Phonics Launch, Grade 3

Evaluation for 1.1a
Materials include a scope and sequence outlining the TEKS, ELPS, concepts, and knowledge taught in the course.

• Appendix A of the Phonics Launch Handbook includes ten scopes and sequences. These scope and sequences outline the book number, book title, sight word, and phonics focus for each kit in the program. The kits include Ready, Set, Go, On Our Way, Building Up, Moving On, and Lifting Off. 
• The scope and sequences in Appendix B of the Phonics Launch Handbook display the corresponding grade levels for each of the ten scopes and sequences. These scope and sequences show TEKS alignment for all lessons within the program. The materials include a note at the bottom of the scope and sequence charts, which states, “This chart is organized by grade-level standards. However, Phonics Launch is designed to be a flexible program and can be used across grade levels.” The Lifting Off Set 2 scope and sequence displays grade 3 TEKS. The scope and sequences do not outline the materials with the ELPS. 
• Table 4-3 in Chapter 4 of the Phonics Launch Handbook aligns the phonics activities in each lesson to the TEKS.

Evaluation for 1.1b
Materials include suggested pacing (pacing guide/calendar) to support effective implementation for various instructional calendars (e.g., varying numbers of instructional days – 165, 180, 210).

• The materials include a scope and sequence that serves as the pacing guide. The Phonics Launch Handbook provides guidance on the number of days the lessons should take. For example, the Lesson Overview section states, “The curriculum is flexible and features 10 to 12-minute lessons that span across four days.” It also provides guidance that teachers can choose to monitor progress on day four or add a day five into each lesson. 
• Appendix B in the Phonics Launch Handbook shows 18 lessons for grade 3. Following the four-day suggested model results in 72 instructional days. 
• The materials do not include pacing calendars to support the effective implementation of various instructional calendars. However, they give guidance, such as “two lessons can be combined for a two-day lesson plan of 20 minutes each day.” 

Evaluation for 1.1c
Materials include an explanation for the rationale of unit order as well as how concepts to be learned connect throughout the course.

• The materials include a rationale for unit order in the Phonics Launch Handbook in a graphic titled, How Phonics Launch Targets Foundational Skills. This graphic in Table 4.1 of Chapter 4 details how the "scope and sequences are built on a phonics continuum and structured within the gradual release of responsibility framework." 
• Table 4.1 in the Phonics Launch Handbook also shows each phonics element and where it is taught throughout the program from grade K through grade 3. The materials describe how the structure design leverages skills that students have already acquired. 
• The Lesson Framework for Ready, Set, Go, Lessons 13- 48, and all other phonics launch kits states that "students learn and practice phonemic awareness and phonics skills and then transfer those skills directly to reading and writing."

Evaluation for 1.1d
Materials include guidance, protocols, and/or templates for unit and lesson internalization.

• The materials include guidance on unit internalization. Getting Started Cards for each unit include a scope and sequence, lesson overviews, and needed materials. The lesson description gives a series of steps to advise teachers on how to proceed through the lesson.
• The Procedures section in Chapter 4 of the Phonics Launch Handbook references the lesson layout and explicitly explains and differentiates between teacher and student actions in each activity. It includes visuals of materials, teaching tips, and a QR code teachers can use to access model videos. 
• The materials include guidance for lesson internalization. For example, Chapter 4 of the Phonics Launch Handbook provides directions on how to teach the different and recurring phonics activities. It also includes teacher tips, suggestions for differentiating instruction, and directions for additional materials such as sound boxes and picture sorting.

Evaluation for 1.1e
Materials include resources and guidance to support administrators and instructional coaches with implementing the materials as designed.

• The materials include resources to support administrators and instructional coaches in implementing the material as designed. For example, the "Phonics Launch Fidelity Implementation Checklist" supports administrators and coaches in monitoring the implementation of the product. The checklist components include scoring scale indicators of evident, work in progress, and not observed. There is also a section where observers can write notes. The checklist breaks down the components, which include logistics, Step 1 (Days 1 and 3), Step 1 (Days 2 and 4), Step 2 (Days 1-4), Step 3 (Days 1 and 3), and Step 3 (Days 2 and 4). The checklist provides the observer with specific things to look for throughout the lesson. For example, on Day 3 (Days 2 and 4): Applying Phonics, one indicator states, "Teacher is correctly facilitating dictated sentence(s)." 
•  The Phonics Launch Handbook provides guidance to support coaches with implementing the materials as designed. The materials guide coaches to use the "Phonics Launch Fidelity Implementation Checklist" "When observing lessons to ensure successful implementation of them." The materials do not provide guidance to support administrators with implementing the materials as designed.

Evaluation for 1.2a
Materials include comprehensive unit overviews that provide the background content knowledge and academic vocabulary necessary to effectively teach the concepts in the unit.

• The materials include comprehensive unit overviews in the Getting Started Cards for each kit, which provide the scope and sequence, sight words, materials needed, and phonics focus for each lesson. This component of the materials provides detailed instructions for the teacher on each activity and insights into how each lesson component is connected.  For example, in the Getting Started Card for Lifting Off, Set 2 kit, the step 3 component outlines the focus of applying phonics. This section states, “In this step, students utilize and transfer the phonemic awareness and phonics skills they have been working on to reading and writing text.” The materials provide five activities students will complete in this kit to support this concept. The materials describe how to complete these activities and their location in the kit sequence. 
• Under the Welcome section of the Getting Started Card, the materials briefly describe the kit’s focus. For example, on the Getting Started Card for Lifting Off, Set 2 kit, the materials state, “Lifting Off provides the transitional reader with opportunities to practice decoding multisyllabic words with common prefixes and suffixes, as well as words with challenging sounds such as vowel-r combination, vowel teams, and trigraphs.” At the bottom of this section, a QR code and web address provide access to more digital resources. These resources include instructional videos for each part of the lesson and an Academic Language Glossary.

Evaluation for 1.2b
Materials contain supports for families in both Spanish and English for each unit with suggestions on supporting the progress of their student.

• The materials provide five letters for caregivers with suggestions on supporting student progress. There is one letter for each of the five kits. The Lifting Off kit correlates with grade 3 standards. The top of the letter provides the learning objectives for the upcoming lessons. The bottom of the letters include activities to reinforce the learning. These include rereading, scavenger hunt, four square, writing a retell (fiction), and facts learned (nonfiction). The materials provide the letters in English and Spanish. 
• The materials provide Phonics Launch at Home letters to be sent home after introducing a new phonics focus. The guide instructs the teacher to fill out the take-home letter with the current phonics focus, review phonics focus, phonics storybook, and activities. The letter includes a list of activities for the teacher to highlight for students to complete, or they can allow parents to select the activities they want to complete. The letter includes activity descriptions on the back to assist parents. The materials only provide the letter in English. 

Evaluation for 1.3a
Materials include comprehensive, structured, detailed lesson plans that include daily objectives, questions, tasks, materials, and instructional assessments required to meet the content and language standards of the lesson.

• The Phonics Launch Lesson Cards provide structured daily lesson plans with the lesson focus, questions, tasks, and materials aligned to the content standards. They also include explicit instructional routines to model and teach the skills. 
• The materials provide comprehensive, structured, detailed lesson plans that include tasks and materials required to meet the content and language standards. For example, on the Lifting Off, Set 2, Lesson 7 card, the Day 2 activity Analogy Chart uses Analogy Chart Cards and dry-erase markers. Teacher guidance states, "Have students write the key words right and ring at the top of their chart and underline igh and ing.” The students then sort a dictated list of words into columns based on their phonics pattern.
• The materials provide instructional assessments aligned with the content and language standards. For example, the progress monitoring guidance on the Lifting Off, Set 2, Lesson 5 card states, “Dictate three words containing spelling pattern le and ask students to write the words. Next, have them write three additional words containing previously taught phonics skills. Then have students reread this book and previously read Phonics Storybooks while you observe and take anecdotal notes.” The assessment aligns with the four-day lesson focusing on spelling pattern le.
• The comprehensive, structured, detailed lesson plans provide questions that align with the content and language standards. For example, in Lifting Off, Set 2, Lesson 16, students repeat words with the suffix -ful and listen for a similar sound. A provided question includes, “What sounds the same in each of these words?”
• The materials do not provide daily objectives within the lesson plan but include the lesson focus at the top of each lesson card. For example, on the Lifting Off, Set 2 Lesson 6 card, the phonics focus is “Digraph ph.”

Evaluation for 1.3b
Materials include a lesson overview outlining the suggested timing for each lesson component.

• Chapter 2 of the Phonics Launch Handbook provides a lesson framework and instructional outline with suggested times for each lesson section. For example, for Ready, Set, Go Lessons 13 -48, and all other phonics Launch Kits, Step 1 should take 1-2 minutes, Step 2 should take 2-3 minutes, and Step 3 should take 5-7 minutes. 
• Under the Welcome heading on the Getting Started Cards, it states, "The curriculum is flexible and features short 10–12-minute mini-lessons that can be stand-alone or supplementary and can easily be modified for whole-group instruction."
• The materials do not provide an overview of the suggested timing for each lesson component on the lesson cards. 

Evaluation for 1.3c
Materials include a lesson overview listing the teacher and student materials necessary to effectively deliver the lesson.

• The materials do not provide a lesson overview listing the teacher and student materials necessary to effectively deliver the lesson. The materials provide a list of materials required for each kit on the Getting Started Cards. These cards display a materials needed section. It provides details such as, “In addition to the Ponics Storybooks and lesson cards, you will be using a variety of teaching tools. The material required will vary with each lesson and are not included in the Phonics Launch Kits.” The materials are available for purchase on the company website. 
• Examples of required materials for Lifting Off, Set 2, include “Sound box/analogy chart card, digraph-blend card, vowel chart card, writing journals, plastic write-on sleeves, dry-erase boards and markers with erasers, magnetic dry-erase easel, magnetic letters with storage box, and magnetic letter trays.”  The material do not specify which are for students and which are for teachers.  This list does not designate which are teacher and which are student materials. 

Evaluation for 1.3d
Materials include guidance on the effective use of lesson materials for extended practice (e.g., homework, extension, enrichment).

• The Phonics Launch at Home letter "provides activity ideas to support your class phonics instruction at home and reinforce new and review concepts." Materials also include guidance on assigning activities for students to practice at home. Teachers can assign decodable stories to the Digital Reader, which students can access at home.  
• Table 3.2 in the Phonics Launch Handbook provides an if-then chart with suggestions on enriching instruction if students master phonemic awareness concepts. For example, if students master adding sounds to the end of a word, it suggests, “Have the student add a part or phoneme to the beginning of the word.” Table 4.4 provides the same guidance for phonics, and Table 5.2 for teaching reading concepts. 

Evaluation for 2.1a
Materials include a variety of instructional assessments at the unit and lesson level (including diagnostic, formative, and summative) that vary in types of tasks and questions.

• The materials include a diagnostic assessment, the "Phonics Survey," for teacher administration in the Phonics Launch Handbook. The "Phonics Survey" determines which level a student should enter the program. This survey includes a letter-sound assessment, decoding inventory, and encoding inventory. It directs teachers to collect quantitative and qualitative data on letter knowledge and sounds, decoding, and encoding. Teachers give this assessment at the beginning of the year but also can give it at the middle and end of the year. 
• The materials include formative assessments at the lesson level. Each weekly lesson card contains a progress monitoring activity, which serves as a formative assessment for the weekly objective. These assessments vary in types of tasks and questions. For example, in "Lifting Off," Set 2, Lesson 5, students encode three words dictated by the teacher with the spelling pattern "le" and write three additional words with previously taught phonics patterns. The student then rereads a previous Phonics Storybook while the teacher takes anecdotal notes. 
• The materials include summative and formative assessments at the unit level that vary in types of tasks and questions. For example, the Lifting Off, Unit 5.b assessment assesses students on phonological/phonemic awareness skills, decoding of words containing the phonics skill and sight words, and encoding words, sentences, and sight words.

Evaluation for 2.1b
Materials include the definition and intended purpose for the types of instructional assessments included.

• The Phonics Launch Handbook provides the purpose of the "Phonics Survey." The purpose is to "help determine a starting place in the lesson sequence and provide information to guide you in supporting individual students during instruction." The materials do not explicitly name the assessment as diagnostic, but that is its utility in the program. The materials explain that students' performance determines if they take additional assessments to determine small group placement. 
• The materials explain in the handbook that the "Letter-Sound Assessment" helps determine students' specific letter and sound knowledge. It explains this knowledge is essential in building strong foundational knowledge. The handbook indicates the purpose of the "Decoding Inventory": "To identify the appropriate starting place along the continuum for each student..." 
• Each weekly lesson card contains a progress monitoring activity. The handbook explains that these assessments aim to determine the next steps for students in the program.
• The Phonics Launch Handbook provides assessment definitions in the Phonics Launch Assessments table. For example, Diagnostic/Progress monitoring is defined as, "Assesses phonic knowledge, phoneme-grapheme identification, and matching, decoding/encoding skills. Use the beginning of the year placement and mid/end of year as a diagnostic to track progress/determine need for intervention. Can be used for progress monitoring."

Evaluation for 2.1c
Materials include teacher guidance to ensure consistent and accurate administration of instructional assessments.

• Chapter 1 of the Phonics Launch Handbook contains teacher guidance, the necessary materials, and specific procedures for administering the Phonics Survey and Decoding Inventory assessments. The handbook provides scripted language to ensure consistent and accurate assessment administration, and the materials provide specific guidelines on when to move students on to the next assessment. 
• The materials also provide information on administering assessments using the Digital Reader, an add-on supplemental technology resource. 
• Chapter 7 in the Phonics Launch Handbook provides teacher guidance to ensure consistent and accurate progress monitoring. The recording form provides detailed steps and guidance for the procedure.  It also offers teaching tips for adjusting administration to ensure data accuracy if a student struggles with the assessment.

Evaluation for 2.1d
Diagnostic, formative, and summative assessments are aligned to the TEKS and objectives of the course, unit, or lesson.

• Table 3-1 in the Phonics Launch Handbook shows the "Phonemic Awareness Alignment" to the TEKS. It includes the TEKS for each phonemic awareness activity in the program for each grade level. The alignment is for grades K-2.
• The Phonics Launch Handbook, "Chapter 1," subsection "Administering the Phonics Survey" details how the diagnostic assessment aligns with and supports the curriculum's objective. However, the TEKS are not aligned. 
• The "Phonics Survey" is a diagnostic assessment that directly aligns with the materials. It contains 11 matrices that show the lesson aligned with each section of the decoding accuracy and encoding accuracy portions based on data collected from the student.
• Every lesson ends with a formative progress monitoring activity. The materials do not provide a TEKS correlation, but the assessment items align with the weekly objective. A correlation chart in the Phonics Launch Handbook ties each week's lessons to TEKS. 
• The materials provide summative assessments aligned to the objectives of the course. The summative assessments assess phonological/phonemic awareness skills, sight words, encoding, and decoding over the focus objectives throughout the unit. The materials do not provide TEKS alignment for the assessments. 

Evaluation for 2.1e
Instructional assessments include standards-aligned items at varying levels of complexity.

• The Phonics Launch Handbook Chapter 1 subsection, Administering the Phonics Survey, details how the assessment is aligned with and supports the curriculum's objective. However, there is no reference to or alignment with the TEKS.
• The activities and Progress Monitoring instructions at the bottom of the lesson card informally assess the objectives for each week’s lesson. These objectives are not identified by TEKS in the lesson; however, each objective for the week is tied to TEKS.  Assessment items do not exist at varying levels of complexity. 

Evaluation for 2.2a
Instructional assessments and scoring information provide guidance for interpreting and responding to student performance.

• The Phonics Survey uses decoding and encoding accuracy data to identify a student's strengths, weaknesses, and gaps. 11 matrices place the student in a lesson progression sequence corresponding to and responding to their data. 
• According to the program's diagnostic assessment results, the materials guide teachers in placing students in the appropriate instructional groups. The materials state, "Depending on how the student scores, place them or move on to the additional inventories as needed according to the matrix. Another option is to pinpoint the gaps between the encoding and decoding skills and choose the lessons that will fill in those missing skills.” The Phonics Launch Handbook Ch. 1 Phonics Survey Placement provides teachers with detailed guidance on scoring administered assessments and interpreting the scores for placement in instructional groups. "If a student can name more than 40 letters and at least 8 of the 26 sounds, then move on to administering the Decoding and Encoding Inventories.”
• Chapter 7 of the Phonics Launch Handbook addresses progress monitoring. Table 7-1 Using Progress Monitoring Data guides teachers in responding if a student has yet to achieve proficiency in encoding and/or decoding. There is guidance for students who have achieved proficiency and those who have not. Additionally, the guidance separates into whole-group and small-group support opportunities.
• The materials state, "Ongoing progress monitoring is an essential step when teaching students in small groups. Students will gain control of different skills at different rates and times. Because of this, groups should be flexible, as students may move in and out of groups. Therefore, the Progress Monitoring section at the end of each Phonics Launch lesson is a critical part of the lesson framework."

Evaluation for 2.2b
Materials provide guidance for the use of included tasks and activities to respond to student trends in performance on assessments.

• Chapter 1 of the Phonics Launch Handbook includes activities for Pre-Alphabet students. The Procedures for the Letter Sound Assessment direct teachers to use these activities "if a student is controlling less than 20 letter names and/or only a few sounds.” The activities address phonemics awareness, phonics, comprehension, vocabulary, fluency, and writing. 
• The Phonics Survey diagnostic assessment provides 11 placement matrices, each containing a prescribed lesson sequence and tasks that respond to students' performance on the diagnostic assessment. 
• Table 3-2 in the Phonics Launch Handbook provides target and specific instruction moves for the teacher to use in response to student trends in assessment performance regarding phonemic awareness. For example, if a student struggles with blending compound words or syllables, it is recommended that the teacher try using hand motions or singing the parts of the word. It suggests that students who master this skill should practice blending onsets and rimes.   

Evaluation for 2.2c
Materials include tools for students to track their own progress and growth.

The Phonics Launch Resource website provides a student tracker students use to track their progress. The student data sheet allows students to track their progress on progress monitoring assessments. The student-friendly form provides graphs for students to track their scores for retelling, fluency, phonics, and writing sight words. Students can track six lessons on one page. 

Evaluation for 3.1a
Materials include teacher guidance for differentiated instruction, activities, and/or paired (scaffolded) lessons for students who have not yet reached proficiency on grade-level content and skills.

• The materials do not advise placing students into instructional groups by grade level but instead by the skills they have attained.  Many units align to multiple grade levels, thus being utilized to respond to the skills students need to master. 
• Chapter 1 in the Phonics Launch Handbook provides a Placement Guide for teachers to form differentiated instructional small groups using the diagnostic assessment. The materials suggest considering what stage of word reading development students align with when analyzing test results and grouping students. 
• The materials provide multiple sources for students needing more foundational skills practice. For example, Table 3-2 in the handbook provides guidance for differentiating phonemic awareness activities within the lesson. The table uses an if-then format to match teacher observations to student behaviors to provide corrective feedback and lesson differentiation. The materials provide scaffolds for letter sound identification, letter sorting, blending, segmenting, adding/deleting, and substituting. 

Evaluation for 3.1b
Materials include pre-teaching or embedded supports for unfamiliar vocabulary and references in text (e.g., figurative language, idioms, academic language).

• The Phonics Launch program website provides vocabulary scope and sequences for each unit. The materials list each book's knowledge-building/story words and procedures for introducing vocabulary words before reading. The procedure prompts the teacher to provide a student-friendly definition, connect the word to something familiar, describe the word's usage in the text, and have students orally use the word in a sentence.
• The materials provide graphic organizers to support students’ vocabulary development. Three graphic organizers, Vocabulary 4 Square, Vocabulary Builder, and Word Connections, are available for download.
• The In Tandem Handbook provides guidance on conducting the Book Introduction routine within the lessons. These procedures support vocabulary development. For example, the last step states, “Discuss new vocabulary and unfamiliar concepts to build background knowledge as needed.”

Evaluation for 3.1c
Materials include teacher guidance for differentiated instruction, enrichment, and extension activities for students who have demonstrated proficiency in grade-level content and skills.

• The materials include teacher guidance for extension activities for students who demonstrate proficiency in grade-level skills. Table 3-2 in the In Tandem Handbook provides ways to differentiate instruction in phonemic awareness based on observational data. It utilizes an if-then formatted chart to match teacher observations of student behaviors to corrective feedback and lesson differentiation ideas. For example, if students successfully segment words by onset and rime, have students segment words into phonemes. 
• The materials include teacher guidance on enriching instruction for students who have demonstrated proficiency in grade-level skills. Table 4-4 in the In Tandem Handbook provides ways to differentiate phonics instructions. It utilizes an if-then formatted chart to match teacher observations of student behaviors to corrective feedback and lesson differentiation ideas. For example, if students successfully write words using the correct letters for each sound, then have students create and write an additional word containing the phonic element. 
• The Phonics Launch Handbook recommends frequent regrouping of instructional groups to ensure that instruction meets the needs of all students. Students receive different levels of instruction depending on their assessment and observation data. 

Evaluation for 3.2a
Materials include prompts and guidance to support the teacher in modeling, explaining, and communicating the concept(s) to be learned explicitly (directly).

• The materials include prompts to support teachers in communicating, explaining, and modeling the concepts directly and explicitly.  In Lift Off Set 2, Lesson 2, Day 3, during the Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down activity, the teacher says, "I will say two words, and we will listen to the vowel sound of each one. If the vowel sounds are the same, put your thumb up. If the vowel sounds are different, put your thumb down." The materials prompt the teacher to model the first pair. This explicit guidance for the teacher is provided consistently throughout all lessons.
• The materials provide guidance in modeling concepts. For example, the handbook includes detailed guidance for all routines within the lessons. A QR code in the Table of Contents provides access to professional learning videos on the Phonics Launch Resources and Videos Website. These videos provide explicit instruction on how to teach each lesson component. 
• The materials include prompts and guidance to support teachers in modeling. For example, in Lift Off, Set 2, Lesson 14, Day 2, the materials prompt the teacher to “Say and clap the word recreate and model segmenting the syllables: re-cre-ate, recreate. Students then segment the words, reporter, and requirement. 

Evaluation for 3.2b
Materials include teacher guidance and recommendations for effective lesson delivery and facilitation using a variety of instructional approaches.

• In the Introduction to Phonics Launch, the publisher explains the variety of instructional approaches. "Multimodal letter learning and phonics tools foster vibrant student learning experiences. The lessons provide differentiated instruction in phonemic awareness, alphabetics, phonics, decoding, and encoding—all critical elements in a science-based reading program."
• The materials guide and recommend effective lesson facilitation by offering active student participation, manipulatives, and engagement opportunities. For example, in Lifting Off Set 2, Lesson 11, students clap out the syllables in fragile, create the word with magnetic letters, break the word into syllables, and remake the word. 
• The Launch Handbook includes guidance and recommendations for effective lesson delivery in small groups but also provides instructions for converting to a whole-group format. 
• The Launch Handbook includes a detailed instructional outline of each lesson's four days. The guidance lists the lesson component, teacher actions, student actions, and the time allotted. For example, students develop phonics skills in Step 2 of each day. This step takes three to five minutes. It states, “Students practice the week’s phonics skill using engaging activities that combine multiple modalities of learning.” During this component, the teacher provides corrective feedback.

Evaluation for 3.2c
Materials support multiple types of practice (e.g., guided, independent, collaborative) and include guidance for teachers and recommended structures (e.g., whole group, small group, individual) to support effective implementation.

• The materials recommend delivering instruction in small groups. The Phonics Launch  Handbook states, "The power of working with students in a small group is the opportunity to provide individual attention. While students are grouped together based on similar skills and stages of literacy development, you will still find a range of responses for each student." The Handbook also gives suggestions on how to implement whole-group instruction. 
• Materials support guided, independent, and collaborative structures. During the New Sight Word component of the lesson, the teacher guides students through the routine of learning a new word. The teacher models saying the word, counting the sounds, and mapping the letters before students attempt this. Throughout the week, students read independently using soft voices as the teacher works with individuals. During the Picture Sorting activity, students take turns saying the picture, identifying the first sound, identifying the correct letter, and placing the Word Study card under the correct letter.

Evaluation for 3.3a
Materials include teacher guidance on providing linguistic accommodations for various levels of language proficiency [as defined by the English Language Proficiency Standards (ELPS)], which are designed to engage students in using increasingly more academic language.

• The materials do not provide teacher guidance on providing linguistic accommodations for various levels of language proficiency to engage students in increasing academic language. However, they do include generic tips in the Phonics Launch Handbook. 
• The Phonics Launch Handbook provides general guidance for all lessons and grade levels. For example, “To support oral language during the book discussion, provide sentence starters to assist EL students with formulating complete sentences. For additional support, have students reference a specific page with an illustration or a photograph and allow them to use the picture support as a scaffold while discussing the book." The guidance does not align with the levels of language proficiency defined by the ELPS.

Evaluation for 3.3b
Materials include implementation guidance to support teachers in effectively using the materials in state-approved bilingual/ESL programs.

• The materials do not include strategic and consistent implementation guidance for state-approved bilingual/ESL programs. However, they include generic guidance for teachers to support emergent bilingual students. For example, Chapter 9 of the Phonics Launch Handbook suggests, "If students struggle decoding words with previously taught or current phonics elements, then have them make a word out of magnetic letters and demonstrate how to break it into parts." 

Evaluation for 3.3c
Materials include embedded guidance for teachers to support emergent bilingual students in developing academic vocabulary, increasing comprehension, building background knowledge, and making cross-linguistic connections through oral and written discourse.

• The materials do not include embedded and consistent guidance for teachers to support emergent bilingual students in developing vocabulary, increasing comprehension, building background knowledge, and making cross-linguistic connections through oral and written discourse. The materials include generic guidance in the Phonics Launch Handbook for emergent bilingual students, but it applies to all students developing foundational language skills. For example, to support students with oral language and comprehension during a book discussion, it suggests having students use pages from the book as a reference and providing them with sentence starters. 

Evaluation for 3.3d
If designed for dual language immersion (DLI) programs, materials include resources that outline opportunities to address metalinguistic transfer from English to the partner language.

Not scored

Evaluation for 4.1a
Materials include systematic and sequenced instruction of phonics (sound-symbol correspondence) and foundational skills.

• The materials include systematic and sequenced instruction of phonics. The Lift Off, Set 2 scope and sequence introduces vowel-r combinations, spelling pattern -le, digraph ph, vowel teams, soft c and g, silent letter combinations and then affixes. 
• Materials include systematic and sequenced instruction of foundational skills. Table 3-1 in the Phonics Launch Handbook outlines the phonemic awareness alignment for activities in grades K - 2. The table does not include alignment for grade 3, but foundational skills are still present in the lessons. Every lesson follows the same progression pattern, Day 1: Identifying Sounds and Letters, Day 2: Segmenting Syllables, Day 3: Adding and Deleting, and Day 4: Substituting. The focus of the phonemic awareness activities reflects the phonics focus for the week. 

Evaluation for 4.1b
Materials include explicit (direct) and intentional daily opportunities for phonics (sound-symbol correspondence) and foundational skills.

• The materials include an intentional daily opportunity for phonics. Each lesson includes the same structure. Each activity has a suggested time limit. The activities exist under six domains in the program: 1. Learning Letters/Phonemic Awareness (Days 1 and 3, 1–2 minutes) 2. Sight Word Review (Days 2 and 4, 1–2 minutes) 3. Developing Phonics Skills (2–3 minutes) 4. Reading (Day 1, 5–7 minutes) 5. Rereading (Day 3, 5–7 minutes) 6. Writing Skills (Days 2 and 4, 5–7 minutes) The reading and writing portions of the lesson are considered the application of phonics. Each daily lesson should take between 10-12 minutes.
• The materials do not provide explicit, direct opportunities for phonics. The phonics concepts are taught through activities and do not provide explicit explanations. For example, in Lift Off, Set 2, Lesson 12, to introduce silent combination mn, the teacher says the words column, autumn, solemn. The teacher says, “Now let’s say these words together and listen for the sound at the end: column, autumn, solemn. What sounds do you hear at the end of these words?” The teacher instructs students to say the sound before writing mn on the easel to show the letters that spell the sound. 

Evaluation for 4.1c
Materials include practice of phonics skills both in isolation and through decodable texts.

• Materials include the practice of phonics skills in isolation. For example, in Lift Off Set 2, Lesson 8, Day 4, students write the sentence the teacher dictates: “Reindeer are amazing because _____.” Students practice encoding words with the lesson focus of long a vowel teams, ei and eigh.
• Materials include the practice of phonics skills through decodable texts. For example, in Lift Off, Set 2, Lesson 4, Day 1, students read The Lion with No Roar in the decodable book. Students identify words with vowel-r Combinations oar and ore. Students read words like clipboard, hoarded, hoarse, oar, roar, roared, before, and explore. 

Evaluation for 4.1d
Materials include opportunities for cumulative review of previously taught skills.

• The materials include opportunities for cumulative review. In Lifting Off Set 1 Lesson 4, Day 3, Step 2, students use an analogy chart to practice writing words with the week's current lesson focus on three-letter blend spl while also reviewing the blend sl, short vowels, digraphs and inflectional endings. Students write the keywords slit and split at the top of their chart. The teacher dictates the words slat, splatter, slashing, splashing, and splendid. Students place the words in the correct column.

Evaluation for 4.2a
Daily lessons include explicit (direct) instruction with teacher modeling.

• Daily lessons do not include explicit (direct) instruction with teacher modeling. Lessons do not provide explicit instruction with teacher modeling before students complete phonics activities. For example, the teacher instructs students to create words using magnets to introduce long e vowel team ei in Lift Off, Set 2, Lesson 9, Day 4. The materials provide the teacher with exactly what to say, such as “Make the word: diesel.” The materials never instruct the teacher to model the activity or provide direct instruction on the phonics focus. 
• For example, in Building Up, Set 2, Lesson 17, Day 2, students engage in the Breaking Big Words Routine during the phonics component. The teacher writes the word wielding on the board, and students create words with their magnets. It instructs the teacher not to say the word and have students break off the ending and break the word at the vowel. The teacher repeats this process with the word shielding. The teacher ends the activity by writing the word yielded on the board, and students read it.

Evaluation for 4.2b
Daily lessons include opportunities for explicit (direct) guided instruction and immediate and corrective feedback.

• Daily lessons do not include opportunities for explicit guided phonics instruction. During the Applying Phonics component of the lesson on Day 1, students read a decodable reader. The teacher provides a brief synopsis of the story and instructs students to look through the book. After that, students talk about the story. The materials prompt the teacher to have students locate the phonics pattern. For example, in Lift Off, Set 2, Lesson 11, Day 1, students locate words with soft c and g.  Students then read the book independently.      
• Daily lessons do not include opportunities for immediate and corrective feedback. The lessons do not embed guidance but provide general guidance in the Phonics Launch Handbook. For example, Table 4-4 in the Phonics Launch Handbook provides phonics differentiation with corrective feedback suggestions. For example, if a student struggles to identify the letter or produce the sound, the materials suggest students sort letters that are not visually or audibly similar. 

Evaluation for 4.2c
Daily lessons include a variety of opportunities for students to practice through collaborative learning and independent practice.

• Daily lessons include a variety of opportunities for students to practice through independent practice. In the lessons, students independently read the decodable text on Days 1 and 3. For example, students read the decodable book George and the Bees in Lift Off, Set 2, Lesson 12, and Day 1. Also, on Day 2, encode the dictated sentence, “George was considerate of the bees when he saw the honeycomb on the column.” 
• Daily lessons do not include opportunities for collaborative learning. Students engage in whole-group activities such as the Identifying Sounds and Letters activity in Lift Off, Set 2, Lesson 12, Day 1. In this activity, students listen to the teacher say three words and then identify the sound at the end of each word.   

Evaluation for 4.3a
Materials include intentional cumulative review and practice activities throughout the curriculum.

• The materials include intentional practice activities throughout the curriculum. For example, in Lift Off, Set 2, Lesson 4, Day 1, students read The Lion with No Roar in the decodable book. Students read words like clipboard, hoarded, hoarse, oar, roar, roared, before, and explore. Students use their knowledge from other sets to decode these words. 
• The materials do not include an intentional cumulative review throughout the curriculum. They provide encoding and decoding practice of previously taught skills. However, they do not include an intentional cumulative review. The Getting Started card for each set provides a scope and sequence showing the phonics storybook, phonics skill, and sight words taught in each lesson. Teachers can reference the scope and sequence to see when the material previously introduced phonics skills. 

Evaluation for 4.3b
Practice opportunities include only phonics skills that have been explicitly taught.

• Practice opportunities include phonics skills beyond those explicitly taught. Students read decodable text that contains phonics concepts that have yet to be covered. For example, students read the decodable book Intriguing Animals of the Prairie in Lift Off, Set 2, Lesson 18. Students read words containing phonics patterns that have not explicitly been introduced, such as intriguing, freezing, adapted, and temperatures. The curriculum does not include explicit instructions on the final stable syllable -ture, or suffixes -ing or -ed.  The Phonics Launch Handbook states, “The Phonics Storybooks have, on average, a 65–80 percent decodability factor, allowing ample phonics practice."

Evaluation for 4.3c
Decodable texts incorporate cumulative practice of taught phonics skills.

• Decodable texts incorporate the cumulative practice of taught phonics skills. For example, in Lift Off, Set 2, Lesson 12, students read the book George and the Bees. They read words such as autumn, column, columns, condemn, and solemn. Students use their previous phonics knowledge to decode these words.
• Decodable texts incorporate the cumulative practice of taught phonics skills. For example, in Lift Off, Set 2, Lesson 5, students read the book Mother Zebra and Her Foal. They read words such as fragile, ambled, brittle, cattle, couple, and agile. Students use their knowledge from previous lessons, such as long  i_e. 

Evaluation for 4.3d
Lessons include an instructional focus with opportunities for practice in isolation and connected text.

• Lessons include an instructional focus with opportunities for practice in isolation. For example, in Lift Off Set 2, Lesson 8, Day 4, students write the sentence the teacher dictates: “Reindeer are amazing because _____.” Students practice encoding words with the lesson focus of long a vowel teams, ei and eigh. 
• Lessons include an instructional focus and opportunities for practice with connected text. For example, in Moving On Set 2, Lesson 8, Day 4, students locate long a vowel teams ei and eigh words in the book Reindeer: Amazing Animals of the North. They also locate long a vowel teams ei and eigh in the book. Students read the book independently and decode words like beige, reindeer, veins, eight, neigh, and freight. These words correlate with the lesson focus of long a vowel teams ei and eigh. 

Evaluation for 4.4a
Materials include a variety of assessment tools that are developmentally appropriate.

• The materials include a singular diagnostic assessment for formative progress monitoring across the program. The teacher records data from the "Phonics Survey" on the provided tracker at the year's beginning, middle, and end. This assessment tool reflects the continuum of phonics skills, as explained in the grade-level TEKS. It begins with a letter-sound assessment and then a decoding and encoding words assessment where words progress from CVC, digraphs, blend, silent-e, vowel teams, vowel-r, diphthongs, more rare vowel patterns, and affixes. 
• "Chapter 7" of the Phonics Launch Handbook provides detailed information on progress monitoring for each set of lessons in the Ready, Set, Go and all other Phonics Launch Kits. "The goal of progress monitoring at these early levels is to determine whether novice readers are controlling the reading behaviors necessary for a pre-decoder to move into the next stage of reading and writing." These serve as weekly formative assessments. Not all components of given tasks serve as true progress monitoring as they are not tracking the same data over time. In addition, teachers must select elements that the materials do not provide at the time of the assessment.

Evaluation for 4.4b
Materials include clear, consistent directions for accurate administration of assessments.

• The materials include guidance to help the teacher efficiently administer the assessment. The Phonics Handbook refers to these diagnostic assessments as inventories. There is a step-by-step procedure for teachers to follow on the Letter-Sound Assessment. For example, "Show the student the Letter-Sound Recognition Student Form and say, Can you tell me the names of some of these letters? Then point to the first uppercase letter in the first row and say, Start here and tell me the names of the letters you know. Have the student read across each row rather than down each column.”
• Chapter 1 in the Phonics Launch Handbook and the Placement Matrix (found on the resource website) include detailed information to support the teacher’s understanding of the assessment tools provided in the curriculum and the scoring procedures. For example, the materials provide a scoring matrix, detailed step-by-step assessment procedures, and placement information for which lessons to place students.
• The Phonics Survey includes clear, consistent directions for accurate administration. The first page provides clear guidance on scoring responses accurately across different administrators. For example, "To be correct, the student must give the natural pronunciation of the word without teacher support. If a student sounds out the letters (s-e-t) but does not put the sounds together, it is still an error."

Evaluation for 4.4c
Materials include progress monitoring tools that systematically and accurately measure students’ acquisition of grade-level phonics skills.

• The materials include weekly progress monitoring tools that are also used as diagnostic and formative assessments. The progress monitoring guidance for Lifting Off "Set 2, Lesson 4" states, "Dictate three words containing vowel-r combinations ore or oar and ask students to write the words." It also states, "Then have students reread this book and previously read Phonics Storybooks while you observe and take anecdotal notes." The words chosen must contain the focus feature of the lesson, but the materials do not provide the words for students to encode.

Evaluation for 4.4d
Materials include assessment opportunities across the span of the school year aligned to progress monitoring tools.

• "Chapter 1" of the Phonics Launch Handbook recommends formally assessing students at least three times a year using the "Phonics Survey" diagnostic assessment at the beginning, middle, and end of the year. The materials embed a "Progress Monitoring" assessment at the end of each lesson to determine whether students are progressing adequately with the aligned objectives. The weekly progress monitoring assessments are also designated as diagnostic assessments.

Evaluation for 4.5a
Materials include data-management tools for tracking individual student progress to make appropriate instructional decisions to accelerate instruction.

• The materials include hard copy trackers to enable teachers to document individual data regarding progress on taught phonics skills. The individual form allows teachers to track data from the Phonics Survey from the beginning, middle, and end of the year. The teacher records the score for letter names and sounds, along with decoding and encoding results for the following phonics concepts: CVC, initial/final digraphs, initial blends, final blends/final digraphs/floss rule, silent e, vowel teams 1, vowel teams 2, vowel-r combinations 1, diphthong vowel teams, vowel-r combinations 2, vowel teams 3, and prefixes and suffixes. The teacher also records the lesson placement at the bottom of each section. The teacher uses the provided Scoring Matrix to find the lesson placement depending on student assessment results.     
• The data from the assessment tools help teachers when planning differentiated instruction. After teachers administer the Phonics Survey, they use the assessment results with the scoring matrix to place students in groups with targeted instructional focuses. For example, if a student scores a two on decoding and encoding accuracy on the Vowel Teams 3 words assessment, the student should start with Lift Off Lesson 4. 

Evaluation for 4.5b
Materials include data-management tools for tracking whole-class student progress to analyze patterns and needs of students.

• The materials include data-management tools for tracking whole-class student progress to analyze patterns and student needs. The Phonics Launch Handbook states, "As a supplementary or intervention program, Phonics Launch is designed to pair with a core curriculum (K–3) to fill in any gaps in key instructional areas: phonemic awareness, phonics, and/or fluency. It can also act as a supplement or intervention for other grade levels here students still need additional instruction along the phonics continuum." The Phonics Launch Progress Monitoring Recording form allows teachers to record progress monitoring for each small group of students based on the group focus skills in encoding/spelling, sight words, and reading. 
• The materials also advise teachers that "The lessons can easily be adapted to the whole group so that students gain the benefits of whole-group instruction, including equitable exposure to the same learning, a baseline for learning goals and assessment, authentic peer-to-peer conversations, and the building of a strong community in the classroom." The data-management tools provide a place for teachers to organize their whole-group data. 

Evaluation for 4.5c
Materials include specific guidance on determining frequency of progress monitoring based on students’ strengths and needs.

• Materials do not include specific guidance on the frequency of progress monitoring. For example, Chapter 1 of the Phonics Launch Handbook states, "Once the gap between encoding and decoding begins to close, reassess. At this point the students may be able to progress ahead or skip a few lessons. As students progress at different rates, know that frequent regrouping and/or testing may be necessary to ensure instruction is falling within the student's appropriate zone of proximal development." The guidance on the progress monitoring frequency is unclear, and teachers have discretion on when to reassess using the Phonics Survey
• Materials do not include explicit advice for the frequency of progress monitoring. The materials include a Progress Monitoring assessment at the end of each lesson. The Phonics Launch Handbook recommends using the data from the assessment and observations of students' encoding and decoding to determine if a student controls the target skill. If students have control of the target skill, the materials recommend reassessing students with the Phonics Survey. 

Evaluation for 4.5d
Materials include guidance on how to accelerate learning based on the progress monitoring data to reach mastery of specific concepts.

• The materials provide guidance on accelerating learning based on progress monitoring data to reach mastery of specific concepts. However, the materials provide broad suggestions for students who master targeted skills within the lesson. The Phonics Launch Handbook recommends skipping lessons if students master targeted concepts.
• The Phonics Launch Handbook provides several tables with scaffolds and differentiated instruction ideas for students who have reached mastery and who haven’t reached mastery in specific phonics skills. Table 7-1 provides scaffolds for progress monitoring. For example, if a student can manipulate sounds in words, “Have the student produce a word and then have them indicate a part of the word to substitute with another word part.”  

Evaluation for 5.B.1a
Materials include explicit (direct) and systematic instructional guidance on developing oral language and oracy through a variety of methods (e.g., modeling, guided practice, coaching, feedback, and independent practice).

• The materials include discussion prompts but lack systematic and explicit guidance for oral language development. The Phonics Launch lessons include discussion prompts but lack systematic and explicit guidance for oral language development. For example, in Lift Off, Set 2, Lesson 9, Day 1, the book discussion portion states, "Engage students in a discussion about the story using the following transition words to guide your discussion: First, Next, Then, and Finally." The materials include discussion prompts but lack systematic and explicit guidance for oral language development.
• The materials do not include explicit and systematic instructional guidance on developing oracy. They allow students to discuss after reading books but do not provide scripted guidance on modeling, speaking audibly, clearly, and politely conversing.
• The materials do not include systematic and explicit instructional guidance for developing oral language and oracy through a variety of methods. The Phonics Launch resource website provides teachers with a “How to Facilitate Effective Discussions” chart that provides generic guidance on active listening, asking questions, responding to thinking, and explaining thinking. For example, for active listening, teachers will teach and model taking turns without interrupting. Students will practice "Sitting quietly while their partner responds.” The materials do not embed these instructional guidances within the lesson structure. 

Evaluation for 5.B.1b
Materials include opportunities for students to engage in social and academic communication for different purposes and audiences.

• The materials provide opportunities for different purposes to engage in academic communication. For example, in Lift Off, Set 2, Lesson 10, Day 1, after reading Heather and the Feather Necklace, the materials prompt the teacher to “Engage students in a discussion about how the character’s feelings change from the beginning, to the middle, and to the end of the story.” Students do not have the opportunity to engage in social communication. 
• The materials provide opportunities for students to communicate academically with different audiences. For example, in Lift Off, Set 2, Lesson 5, Day 1, the materials prompt the teacher to ask students questions about their favorite page in the book Mother Zebra and Her Foal and discuss them with a partner. While it is not explicit, students engage in all other discussion questions during Step 3 of the lesson in a whole group unless specified to work with a partner. 

Evaluation for 5.B.1c
Materials include authentic opportunities for students to listen actively, ask questions, engage in discussion to understand information, and share information and ideas.

• The materials provide opportunities within lesson plans for students to listen actively to understand information. For example, in Lift Off, Set 2, Lesson 7, students engage in a Thumbs-up, Thumbs-down routine to identify whether the vowel sounds are the same or different. Students listen to the words the teacher says, then put their thumbs up if they are the same and down if they are different. The materials do not provide prompts or guidance to ensure students listen actively to share information or ideas. 
• The materials provide opportunities within lesson plans for students to ask questions to understand information. In Lift Off, Set 2, Lesson 5, the materials prompt students to turn to their favorite page in the book and ask their partner a question about the page. The materials do not provide prompts or guidance to ensure students ask questions to share information or ideas. 
• The materials provide opportunities within lesson plans for students to engage in discussion to understand and share information and ideas. For example, in Lift Off, Set 2, Lesson 7, students discuss the characters in the story Petey the Pelican and the Kite and how they solved the main problem. Students then share ideas on the lesson the character learned. In Lift Off, Set 2, Lesson 6, students share facts learned about dolphins after reading Dolphins: Special Creatures of the Sea.  

Evaluation for 5.C.1a (grade K only)
Materials include a systematic sequence for introducing letter names and their corresponding sounds. (PR 2.A.1)

Evaluation for 5.C.1b (grade K only)
Materials include guidance for the teacher to provide explicit (direct) instruction for teaching and developing student automaticity in the identification of the 26 letters of the alphabet (upper and lowercase) and their corresponding sounds. (PR 2.A.1)

Evaluation for 5.C.1c (grade K only)
Materials include guidance for the teacher to provide explicit (direct and systematic instruction for letter formation for the 26 letters of the alphabet (upper and lowercase). (PR 2.A & 2.A.3)

Evaluation for 5.C.1d (grade K only)
Materials include a variety of activities and resources (including the use of memory-building strategies) for students to develop, practice, and reinforce (through cumulative review) alphabet knowledge both in isolation and in the context of meaningful print. (PR 2.A & 2.A.3)

Evaluation for 5.C.2a
Materials explicitly (directly), and systematically introduce letter-sound relationships in an order that allows for application to basic decoding and encoding. (PR 2.A.1)

• The materials do not provide explicit instruction on letter-sound relationships that allow for application to basic decoding and encoding. The materials provide activities for teaching phonics, but these activities do not provide explicit instruction on letter-sound relationships. For example, in Lift Off, Set 2, Lesson 6, students engage in the Identifying Sounds and Letters activity to learn the digraph ph. The teacher says the words phone, phase, and photo. Students repeat the words and identify the sound that is the same. Students say the sound, and the teacher writes ph on the easel. The teacher does not explicitly model or explain the sound-letter relationship for the blend introduced. Students cannot apply the letter-sound relationships to basic decoding and encoding without this explicit instruction
• The materials do not include systematic and sequenced instruction of phonics. For example, Lift Off, Set 2, only includes 18 Lessons. The materials teach vowel r-combinations and the final stable syllable -le before teaching digraph ph. The materials do not include compound words and contractions on the scope and sequence. The sequence does not build progressively to allow for more complex encoding and decoding.

Evaluation for 5.C.2b
Materials include guidance for the teacher to provide explicit (direct) instruction focused on connecting phonemes to letters within words with recommended explanatory feedback for students based on common errors and misconceptions. (PR 2.A & 2.A.2)

• The lesson plans do not script the teacher’s direct and explicit instruction to connect phonemes to letters within words. Students only engage in activities such as Make a Big Word and Advanced Breaking Big Words to practice connecting phonemes to letters.    
• The materials do not include guidance for the teacher to provide explicit instruction focused on connecting phonemes to letters within words with recommended explanatory feedback for students based on common errors and misconceptions. The materials provide feedback support in Table 4-4 in the Phonics Launch Handbook, which provides general guidance for students who struggle with phonics skills. For example, if the student "has difficulty identifying the letter or producing the sound," the teacher can "consider sorting letters that are not visually or auditorily similar or sort one known letter/sound against an unknown letter/sound. Model emphasizing the target sound and have students repeat it." Additionally, the materials lack a recommended script for teachers to use.

Evaluation for 5.C.2c (grades 2 and 3 only)
Materials include 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 one syllable and multisyllable words in isolation and decodable connected text. (PR 2.A & 2.A.3)

• Materials include various activities and resources for students to develop, practice, and reinforce their understanding of applying letter-sound correspondence to decode one-syllable words in isolation. In Lifting Off "Set 2, Lesson 2," students develop their understanding of decoding one-syllable words during "Day 1, Step 2." In this step, students make the word "fairs" with magnetic letters and then break off the ending and the beginning before the vowel. Students sound out each part before reading the word. Students practice this skill in "Day 3, Step 2," when students write the word "pair," and the teacher instructs students to, "Erase the r, write an n, and read the word: pain." Students engage in these activities weekly to reinforce through cumulative review their previous letter-sound correspondence knowledge and practice new ones. 
• Materials include various activities and resources for students to develop, practice, and reinforce their understanding of applying letter-sound correspondence to decode one-syllable words in connected text. In Lifting Off "Set 2, Lesson 1," students develop applying letter-sound correspondence to decode one-syllable words in "Day 1, Step 3." Students find and read vowel-r combination are words in the book, The Ware Forest Adventure. Students read words such as dare, hare, rare, care." Students then practice this skill by reading the list of words with vowel-r combination are from the book and locating them within it. Students engage in these activities weekly to reinforce through cumulative review their previous letter-sound correspondence knowledge and practice new ones. 
• Materials include various activities and resources for students to develop, practice, and reinforce their understanding of applying letter-sound correspondence to decode multisyllable words in isolation. In, Lifting Off "Set 2, Lesson 6," students develop applying correspondence to decode multisyllable words in "Day 2, Step 2." For example, the teacher writes "orphan," on the board. Students say the word slowly and count the sounds. Students link letters to the sounds. Students practice this skill on "Day 4, Step 2," with letter magnets. After students create the word "trophy," students break the word into syllables and practice blending each part before reading the word. Materials include various activities and resources for students to develop, practice, and reinforce their understanding of applying letter-sound correspondence to decode multisyllable words in connected text. In Lifting Off "Set 2, Lesson 2," students develop applying letter-sound correspondences to multi-syllable words in "Day 1, Step 3." Students find and read vowel-r combination air words in the book Blair's Soccer Save. Students read words such as "airport, despair, unfair." Students then practice this skill by reading the list of words with vowel-r combination air from the book and locating them within it. Students engage in these activities weekly to reinforce through cumulative review their previous letter-sound correspondence knowledge and practice new ones.

Evaluation for 5.C.2c (grades K and 1 only)
Materials include 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 one syllable words in isolation and decodable connected text. (PR 2.A & 2.A.3)

Evaluation for 5.D.1a (grades K–2 only)
Materials include a systematic sequence for introducing phonological awareness activities in accordance with gradelevel TEKS that begins with simple skills and larger units of sound (e.g., identifying and producing rhyming words, recognizing spoken alliteration, identifying the individual words in spoken sentences) and gradually transitions to more complex skills and smaller units of sound (e.g., adding, deleting, and substituting syllables). (PR 2.A.1)

Evaluation for 5.D.1b (grades K–2 only)
Materials include explicit (direct) instruction for teaching phonological awareness skills with recommended explanatory feedback for students based on common errors and misconceptions. (PR 2.A & 2.A.2)

Evaluation for 5.D.1c (grades K–2 only)
Materials include a variety of activities and resources (including the use of memory-building strategies) for students to develop, practice, and reinforce phonological awareness skills connected to grade-level TEKS (through cumulative review). (PR 2.A & 2.A.3)

Evaluation for 5.D.2a (grades K–2 only)
Materials include a systematic sequence for introducing phonemic awareness activities that begins with identifying, blending, and segmenting phonemes, and gradually transitions to more complex manipulation practices such as adding, deleting, and substituting phonemes. (PR 2.A.1)

Evaluation for 5.D.2b (grades K–2 only)
Materials include explicit (direct) instruction for teaching phonemic awareness with recommended explanatory feedback for students based on common errors and misconceptions. (PR 2.A & 2.A.2)

Evaluation for 5.D.2c (grades K–2 only)
Materials include explicit (direct) guidance for connecting phonemic awareness skills to the alphabetic principle, to support students in the transition from oral language activities to basic decoding and encoding. (PR 2.A.1)

Evaluation for 5.D.2d (grades K–2 only)
Materials include a variety of activities and resources for students to develop, practice, and reinforce phonemic awareness skills (through cumulative review). (PR 2.A & 2.A.3)

Evaluation for 5.E.1a
Materials include a systematic sequence for introducing grade-level sound-spelling patterns, as outlined in the TEKS. (PR 2.A.1)

• The materials do not include a systematic sequence for introducing grade-level sound-spelling patterns, as the TEKS outlines. For example, Lift Off, Set 2 only includes 18 Lessons. The materials teach vowel r-combinations and the final stable syllable -le before teaching digraph ph. The materials do not include compound words and contractions on the scope and sequence. The sequence does not include all sound-spelling patterns, as outlined in the TEKS. 

Evaluation for 5.E.1b
Materials include guidance for the teacher to provide explicit (direct) instruction for grade-level sound-spelling patterns. (PR 2.A.1)

• The materials do not include guidance for the teacher to provide explicit (direct) instruction for grade-level sound-spelling patterns. The materials teach sound-spelling patterns through activities instead of providing explicit instruction. For example, in Lifting Off, Set 2, Lesson 3, the teacher introduces the spelling pattern le during the Identifying Sounds and Letters Component. The teacher says the three words circle, title, and waffle, and students repeat these words, listening for the sound that is the same. After students identify the sound, the materials instruct the teacher to, “Write le on the easel, showing the letters that spell the sound.” The materials do not provide guidance on where this spelling pattern occurs in a word or rules associated with the pattern. 
• The materials do not include guidance for the teacher to provide explicit (direct) instruction for grade-level sound-spelling patterns. For example, soft c and g are not a Phonics Focus until the next-to-last unit of the program in Lifting Off, Set 1, Lesson 11. Students have been working with those words throughout other lessons.

Evaluation for 5.E.1c
Materials include a variety of activities and resources for students to develop, practice, and reinforce grade-level sound-spelling patterns (through cumulative review). (PR 2.A.1)

• The materials include activities and resources for students to develop and practice grade-level sound-spelling patterns. For example, in Lesson 4, activities and resources include magnetic letters, Making words, Breaking Words, an analogy chart, an easel, and a marker. Students engage in these activities weekly to reinforce through cumulative review their previous sound-spelling patterns and practice new ones.

Evaluation for 5.E.1d
Materials provide a variety of activities and resources to support students in decoding and encoding words that include taught sound-spelling patterns, both in isolation (e.g., word lists) and in decodable connected text that builds on previous instruction (e.g., within sentences or decodable texts). (PR 2.A.1 & 2.A.3)

• The materials provide a variety of activities and resources for decoding words in decodable connected text. Students read decodable readers with taught sound-spelling partners. At the end of the lesson, students engage with a decodable connected text. 
• The materials provide a variety of activities and resources to encode words in isolation. For example, Writing a Big Word and Reading and Writing Words are similar activities that utilize a whiteboard to practice words in isolation. Similarly, Making a Big Word, Breaking Big Words, and Advanced Breaking Words use letter materials to read and spell in isolation. The Analogy Chart is a unique activity where students practice words in isolation. For words in context, there are two activities: reading decodable text and Guided Writing.
• The materials do not provide a variety of activities and resources for encoding words in decodable connected text or decoding words in isolation. 

Evaluation for 5.E.2a
Materials include a systematic sequence for introducing regular and irregular high-frequency words. (PR 2.A.1)

• Materials do not include a systematic sequence for introducing regular and irregular high-frequency words, and the Lifting Off Sets do not contain high-frequency word instruction. In Chapter 5 of the phonics launch handbook, the New Sight Word activity section states, "Note: Once students begin to read increasingly more complex text, most have developed a robust system for learning new words and no longer need repeated practice. For this reason, the sight word work eventually drops off the lesson plan."

Evaluation for 5.E.2b
Materials include guidance for the teacher to provide explicit (direct) instruction for decoding and encoding regular and irregular high-frequency words. (PR 2.A.1)

The materials do not include guidance for the teacher to provide explicit instruction for decoding and encoding regular and irregular high-frequency words. In Chapter 5 of the phonics launch handbook, the New Sight Word activity section states, "Note: Once students begin to read increasingly more complex text, most have developed a robust system for learning new words and no longer need repeated practice. For this reason, the sight word work eventually drops off the lesson plan."

Evaluation for 5.E.2c
Materials include a variety of activities and resources for students to develop, practice, and reinforce skills to decode and encode regular and irregular high-frequency words (through cumulative review). (PR 2.A.1 & 2.A.3)

• The materials do not include various activities and resources for students to develop, practice, and reinforce skills to decode and encode regular and irregular high-frequency words. In Chapter 5 of the phonics launch handbook, the New Sight Word activity section states, "Note: Once students begin to read increasingly more complex text, most have developed a robust system for learning new words and no longer need repeated practice. For this reason, the sight word work eventually drops off the lesson plan."

Evaluation for 5.E.2d
Materials include a variety of activities and resources (including the use of memory-building strategies) 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). (PR 2.A.1)

• The materials do not include a variety of activities and resources (including the use of memory-building strategies) for students to recognize, read, and write high-frequency words in isolation and connected text. In Chapter 5 of the phonics launch handbook, the New Sight Word activity section states, "Note: Once students begin to read increasingly more complex text, most have developed a robust system for learning new words and no longer need repeated practice. For this reason, the sight word work eventually drops off the lesson plan."

Evaluation for 5.E.3a (grade 1 only)
Materials include a systematic sequence for introducing grade-level syllable types, as outlined in the TEKS. (PR 2.A.1)

Evaluation for 5.E.3a (grades 2 and 3 only)
Materials include a systematic sequence for introducing grade-level syllable types and division principles, as outlined in the TEKS. (PR 2.A.1)

• Materials do not include a systematic sequence for introducing grade-level syllable types or division principles, as outlined in the TEKS. The Phonics Launch Handbook provides guidance on the Make a Big Word and Advanced Breaking Big Words activities. However, there is no evidence of a consistent, systematic sequence of skills being taught, such as syllable types or division patterns in the lessons. The Phonics Launch Handbook procedure for Make a Big Word states, "Say the word and have students clap the syllables." "Have the students break the word into syllables and tap and read each part." The Advanced Breaking Big Words procedure states, "On the easel, write a word with the target affix (mixture). Do not say the word and ask students not to say the word. Have students remove the letters from their trays to make the word. Tell students to break the word by syllables (mix-ture) and tap and read each part." The Scope and Sequence does not indicate when syllable types or syllable division principles occur but a few lessons do include explicit teaching. Still, the materials do not include a systematic sequence for introducing syllable types or division principles. 

Evaluation for 5.E.3b (grade 1 only)
Materials include guidance for the teacher to provide explicit (direct) instruction for applying knowledge of syllable types to decode and encode one-syllable or multisyllabic words. (PR 2.A.1)

Evaluation for 5.E.3b (grades 2 and 3 only)
Materials include guidance for the teacher to provide explicit (direct) instruction for applying knowledge of syllable types and syllable division principles to decode and encode one-syllable or multisyllabic words. (PR 2.A.1)

• The materials include guidance for the teacher to provide explicit instruction for applying knowledge of syllable types and syllable division principles to decode and encode multisyllabic words. For example, in Lifting Off, Set 2, Lesson 5, Day 3, the teacher explicitly names the syllable type of consonant -le and where to draw the line to divide the syllables in the words ample, stumble, and couple. 

Evaluation for 5.E.3c
Materials include a variety of activities and resources for students to develop, practice and reinforce skills to decode and encode one-syllable or multisyllabic words (through cumulative review). (PR 2.A.1 & 2.A.3)

• Materials include various activities for students to develop and practice skills to decode and encode one-syllable words. For example, in Lifting Off, Set 2, Lesson 3, students develop knowledge of decoding and encoding one-syllable words in Step 1. The teacher says the words pour, four, and tour while students identify the sound in the middle. The teacher connects the sound to the Vowel-r Combination or. Students practice this in Step 2 when they encode and decode the word fair. Students substitute letters until they create the word pair. Students practice reading words such as tour, your, and four in the decodable text. Students engage in these activities weekly to reinforce these skills. 
• Materials include various activities for students to develop and practice skills to decode and encode multisyllabic words. For example, in Lifting Off, Set 2, Lesson 11, students develop knowledge of decoding and encoding multisyllabic words in Step 1. The teacher says gel, gentle, and ginger while students identify the common sound. The teacher connects the sound to soft g. Students practice this in Step 2 when they encode the word fragile with magnetic letters. Students practice decoding by breaking the word into syllables, saying each part, and putting the letters back together to read the word. In the decodable text, students practice reading words such as magnificent, giraffe, and gentle. Students engage in these activities weekly to reinforce these skills. 

Evaluation for 5.E.3d (grade 1 only)
Materials include a variety of activities 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). (PR 2.A & 2.A.3)

Evaluation for 5.E.3d (grades 2 and 3 only)
Materials include 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). (PR 2.A & 2.A.3)

• Materials include various activities for students to practice decoding and encoding one-syllable or multisyllabic words, using knowledge of syllable division principles in isolation and decodable connected text that builds on previous instruction. In Lifting Off, Set 2, Lesson 3, the activity Make a Big Word works with syllable division. Students say the word, fourteen and clap the syllables before creating the word with magnetic letters. The teacher instructs the students to break the word at the syllables before reading each part and the whole word after putting the letters back together. Students orally practice segmenting syllables during the Segmenting Syllables routine. For example, in Lesson 3, students say and clap the syllables in the words outpouring and nourishment.   
• The materials do not include various activities for students to practice decoding and encoding one-syllable or multisyllabic words, using knowledge of syllable division principles in decodable connected text that builds on previous instruction. Students read multisyllabic words in decodable connected text, but the materials do not provide instruction or activities on using syllable division principles. 
• Materials do not include a variety of activities for students to practice decoding and encoding one-syllable or multisyllabic words, using knowledge of syllable types in isolation (e.g., word lists) and decodable connected text that builds on previous instruction (e.g., within sentences or decodable texts). The materials do not provide activities for students to identify syllable types to support decoding and encoding of one-syllable or multisyllabic words. 

Evaluation for 5.E.4a (grades 1–3 only)
Materials include a systematic sequence for introducing grade-level morphemes, as outlined in the TEKS. (PR 2.A.1)

• The materials do not include a systematic sequence for introducing grade-level morphemes, as the TEKS outlines. The Scope and Sequence includes the morphemes -ish, re-, -ful, pre-, -able, and in-. Only -in, pre-, and -ful are grade 3 morphemes. The materials do not include im-, non-, dis-, -ness, and -y, which the TEKS outline. 

Evaluation for 5.E.4b (grades 1–3 only)
Materials include guidance for the teacher to provide explicit (direct) instruction for supporting recognition of common morphemes and using their meanings (e.g., affixes, roots, and base words) to support decoding, encoding, and reading comprehension. (PR 2.A.1)

• Materials include guidance for the teacher to provide explicit (direct) instruction for using common morpheme meanings (e.g., affixes, roots, and base words) to support decoding and encoding. For example, in Lifting Off, Set 2, Lesson 17, Step 1, students identify the sound at the end of the words as capable, likable, and lovable. The teacher writes ish on the easel to show the letters that spell the sound. On Day 3, the teacher provides explicit instruction on encoding a word with the suffix -able when a word ends with the letter e. 
• Materials do not include guidance for the teacher to provide explicit (direct) instruction for using common morphemes meanings (e.g., affixes, roots, and base words) to support reading comprehension. For example, in Lifting Off, Set 2, Lesson 17, the teacher writes the word excite on the easel, and teacher guidance states, "Read the word and discuss the meaning." The materials do not explain how the word's meaning changes with the suffix -able  for the teacher to use.
• The materials do not include guidance for the teacher to provide explicit (direct) instruction to support the recognition of common morphemes or direct and explicit instruction in morphological awareness. The implicit approach implies that students will build this knowledge independently as they read. The materials have students locate words in the decodable reader with morphemes but do not provide explicit instruction on recognizing morphemes. 

Evaluation for 5.E.4c (grades 1–3 only)
Materials include a variety of activities and resources for students to develop, practice, and reinforce grade-level morphological skills (through cumulative review). (PR 2.A.1 & 2.A.3)

• Materials do not include a variety of activities for students to develop, practice, and reinforce grade-level morphological skills (through cumulative review). In Lifting Off, Set 2, the primary practice with suffixes is the Make a Big Word, Breaking Big Words, and Writing a Big Word activities. These words focus on morpheme recognition and don't use morphological meanings in encoding and decoding. The decodable text and dictated sentence activities allow students to develop and practice recognition of morphemes but do not provide support using the meaning of morphemes to encode and decode.
• Materials do not include a variety of resources for students to develop, practice, and reinforce grade-level morphological skills (through cumulative review). The materials do not include resources to support students' understanding of morphological awareness. 

Evaluation for 5.E.4d (grades 1–3 only)
Materials include 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). (PR 2.A.1 & 2.A.3)

• Materials include various activities and resources for students to decode and encode words with morphemes in isolation that build on previous instruction. For example, in Lift Off, Set 2, Lesson 16, Day 1, Step 2, students make the word preoccupied with magnetic letters, break the word at the syllables, and say each part before putting it back together to read the whole word.  
• Materials include various activities and resources for students to decode and encode words with morphemes in decodable connected text that builds on previous instruction (e.g., within sentences or decodable texts).  For example, in Lifting Off, Set 2, Lesson 15, students decode words in the decodable connected text, Our Wonderful Ears. Students read words such as harmful and helpful. Students write a response about the connected text, which includes, “Which part of the ear is helpful in hearing delightful vibrations.”