says, “Now I’ll blend the sounds to say the word.” The teacher pushes the tiles together from left to right and says, zap. The teacher then asks, “What is the first sound in zap (/z/)?” Finally, the teacher provides students with letter tiles a, e, i, m, p, q, s, t, u, v, y, and z. The students spell the words vat, yes, zip, yam, quiz, and yum. The teacher has the students tap each letter sound as they say its sound and then push the tiles together as they blend the sounds and say the word.

Materials provide targeted instruction and activities to accelerate learning for students who have achieved grade level mastery of foundational phonics skills.

• Unit 2, Week 4, provides extensions for small group instruction in phonics. For example, students practice reading high-frequency words and words with long e spellings using the decodable reader My Letter. Students read in pairs, listening for letter-sound relationships while decoding. Students take turns reading or switch readers after each page. Students also make word cards for previously learned high-frequency words and practice reading the words with partners.
• The materials include guidance for enrichment activities for students who have mastered grade-level foundational phonics skills. For example, in Unit 4, Week 1, the teacher notices and assesses if students are able to decode and write words with the ending -es. If the teacher decides that the students understand the skill, the teacher extends small group instruction with the following activities: 1. Building words with letter tiles to create additional words ending with -es. 2. During independent reading, the teacher encourages students to find texts that interest and challenge them.
• In Unit 5, Week 1, the teacher notices and assesses if students are able to decode and write words with three-letter consonant blends and trigraphs. If students show success, the teacher can extend instruction for “Phonics in a Small Group.” Activities include: 1. The subheading “Support Independent Reading” encourages students to pursue independent reading in all parts of the curriculum, and the teacher can help them find books and texts on different topics that interest them. 2. Students can write about their book in a notebook. 3. Students can play “myView” phonics games.

• Unit 5 extension activities provide a template for students to create bookmarks according to the type of text they are reading. For example, if a student chooses a nonfiction bookmark, the student would write down three questions for the author of the text, write down keywords and new words, and write down new and interesting words/phrases.

Materials provide enrichment activities for all levels of learners.

• Enrichment resources that support students’ development of high-frequency word knowledge include the game “Word Island.” This game provides opportunities for students to identify and select high-frequency words and progress from Level 1 to Level 3 in each island, providing a cumulative review of previously learned high-frequency words. For example, Cod Island includes Level 1 words to collect such as is, to, my, and a. This game progresses at the student’s ability level.
• The materials include enrichment activities for all levels of learners that provide students opportunities to explore and apply new learning in a variety of ways. For example, in Unit 4, Week 1, the segment “Assess and Differentiate for Phonics: Decode and Write Words with Inflectional Ending -es and Plural es” provides “Independent/Collaborative” activities. The activities include: 1. “Word Work Activity”—manipulate letter tiles to build and read words ending with -es. 2. Play the letter tile game in myView games; read the decodable book Corn Cakes. 3. “High-Frequency Words”—have students write sentences that include the high-frequency words new, found, thank, please, always. Students then read their sentences to a partner.
• In Unit 5, Week 1, the segment “Phonics: Decode and Write Words with Consonant Blends and Trigraphs” suggests enrichment activities. The activities include: 1. Build words with letter tiles— the teacher distributes letter tiles, and students build words with initial blends, such as splash, stripe, squish, throw, splat, and scrape; students then read each of the words and identify the blend in each word. 2. Students play the “Letter Tile” game in myView games. 3. “Independent Reading”—students reread or listen to another text they have previously read, read a self-selected trade book or their “Book Club Text,” or practice reading fluently with a partner. 4. “Literacy Activities”—complete the “My Turn” activity in the “Student Interactive,” write about their book in a notebook, or play the myView games.

Evaluation for 5.2
Materials include a variety of instructional methods that appeal to a variety of learning interests and needs.

The materials meet the criteria for this indicator. Materials include a variety of instructional methods that appeal to a variety of learning interests and needs.

Materials include a variety of developmentally appropriate instructional approaches to engage students in mastery of the content. Materials support a variety of instructional settings (e.g., whole group, small group, one-on-one).

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

Materials include a variety of developmentally appropriate instructional approaches to engage students in mastery of the content.

• Materials include a variety of developmentally appropriate instructional approaches that include the use of letter tiles to engage students in mastery of the content. For example, in Unit 2, Week 1, students use letter tiles to form words with the consonant blends tr, sn, cl, fl. Words include trap, snap, and flap. Further opportunities include students reading the decodable reader The Sleds, which includes pictorial supports for the word sled in a variety of sled sizes that correspond with sentences. For example, the following sentence includes a picture of Meg with a big sled: “Meg can get a big sled.”
• In Unit 4, Week 2, the teacher uses the picture cards for fox, crab, dress, fan, hen, and jet. The teacher says each word, and students segment and blend the phonemes. The students also count and tell the number of sounds heard in each word.
• The materials engage students in mastery of the content through a variety of instructional approaches. The “Reading Routines Companion” states that the following multisensory activities connect with the “myView Literacy” phonics lessons: “Phonological and Phonemic Awareness Activities, Rhyming Activities, Letter Recognition Activities, Letter-Sound Correspondence Activities, and Word Recognition Activities.”
• In the Reading Routines Companion, the teacher engages students in the multisensory activity “Time to Rhyme!” The teacher writes the letter a on the board and says: “Listen carefully to one sound the letter a can spell: /ă/ /ă/ /ă/. We often hear the sound /ă/ in the middle of a word, such as in the words cat and fan.” The teacher then tells the students that two words with the same middle and ending sounds are called rhyming words. The teacher says one-syllable short a words such as hat, man, pack, nap, and crash. Each time the teacher says a word, the teacher calls on a student to generate a word that rhymes with it. Nonsense words are acceptable, as long as they rhyme.

• Each lesson incorporates a “Model and Practice” component for each skill taught. In Unit 5, Week 1, the teacher writes the following words: sprout, strong, splint, thrill, and squeeze. The teacher says, “The letters spr form a three-letter blend as in the word sprout.” The students read the word with the teacher, and the teacher underlines the spelling pattern spr. The teacher then points to the word strong and has students decode it. The teacher asks, “What consonant sounds do you hear at the beginning of the word strong (/s/ /t/ /r/)?” The teacher repeats the routine for the words splint, thrill, and squeeze. Next, the teacher writes the word street and has the students decode the word as the teacher underlines the three-letter blend. This is repeated with the words splash and spring.

Materials support a variety of instructional settings (e.g., whole group, small group, one on one).

• Materials support a variety of instructional settings that include whole group and small group. In Unit 3, Lesson 3, whole group instruction includes the teacher telling students that e and ee spell the long e, using the words we and sheep. Students use a T-chart and label one side of the chart with e and the other ee. The teacher reads words from a word list, including but not limited to bee, seed, she, need, and he, segmenting and repeating words if necessary. Students sort the words into the correct column, then read words in their columns with their partners. Additionally, the material includes a “Turn, Talk, and Share” partner activity, where students decode words on the corresponding “Student Interactive” page. Words include be, me, we, feel, week, and meet.
• Each lesson begins as whole group instruction; instructional settings vary during the rest of the lesson. For example, in Unit 4, Week 1, the “Focus” and Model and Practice segments are completed in a whole group setting. During “Apply/Turn, Talk, and Share,” students work with partners to decode words in their Student Interactive. An optional activity is provided under the subheading “Formative Assessment Options.” In this independent activity, each student gets two word cards, one for inflectional endings and one for plural endings. On the front of each card, the teacher writes the words buzz, pass, lunch, dish, and mix. The teacher then tells the students to write the words on the back of the cards and add the ending -es. The teacher tells them to read both sides of the card aloud to a partner and then use each word in a sentence.
• In Unit 5, Week 1, during the Turn, Talk, and Share segment, students are paired up and decode the words stripe, spray, split, three, strict, sprint, splash, and squish. Then, during the “My Turn” segment, students independently look at a picture, say the picture name, spell the word, and write the letters to finish the word.

Evaluation for 5.3
Materials include supports for Emergent Bilinguals to meet grade-level learning expectations.

The materials meet the criteria for this indicator. Materials include supports for Emergent Bilinguals to meet grade-level learning expectations.

Materials include linguistic accommodations (communicated, sequenced, and scaffolded) commensurate with various levels of English language proficiency as defined by the English Language Proficiency Standards (ELPS). Materials encourage strategic use of students’ first language as a means to linguistic, affective, cognitive, and academic development in English.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

Materials include linguistic accommodations (communicated, sequenced, and scaffolded) commensurate with various levels of English language proficiency as defined by the English Language Proficiency Standards (ELPS).

• In Unit 2, Week 3, the “ELL Target Support” segment states that additional practice and exposure to words that end in -ck may be necessary for English learners to understand that the ck consonant pattern creates the /k/ sound. The beginning/intermediate suggestions include the teacher writing letter pairs and having student volunteers add -ck to the end of each word. Letter pairs include ba, pe, si, and tu. The advanced/advanced high supports include the teacher displaying sentences as follows: “The…can swim. I have one…. Can we go…?” The teacher uses the words duck, sock, and back as clues for students to select the -ck word that completes the sentence. Students write the correct word and read the sentence using the word.
• ELL Targeted Support sections give differentiated support for beginning/intermediate and advanced/advanced high proficiencies within the lessons. In Unit 4, Week 1, the teacher uses the following learning strategies to help students acquire grade-level vocabulary with the ending -es. For students at the beginning level, the teacher displays and reads the words bus and mix. The students repeat the words. Then, the teacher gives the students “Letter Tiles” and has them spell the words. Next, the teacher adds the -es ending to each word and has students do the same with their Letter Tiles. The students read the new words. Students at the intermediate level get three word cards: one noun, one verb, and the ending -es. The students say the word on one of their cards, put their -es card at the end of the word, and read the new word. For students at the advanced/advanced high level, the teacher writes the words classes, buses, flashes, mixes, buzzes, boxes, and patches on the board. Students create a T-chart with the 

  headings Nouns and Verbs. The teacher then models how to place the first word, classes, under the Noun heading. The students then continue on their own. ELPS 1.C.i is referenced in this lesson: “Use strategic learning techniques to acquire basic and grade-level vocabulary.”

• In Unit 5, Week 1, students work with partners to decode the words stripe, spray, split, three, strict, sprint, splash, and squish. For students at the beginning/intermediate levels, the teacher begins by saying the word street. The teacher writes the word on the board as the students say it sound by sound. The teacher then underlines the letters str. The teacher says the consonant sounds and asks students to echo. The teacher blends the word and asks students to repeat and write it in their notebooks. The activity continues with the word straw. Students at the advanced/advanced high level sort the sounds of the blends and trigraphs str, spr, and spl. Students draw three columns on a sheet of paper with the headings str, spr, and spl. The teacher says the word street and uses it in a sentence. Next, the teacher writes the word on the board as they say it sound by sound. The teacher then tells students to repeat the word and write it in the str column. The teacher continues with the following words without telling the students in which column to write each word: splash, spread, strong, spring, split, strip, spruce, and splice. ELPS 5.A.i is referenced in this lesson: “Learn relationships between sounds and letters of the English language to represent sounds when writing in English.”

Materials encourage strategic use of students’ first language as a means to linguistic, affective, cognitive, and academic development in English.

• The materials contain linguistic support for Emergent Bilinguals. The supports are in the form of a companion book titled the Language Awareness Handbook. The core materials also contain tidbits to support Emergent Bilinguals. For example, Week 1, Lesson 1, highlights English Learner language transfer cognates by pointing out the Spanish cognates in a read-aloud, including imagine, imaginar; possibly, posiblemente.
• In Unit 5, Week 3, ELL Targeted Support for beginning/intermediate students states, “There are some sounds in English that might not exist in students’ native languages.” For example, the teacher models pronouncing squirrels and points out the position for proper pronunciation. The teacher script reads: “Point out the positions of your mouth and tongue. Ask students to repeat the word. Repeat this process with the remaining vocabulary words.” Advanced/advanced high student notes include students paying attention to the teacher’s mouth and tongue position when pronouncing squirrel. Students echo read as the teacher reads the “Student Interactive” sentences and words.
• The “Family-School Connection” letters are provided in both English and Spanish. These letters explain the theme of each unit and the reading and writing skills being studied. The letters also provide examples of how parents can help their child with those skills and the students’ project-based inquiry.
• In the “Dual Language Toolkit,” in the “Articles” section, there is an article about “Cognate Analysis and Classifying Cognates.” The article suggests that teachers have students keep, and regularly update, a list of cognates in their writing journals. If appropriate, the teacher should encourage students to apply what they know about language patterns in Spanish and English to generate additional cognate pairs.