Uno, dos, tres Prekinder!

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

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

This material includes specific, intentional, and purposeful cross-curricular connections to create a unified experience for students. A variety of activities are provided that allow students to learn and practice different skills during authentic experiences. The materials provide teachers with multiple strategies to integrate multiple content areas through cross-curricular lessons. The teachers are guided to use reading, social and emotional, and language and communication skills through the use of social visual cards to support student growth. In theme 1, “iHola escuela!” during learning, “Aprendizaje social y emocional,” the students communicate basic feelings using the “scared/calm ASE card,” which is a Social Emotional Learning card. The teacher asks students to communicate how they feel by identifying an emotion card. The teacher provides wait time for students to respond, and if necessary, guide them to name and identify their feelings. The materials provide a list of domains covered to the left of each lesson throughout the units from the Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines. In this case, the domains covered are; I.B.2.b.i, I.B.1.a.ii, VIII.B.1.a. 

Also in theme 1, during read-aloud/shared writing time, “Círculo de Lectoescritura,” children experience integrated reading, writing, and oral communication. The resource, Tarjeta de vocabulario area de juego, supports vocabulary development. The teacher says, “Hay áreas de juego en muchas escuelas. Vamos allí cuando jugamos afuera.” The teacher holds individual cards for each of the vocabulary cards for the week, (biblioteca, libros, pasillo, pupitre) and briefly explains how each relates to how we learn and play at school. The teacher also integrates concepts of print, Conceptos del texto impreso, to help students distinguish between elements of print; by displaying the cover of the big book, Superlibro Las estrellitas. The teacher then says “Esta es una imagen. Nos muestra de que se trata el cuento.” The teacher then asks, “¿Podemos encontrar otras imágenes en este libro?” To close the lesson the teacher asks for volunteers to show other examples associated with the vocabulary card. 

All themes provide the use of visuals, auditory, kinesthetic, and verbal lessons throughout the school day centered around the thematic unit concepts. In theme 4, “Amar y cuidar,” the materials present a wide variety of lessons and activities that support the students’ mastery of the concepts through the use of movement, writing, language and communication, and social development skills. In the writing center, “Centro para el tema: Club de escritores,” the teacher has students draw about how they can take care of themselves. The teacher asks the students to comment on the significance of what they wrote and encourages them to use letters, symbols, or markings to communicate meaning. In this activity, the materials address social, emotional, emergent reading and writing, and language and communication domains. The materials provide a list of emergent writing domains covered in detail on the left side of the center lesson to support teacher understanding. This includes specific, intentional, and purposeful cross-curricular connections to create a unified experience for students. Students receive support as they develop how to share and use conversational and social skills through lessons that address multiple domains and make cross-curricular connections.

The materials name which domains are developed or reinforced in each learning activity. The theme lessons include a list of guidelines covered and provide support for teachers to align the lessons to the Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines. The materials list all domains covered in each lesson and this information can be located on the left side of the lesson page. For example, in theme 3, “Circulo de ciencias'' the materials contain the different domains covered through a compare and contrast lesson. The teacher uses a T chart to engage students in comparing and contrasting the appearance of the sky during the day and during the night. The materials offer a clear list of the domain and student outcomes. Students may focus their attention on the self-selected work or on the teacher assigned work until it has been completed, “El niño; mantiene la atención en las tareas elegidas por él o en las tareas de rutina (dirigidas por el maestro) hasta terminar las. I.B.3.a.i''. The student names common shapes “nombra formas comunes. V.C.1.a''. The student identifies, observes, and discusses objects in the sky “identifica, observa y discute los objetos en el cielo. VI.C.2.a, VI.C.2.b, VI.C.2.b.” Students coordinate movement sequences to finish the work “coordina secuencias de movimiento para realizar tareas. IX.A.2.a.” The material includes the same consistent guidance to address specific Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines throughout all center activities in this lesson. The materials name which domains are developed or reinforced in each learning activity and provide consistent support for teachers to understand the domains and how they are being addressed during all lessons and all content areas. They include clear use of the Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines in a variety of settings across all themes and are all presented in a consistent manner for use and easy access to the outcomes covered in each lesson.

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

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

At the very beginning of each theme, there is a section called, “Vistazo a los temas,” which has all the high-quality texts and books that are used for that theme. All themes have four Trade Books “Libros commerciales,” one “Superlibro,” one Read More About It Book, and a Wordless Book per theme. All four read-aloud books are connected to the objective, support language and vocabulary acquisition in their native language. The “Superlibro” is an authentic text written in Spanish that includes traditional Spanish culture stories and folktales such as: De colores, Mi burro enfermo, and La liebre y la tortuga. The material also provides a wide variety of songs and poems throughout all nine themes. For example in “Tema 4; Canta, rima y expresate,” there are poems and songs that allow students to review the theme concepts through the use of movements. The poem card “Cuidemos nuestro mundo” is presented after the read-aloud book as an opportunity to sing and practice rhyming. All songs and poems have authentic Spanish vocabulary and include sample ways for students to use it in context. During the lesson, the teacher shows the poem/song card and allows students to practice their communication skills and their social and emotional skills by answering why it is important to take care of the planet. These and various other texts provide a mixture of translated tools and ones that are authentic to the Spanish language.

In “Tema 1,” “Semana 1,” the books are mostly centered around Social Emotional Learning as students learn more about school and the different emotions or social expectations in school. The teacher helps students get familiar with their day at school and explains that every day they will read a book aloud together. The teacher reads Los músicos de Bremen by Roser Ros, and after the read-aloud, the students answer questions and share what they learned from the story. The lesson introduces students to print concepts as words and images are introduced, “Estoy señalando una palabra. Leeré las palabras y ellas contarán un cuento.” The teacher points to the image and says, “Estas son las imágenes que ayudan a contar el cuento. Las imágenes nos muestran qué sucede.”

“Libros comerciales,” for “Tema 1: iHola escuela!” include translated text such as: Tato el gato by Erik Litwin, which discusses many colors, La casita de la abuela by JaNay Brown-Wood, which helps students with counting, and Marisol Mcdonald no combina by Monica Brown, which teaches about diversity. The stories are well chosen, well written, relate to the existing collection, support skill development, and they also relate to the content in many domains. 

The texts in this resource also include content that relates to the diversity of the classroom and is culturally responsive to each student. The book La casita de la abuela by JaNay Brown-Wood in “Tema 1” refers to elements that are important to the African-American community. The material provides evidence of elements that are culturally relevant and diverse. The text is used as a comparison of how families get together and bring various dishes for a celebration, much like other cultures and families during reunions. Another example in “Tema 1” is the big book Las empanadas que hacía la abuela, a children’s fiction book, which contains an easy empanada recipe to make and celebrate a popular Latino tradition. Finally, the book Las escuelas en muchas culturas found in “Tema 1” “semana 4,” integrates concepts that are similar in schools around the world. The books and texts offer content from different backgrounds and cultures that are diverse and very relevant.

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

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The materials provide a wide variety of opportunities for purposeful play that promote student choice. Suggested centers throughout all nine themes include: “Leer y escuchar, Imaginación y aprendizaje, Diversión con el ABC, Club de escritores, Estación de creatividad, Diversión con las matemáticas, STEM, Arena, agua y más.” Detailed activities recommended in each one of the centers are theme-oriented, age-appropriate, and high-interest for students. 

The materials include a section at the beginning of all themes, called “Páginas preliminares,” to guide the teacher to set up all materials, lessons, and centers to meet, reinforce, and practice learning objectives of the unit of study. The materials also offer a “Planifique su semana,” a weekly planning block in every theme that breaks down the theme week by week. The information included in this section relates to the activities presented every day of the week. All weeks have a week-at-a-glance section that includes the order in which the lesson is presented as well as the activities within each lesson. The weekly view includes a translation of all lesson titles and the activities. Also, all lessons have suggested time frames under the main title of the section of the day. The blocks of time per section are consistent throughout all nine themes and small group instruction is also provided with suggested time frames. 

In “Tema 2,” the materials provide direct guidance to create a separate learning area to allow child exploration. The teacher gives children the choice of using this center during the small group centers activity time of the day. The resource provides guidance on what students are able to learn through this activity by stating: “Los niños usan los sentidos para observar e investigar los materiales de la tierra y como se ven, sienten, y sueñan.” 

In “Tema 3,” the teacher uses a game to increase student’s communication, social, emotional, and emergent reading skills during the “¡A mover!” lesson. Children look for things around the class that begin with a specific sound and when they find one, they raise their hand and call out the object. The students are engaged in the lessons while learning and exploring how to connect the letter concept to items around them. The activity also allows for students to connect their social-emotional skills by taking turns and playing around others. 

In “Tema 3,” the materials offer a set of instructions for teachers to organize name cards and welcome students. The resource provides guidance on what students are able to learn through this activity by stating: “A medida que los niños entran al salón, “choque los cinco” con cada uno y dígales “¡Buenos días!” Pídales que organicen su foto en el cartel ‘Como me siento.’”The materials also provide clear instructions for setting up the learning environment through specific statements on materials needed for all activities, offer suggested tools to use during all lessons of the school day, and provide specific information on where and how to present all the materials and components of the program. All the components mentioned above provide guidance for teachers on setting up and facilitating activities to help meet, reinforce, and practice learning objectives.

In “Tema 4,” the teacher offers an example of what to say to support a friend. The resource provides guidance on what students are able to learn through this activity by stating: “Demuestre cómo decir algo que harían para ayudar a un amigo, como hacerle una tarjeta de buenos deseos… De tiempo a cada niño para que hable.” The materials offer several opportunities for students to express their thoughts throughout all lessons of the school day on how they can support a friend and writing them a ‘get well card.’ 

In “Tema 5,” under the section “Revitaliza Centros,” it provides guidance to connect the lesson’s theme to the tools and experiences in this center. The resource provides guidance on what students are able to learn through this activity by stating: “Los niños imaginaran que van a una tienda del vecindario a comprar productos. Para el centro, prepare una tienda con productos de juguete agrupados según su tipo. Brinde un lugar donde los niños puedan “pagar” sus productos.” Students play-pretend while reviewing concepts provided during the lessons about community workers. The teacher provides support as needed by saying: “Si los niños se distraen, pídales que le digan algo que usan y podrían hallar en una tienda del vecindario.” The materials connect the information from centers and the tools presented to student's lives through the use of imaginative play and motivating center choices and opportunities for play. The extra centers provide many opportunities for students to increase their learning by allowing them to have purposeful play and promote student choice.

In “Tema 6,” “Círculo de estudios sociales,” plans for a large group game that actively engages students and guides the teacher to connect domains to play. The resource provides guidance on how to set up a center by stating: “Divida a la clase en''vendedores” y ''compradores.” Ponga varias sillas en fila. Asigne una silla a cada vendedor y permita que pongan varios objetos del salón de clase delante de la silla. De a cada comprador dinero de juguete (o fichas si no hay dinero de juguete). Anime a los niños a visitar a los vendedores y hacer preguntas sobre lo que venden antes de escoger un objeto. Cuando estén listos para comprar, recuerdeles que deben dar el dinero al vendedor para recibir el objeto. Luego de la actividad, invite a los compradores a compartir lo que compraron.” While the main focus of the lesson is for students to explore the social concept of purchasing, the lessons guide students to also use their mathematical, communication and language, and social and emotional skills. The materials guide teachers to review several domain skills through active play and pinpoint some of the domains covered by the lesson. “El niño muestra una opinión razonable de sus propias habilidades. I.A.3.a, demuestra que entiende que significa ser un consumidor. VII.B.2.a, demuestra el equilibrio cuando está solo (es posible que aun no pueda coordinar con un compañero). IX.A.1.b''

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

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The Professional Learning Guide suggests effective teaching practices for both three and four-year-old children and includes a variety of options that differentiate instruction for the level of development and student population. Within all theme lessons, there are strategies written on the left of the screen labeled as support for three-year-old students, which address changes to the main lesson to ensure their engagement and success. 

In “Tema 2,” the teacher guides students to sing and dance the songs with a partner, and on the last day of the theme celebration, they can sing or dance the song as they choose. The materials specify that younger students may have difficulties engaging all parts of their bodies, thus having choices or working with a peer model may assist them. 

In “Tema 3,” the teacher offers direct help to three-year-old students during the good morning routine by providing visual sentence stems that allow students to fill in the blank while reviewing the use of 4 to 5-word sentences with direct support. The students repeat the sentences after the teacher and fill in the blank with their choice of words. All lessons are inclusive and address modifications in a structural form to allow supports to be consistent and effective. “Me gusta ser el líder de la fila porque...” I like to be the line leader because... The auditory and visual supports provided, allow three-year-old students to have a consistent and repetitive sentence structure that is concrete. The four and five-year-old students describe their roles and responsibilities for that day on their own. 

The material specifies the elements that are for a full-day program and those done during a half-day program. The differentiated recommendations come in a list of activities for teacher daily planning and include short statements next to the name of the lesson to suggest removal for half-day programs. For example, in “Tema 5 Nos ayudan a diario,” it suggests the times allotted for each lesson of the day: “Bienvenidos al día de hoy, 15 minutos,” “La hora del cuento, 15 minutos,” “Círculo de lectoescritura, 15 minutos,” “La hora de los centros y de los grupos pequeños, 60 minutos,” “Circulo de matemáticas, 15 minutos,” “Círculo de estudios sociales o de ciencias, 15 minutos,” and “Aprender y jugar, 90 minutos.” “Aprender y jugar,” can be extended or removed depending on the kind of program. The materials suggest removing the “Aprender y jugar” section of the day to meet the needs of the half-day programs. “La hora de los centros y de los grupos pequeños,” can be 30 minutes for half-day programs and 60 minutes of those full-day programs.

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

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

In “Tema 2,” “Semana 1,” “Ciencias de la vida,” the teacher presents the family card while explaining how everyone is different and all families are special. The students draw themselves and note something that makes them special. The cards provide an opportunity for teachers to provide clear strategies for students to connect their knowledge of families with the new concepts of “seres vivos.” The students listen and take part in the lessons while the teacher provides detailed guidance on making connections to self, “Recuerdeles las características especiales que comentaron.” 

Throughout all themes, you can find a component called “Connections/Hacer conexiones,” which provides guidance for teachers as they use student’s prior knowledge to make connections to the new content. For example, in “Tema 3,” “Semana 1,” “La hora del cuento: De colores,” after reading aloud De colores, the teacher uses guiding questions to help students connect their prior knowledge and experience to the new learning. The teacher asks the students to share with the class fun things they like to do in one or two seasons. 

In “Tema 3” “Semana 2” “En nuestras palabras,'' the teacher initiates conversations around what they just learned earlier in the day. The teacher uses a stuffed animal to model turn-taking and speaking skills. The teacher models “Hoy aprendimos acerca de la ropa que se usa en otoño.” Students receive the stuffed animal and state something they learned. On a box to the left, “Apoyo diferenciado,” suggest that a student is not able to share orally to provide them an opportunity to express it through a drawing and get dictation of what their drawing includes. Explicit instructional strategies are also available for three-year-old students. The teacher provides sentence builders to allow younger students to increase their vocabulary by repeating the sentence stem and filling in the blank. The students state the sentence provided by the teacher while using a visual strategy to reinforce the use of complete sentences. 

In “Tema 7,” “Semana 1,” under “Reflexionar,” in the box “Verificar la comprensión,” the teacher evaluates the students’' response through the checks for understanding suggestions. The resource provides guidance on what students are able to learn through this activity by stating: “Si...un niño presenta dificultades para identificar las reglas que debe seguir en la hora del círculo. Entonces, vuelva a mostrar la Tarjeta ASE reglas y pregunte qué están haciendo el maestro y los niños en la imagen.” It provides direct and clear instructions for the teacher to follow in order to provide the needed support and scaffolds during the lesson. 

The Professional Development Guide, available in both English and Spanish, provides a list of developmental research findings and connects it to the program’s lessons or components of instruction to support teachers’ background knowledge as lessons are delivered. The resource states: “Según las investigaciones.... La conciencia fonológica es un sólido indicador del éxito futuro en la lectura.” “La conciencia fonológica se repasa y se practica continuamente y sistemáticamente para garantizar que los niños estén capacitados para convertirse en lectores competentes.”

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

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

In the Table of Contents, the teacher is provided with a format in which one side contains what “Research says,” followed by how this is evident in “Uno, dos, tres ¡Pre-K!” The research in “Uno, dos, tres ¡Pre-K!,” is consistent for the domains of Literacy Reading, Literacy Writing, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, and Fine Arts. Here is an example of writing guidance and research: “According to the research in Literacy writing, students can use prewriting techniques to express their ideas. (National Writing Council, Nagin, 2003)” The materials also clarify how they used research and how it connects to the lessons. The materials also include a table of contents that provide research on how the curriculum is supported throughout the “Professional Learning Guide.”

The materials offer research-based guidance for instruction that enriches educator understanding of early childhood development and the validity of the recommended approach. The “Professional Learning Guide” establishes a wide variety of research statements and eight domains are specified in the “Research Base” sections of the guide. The materials reference key research on pre-academic concepts to increase mastery of the Prekindergarten Texas Guidelines. The research done by Aunola, Leskinen, Lerkkanen, and Nurmi provides evidence to support that early-mathematical skills deeply influence students' achievement in the following school years. It also addresses the need for authentic strategically developed lessons in math instruction. The resource states: “La enseñanza se enfoca en conceptos de la vida diaria que son relevantes para los niños. Esto garantiza que los niños comprendan por qué los conceptos matemáticos son importantes.” An example in “Tema 1,” guidance on science instruction is also provided. The research states: “To effectively build science understanding, children need opportunities for sustained engagement with materials and conversations that focus on the same set of ideas over time. (NRC 2012; NRC 2007).” The materials give research-based guidance and offer research-based lessons for students to master and connect knowledge through exploration and play.

Although the research is very academic and relevant to early childhood development, it lacks some modern research applicable to Texas-specific context and demographics. The cited research is over 10 years old in most cases like, (Blachowicz and Fisher, 2002; Pressley and Woloshyn, 1999; Nagy, 1984), (ASCD, 2009), (National Writing Council, Nagin, 2003) and (NCSS, 2017). The information has plenty of strategies that are not going anywhere because pedagogy won’t change, it is timeless. However, the research is antiquated, limited, and not a true reflection of the population today. Populations change on a yearly basis and dynamics are fairly different from a decade ago. 

The bibliography included in the materials is specific and organized clearly and can be located in the “Professional Learning guide.” The bibliography for the “Research Base” support is found in “Guia de desarrollo profesional” under the “Table of Contents.”

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

The evidence from the English materials in this report can be verified in full within the translated Spanish materials.

Evidence includes but is not limited to: 

The teacher uses texts to support the development of social competencies, such as building relationships, self-concept, self-regulation, and social awareness. Themes include developmentally appropriate texts that support these competencies. For each theme, materials also provide a list of supplemental books that support prosocial behaviors. Big books, trade books, “Read More About It” books, and “wordless experience” books all include illustrations that represent students from various races. A wordless experience book also includes a picture of a student with a mobility difference. Throughout the year, texts provide support for students’ “development of academic concepts in literacy, math, science, social studies, and more.” Additionally, the materials include direct social skill instruction and explicit teaching of skills. Throughout the year, each theme includes components in line with the Social and Emotional Development domain; the teacher models self-regulation by using visual supports, texts, and a puppet named Javi. 

In Theme 1, the teacher uses text, lyrics, and illustrations to develop social competencies while teaching students how to follow classroom and playground rules. One lesson prompts the teacher to ask, “What rules do you follow in the classroom and what rules do you follow in the playground?” Additionally, each theme provides “Social and Emotional Learning cards” for teachers to read and model. Materials include developmentally appropriate texts to support emotional literacy during “Story Time.” In this theme, students are introduced to the emotion worried and discuss the concept while reading Pete the Cat: Rocking in My School Shoes. Each theme includes teacher guidance on how to model and demonstrate behaviors and these skills. 

In Theme 3, the teacher uses “Sing, Rhyme, and Shout” vocabulary cards, which provide a song, a rhyme, or a shout to support the current skills being taught. For example, the teacher introduces the new theme by using the lyrics and illustrations on the card. The teacher explains that each child is special. Children listen to the song and then sing along. They point to themselves when they sing the first line and greet their friends with a handshake when they sing the third line. 

In the Theme 4 activity, “Let’s Talk About It,” students determine solutions for taking turns in the classroom. This discussion allows them to practice self-regulation skills within a large group setting. A lesson within the “Let’s Celebrate” component invites families to prepare their favorite foods. This activity promotes concrete experiences of self-concept and promotes different perspectives. During the “Social Studies Circle,” the teacher explains human needs (food, clothing, shelter) by using the “I do, We do, You do” method. During the “Engage” step, the teacher introduces the concept to students using a vocabulary card. The “Develop” step helps students understand the concept; the teacher uses questioning and scaffolding to guide students to the correct answers. The “Practice” step gives students an opportunity to practice new information by making a motion that describes food, clothing, and shelter. There is also direct instruction on relationships with others in each of the themes. For example, during “Snack Time,” teachers facilitate a discussion about the important jobs children have in the classroom, including the job of the snack time helper. 

Lessons also include “Check for Understanding” and “Differentiated Support” sections. Both sections provide recommendations for teacher modeling of social skills and instructional strategies to support the development of social skills. In one example from Theme 5, the teacher is instructed: “Stop and call attention to the child, praising their actions and modeling how to show pride in their abilities.” The teacher also guides students to use classroom materials appropriately, using think-alouds such as, “Does this book look like the others?” and “Can you make it look like the other books?”

In Theme 8, students develop their relationship with their teacher and further develop their social skills when they use a high-five greeting to enter the classroom. Students also express their emotions each day using a picture card. During the “Let’s Reflect” section, students take turns using Javi the puppet to reflect on the “Let’s Go to the Zoo” celebration. Also, in this theme, teachers provide direct instruction on how to solve a problem when there is a disagreement; students orally share their ideas about how to solve a disagreement.

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

The evidence from the English materials in this report can be verified in full within the transadapted and translated Spanish materials.

Evidence includes but is not limited to: 

The “Getting Started” section within the “Realize” digital course offers guidance to teachers on how to build responsive interpersonal relationships with and between students using the resources provided in Three Cheers for Pre-K. 

The materials include a meet and greet section in each theme. During this section, students make eye contact and shake hands while discussing their feelings. Their moods are then recorded on the classroom mood meter. The concept of taking care of oneself is first taught during “Meet and Greet” and extends through the day in content areas including “Morning Meeting,” “Story Time,” “Literacy Circle,” “Small Group Instruction,” “Snack Time,” “Health Circle,” “Rest Time,” and “Reflect.” The reflection part of the day often includes a social element. During reflection time, students discuss the fact that asking for help instead of becoming upset can make an activity more enjoyable. While social skill application is well-integrated throughout the day, there is a lack of support for the teacher in building interpersonal relationships between students. 

Each theme also includes a social skills learning section with visuals to help reinforce these concepts. In Theme 1, the teacher models social interaction between students and then has children apply what they have learned. 

In Theme 2, the teacher reviews the vocabulary words family and special using a “Social and Emotional Learning card.” The teacher reminds the children that the song tells why their families are special. The teacher asks the children to form two groups: one group sings the song while the other group role plays the actions. The song provides opportunities to learn, practice, and apply social skills. Later in Theme 2, students practice a counting math lesson where social awareness skills and relationship skills are not integrated. During this game, children pass around a ball while counting up by one. Once students are comfortable tossing the ball to one another, the teacher begins with a number, and students follow. If a child does not know the number, the teacher will provide support by saying the number and having them repeat the number. Here, students could be given supports promoting positive peer interaction and social awareness skills. Students could help one another out and learn how to support each other emotionally.

A science lesson in Theme 3 allows children to work together, sharing their thoughts. After reviewing the book, Rain, Rain, Go Away by Pat Corrigan, the teacher divides the children into small groups. Their objective is to take turns, socialize, and share what they like to do during the different seasons of the year. The teacher provides an example that she likes to drink lemonade during the summer. However, in this activity, there are no supports for the teacher to help facilitate these conversations between students.

In Theme 4, students practice the importance of taking turns through authentically integrated opportunities that are revisited throughout the day. Within the Social and Emotional Development domain, the teacher uses a talking stick to model taking turns before allowing students to practice. Within the Math domain portion of the lesson, the teacher guides the students to take turns when playing a counting game. During “Physical Education,” the teacher explains that each child will practice taking turns doing a particular exercise. Finally, during the daily Morning Meeting attendance activity, students regulate their own behavior by taking turns when placing their picture cards beneath their favorite food. Guidance supports the teacher in building responsive interpersonal relationships between students. The teacher uses Social and Emotional cards to reinforce the social awareness skill of participation, and children are prompted by the teacher to role-play ways to ask a new friend to participate in activities such as building with blocks, working in Centers, and reading a story. Direct instruction helping children to initiate social interactions and have empathy for others also appears in Theme 4. 

In Theme 5, teachers are given direction on how to model ways that children can use effective nonverbal and verbal communication to build relationships with adults. During Meet and Greet, teachers are prompted to greet children with a handshake and encourage them to wave hello or communicate the greeting without saying the words. 

The embedded “Check for Understanding If/Then Statement” prompts the teacher on how to elicit feedback from a child who may have difficulty imagining what a teacher and a child might be talking about. 

To begin Theme 8, students read and discuss the text, The Very Cranky Bear. Then, the teacher uses Social and Emotional cards to reinforce the social awareness skill of understanding others’ feelings. One particular card shows two pairs of children: in one pair, the children are smiling, and in the other pair, the children have opposite expressions (one smiling and one frowning). The teacher leads a discussion about how the two smiling children feel the same; students connect their smiles with the physical emotion of happiness, recognizing the expression and feeling are related. Then, the class discusses that the other pair of children feel different and that they know this because one is smiling and one is frowning. After the children discuss how they feel when they frown, the teacher reinforces that it is ok to feel sad sometimes. Direct instruction on how to make friends is also provided. 

During the science circle in Theme 9, the children are reminded that others have perspectives that are different as they engage in coloring a tree. However, further teacher guidance in this lesson is limited. Math, Social Studies, and ELA content areas do not include many embedded practices for social skills. The materials do not guide teachers to address this kind of learning during these settings specifically. 

There are at least six Social and Emotional-focused learning activities per day, plus embedded practices focusing on social, emotional, and behavioral skills within the learning domains. During Math Circle, the teacher is prompted to model fair sharing as part of a counting exercise and then swaps roles with the children so that they can practice sharing on their own. 

Turn-taking is the one relational skill that is reinforced throughout content domains. The teacher occasionally uses a puppet during “Talking Circle” to identify the student who should be talking while everyone else is listening. In this activity, students are not always given the support necessary to navigate turn-taking amongst themselves. Javi the Helicopter is used in the final routine of the day to help children learn self-regulation and calming skills, with gentle reminders from the teacher about the rules for talking with Javi, as appropriate. This routine is taught on the first day of prekindergarten and revisited on a daily basis so that children can practice self-regulation. 

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

The evidence from the English materials in this report can be verified in full within the translated Spanish materials.

Evidence includes but is not limited to: 

Within the “Professional Learning Guide” (PLG), there is guidance describing what the classroom environment should look like and feel like and how it should operate. This description goes beyond just physical space and furniture placement and includes numerous social considerations as well. 

The “Research into Practice” subsection “provides useful tools to inform and support teachers as they nurture the children in their classroom.” It includes an explanation of why the classroom environment matters and two charts dedicated to suggestions, reminders, and directions. The charts are titled “Classroom Environment—Setting Up Your Classroom” and “Classroom Environment—Creating A Community.” Both charts are divided into halves: one half is titled “What It Looks Like,” and the other half is titled “How Teachers Support It.” The room setup chart focuses on how an environment can include physical and emotional safety, various learning spaces, and interesting and engaging materials. The community setup chart focused on promoting diversity of instruction, providing careful attention to emotional needs, fostering inclusive attitudes, and offering gentle redirection. 

The PLG also describes how teachers can arrange the classroom to promote daily interaction through routine and centers. For instance, the morning greeting promotes daily teacher-student interaction, while ending reflections promote student-student interactions. Students practice how to greet someone and how to positively end a day, respectively. Each day students also update their picture on the “Mood Meter,” informing the class of how they are feeling emotionally to start the day. Additionally, most lessons either intentionally or indirectly promote social interaction. Some lessons use 5x5 cards, “Social and Emotional Learning Cards,” or the “Let’s Talk” section to do so through direct instruction. Other lessons promote social interaction through activity organization and facilitation. 

Each Thematic unit, or “Theme,” includes 16 learning center suggestions. All of these activities are summarized and described in the PLG. Some of the centers tie directly to the theme, and some are identified as choice centers. To help promote positive interactions during centers, the PLG suggests establishing a “turn list” to help children navigate and gain access to frequently visited centers. Another suggestion reminds teachers to arrange the “Reading and Listening” center for small group interaction, away from other large or noisy centers. Directions for choice centers, or “Centergize Centers,” also help students interact with one another during hands-on activity. For instance, one general facilitation suggestion states: “When a student is disengaged, connect with the student and redirect.” Another setup direction suggests that teachers use chairs to measure space for each student when preparing a center. This setup ensures each student is safe, feels comfortable, and is ready for social interaction. There are eight of these centers, ranging from “Cozy Corner” to “Technology Hub.” Often lesson-specific center guidance helps as well; in one lesson, the teacher watches interaction and helps students initiate positive pretend play. 

At the beginning of the school year, teachers develop classroom rules alongside the children. For example, in Theme 1, the teacher uses the lyrics and illustrations from a Social and Emotional card to help children explore school rules. The teacher asks, “What rules do you follow on the playground and in the classroom?” and “Why do you think it is important to have rules?” The teacher asks the children to listen to the song a few times and chime in when they can. During the “Learn and Play” time, students extend their learning by reading the book School Rules. As a class, they discuss different routine rules and then finally make their own rules for the class. This activity serves as an opportunity to engage students in the classroom environment and promote student ownership of the space.

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

The evidence from the English materials in this report can be verified in full within the transadapted and translated Spanish materials.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

Materials include outdoor activities to develop gross motor skills. All themes include a green box that identifies “Outdoor Play” lessons. Transition activities also support gross motor skills. Additionally, each theme includes a section called “Let’s Move,” which outlines motor activities for children. The materials include hands-on instructional resources, including magnetic letters and snap cubes. Materials provide activities to promote child movement that develops gross motor skills.

In Theme 1, during the “Math Circle,” students develop gross motor skills in a movement activity. The teacher invites the children to join in to sing a song. The teacher tells the children that they are going to add movement to the song by tapping their knees. The teacher demonstrates by singing the song an additional time and tapping once for each number word in the first two lines of the song as she rote counts. The teacher then repeats this process, and the children join in. Students can then add in other movements for the number words, such as clapping or stomping. In the learning centers, students have access to a variety of tools, paper, and other materials to develop their fine motor skills. Also in this theme, students develop their fine motor skills when they create a collage by cutting up paper and gluing the scraps together to create shapes.

In Theme 3, an activity provided in the “Transition box” during the “Literacy Circle” helps develop students’ gross motor skills: Students stand up and march when the teacher plays the music. The teacher asks them to stop marching when the music stops. The materials provide daily opportunities for students to develop their fine motor skills through tasks that do not require writing. In this theme, the teacher provides students with construction paper, glue, and other art materials in the “Creativity Station.” The children use art materials to create fall clothing for paper dolls.

In Theme 5, students play an outdoor game called “Place the Packages”: Students pick up and stack small blocks, pretending to be mail carriers. The lesson provides opportunities for students to use “small-muscle strength and small-muscle control” to complete tasks. In the “Let’s Move” section of this theme, teachers have students bend chenille sticks in various ways. 

Theme 7 provides daily opportunities for students to develop their gross motor skills through movement. In the Let’s Move section, children participate in a series of movements mimicking their choice of transportation from the book Row, Row, Row your Boat, developing coordination and balance. Students also participate in the gross motor game “Lights on! Lights off!” When the lights are on, students run in place. When the lights are off, students freeze. Additionally, this theme provides suggestions for the development of fine motor skills in the Math Circle: Students develop a pattern by snapping two or more cubes together. In the “Science Circle,” students investigate and observe light by turning a lamp switch on and off.

Theme 9 provides daily opportunities for students to develop their gross motor skills through movement. During the Let’s Move activity, students demonstrate balance and isolation. Students pretend they are birds and jump down a pretend tree made out of the letter V. Designing the tree branch out of the letter V reinforces identifying the letter. The materials include a list of resources for children to use to practice gross motor skills. Some of the resources listed in the materials section (of each theme) are balls, bean bags, chalk, and wheeled toys. 

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

The evidence from the English materials in this report can be verified in full within the transadapted and translated Spanish materials.

Evidence includes but is not limited to: 

In the “Professional Learning Guide” (PLG), there is evidence of materials promoting physical and mental health. The guide encourages teachers to acknowledge children’s emotional needs and validate their feelings. The PLG includes research that helps teachers to understand the “why” in modeling and guiding purposeful physical development. The guide states: “Instructional materials are developmentally appropriate to ensure safety throughout an activity. Children are given simple and explicit safety directions when using new materials.” Also: “Well-chosen activities can develop a range of skills such as creative thinking, problem solving, scientific observation, and gross and fine motor development.” The PLG recommends reminding students of safety routines when interacting with new material. Materials provide teacher guidance on modeling safe and healthy habits for students throughout the themes and lessons. Lessons include specific guidance on how to model healthy habits. 

The materials provide a variety of opportunities and activities for students to practice and reflect on safe and healthy habits. Themes provide a 15-minute “Health Circle” to support safe and healthy habits. For example, in Theme 1, the teacher displays the lunchroom pages from Pete the Cat: Rocking My School Shoes and has the children call out the foods and drinks they see pictured. The teacher asks them to recall the snacks they have enjoyed this week. When someone mentions healthy food, a sample teacher response is, “Oh, apples have vitamins that help our bodies grow and be healthy.” Also, in this theme, the teacher models scissor safety through the use of finger-play. The teacher gathers the children and asks them to listen and repeat the finger-play. The teacher moves the index and middle fingers like scissors cutting as she sings the finger-play.

In Theme 4’s “Sing, Rhyme, and Chant,” teachers use a picture card to teach the importance of eating fruits and vegetables for a healthy body. During the “Morning Meeting,” the teacher teaches students how to dress for the weather: “The weather today is (sunny, rainy, windy). I can take care of myself. I wear (a hat, jacket, boots).” Students choose one way that they can best dress for the weather described. This theme also provides various literature (big/small books), visual cards, centers, and technology to support personal health and safety. Students review the weekly question, “How do I take care of myself?” The teacher guides the children to understand that taking care of themselves prepares them to take care of the world. The teacher asks for volunteers to name ways we take care of ourselves. During outside play, the teacher models and students practice exercise habits by bouncing a ball back and forth. In the “English Language Development” (ELD) section, the teacher displays a vocabulary card. The teacher names the healthy snack and asks students to name a healthy snack they like to eat. Whole group instruction includes Health Circle time. During a “Personal Safety Habits Circle,” the lesson is divided into “Engage,” “Develop,” and “Practice” components. During Practice, students use paper puppets to demonstrate putting on a helmet and putting on a seatbelt. They discuss ways to walk safely, including tying your shoelaces and buttoning your coat. Students act out washing their hands and brushing their teeth. A box called “Taking Care of Myself” contains a chant, which teachers lead students in repeating. The chant is, “When I exercise, I take care of myself. When I brush my teeth, I take care of myself.” During another Health Circle, students engage in a chant about how healthy food and exercise are good for their mood. The materials in this theme also include some songs and books about healthy choices and how these choices are good for our bodies. The “Outside Time” box guides teachers to remind students about the importance of exercise.

In Theme 6, in the Health Circle activity “Good Foods For Us,” the teacher uses a book to guide students’ understanding of healthy and unhealthy foods. The teacher uses dialogue starters, such as “Cookies or candy every day is not good for health because these foods do not have what our bodies need to grow and stay strong.” Materials suggest that the teacher explains to students that “Cookies and other sweet foods are sometimes foods and not everyday foods such as fruits and vegetables.” The teacher prompts students to create a drawing of foods they like to eat, identifying nutritional foods. Students also have opportunities to identify healthy and not-so-healthy foods by giving a thumbs-up or thumbs-down after the teacher shows examples of each. “Celebration Day” celebrates the healthy way of eating that the students learned about throughout the health theme. Families visit the classroom to partake in songs, plays, and activities from the theme, as well as share favorite family foods. 

In Theme 9, students practice personal safety habits. In the “Technology Circle,” students are invited to review the online safety chant. During a “Learn and Play” activity, the teacher divides the children into small groups to support personal safety. A small balloon is tossed into the air, and the children must work together to keep the balloon in the air. During “Rest Time,” students are reminded that their bodies need rest to stay healthy. The teacher encourages students to stretch their fingers and toes, relax, and rest. This theme provides opportunities for the teacher to model and guide purposeful physical development. Children are invited to act out various physical movements: Reach for the star, block the sun, walk on the moon, swim in a lake, and catch a fish.

Evaluation for 4.1
Materials provide guidance on developing students’ listening skills.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

In “Tema 1,” “Semana 1,” “Día 1,” “En nuestras palabras” the teacher explains that each day students will share events of their day by using Javi, a puppet, as a speaking signal. Teacher states: “Cuando tengan a Javi será su turno para hablar. Solo quien tenga a Javi podrá hablar. Los demás deben escuchar en silencio.” Teacher allows students to share about their day and others listen quietly. Later on in “Día 5,” section “Reflexionar,” during “Aprendizaje social y emocional” the teacher explains what rules are and that they tell us how to act or behave. Teacher solicites student input on what rules the class should have and guides their response by stating, “Para guiarlos comente que los niños están en círculo mirando al maestro y en silencio. ¿Qué reglas tenemos en nuestro salón para la hora de círculos?” Teachers begin to establish what listening behaviors could look like as they create the classroom rules. 

In “Tema 1,” “Semana 2,” “Círculo de lectoescritura,” sub-section “comprensión auditiva,” the students are taught to respond to questions appropriately based on the texts Maria tenía una llamita and “Las reglas de la escuela.” The teacher tells the children they are going to practice answering questions by saying, “Cuando alguien hace una pregunta es importante escuchar. Piensen en lo que la otra persona quiere saber.” Students listen carefully and the teacher asks how the two texts are the same. The teacher emphasizes that the question includes two texts, “Pregunté por dos textos, así que la respuesta debe hablar de los dos, no solo uno. Pregunté en qué se parecen, entonces, la respuesta debe hablar de algo que sea parecido.” The teacher has children answer the question, providing guidance as needed, and repeats this process with the question, “ ¿Cuáles son las diferencias entre los dos textos?” The scaffolds ensure that students understand the question and provide adequate responses.

In “Tema 1,” “Semana 4,” under “Círculo de lectoescritura” sub-section “Lenguaje y comunicación,” provides a lesson specific to sentence structure. The teacher reminds children that books are made up of words and words are made from letters. The teacher points to the first word on page 6 of the book Las escuelas en muchas culturas, and says, “Aquí dice: ‘Los maestros’. Son las primeras palabras de un grupo de palabras que forman una oración. Una oración es un pensamiento o idea completa. Las palabras gatos y perros no son un pensamiento completo.” The teacher points to the sentence “Los maestros trabajan en la escuela” and reads it aloud pointing to each word. The teacher then says this is a complete sentence, “Es un pensamiento completo.” The teacher then works with the children to find other sentences in the book and reads those aloud. 

In “Tema 3,” “Semana 1,” “Día 4,”under subtitle, “Aprendizaje social y emocional,” the teacher displays the behavior SEL card or “Tarjeta ASE.” Teacher points to students in the card that are listening to the teacher and highlights what they are doing, “Cuando escuchamos y levantamos la mano para hablar, mostramos buen comportamiento.” Students learn about the importance of not interrupting others when they speak and continue to learn about good listening behaviors. The teacher reinforces the expectations through a transition song “Saber escuchar” that states: “Oímos con los oídos. (tocarse las orejas) Escuchamos todas las palabras. Sabemos escuchar. (tocarse las orejas).”

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

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The materials provide research to support the teacher's understanding of language development in the “Professional Learning Guide.” In the Research Based section, under the Language and Communication area, the materials state “Children learn new vocabulary by hearing and rehearing stories, talking about them, and by telling what they have heard in their own words.” The materials utilize the Unit guides to guide teachers in developing vocabulary through the read-aloud lessons and explicit vocabulary instruction. The materials provide clear teacher support to “encourage student use of vocabulary of the text, and in speaking....” 

In “Tema 1, Semana 1, Día 2, Círculo de lectoescritura," the teacher verifies students' understanding of the concepts presented by providing additional support to the students who cannot describe the character in the cover page of the book. The teacher offers choices for oral responses by giving specific proving questions or statements during the lesson: “pídales que miren sus zapatos y los describan. Pregunte: ¿De qué color son sus zapatos? ¿Tienen cordones? ¿Tienen rayas?” Students look at the images in the book and respond to the teacher. 

In “Tema 1, Semana 1, Día 5, Círculo de Lectoescritura," the teacher uses simplified questions to support students who have difficulties answering questions about the lesson. Guidance states, “haga preguntas simples, como ¿Qué animal es este? o ¿Dónde está María?” The students who demonstrate difficulties using verbal language can still participate during the lessons while answering questions with concrete responses through the use of visual supports from texts. The material provides clear guidance for teachers to support students’ speech development using visual and verbal cues. 

 In “Tema 3” “Círculo de estudios sociales,” the teacher uses the resource “Tabla de cuatro columnas,” titled “Vestirse para las estaciones,” to review how the weather affects the clothing they use. The teacher connects the activity to home experiences by asking students about their everyday routine as they get dressed for school. The teacher states, “Si fuera un día fresco de otoño, ¿qué pondría primero: la chaqueta o la camisa? ¿Qué se pondrían último: los calcetines, los zapatos, o los pantalones? ¡Muéstrenme!” Teachers provide possible answers in their questions to encourage the use of proper terminology when responding to the questions. 

In “Tema 3,” “Conocimiento del alfabeto,” “Conciencia fonológica” the teacher shows students the image card for “sol,” segments the sounds, and produces the complete word. Then the teacher shows the card for “yak.” Teacher segments the sounds, “Escuchen los sonidos de esta palabra: /y/ /a/ /k/ ¿Pueden combinar los sonidos y decirme qué palabra es? Si es necesario repita los sonidos para que los niños respondan yak.” 

In “Tema 4,” “Semana 1,”“¡Bienvenidos al día de Hoy!” the teacher presents theme by introducing a song and stating; “En este tema nuevo aprenderemos cómo cuidar de nosotros mismos, de los demás y de nuestro mundo. Esta canción nos presenta una manera de cuidarnos.” Students practice appropriate sentence structure by the use of repetition during songs and movements. 

In “Tema 5, Semana 2, Día 1,  Centro de Lectoescritura,” the teacher pronounces the words clearly while students repeat the words after the teacher. The teacher provides additional support by showing students the “Rr” card with the images of a “roca” and “rama.” “Si un niño tiene dificultades para reconocer el sonido /r/....Diga el nombre de cada imagen pronunciando claramente el sonido inicial /r/.” The materials provide corrective feedback strategies by reinforcing correct letter sound production to guide students’ verbal responses during the lesson. 

In “Tema 6, Semana 1, Día 1, Reflexionar,” the material provides clear guidance for teachers to support student verbal development by using visual sentence stems to increase student responses. The teacher provides two choices for the students to pick from when thinking about their favorite theme activity. The students restate the choice they like the most by repeating one of the choices. The teacher then supports students by “ayúdelos a decirlo con una oración; Me gusto...”

In “Temas 6, Semana 4, Producción de comunicación oral,” the teacher introduces the word “porque” to provide a reason for their decision or liking. The teacher states that they like images from the book Las empanadas que hacía abuela by Diane Gonzales Bertrand and in a separate sentence state why they liked the images. The teacher introduces the word “porque” and states, “Puedo decir todo esto en una oración usando la palabra porque. Me gustan las imágenes porque son graciosas y los personajes estaban caminando sobre un rodillo de amasar.” Students then discuss something they liked from the book and practice using the word “porque.” Teachers are encouraged to add more details to the students' responses. 

In “Tema 7, Semana 1, Circulo de estudios sociales,” the teacher states that students follow conversation norms to discuss the different ways they get to school. Students line up in rows based on how they get to school; students share how they get to school with their partner, and together, they discuss similarities and differences. The teacher models by saying “[Nombre del niño} viaja a la escuela en... Es [igual/diferente] a como yo viajo a la escuela.” Students receive direct support to apply conversational norms.

Evaluation for 4.3
Materials support expanding student vocabulary.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The material organizes vocabulary words throughout the themes that need to be presented to students in order for them to be able to locate centers in the classroom. The materials provide basic definitions of places within the classroom through the use of explanations and visual supports that match with the center or activity presented. 

In “Tema 1,” “Semana 1,” in “Vocabulario del concepto” the teacher explains that this week they will discuss how they learn and play in school. The teacher shows the vocabulary card for the play area and states, “Hay áreas de juego en muchas escuelas. Vamos allí cuando jugamos afuera.” The other vocabulary cards for the week are also introduced and the teacher explains how each one relates to the way students learn and play at school, “biblioteca, libros, pasillo, pupitre.” Throughout the week students continue to learn about each area of the school and teacher guidance is available each day to teach the new vocabulary words. 

In “Tema 2,” “Semana 3,” “Grupos pequeños,” under the “Apoyo para los estudiantes bilingües” section, found in all themes, the teacher guides discussions around the meaning of the word “baloncesto” by separating it into words parts and presenting images that represent both words. After introducing the word the teacher creates a paper ball, “balon,” and students are to say “¡balón!” when they throw it, and “¡cesto!” if the ball touches or goes into the recycling bin. The teacher can then extend the lesson, under the “Hacer conexiones entre las lenguas,” the teacher introduces the “balón” card and asks students what word in English reminds them of this word in Spanish. If needed, the teacher provides the word “balloon.” The teacher shows an image of a balloon and explains that even though they are similar in spelling, they do not mean the same thing. Students access one language to build on the other one by learning the similarities and differences between languages. 

In “Tema 3,” “Semana 1,” section “Círculo de Matemáticas” includes a variety of strategies for the development of math academic vocabulary within the context of the content. During a lesson in geometry, the teacher develops the lesson around the resource “Superlibro” De Colores. The teacher opens the lesson by telling the students that they will be learning about shapes they see each day at home and in school. The teacher begins by activating or making connections with prior knowledge by stating, “¿Saben el nombre de alguna forma?” The teacher draws a circle, square, rectangle, and triangle on the board. The teacher asks if they are different shapes and if they have seen those shapes before. The teacher names the shapes and describe them, “Las formas pueden tener lados y esquinas. trace cada lado y señale cada esquina del rectángulo.” Students look for similarities and differences among the shapes and find similarities to objects in the classroom by holding up a paper plate, a book, and a triangular coat hanger. The teacher provides further practice using the resource “Superlibro” De Colores, flipping through the pages the teacher asks the students where they see any of the shapes. The teacher then points to an object such as the sun and asks, “¿Qué forma tiene el sol?, ¿Cómo lo saben?, ¿Hay algún triángulo en esta página?” A box to the right lists the academic vocabulary for the lesson: “circulo, esquina, cuadrado, lado, triangulo, forma, rectangulo.”

In “Tema 8,” “Semana 1,” “Grupos pequeños,” “Apoyo para los estudiantes bilingües,” the teacher tells students that they will work in pairs to tell what happened to each animal when the race ended. The teacher provides the following sentence frames for students to complete the actions of each animal, “Después de que terminó la carrera la tortuga... Después de que terminó la carrera la liebre...” The action words include “canto, brinco, se sento, sonrio, se enojo, se sorprende.” In “Hacer conexiones entre las lenguas,” students can use the following sentence frame and action words, “After the race, the turtle... After the race, the hare...(sang, jumped, sat down, smiled, cried, got angry was surprised.)” Though the resource provides an opportunity to connect the two languages, many times the lessons simply state to repeat the same activity in English. Students simply receive a translated lesson, without any support in understanding action words or their meaning.

Evaluation for 4.4
Materials include appropriate strategies for supporting students’ biliteracy development.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The materials support the use of strategies for dual language learners through daily small group lessons within all themes. Lessons are connected to small group suggestions for “Matemáticas'' and “Lectoescritura.” Each of those has a component called "Apoyo para los estudiantes bilingües," a section that provides language acquisition strategies for Spanish Language Development. Under "Apoyo para los estudiantes bilingües" one can find another sub-section called “Hacer conexiones entre las lenguas'' which offers suggestions or activities that the teacher could teach in English. 

In “Tema 1,” “Semana 2,” “En grupos pequeños,” subsection “Apoyo para los estudiantes bilingües,” the teacher references the read aloud, María tenía una llamita, and points out the difference between the big and small llamas by pointing to the word “llamas” and then to the “llamitas.” The teacher explains that in Spanish, words ending in “-ito” or “-ita” are used for small things. The teacher makes a cross-linguistic connection to English and explains that in English you can say little llama to talk about the small llama. The students then count big and little llamas, using the words “llama” and “little llama” while they count. The teacher extends the lesson support for Dual Language Learners by drawing two large question marks leaving a space between them on the board, i.e., ¿ _______?. The teacher then explains that questions have question marks. The teacher repeats this activity during the English instructional block, explaining to the students that “English uses only one question mark at the end of the sentence.” The materials support the teacher by giving several examples of when / how to use a question mark. 

In “Tema 1,” “Semana 4,” “En grupos pequeños,” under “Hacer conexiones entre las lenguas,” for math states that the teacher repeated the same lesson in English, providing the following sentence frames, “There are...stars. There are...kittens. There are...pencils.” The teacher will then show a number card and help the students understand that even when the word changes, dos/two, the number itself is the same in English and Spanish. It is important to note that many of the activities under “Hacer con exiones entre las lenguas,” simply state to repeat the same lesson in English, without any language acquisition strategies or support. 

In “Tema 2,” “Semana 2,” “En grupos pequeños,” “Hacer conexiones entre las lenguas,” the teacher pairs students to discuss their favorite foods. One student speaks in Spanish while the other speaks English. The pairs will speak about a food that both partners know about, using all their senses, to describe what their favorite food looks, smells, or tastes like. The teacher guides students to use prior knowledge of terms and vocabulary words to name and describe their favorite food in both languages. 

In “Tema 4," “Semana 4,” “En grupos pequeños,” “Hacer conexiones entre las lenguas,” the materials guide the teacher to use this lesson for whole group instruction in the English block. Students name all the images that help our world and those that do not help in English. The teacher writes the names of the items in English next to the Spanish names. The entire class compares and contrasts the names in both languages. The guidance provided is an example of “bridging” a language acquisition strategy. 

In “Tema 6," “Semana 4,” “En grupos pequeños,” “Hacer conexiones entre las lenguas,” students make connections between languages by responding to the animal they like the most using the sentence stem “Me gustan...porque...” Students can answer the questions in the English block and compare the names of the animal in English and in Spanish. 

In “Tema 7,” “Semana 1,” “En grupos pequeños,” “Apoyo para los estudiantes bilingües,” the teacher presents a collection of triangles and rectangles of various sizes and colors. The teacher asks students to sort the objects, and the following questions are used to guide students: “¿Son del mismo tamaño todos los triángulos? ¿Y los rectángulos?” Later in the section, “Hacer conexiones entre las lenguas,” the teacher repeats the same activity and highlights that triangle and “triangulos,” rectangle and “rectangulo” are cognates.

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

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

In the Teachers’ Guide in “Tema 2,” during the read-aloud Los músicos de Bremen by the Brothers Grimm, the teacher asks questions about the book and students are able to connect to the thematic concepts presented. The resource provides guidance on what students are able to learn through this activity by stating: “Nosotros somos especiales porque somos diferentes a nuestra manera. ¿Qué hace especial al gallo? ¿Que hace especial al perro?” The teacher prompts students to make connections through reflective questions that connect to students’ prior knowledge. The materials also offer guidance on developing oral language skills by providing pre-reading questions, listening and speaking opportunities, and making connections between the text and students. Students can answer the questions while engaging in conversations and turn-taking with their peers. Students get the necessary support to answer questions with visual sentence stems or visual images of the books. Through open-ended questions and connections to students, teachers are able to engage students in meaningful conversations around the texts read. 

The section for “La hora del cuento en Tema 6," includes consistent opportunities for students to develop vocabulary, discuss information about the story, and connect to ideas about the text by sharing. For example, after reading the big book De compras, the teacher encourages students to talk about the items the students see in the pictures. The teacher helps the students combine sentences to communicate their intended meaning using the letter y. The resource provides guidance on what students are able to learn through this activity by stating: “Veo lechugas. Veo zanahorias. Veo lechugas y zanahorias.” The teacher guides students to share information in whole groups and then in pairs by taking turns telling how their family gets food. The guidance states: “¿Saben como se llama la tienda? ¿Qué ven cuando van a la tienda?” If the students order food ask: “¿Qué sucede cuando llega el alimento? ¿Quién trae el alimento? ¿Cómo viene envuelto el alimento?” The resource provides consistent opportunities for the students to discuss, as a whole group and in small groups, the different ways in which their families shop for food. The stories found in themes 1 through 9 allow students to engage in discussion as they share ideas about the text being read.

Furthermore, the materials guide students to work together in discussing various themes throughout the resource. In the resource cards SEL, “Aprendizaje social y emocional” in “Tema 5,” the teacher points to the child in the picture of the SEL card who is feeling restless. The teacher guides the students to engage in discussion by stating, “Terminen esta oración, Este niño está... Así que este niño está inquieto. ¿Por qué podría alguien sentirse inquieto?” The teacher allows the students to share about feeling restless as a whole group and then in pairs. The teacher proceeds to point to the child in the picture card who is lonely. The resource states: “Terminen esta oración, Esta niña es una persona... Así es, esta niña es una persona solitaria, ¿Por qué podría alguien sentirse solo?” The teacher allows students to talk about being lonely and what causes people to sometimes feel this way. The resource supports student use of verbal skills through the use of questions before reading texts, during social-emotional time, and after presenting SEL cards. The materials support and guide the students to work together to engage in discussions about how people feel in addition to why they would feel that way.

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

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The research in the Spanish Professional Learning Guide under “Base de investigación” on page 20 states, “Según las investigaciones…. La conciencia fonológica es un sólido indicador del éxito futuro en la lectura. La enseñanza relacionada con la conciencia fonológica y fonémica en Prekínder y Kindergarten asegura el éxito en la lectura durante primer grado. (Hiebert, Pearson, Taylor, Richardson, and Paris, 2014); National Research Council, 1999).” The research cited here is based on English literacy development, and not Spanish literacy development. Research states that a carefully planned sequence of daily phonological awareness instruction in Literacy Circle starts with basic skills and builds toward more complex skills by continually and systematically reviewing and practicing everyday. Furthermore, Page 75 of the Spanish Professional Learning Guide has a chart under “Alfabetización emergente: Lectura” in the “Conciencia fonológica,” that describes the scope and sequence instruction of phonological awareness. The big skills in this table include separating a four word sentence into individual words, combining two words to make a compound word, removing a word from a compound word, blending two syllables to make a word, syllable segmentation, identify rhyming words, producing a word with the same initial sound as two provided words, blending initial sounds (single consonant or consonants) with final sounds (starting at the vowel) to create a one syllable word without visual supports, and identifying and blending spoken phonemes in one syllable words with visual supports. 

In “Tema 1,” “Semana 3,” “Círculo de Lectoescritura,” under the section “Conocimiento del alfabeto,” the teacher presents the card for the letter Mm /m/ and tells the students; “Hoy vamos a aprender sobre la letra Mm.” The teacher shows the letter card for Mm, points to the picture and says; “Esta es una montaña.” She points to the uppercase M and says; “Esta es la M mayúscula,” then points to the lowercase m and says; “Esta es la m minúscula. Digan el nombre de la letra conmigo.” After asking the class what the name of the letter is, the lesson moves to letter sound. The teacher says; “El sonido de la letra Mm es: /m/. Díganlo conmigo: /m/.” Then, the teacher points to the lowercase M and asks; “¿Qué sonido tiene esta letra?” and repeats with the uppercase M. Finally, the last step of the lesson is letter formation, where the teacher traces the uppercase M in the alphabet card and explains the order of her movements as she traces. She repeats if necessary and then asks the students to trace the letter in the air and the lesson ends after the same step is done with the lowercase m. 

At the end of “Tema 1,” “¡Revitaliza Centros!” in section “Centro para el tema: Club de escritores,” under “Escribir en la escuela,” the teacher distributes pages from Las estrellitas and asks students to name different activities the stars do at school. Teacher asks; “¿Qué es lo que más les gusta de la escuela? ¿Qué actividad les encanta hacer?” as she guides them to make connections to their own experiences and routines at school. The teacher then explains that they will write and draw ideas and practice writing their name. The teacher demonstrates how to do this on the board and writes her name, but also offers guidance to those who have trouble writing their name.

In “Tema 2,” “Semana 2,” “Círculo de Lectoescritura,” under the section “Conciencia fonológica,” the teacher shows the students the book Buscar una calabaza and reads the first sentence from the book. Students practice segmenting words and then remove parts of the word, “En la palabra huerta oigo dos partes de la palabra: huer-ta. ¿Qué falta si solo digo huer?” The resource provides an additional word and asks students to state the final syllable, “Ahora otra: visita, vi-si-ta. Diré las primeras dos sílabas y ustedes diganme el resto de la palabra: vi-si....” The class repeats this process with the words clase, ruido, aire, y calor. The materials are clear on the characteristics of Spanish phonics, syllabication, and their implications when teaching students phonological awareness. 

In “Tema 3,” “Semana 2,” “Círculo de Lectoescritura,” under the section “Conciencia fonológica,” there is a lesson for students to recognize and blend isolated phonemes into one-syllable words using picture support from “Tarjetas de imágenes.” The teacher displays the picture card for “pez” and says; ”Esto es un /p/-/e/-/s/ ¿Qué es?” The teacher guides the students to say the word “pez” and repeats this process with the words “sol” and “yak” using the “Tarjetas de imágenes.” Following these words, the teacher shows the picture card for “pie” and says, “Esta es la imagen de un /p/-/i/-/e/. ¿Pueden combinar o decir los sonidos de la palabra uno después del otro?” The teacher guides the students to say the word “pie” and repeats this process with the word card for “rey.” 

In “Tema 9,” “Tarjeta del alfabeto,” section for the letter Z, the teacher displays the card and points to the picture and says, “Esto es un zigzag.” The teacher helps the students to identify the uppercase Z by pointing to it and saying, “Esta es la Z mayúscula.” The teacher then points to the lowercase z and says, “Esta es la letra minúscula. Digan conmigo el nombre de la letra Z.” The teacher guides students to combine the picture of the letter Z with the name of the letter Z by pointing to the uppercase Z and then to the lowercase z and asking, ”¿Qué sonido tiene esta letra?.” The teacher guides students to analyze the sound of the letter Zz by saying, “El sonido de la letra Z es /s/, /s/, /s/. Digan conmigo /s/.“ The teacher asks students to listen to the initial sound they hear in the word zigzag /s/. The materials include various learning activities such as this one to engage students in identifying, analyzing, and synthesizing sounds.

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

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The materials do not provide a research base for the Spanish alphabet knowledge skills sequence. There are no related research documents in the bibliography to cite Spanish alphabetic knowledge research. Included in the Professional Learning Guide on pages 41‒70 are tables that reference how to help students compare sounds from a native language into English. The materials provide examples for support transferring sounds, but there is no explanation on how to introduce them when focusing on building Spanish literacy skills. The resource provides linguistic considerations for each letter such as ways to articulate a vowel or constant, and how to use the vocal tract to make and produce sounds. 

The materials follow a “Letter of the Week” approach, which introduces three letters per theme, and each week presents a different letter. Throughout each introduction, the teacher uses different activities, movements, visuals, personal connections to their name or other important people or objects to the student. The material introduces the letters each week in the following three-step routine: “Nombre de la letra,” “Sonido de la letra,” “Formación de la letra.” In “Nombre de la letra,” students listen to the name of the letter and see examples of uppercase and lowercase letters. Almost simultaneously, the teacher models the sound of the letter in the “Sonido de la letra” section, while students repeat the sound after the teacher. In the “Formación de la letra” section, students trace with their finger each letter in the air. The teacher models the letter formation while explaining the order of the movements. The teacher reviews the sequence on day 2. On days 3 and 4, minimal guidance is available as to other ways to engage meaningfully with the letter sound or letter name. The materials also follow a repeated sequence for letter introduction. For instance, Theme 2, Week 1 presents the vowel e, Week 2 introduces the consonant p, Week 3 introduces the vowel o, and Week 4 reviews all letters introduced in previous weeks. 

In “Tema 1,” “Semana 1,” “Círculo de lectoescritura,” subsection “Conocimiento del alfabeto,” the teacher tells the children they are working with some letters of the alphabet. The teacher distributes “Tarjetas del alfabeto” Aa through Ii to small groups of children. The groups work to use the alphabet strip in the illustration of “Tato’s,” match the card they are holding, and name the letter if they know it. 

In “Tema 5,” “Semana 1,” “Día 3” y “Día 4,” under “Círculo de lectoescritura,” subsection “Conocimiento del alfabeto,” the students review the letter Tt. The teacher says, “La T mayúscula se ve como esta T. La t minúscula se ve como esta t.” They review the sound for t by pointing to the picture and say the word “tren.” By Day 3 and 4, the teacher reviews the letter week, and though other activities were found in prior days and other components, the review days do not have variations. 

In “Tema 9,” “Semana 1,” under “Círculo de lectoescritura,” subsection “Conocimiento del alfabeto,” the teacher introduces the letter Zz /s/ and tells the students that they will learn about this letter. The teacher displays the “Tarjeta del alfabeto Zz” and says, “Esto es un zigzag.” Then points to the uppercase Z and says, “Esta es la Z mayúscula,” later points to the lowercase z and says, “Esta es la z minúscula. Digan conmigo el nombre de la letra: Z.” The teacher points to the lowercase letter and asks, “¿Cuál es el nombre de esta letra?” then to the uppercase letter and asks, “¿Cuál es el nombre de esta letra?” They move to practicing the sound by saying, “El sonido de la letra Z es: /s/, /s/, /s/. Díganlo conmigo: /s/. Escuchen el sonido al principio de la palabra zigzag: /s/.” Teacher points to the lower case letter and asks, “¿Qué sonido tiene esta letra?” then to the uppercase letter and asks, “¿Qué sonido tiene esta letra?” They move to the final step by tracing the uppercase Z on the “tarjeta del alfabeto” while explaining the order of movements. The teacher repeats as needed and has the students trace the letter in the air, and repeat with the lowercase z.

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

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The professional Learning Guide includes a scope and sequence that focuses on the different outcomes in the Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines. Page 76 of the Spanish Professional Learning Guide has a chart under “Alfabetización emergente: Lectura” in the “Conceptos de materiales escritos” that describes the scope and sequence for the instruction of print knowledge. There is a list of three main print concepts; “Can distinguish between elements of print including letters, words, and pictures.” for t themes 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, and 8. “Demonstrates understanding of print directionality including left to right and top to bottom.” for themes 2, 4, and 5. “Can identify some conventional features of print that communicate meaning including end punctuation and case.” for themes 3, 6, 8, and 9, The materials include a clear delineation of where within the lessons teachers can find the concepts. 

In “Tema 1,” “Semana 1,” “La hora del cuento,” before the Las estrellitas read-aloud, the teacher explains how words have meaning and how we can all connect to that meaning. Guidance states: “Señale las palabras en la página y explique que las palabras tienen significado.” The students make connections to the text by answering questions such as: “¿Les gustaría hacer algo en la escuela de lo que vieron en los dibujos? ¿Qué otras cosas les gustaría hacer en la escuela?” In the same week in “Aprender y jugar,” under the section “Leamos,” the teacher shows the super book to the students and invites students to get close and find the page with the image they like most, and to point and/or name letters they recognize in the book. The resource provides guidance on what students are able to learn through this activity by stating: “¿Cómo sabías que esta es la letra...? ¿Qué forma tiene? Dibuja la letra en el aire para mostrármela.”

In “Tema 3,” “Semana 4,” “Círculo de Lectoescritura,” subsection “Conceptos del texto impreso,” the teacher shows page 19 of the book Los días y las noches de verano, points to a word and says, “Esta es una palabra. ¿Con qué se forma una palabra? (letras) ¿Pueden nombrar alguna letra de esta página?” The teacher reads a sentence out loud and underlines the text with her finger and says, “Esta es una oración. ¿Con qué se forma una oración? (palabras) Las oraciones empiezan con una letra mayúscula.” The materials allow students to engage in learning new skills through the use of pointing and communication skills. The teacher models how to find capital letters and point to different places around the classroom where students can find capital letters as well. 

In “Tema 5,” in the section “Centro para el tema: Estación de creatividad,” under “Revitaliza centros,” includes direct support for teachers to engage students in the authentic use of print to label pictures. The students cut out pieces of food and paste them on a different page to create a menu. The teacher encourages the students to write letters to label the food images. All students in the class use the menus provided by their peers and add to them as they include letters and labels to the menus. 

In “Tema 9,” “Semana 1,” “Círculo de Lectoescritura,” subsection “Escribir como un proceso,” the teacher guides students to think about concepts of print by interacting and making suggestions to correct the class story on the board. Teacher states, “Ayer anotamos ideas para el cuento de nuestra clase. Volvamos a leerlas y veamos si necesitamos hacer cambios o correcciones.” The teacher reads and explains the need to use punctuation and motivates students to add punctuation through the use of key questions such as: “Escribimos: ¿Imaginas que sucedió después?. Cuando leo esa oración, el tono de mi voz sube. ¿Qué signo o signos de puntuación debemos usar en esa oración? Ya termine de decir mi pensamiento. Detuve mi voz. ¿Cómo sabemos que termina una oración y empieza otra?” Students label basic punctuation marks such as periods within the text.

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

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The materials provide a variety of texts at the appropriate level of complexity for students’ developmental level. The font of the text is adequate for whole group lessons and small group instruction. The images in the text are clear of clutter and tell the message of the story in simple language. The texts provide images and illustrations that support the overall message of the books. For example, Unit 1 big book Las estrellitas with illustrations by Mariona Cabassa, contains short simple sentences and vocabulary that is easy for preschoolers to understand. The layout of the book is attractive with many illustrations that support the text. 

At the very beginning of each theme, there is a section called, “Vistazo a los temas,” which has all the high-quality texts and books that are used for that theme. All themes have four Trade Books, one Super Book, one Read More About It Book, and a Wordless Book per theme. 

The fiction and nonfiction texts support the theme concepts and allow for the teacher to present text elements with a variety of stories. 

Examples of fiction text include but are not limited to:

• Tato el gato by Eric Litwin (Animal Genre, animal fiction) transadaptation from English
• Maria tenia una llamita by Angela Domiguez (poetry) translated from its original version
• ¡Tal como eres! By Susan Bloom (Animal Genre, animal fiction) transadaptation from its original version
• ¡Crecer fuerte! By Cherie J. Meiners (realistic fiction) translated from its original version
• ¿A quién pertenecen estas patas? By Peg Hall (realistic fiction) translated from its original version

Examples of non-fiction text include but are not limited to:

• Misión al espacio by John Herrington (scientific nonfiction) translated from Chickasaw press 
• Las escuelas en muchas culturas by Heather Adamson (informational) translated from the original English version
• Colores, colores, ¡cuántas flores! By April Pulley Sayre (informational) transadaptation from original English version 
• Una visita a la estación de bomberos by Blake A. Hoena (informational) translated from original English version 
• Cómo llega la comida desde la granja hasta los estantes de la tienda by Erika L. Shores (informational) translated from original version English

The materials include the use of purposeful environmental print throughout the classroom so students can learn to identify it. For example, in “Tema 1,” “Semana 4,” section “Círculo de Lectoescritura,” under “Conocimiento del alfabeto,” the teacher will review with the class what they learned about the letters Aa and Mm. The teacher shows the name cards for all the students and asks them to find one name card with the letter Aa or Mm. The teacher asks them to point to the letter, name it, and make the sound. The teacher guides them to find these letters in other forms of print they have in their classroom environment.

The materials provide nursery rhymes that are unique to a variety of different cultures around the world. For example, in “Tema 3,” “Semana 3” “La hora del cuento,” the read-aloud big book is De colores, a traditional poem well known throughout the Spanish speaking countries. Song cards are available for each theme. In “Tema 3,” “Semana 3,” “Canta, rima y exprésate,” the teacher uses the song Otoño to teach students about the fall weather. The students sing along with the teacher while moving their bodies to simulate the leaves falling from the trees. 

The texts in “Temas 1–9” include content that engages preschoolers and provides opportunities for students to interact with the stories. For example, the big book La lechera in “Tema 6,” provides opportunities for preschoolers to interact with the story. The teacher displays the cover of the book and tells the students that “La lechera” is someone who sells milk, and they should listen for the word “leche” and “lechera” as the story is read. The teacher says, “alcen la mano cada vez que escuchen las palabras leche o lechera.” This way, the teacher can tell who is listening attentively, as students raise their hands when they hear those words repeated throughout the story. The teacher uses questions to check for understanding, “¿Dónde vive la niña? ¿Qué hacía todos los días? ¿A dónde llevaba la leche? ¿Qué quería comprar con el dinero?” The teacher also uses the sentence stem “Venderé la leche y me compraré...” Similar activities can be found in additional units, as students engage with the text through teacher guidance. 

The texts in the material include read-aloud books that cover a wide variety of topics for various student interests. The materials provide texts that are relevant to the child’s background and culture. There are books about: school, family, weather, self-care, community helpers, transportation, farm, animals, and earth. For example, in “Tema 1” Tato el gato is an animal character that will take the students through their first day in school. In “Tema 3,” the read-aloud De colores will support student understanding of the changing seasons, and with the read-aloud Adiós al verano, ya llegó el otoño, students will become aware of how the weather changes with the fall. The read-aloud books in “Tema 6” cover how farm products reach our tables. La lechera supports selling goods and services. Cómo llega la comida hasta los estantes de la tienda is an informational book that explains how food is grown on a farm, then packaged, and finally delivered to a local grocery store.

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

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

In “Tema 2,” “Semana 2,” “Leamos” teacher reread the book María tenía una llamita and makes a connection to student’s home life by pausing on the page that when María finishes her day at school, she reunites with her llama. Teacher states that the school day is coming to an end and asks them who they will see after school, “Pregúnteles a quien verán a la salida para hacer conexiones entre el cuento y su vida. ¿Verán a una llamita? ¿Verán a su papá o mamá? ¿Los extrañaron como María extraño a su llamita?”

In “Tema 2,” “Semana 3,” under “La hora del cuento,” during the book La casita de la abuela, the teacher asks the children to listen and make predictions about a story of a grandmother who has a problem when family and friends visit her small house. The teacher reads a couple of the first pages out loud. The teacher tells the children to look at the first image and asks, “Las palabras dicen que ‘La casita de la abuela es muy pequeña.’ ¿Cómo muestra eso la imagen?” The teacher guides students to notice how the house is tiny, or minuscule, and to look at the other houses because the other houses are bigger. The teacher moves to pages 4 and 5 and asks the children to look at the image. The teacher guides them to make inferences about the text, “¿Hay muchos integrantes en la familia de la abuela? ¿Por qué está preocupada la abuela?” Students are then encouraged to make connections to the text through the following guidance, “Si tienen demasiados juguetes en su caja de juguetes, no les queda mucho espacio. ¿Qué pueden hacer?”

In “Tema 4,” “Semana 1,” “Día 3,” “La hora del cuento,” during the section “Recordar” the teacher reviews the book ¡Crecer fuerte! by going to various pages of the story and asking open and closed-ended questions. Some of the questions included are, “¿Qué parte del cuerpo usamos para pensar?” “¿De qué manera ayuda el agua a nuestro cuerpo?” “¿De qué manera dormir nos mantiene saludables?” The teacher reads the book once more and asks students to generate questions about the text. Students are to use illustrations and think about what they wonder. An “Apoyo diferenciado” box suggests that if children have difficulties asking questions, to provide sample sentence frames, “¿...estan haciendo?” “¿...van?” 

In “Tema 8,” “Semana 3,” “La hora del cuento” the students use the Tarjetas Hablar más sobre el tema to retell the story. The cards have images from the beginning, the middle, and the end of the book. The students describe each picture while they retell the major events. The teacher asks “¿Qué hace la oruga en primer lugar? ¿Qué hace después? ¿Qué pasa al final?”In “Tema 2,” “Semana 2,” “Leamos” teacher reread the book María tenía una llamita and makes a connection to student’s home life by pausing on the page that when María finishes her day at school, she reunites with her llama. Teacher states that the school day is coming to an end and asks them who they will see after school, “Pregúnteles a quien verán a la salida para hacer conexiones entre el cuento y su vida. ¿Verán a una llamita? ¿Verán a su papá o mamá? ¿Los extrañaron como María extraño a su llamita?”

In “Tema 2,” “Semana 3,” under “La hora del cuento,” during the book La casita de la abuela, the teacher asks the children to listen and make predictions about a story of a grandmother who has a problem when family and friends visit her small house. The teacher reads a couple of the first pages out loud. The teacher tells the children to look at the first image and asks, “Las palabras dicen que ‘La casita de la abuela es muy pequeña.’ ¿Cómo muestra eso la imagen?” The teacher guides students to notice how the house is tiny, or minuscule, and to look at the other houses because the other houses are bigger. The teacher moves to pages 4 and 5 and asks the children to look at the image. The teacher guides them to make inferences about the text, “¿Hay muchos integrantes en la familia de la abuela? ¿Por qué está preocupada la abuela?” Students are then encouraged to make connections to the text through the following guidance, “Si tienen demasiados juguetes en su caja de juguetes, no les queda mucho espacio. ¿Qué pueden hacer?”

In “Tema 4,” “Semana 1,” “Día 3,” “La hora del cuento,” during the section “Recordar” the teacher reviews the book ¡Crecer fuerte! by going to various pages of the story and asking open and closed-ended questions. Some of the questions included are, “¿Qué parte del cuerpo usamos para pensar?” “¿De qué manera ayuda el agua a nuestro cuerpo?” “¿De qué manera dormir nos mantiene saludables?” The teacher reads the book once more and asks students to generate questions about the text. Students are to use illustrations and think about what they wonder. An “Apoyo diferenciado” box suggests that if children have difficulties asking questions, to provide sample sentence frames, “¿...estan haciendo?” “¿...van?” 

In “Tema 8,” “Semana 3,” “La hora del cuento” the students use the Tarjetas Hablar más sobre el tema to retell the story. The cards have images from the beginning, the middle, and the end of the book. The students describe each picture while they retell the major events. The teacher asks “¿Qué hace la oruga en primer lugar? ¿Qué hace después? ¿Qué pasa al final?”

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

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The materials support the use of strategies for dual language learners through daily small group lessons within all themes. Lessons are connected to small group suggestions for “Matemáticas'' and “Lectoescritura.” Each of those has a component called "Apoyo para los estudiantes bilingües," a section that provides language acquisition strategies for Spanish Language Development. Under "Apoyo para los estudiantes bilingües" one can find another sub-section called “Hacer conexiones entre las lenguas'' which offers suggestions or activities that the teacher could teach in English. The lesson suggestions for English language acquisition do not offer differentiation possibilities for an emerging stage versus an advanced English speaker. The package includes access to “Three Cheers for Pre-K” through SavvasRealize.com, where one can find suggestions for the various stages of language acquisition. However, “Uno, Dos, Tres ¡Prekinder!” does not provide the detailed guidance. Guidance on how to “Implement a biliteracy model” is available under the Professional Learning Guide. 

In “Tema 1,” “Semana 1,” “Grupos pequeños,” section “Apoyo para los estudiantes bilingües,” the teacher uses the same text to teach the concept of letters and images. The teacher first engages students in looking for letters and images around the classroom while assisting students as needed with sentence starters. The resource provides guidance on what students are able to learn through this activity by asking the teacher to say: “Esta es una…." The materials also include strategies for students to make connections between the languages. The students point out the similarities and differences between the words, “letra/letter e imagen/image” and identify the beginning and ending sounds to compare them.

In “Tema 4” “Semana 2,” in “Small Group” "Apoyo para los estudiantes bilingües" section, the teacher assists students in comparing and contrasting the words “delicious y delicioso.” Students say both words slowly while separating the syllables. The teacher asks: “¿Cambia la terminación de la palabra delicious? ¿Cambia la terminación de la palabra en español? ¿Cómo cambia?”

In “Tema 7,” “Semana 1,” “Grupos pequeños,” section “Apoyo para los estudiantes bilingües,” the teacher reviews the letter Jj through a rhyme, putting emphasis on the words that start with the letter Jj. In “Hacer conexiones entre las lenguas” the teacher references words that start with the sound /j/ in Spanish “jefa, jardín o jarrón” and then asks students to say the words hat and hello. The teacher makes a cross-linguistic connection between the sounds that these words have in common and has students practice saying the sound /j/.

The Professional Learning Guide includes information about the different places of articulation depending on the different languages spoken by the students. It also includes information about how some sounds may not be found in the native languages and therefore, it can pose a challenge for the student. The materials also provide a list of “Grammar Hot Spots” to identify the most common syntax errors by speakers of different languages and include “Culture Clues” for insight into the different cultural aspects of each language

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

The evidence from the English materials in this report can be verified in full within the transadapted and translated Spanish materials.

Evidence includes but is not limited to: 

Each theme includes suggestions for independent writing in the “Centergize” section of the curriculum. Additionally, each theme includes a writing center activity that relates to the theme being studied at that time. Specifically, this writing learning center is called “Writer’s Club,” and teachers have access to prompts, questions, scripts, and suggestions meant to help with writing facilitation.

In Theme 2, students write a book about themselves. To begin this activity, the teacher points out the cover of a book previously read aloud and explains that the illustrator draws the pictures while the author writes the book. The lesson continues with a teacher model; teachers draw their pictures and write their names on the cover of the book. Children intentionally use marks, letters, and symbols to record their language as they create their own books. Teacher prompts include: “Encourage the children to start at the top-left of the page, leave space between words, return sweep, and move from top to bottom.” The teacher refers to the book The Lion and the Mouse for visual support. As the children draw and write, the teacher asks them guiding questions like, “What does this picture tell?” and “What else do you want to talk about?” The teacher continues to redirect children who may need to add additional writing: “Tell me about the marks in your book.” Then during center time, the teacher conferences with students who need support in the writing process. They add pages to their book throughout the rest of the theme until it is complete. 

In Theme 4, the class reads the book 10 Things I Can Do to Help My World, and afterward, the teacher adds it to the “Writing Center” for future reference. During the Writing Center, children draw and write about how they can take care of their world. The teacher encourages them to look at the whole-class read-aloud books for ideas. In this activity, students write independently. The teacher is prompted to observe, looking for developmentally and age-appropriate writing activities. Particularly, that they can write using appropriate directionality, left to right and top to bottom. Then toward the end of the theme, students attempt independent writing again based on the story, Grow Strong. This lesson begins with a teacher think-aloud: “I can take care of myself by eating healthy foods.” The teacher sketches a picture of a banana and broccoli, writing under the picture, “I take care of myself when I eat bananas and broccoli.” She reinforces directionality as she narrates her actions: “Watch as I begin writing at the top of the page and continue at the bottom.” The children use marks or letters to record language and share the meaning of their writing. 

At the beginning of Theme 8, students write a story about an animal named David from the book David, Fish & Penguins. Together, the class brainstorms, drafts, revises, edits, and publishes. The teacher begins by asking guiding questions, “How should we begin our writing? What should we write about next?” Together, they discuss draft ideas and vote on the animal they will write about, and the teacher records the ideas on chart paper at the front of the class. While this is happening, each student is independently imitating writing on their own sheets of paper. The teacher guides children who are struggling with the hand over hand method. This writing is meant to help students with their letter strokes and letter formation. Over the next three days, they write a draft together, revise and edit their writing, and finally end with adding illustrations during publication. 

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

The evidence from the English materials in this report can be verified in full within the transadapted and translated Spanish materials.

Evidence includes but is not limited to: 

Toward the beginning of the school year, students are introduced to letter formation. For example, in Theme 2, students trace both uppercase and lowercase /Bb/ and review the order of movements to form the letter. To reinforce the strokes, the teacher has the children trace the letter in the air. Then, in the middle of the year, the children move on from tracing letters to actually writing letters. For example, in Theme 6, the teacher displays the alphabet card for /Ii/ and says, “Uppercase I look like this I. Lowercase i looks like this i.” The teacher writes a child’s name that includes the letter /Ii/, has the children say the sounds aloud, and then has them practice writing the letter in the palm of their hands. By starting with a word potentially familiar to students, their name, the lesson appropriately reflects this developmental stage of writing and letter recognition. Later in the year, the children practice writing stories in groups, revising, editing, and publishing. While the materials integrate some guided story-writing practice, Theme 8 is when students really compose writing across multiple days. With appropriate teacher guidance, students work through the writing process in a way that prekindergarten children understand.

In Theme 1, the teacher has students make marks, letters, symbols, and drawings to tell about their favorite thing at school. The teacher models the process by verbally sharing her favorite part of the day, drawing a picture to depict her idea, and then adding a phrase to the picture. The teacher script states: “I’m going to write down, I like the Morning Meeting.” Students then mimic the writing process on their own, with a teacher emphasis on strokes, direction, and positive reinforcement. This introduction sets a strong foundation for all students, so they move forward confidently. 

In Theme 3, teachers model the writing process by first discussing the topic with the class. Now, students are responding to their favorite part of fall. Just like in Theme 1, the teacher draws a picture to depict a thought. But instead of writing a phrase and having students mimic writing, the teacher labels the picture with a letter and has students practice letter strokes. She shares with the students that “we can record our ideas with pictures, and we can include letters or words in our writing.” For her picture, she draws a large pile of leaves, and for her label, she writes the letter /p/ for pile. She models saying the word, the letter sound, and explains her picture. Students complete this lesson by drawing their own picture of a fall item that starts with /p/, and they practice writing the letter. 

When students get to Theme 4, they move on to actually writing words in phrases. In this theme, the children write a card to a family member or friend. First, the teacher models how to write, “I love you.” The teacher tells the children, “It's ok if you do not know all of the letters in the word,” and they attempt to copy the phrase. To complete this writing assignment, students write their name at the bottom of the card. This specific prompt successfully balances providing feedback with politely nudging students along in their writing development. 

By Theme 9, students are putting the final touches on their letter formation and transitioning into the writing process. In the “Literacy Circle,” the teacher models the process of identifying sounds “to help children move from writing scribbles to some sound-symbol correspondences.” They go through some of the letters of the alphabet, discuss their corresponding sounds, and the teacher writes a message on chart paper. During this activity, a teacher prompt states: “Show children how to write the words as you talk about the features of the letters for the ending sounds of the letters spell. Then help them write the letters for the ending sounds in the words.” Once they finish revisiting letters and sounds, students start an extended lesson on writing. Together as a class, they compose a book. To begin, the teacher introduces the concept of brainstorming: “Use the wordless experience book to write a class story. Lead the children in a brainstorming session so they can discuss and contribute ideas. Say words as you write them.” The next day, the teacher begins the drafting stage with students. She says, “Yesterday, we shared ideas for our class story. Today let’s talk more about that. As we talk, I’ll write your ideas on this chart. In two weeks, we’ll use what we’ve written to make a book!” Next, the revision process begins. “We wrote down ideas about the living things under the girl’s feet. We wrote about the paper airplane. Listen as I read what we wrote. If something doesn’t sound right, raise your hand. We can change it.” Then, the teacher marks the student’s changes on the chart. Lastly, the teacher introduces the process of editing. “We wrote down ideas about our class story. Let’s reread and see if we need to make changes or edits.” The teacher explains the need for punctuation within the process. Together the class completes the publication process, thus completing their introduction to the writing process.

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

The evidence from the English materials in this report can be verified in full within the transadapted and translated Spanish materials.

Evidence includes but is not limited to: 

Learning centers are one of the primary settings where students develop fine motor skills. Specifically, these activities increase the strength and coordination of the small muscles in the hand. During this time, students use a variety of tools when participating in writing experiences like modeling clay, play dough, paint, and crayons.

Although the materials do not specifically communicate the importance of prewriting strokes, the guidance does note that students will “make marks,” and teachers should identify these marks as early writing attempts. When students begin connecting fine motor development to writing, they use many different utensils like pencils, markers, dry erase markers, and crayons. Among other things, students write on whiteboards, sand, paper, and chart paper. Sometimes prompts remind teachers to integrate fine motor development during non-instructional time. For instance, the teacher makes sure students are using the pincer grip to pick up and sort pieces of snacks during “Snack Time.” 

In Theme 1, the teacher models how to hold a crayon. In the “Creativity Center,” teacher directions state: “demonstrate for children how best to hold a crayon, using your fingers instead of a fist. Then model drawing a straight line.” Students are using stencils to trace shapes; as they work, the teacher observes if they are holding their crayons in a more conventional grasp and if they are demonstrating small-muscle strength. 

Teachers introduce some prominent letter shapes in Theme 2. When introducing the letter /Bb/ to the class, the teacher shows a letter sample, explains the movements while tracing the letter, and then has students trace both the capital and lowercase letter in the air. A similar process is completed for letters /Ss/ and /Mm/. To promote practice, the teacher adds the “Alphabet Cards” /Ss/, /Mm/, and /Bb/ to the “Sand, Water, and More” learning center. When at this center, students can practice forming letters in the sand with their index finger. Other centers in this theme help students develop their fine motor skills more generally. These centers include cutting out food pictures and squeezing a glue bottle to glue the pictures to paper; building homes with yarn, glue, and craft sticks; squeezing a spray bottle to explore what happens to sand when it is wet; and completing a puzzle with multiple pieces. At the end of the theme, students read a book and use their fine motor skills. During the “STEM Center,” the teacher displays the thematic book, Just Like You, and says, “think about where you live and the different materials used to build your home” (or a home in their favorite book). The teacher models building a home with blocks, yarn, or tape. Students follow the teacher’s lead during unstructured time, and the teacher monitors progress. Specifically, she observes eye-hand coordination and whether children show pincer control when holding different materials.

Center practice continues in Theme 4. For example, During the “Technology Center,” students use a drawing application to make classroom signs for recyclable and reusable materials. Again, teachers observe how students write with the utensil and encourage those who are holding it incorrect to use a more conventional grasp. In the “ABC Center,” the teacher adds play dough to the other manipulatives. In this activity, children practice forming the letters of their name. Throughout the year, this center also integrates dotted letter cards, lined paper, name charts, paper, pencils, crayons, and markers into different writing activities. Students have a more interactive experience in the “Sensory Center.” Here, they cover their written name with colored rice, form letters with yarn, and trace different names using shaving cream. While not a part of centers, “Outdoor Play” is another indirect way students develop fine motor skills. The teacher uses painter’s tape or chalk to make large letters on the ground. Then, the children trace these letters with chalk or crayons following small directional arrows to show them where to begin and end. 

Outdoor Play is utilized again for fine motor development in Theme 5. The lesson directions state: “Provide children with plastic toy hoops and an assortment of ribbons of crepe paper to tie onto the hoop.” Later during “Learn and Play,” children work on small motor skills collecting sunflower seeds. Directions for this lesson state: “Sprinkle sunflower seeds around the play area. Give children paper cups and challenge them to see how many seeds they can collect with their fingers.” Both instances are interactive, engaging, and effective. Then, during the Social and Emotional lesson for this theme, children use modeling clay to create a tool for the community helper of their choice. Teachers “have children use modeling clay to create a tool for their helper. Model how to pinch, roll, flatten, and coil the clay. Circulate and guide children to ensure that they show small-muscle control while molding the clay.” 

By Theme 9, students return to different activities that develop their fine motor skills toward writing. During small group, they use alphabet cards, construction paper, and yellow fingerprints to practice writing the letter /Yy/. The teacher starts by modeling the uppercase and lowercase versions of the letter, emphasizing the stroke pattern of each. Then students practice independently, starting with the uppercase Y using the paint on paper. After a round of feedback, students repeat with the lowercase y. Using paint, students practice their skills through a new, interactive, and exciting medium.

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

The evidence from the English materials in this report can be verified in full within the translated Spanish materials.

Evidence includes but is not limited to: 

The materials prioritize activities that include concrete representations. Students use manipulatives when practicing counting skills. For example, when practicing counting with ordinal numbers in Theme 2, the teacher lines up six stuffed toys, and students identify which toy is first in the line. After identifying the first and the last, they continue and count all the numbers between 1 and 6. Later in Theme 2, children play a game where they look at a group of objects and decide how they are similar or why they are alike. The objects share one obvious characteristic, but they also have enough differences so that children can clearly classify them accordingly. The teacher may use blocks that are the same shape but not the same size, balls that are all round but not the same material, or crayons of the same length but not the same color. The teacher asks questions such as: “How are these blocks the same? In what way are they alike?” Math Circle time also includes activities that progress from concrete to pictorial representation. Children compare their heights by standing next to each other. The teacher continues the lesson by stating, “Let’s compare our height. Which of us is taller? Which of us is smaller?” The children then stand back to back with a partner and identify who is taller and who is shorter. During the next day’s lesson, children move beyond concrete representations and use pictorial representations to compare adults’ and children's heights. Children are encouraged to draw pictures of the people in their family. The teacher says, “Make the tallest person in your family the tallest person in your picture. Make the shortest person in your family the shortest person in your picture.” In discussions, students use the math vocabulary words shorter, shortest, taller, and tallest to describe their picture. 

At the beginning of Theme 6, the teacher begins an addition and subtraction lesson by stating, “If I have five peaches, and I eat two, how many peaches will I have left?” Then, the teacher models the problem pretending that the math counters are peaches: “‘Here are my five peaches (Take two and pretend to eat them) I just ate two peaches. How many do I have left?’ The teacher models counting the remaining peaches. The teacher encourages the children to model other problems in which they take away one or two food items.” This activity covers a different conceptual understanding (taking away instead of classification or measuring) but still depends on concrete manipulatives as the foundation of instruction. Another example of instruction covering taking away can be found when students read Baby Goes to Market. Starting with the number of items that the mother buys, the teacher then models taking away items as the baby eats each item. For counting skills in this Theme, students count standard classroom objects such as crayons, blocks, and various toys. Students also march while counting their steps and count the number of times they clap their hands. When adding, students practice joining groups of snap cubes. For spatial sense, students physically attempt to slide, turn, and flip various three-dimensional shapes such as cones and rectangular prisms. For measurement, students act out a variety of activities such as brushing teeth or zipping a jacket to determine which activities take longer than others. For classification, students brainstorm lists of questions such as “Which color do you like more—red or green?” take the data and then classify the data to make a pictorial graph. For pattern skills, students are provided sentence strips with various patterns and blank spaces, and then they draw the items to complete the blank spaces on the pattern. 

Later in the year, in Theme 8, children count without using concrete representation. The children count 1–14 by repeating after the teacher multiple times and in different volumes. The teacher models rote counting from 1 to 14 before asking the students to count along. She then says, “Now we will count like monsters. How would a monster count? Let’s try!” After counting aloud as a class from 1 to 14, the children get to choose another voice to use when counting again. This rote counting is repeated several times, in a variety of voices. During the middle of Theme 8, students still use concrete manipulatives for comparison. The teacher models comparing towers made with cubes (one tower is made with three cubes, the other tower is made with five cubes). “When an object is shorter, it measures a smaller amount from end to end. When an object is taller, it measures a greater amount from end to end.” Students then count how many cubes are in each tower, summarizing: “The tower with five cubes is taller than the tower with three cubes.” Students move beyond concrete representation and into pictorial representations when they sort animals into two groups (heavy and light) using picture cards. The teacher uses two large circles for the children to sort the picture cards. As the lesson continues, children then sort and classify animals according to those who have paws and those who do not have paws. These activities show the various instructional strategies that integrate different conceptual representations and that progress through a logical mathematical continuum.

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

The evidence from the English materials in this report can be verified in full within the translated Spanish materials.

Evidence includes but is not limited to: 

The “Professional Learning Guide” states, “Teachers support preschool math literacy when they identify children’s existing mathematical schema and choose instruction and activities that build upon their prior knowledge.” One example of this practice can be found in the small group guidance when teachers are prompted to ask, “What number words do you know? Do you know how to count? Show me.” Within each theme, teachers have access to guidance detailing how to set up their classroom to encourage the use of math concepts in daily interaction. In the “Teacher’s Tool Kit,” the materials suggest various items to include in the classroom: math posters displaying numbers, cubes in the math centers, growth charts, and reading materials that include academic math vocabulary. There is also an assessment guide with weekly math checklists designed to “monitor student progress and inform instructional decisions.” These checklists help teachers intentionally build children’s math knowledge across skill areas and build off what they know. 

In Theme 2, students practice their number skills through the book Grandma’s Tiny House. When reading, the teacher emphasizes each number included in the text: “one grandma, two turkeys, three neighbors.” Using magnets on a magnetic board, students then locate the correct number that corresponds with each phrase. During the discussion, students talk about what makes a family, and the teacher asks, “What number tells how many people are in your family?” Immediately after this lesson, students further their number skills during math centers. Using these same magnetic numbers, students learn how to play a numerical hopscotch game. The teacher models: “I chose the number five; I will jump five to get to the number five on the hopscotch game.” Repeating this sentence stem, students practice picking different numbers and jumping to the correct location on the hopscotch board. Additionally, students continue their rote counting practice during classroom “Morning Meetings.” The teacher gives each child a numeral card ranging between 1 and 21. The teacher calls out each number one by one, and when the child hears their number, they move their attendance card. Once complete, the teacher says, “There are 21 children here, so I will count to 21. If you want to help me, join along.” Together they count to 21. The morning meeting continues with current events and reviewing the date on the calendar. Sometimes, the teacher asks a survey question for students to answer. During numerous morning meetings, students take data and create a graph to represent their understanding.

In Theme 5, students practice subitizing during snack time. They close their eyes as the teacher puts snacks on the table. Then, they open their eyes and, without counting, say the number of snack pieces they have in front of them. During this time, they also practice adding with snack pieces. This skill is applied during read alouds when the teacher asks students to identify the number of objects in a picture quickly. Math is also periodically embedded within recess and social studies. At recess, the teacher leads students around the playground, and students count the number of steps between each piece of playground equipment. During social studies, students identify the patterns found in the United States flag. Finally, during a small group reading lesson, students read a text and answer questions that deal with joining zero to different amounts. The teacher states, “Here are Quinto, the mail carrier, and Sonia Isabel. How many people do you see on the page? Now, what happens when no more people join them?” After facilitating a brief concept about zero, students practice with other problems adding zero to different numbers.

Additional examples of cross-curricular opportunities can be found in Theme 7. The different learning centers provide students the opportunity to make connections between math skills and other areas. During the “STEM” center, students use a variety of wheeled toys to investigate and describe the position of objects. In the puzzle center, students use puzzle pieces to play a matching game that requires the sorting of shapes. Similar shape practice occurs in the “Build and Play” center, where students must identify and track which blocks they use while building a town. Categorizing them by shape, other students then have the opportunity to build the same town, matching the shapes to the materials list. Finally, during the “Make it Take it” center, students draw a picture of a vehicle and identify the different shapes used. 

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

The evidence from the English materials in this report can be verified in full within the translated Spanish materials.

Evidence includes but is not limited to: 

Theme 2 supports the idea that open-ended questions are not meant to elicit correct answers from children but rather to engage them in conversations that promote higher-order thinking. During a classification math game, the teacher engages the children in conversation about how objects are similar. Without explaining why the teacher has two children who share a characteristic stand side-by-side. Then, the teacher asks, “How are these friends alike?” The teacher repeats the activity with more pairs of children who share distinct characteristics with each other.

In Theme 3, students apply their mathematical reasoning to problems in their environment. During a small group lesson, students receive an overview of the shape rectangle. The teacher asks them questions like, “How do you know you made a rectangle? Are the sides across from one another the same length? Does your shape have 4 corners?” This line of questioning provides an effective combination of open- and close-ended questions and promotes a deeper understanding of geometric concepts. Then the teacher facilitates a brief discussion comparing rectangles and squares. To conclude this lesson, students draw and color a rectangle in their shape book. Later in the unit, students authentically return to this concept during “Outdoor” play. The teacher asks, “Can you find any squares in the play space?” and students go on a square hunt. They are required to apply their mathematical reasoning to a new environment, using the knowledge they acquired earlier in the unit. Geometric practice continues into Theme 4 Outdoor play. During one activity, the teacher draws large shapes, patterns, and lines on the ground. Using proper outlining techniques, students must move wheeled toys to trace the lines. After tracing, they have to describe and identify each shape. 

Throughout Theme 6, students have numerous informal opportunities to interact with mathematical reasoning during snack time, outside activity, and centers. During snack, the teacher facilitates discussions meant to promote problem-solving skills. Students answer questions like, “How many pretzels or carrot sticks are left if someone eats one?” and “Do you think there will be more carrot sticks or pretzels left after everyone takes a snack?” While these questions could be limited to single-word answers, students are at least developing their mathematical reasoning skills with familiar materials in an authentic environment. Another suggestion for snack time is to have students predict how many snacks will fit into a cup. The teacher holds a brief and simple experiment once everyone makes their prediction, and then she facilitates a discussion if students are unable to identify the number of snacks correctly. This activity better engages students in problem-solving, and it does not limit their ability to discuss or ask questions.

Problem-solving skills are also integrated into Theme 6 read alouds. When reading the book Baby Goes to Market, students discuss a family’s shopping trip. A mother takes her baby to the store, and students make predictions about what items the baby will eat. Based upon the number of people that like each item, the teacher leads a discussion about supply and demand. For example, the teacher ponders how many bananas should be on the shelf, and students are encouraged to make suggestions about how many bananas are needed. Through discussion and addition, students move through each item, determining how many items should be on the shelf. 

Evaluation for 7.4
Materials build students’ number sense.

The evidence from the English materials in this report can be verified in full within the translated Spanish materials.

Evidence includes but is not limited to: 

Number sense is explored throughout the day during “Math Circle,” read alouds, centers, snack, and outdoor play. Formal math lessons are provided each day during Math Circle time; however, math is sometimes incorporated into read alouds as well. Instruction begins with smaller numbers or quantities at the beginning of the year and increases to larger numbers by the end of the year. For example, in Theme 2, students subitize up to three items, count sets of three, and recall numerals one through three. In Theme 3, students subitize up to five items; by the end of the year, students count sets up to ten objects, and in Theme 8, counting lessons include counting one to twenty. 

In Theme 2, the teacher holds up a card with two dots and a card with three dots and asks the students which card has two dots. After the children indicate a card, a specified student checks which card is correct by actually counting the dots. The lesson continues with the teacher turning the cards face down, rotating them for a different look, and asking the children to identify the card with three dots. The lesson develops as the teacher introduces sets of four and five. She quickly turns the cards over and asks the children to look for the set with fewer dots without counting. The lesson extends into the book, The Lion and the Mouse. “There is a set of two butterflies and a set of four butterflies on this page. Without counting, point to the set you think has four butterflies.” The teacher encourages the children to explain how they found their answer by using the words more or fewer. During a later Math Circle lesson, the teacher uses snap cubes to teach one more. In the Develop portion, the teacher tells the students, “I have three cubes here and one more cube there. I wonder how many cubes I have now? Let’s join them together and see how many there are.” Together, these activities provide a strong foundation for subitizing, counting one more, and comparing set size.

In Theme 4, the children practice one-to-one correspondence by matching pom-poms. Students place the pom-poms into two rows, and their objective is to draw lines connecting pom-poms in the first line with pom-poms in the second line. Later in the unit, students have the opportunity to compare set size and apply number knowledge. They receive sets of six buttons and have to separate them into two equal groups. 

In Theme 6, students practice adding; the teacher puts two manipulatives in a box and says, “I’m a farmer. I pick bananas. How many do I have?” After having children count, the teacher then says, “(Child’s Name) pick one more. How many do I have now?” Children count and then repeat the activity two more times, adding another manipulative each time. Mathematical learning also occurs throughout the day, not just a specific period or time of day. During snack time, the teacher tells the children to watch their plate as they eat and to let her know when they have zero snacks left. Then the teacher connects this experience to a word problem by saying, “Sofia had four apple slices. She ate four apple slices. Now Sofia has zero apple slices left.” Students discuss the number of snacks they ate during snack time, repeating this phrase accordingly. 

Students continue practicing number sense during additional portions of the day in Unit 8. In “Story Time,” the teacher reads the book Five Little Ducks and spirals in counting practice. The teacher holds up five fingers when she gets to the phrase, “five little ducks.” As the teacher reads, she folds down one finger to represent one duck that went away and the four ducks that remained. She asks the children, “How many ducks are left?” before finishing the story. When students get to centers and small group time, the teacher reviews counting to ten with EL students. The teacher represents the number 10 with her fingers. As the teacher counts, she moves her finger up as she adds a number. The children chorally count along. During rest time, the teacher reminds the children of the story Five Little Ducks and revisits numbers one through five. Students are encouraged to count silently to themselves. This frequent and spiraled instruction provides students adequate number sense practice.

Evaluation for 7.5
Materials develop students’ academic math vocabulary.

The evidence from the English materials in this report can be verified in full within the translated Spanish materials.

Evidence includes but is not limited to: 

In whole group lessons, teachers use academic math vocabulary repeatedly; often, students repeat the vocabulary as call and response pronunciation practice. The “Professional Learning Guide” recommends teachers to use key mathematical vocabulary to explore and manipulate shapes, discuss spatial relationships, and describe attributes such as length, area, capacity, or weight. Each lesson includes vocabulary differentiation boxes; however, guidance remains general. These scaffolds are more about language acquisition and less about specific math terminology unless the vocabulary is directly related to the name of a numeral. 

In each theme, there are ongoing opportunities for children to use math vocabulary. A list of math academic vocabulary is included with each theme, and instruction occurs whole-group, small-group, individually, and during learning centers. Whole-group instruction is often done during “Math Circle Time” and integrates books, manipulatives, games, and songs. For example, in Theme 2, children practice number counting with the book Grandma’s Tiny House. Outside of direct instruction, students learn and practice vocabulary most during learning centers, particularly the Engage and Observe portions of the “Math Fun” and “STEM Learning” centers. These centers teach vocabulary along with manipulatives like snap cubes, tangrams, and attribute blocks. Lessons include engaging questions, prompts that ensure academic vocabulary usage, and opportunities to observe student progress. For example, In Theme 4, children use numeral cards to learn numbers six through nine in the Math Center. Generally, teachers should be layering math vocabulary into all informal math center conversations. For example, when students build a structure, the teacher asks them to explain what shapes they used to build the structure. This layering both integrates vocabulary into unstructured practice and honors students’ language and ideas. 

In Theme 1, the teacher introduces the academic vocabulary word count in a chant about counting to five. “I can count, you can count, we all can count to five.” Then, the first activity asks students to count their classmates in a single row, left to right. The teacher prompts a student to also “Count children in a different order, starting with the child at the right side.” The teacher says, “When we count, we can start at different places, but the count is always the same.” During “Learn & Play,” the teacher plays a game called How Many Steps, Mr. Wolf. Students take a certain number of steps, counting each as they walk, thus reinforcing number vocabulary. Then during the “Reflect” portion of the day, the teacher uses a 5x5 picture card to help students count the number of images on the card. 

During the beginning of Theme 4, the materials include repeated and ongoing opportunities for children to practice using math vocabulary. The teacher organizes the children into six groups, assigning each group a number from one to six. Going group by group, the teacher points to students and counts them aloud, and the students say their number in response. The teacher reminds them, “Remember, when we count, we say the numbers in order. When I point to your group, say your number as loud as you can.” As the lesson continues, it becomes more rigorous; the teacher mixes up the groups, and children have to recount in order. Sometimes, the teacher points to a random number in the sequence, and students have to count on from there. In the “Learn and Play” section, children count the words and letters in a book titled, This is the Way. A teacher prompt states: “I see a word with three letters; who can find one?” As they read on, additional prompts ask students to count the number of words on a page: “How many words are on this page? Let’s point and count.” In a later lesson, the teacher returns to counting through the “Social and Emotional Learning card,” Solve a Problem. Students engage in a conversation based on the following teacher prompt: “Oh, no, we don’t have enough snacks for everyone. What should we do?” Through discussion, students realize they need to divide the snacks into parts to solve the problem. Students then count their snacks one-by-one, making sure everyone has an equal amount of snacks.

Often, math vocabulary is built upon between units. For example, students practice counting while reading the book Five Little Ducks during Theme 8. In this book, students count up to five and back down to zero. Then in Theme 9, a math lesson script has the teacher use the academic vocabulary word time once, the word night seven times, the word day six times, and the word pattern once. As students practice reading and repeating the words, they also have to count them aloud. If students have trouble counting to a certain number, the teacher intervenes with appropriate support. Then, the next day’s math lesson includes intentional teacher usage as well. This schedule ensures that students have repeated opportunities to hear vocabulary. 

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

The evidence from the English materials in this report can be verified in full within the translated Spanish materials.

Evidence includes but is not limited to: 

Theme 1 includes a focus on physical science by providing children with a variety of materials to explore, describe, and sort based on their characteristics. For example, children use a balance to determine which items are heavy and which items are light. They begin by making and recording predictions about weight. Using a balance, the teacher says, “I can observe, or see, the block weighs more than the crayon because it moves the balance down on this side a little.” Next, the teacher replaces the crayon with an item that is heavier than the block on the balance. She points out how the pans of the balance changed and says, “I can tell this building block is even heavier. It pushes the balance down more.” This lesson concludes with the students investigating using different objects. In a subsequent lesson, students practice their observation skills describing the differences between apples and lemons. The teacher explains the concept of similar and different by having children use the terms smooth and rough to describe fruits. They continue this activity with additional items before the teacher recalls the concepts of heavy and light. To complete the lesson, students apply these terms to different fruits as well. Then students continue exploring physical characteristics during learning centers. “Children will observe, investigate, and discuss the characteristics of the sand, focusing on how it feels.” Throughout the week, students use different tools to measure sand, mix sand with water, and build with sand. 

Theme 3 allows children to communicate their ideas of the environment in a variety of ways. To begin the theme, students learn about the relationship between organisms and their environment. Teachers “begin a discussion in which the children observe, investigate, describe, and discuss the relationship of organisms to their environment. In this case, the organism is them.” The lesson begins with a repeated chant about growing and changing. The teacher displays the family vocabulary card and reviews how families are made up of many different people: “In many families, there are babies, children, and adults.” As she explains family members, she also describes the life cycle people experience as organisms. For example, “The people in a family grow and change. A baby grows into a child. A child grows into a teenager, then an adult.” The teacher guides discussion about personal change with the question, “What are some things you can do now that you could not do when you were a baby?” The teacher creates a class growth chart, and, as the year progresses, they measure and compare growth every few weeks. 

In Theme 9, students explore science with an earth and space focus. For example, the teacher displays a picture of Earth as seen from space and asks the children to identify what covers Earth’s surface. Then, the teacher points out the land that covers Earth and says, “Look at the land. Tell me what you see.” She explains that the land that covers Earth has different shapes and formations. Across the next few lessons, students examine and sort various kinds of rocks, determine what happens to sand when it gets wet, and observe objects from the night sky. For this last activity, students create basic paper models of a full, half, and crescent moon. During the second half of the theme, students experiment with different forms of energy. In one activity, they move water through a toy water wheel. The children ask each other questions and discuss what happens to the wheel when water is poured on it. While exploring the different properties of water, the children use a sentence frame for guidance: “Pouring water slowly over a wheel makes the wheel….” In a similar activity, students use a pinwheel to discuss energy created through moving air. Children blow slowly on the pinwheel and make observations about the speed the pinwheel moves. Then, they blow with greater force and make a note of the increased speed.

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

The evidence from the English materials in this report can be verified in full within the transadapted and translated Spanish materials.

Evidence includes but is not limited to: 

Every day begins with a “Morning Meeting.” During this time, the class takes attendance, updates the class jobs, and charts the weather. This routine provides a routine opportunity to explore events and discuss the past, present, and future. Each day includes a reflection time during which the class thinks back over the day to discuss what they learned. Additionally, some morning meetings include a “Daily Event.” The teacher asks the students if anyone is celebrating something special today. Students are given the opportunity to share events such as birthdays, holidays, or traditions. At the end of this morning routine, students locate the flag in the classroom and say the Pledge of Allegiance. 

Throughout the Themes, there are opportunities for children to explore commonalities and differences in individuals. In the Theme 1 Social Studies lesson, students use non-physical characteristics to describe something about themselves. The teacher further develops the concept by talking about the words, same and different, “Point out that people are alike in some ways and different in others. Help children understand that others have perspectives that are different from their own.” Children engage in discussion related to their favorite color, types of breakfast foods they eat, and whether they have siblings. Then, students use the text, The More We Get Together, to explore similarities and differences. Teacher guidance states: “Have children look at the picture and describe and compare and contrast similarities and differences among the children to themselves.” Later in the lesson, teacher guidance states: “Guide them to describe, relate, categorize, or compare and contrast specific characteristics and talk about cultural influence they know among their classmates.” This activity directly supports the exploration of commonalities and differences, using both the classroom and the text as foundations for discussion. 

Theme 2 is structured such that it follows a logical sequence of social studies instruction. The lessons progress from self to community. In an early lesson, students start by chanting a song about self. The teacher tells them, “You are special,” and proceeds to point out eyes, ears, mouth, nose, and feet with the class. To end this sequence, the children draw a picture of themselves. During a later “Social Studies Circle,” students complete a similar chant to start the lesson, this time about people being the same and different. Referencing the “Vocabulary Card” for family, the teacher says, “A family is a group of people. Families can have a few people or many people. People in families are of different sizes and different ages, such as babies, children, and grown-ups like parents and grandparents. Each family may look different, but they are the same in many ways too.” Volunteers share a description of a younger or an older family member, and then the class discusses different activities they like to do with their family. The social studies topic expands to community when the teacher shows students pictures of different homes and different foods. Then, the class reads the book School in Many Cultures, and together they talk about the different communities they see. 

In Theme 5, children identify the state and country flags. During the Social Studies Circle, the teacher teaches the importance and significance of both. Teacher guidance states: “Remind the class that since the flag is so special, we say the pledge. Invite children to show how they should stand for the pledge.” Later, the teacher invites a community guest (Principal, Veteran, Girl Scout, etc.) to speak to the students concerning the flags and their importance. In the latter half of this theme, students focus on consumers in their community. The “Let’s Play” activity encourages the teacher to “set up a pretend neighborhood in the classroom with shops as in Quinto’s Neighborhood. Children are divided into consumers and shopkeepers. Consumers use pretend money to purchase products from the shopkeepers.” Then materials guide the teacher to discuss what it means to be a consumer. The teacher transforms the pretend and learn center into a grocery store, and students pretend to be shoppers and checkers. The teacher observes the student interactions, looking and listening for students who show an understanding of what it means to be a consumer. 

Students return to the roles of consumers during the Theme 7 “Reflect” activity. Students have just completed a role-play activity where they mimicked buying and selling train tickets. The teacher says, “Remember, we learned that people who buy things are called consumers. Raise your hand if you are buying a ticket. Now raise your hand if you are selling a ticket.” The class discusses the concepts of consumer and seller, connecting these ideas to the activity. 

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

The evidence from the English materials in this report can be verified in full within the transadapted and translated Spanish materials.

Evidence includes but is not limited to: 

Students have various opportunities for movement and dance throughout the day. The curriculum provides planned transition activities that involve chants, rhymes, and movement. During Theme 2, “Transition Time,” students stand up, form a circle, and hold hands. As the class chants together, the children walk around the circle. The chant repeats two phrases, “Walk together, walk together.” and “Let’s stop and….” Each time, the students say a different action at the end: Let’s stop and clap. The teacher can provide a variation, asking children to uniquely move in place when the circle stops. 

Later in Theme 2, students participate in a “Creativity Station.” Each time this station is listed in a lesson, it includes a different list of suggested art materials and possible thematic connections. This time, the list suggestions include picture cards, mirrors, dry-erase markers, drawing paper, pencils, crayons, markers, paint, and paintbrushes. The students use these materials to create self-portraits, and they can explore without limitation or direction. The teacher observes how they use the materials and offers different suggestions.

During an early Theme 4 lesson, students make music with plastic bottles and investigate how different earth materials sound. In this activity, they have the freedom to choose what materials to place in their bottles, and they are encouraged to work with a partner. Once complete, they listen to their own shaker and to the shakers of their friends to determine how they sound alike or different. During a later “STEM Center,” children reuse milk cartons to create and design a planter. After reading the book, 10 Things I Can Do to Help My World, the students share why it is important to care for our environment. This activity includes a scripted teacher model: “I cut the top off this milk carton. I might glue on tissue paper, pom-poms, ribbon, or paint.” Children discuss which materials they are going to use; during the discussion, the teacher encourages students to use the academic vocabulary, care, recycle, and reuse. 

Daily dance opportunities are often based on songs. For example, in Theme 6, students sing about food preparation; they decide as a class the best kind of movement to help remember the meaning of boiled and fried. Science lessons throughout the theme include songs about lettuce, beans, carrots, and plants. Then during the structured lesson for “Music Circle,” children sing and move to Old MacDonald. The teacher models how to do the movements to the song, such as moving to the right on here and to the left on there. As they sing, the class adds additional movements to the routine. 

In Theme 7, students sing the song, Row, Row, Row Your Boat and act out the movements while they sing. Then, they change the words to Drive, Drive, Drive Your Car and act out the song. This activity directly relates to an art center. Students use paint and various other materials to create different parts of a train. The teacher models the desired process, demonstrating tying the smock, placing appropriate amounts of paint on the paintbrush, and using the slow, wide strokes to paint; The product is not as important in this activity. Teacher questions promote process reflection: “Why did you choose this color? What will you do to make this part look like a train engine?”

Evaluation for 8.4
Materials include technology applications.

The evidence from the English materials in this report can be verified in full within the transadapted and translated Spanish materials.

Evidence includes but is not limited to: 

The materials provide opportunities for children to engage with technology in a way that meaningfully connects to the classroom experience. Digital texts, visuals, and scaffolds are consistently integrated throughout the normal classroom experience. These materials are age-appropriate for prekindergarten children and can be used on interactive whiteboards. All the print materials are available for projection from the publisher’s website. Technology-based practice occurs within the “Technology Circle,” “Technology Center,” “Reading and Listening Center,” and “Library Center.” Technology Circles primarily involve direct instruction, while centers primarily involve playful practice. 

In the Technology Center, children develop literacy and math skills using the Games app, “Javi’s Whirly World.” The Reading and Listening Center is set up so students can participate in different online reading activities. For one activity, specific teacher guidance states: “Have children turn on a computer or digital device. Guide them to the letter sounds game. Children can listen to the sounds that letters spell. They can choose the word from three choices that begin with a certain letter sound.” Then, in the Library Center, children can access a wealth of literature online; different texts-types include trade books, tales, rhymes, and fables. 

Students are introduced to technology devices at the beginning of the year. In Theme 1, the teacher shows them either a tablet, cell phone, or laptop and explains that we use the devices to learn new things. The digital tool that is most frequently referenced in the materials is a tablet. In Theme 3, students use a tablet and a drawing application to create a picture depicting winter. The children share their digital drawings and point out the shapes they see in their drawings. 

Some themes, such as Theme 4, include specific lessons on technology use. During a Technology Circle time, the teacher displays a technology device and talks to students about safe technology behavior. She asks, “Who can tell me some rules for using this device?” The teacher has a pre-selected app or game ready, so students use digital tools and resources safely. The teacher then tells the children, “When you use digital tools and resources, you should have permission from an adult. I have already selected an app to find out more about caring for others.” After the teacher shows students how to open and navigate the game, the students spend time playing the game on their own. 

Later in Theme 4, The teacher begins a Technology Center explaining how the class will use different digital tools to research eating and choosing healthy foods. The teacher models turning on the power switch, opening, and using one of the healthy nutrition applications. “First, I find the picture for the app here on this part of the screen. Then, I click on the app, using my mouse.” As the children practice turning on the computer and opening the app, the teacher asks guided questions. ''Which food did you zoom in on to start a healthy eating habit? Show me how you swipe the screen to get to the next picture.” This activity is similar to the

Technology Center in Theme 6. In this activity, students use the website choosemyplate.gov to explore healthy food choices. They use this online shopping application to add grocery items to a digital cart. 

In Theme 8, children use a digital device to listen to a book. In the “Reading and Listening Center,” the teacher sets up the center by providing digital devices and headphones. Then, the teacher displays the program, “Realize Reader,” with the digital story Five Little Ducks on the digital device. She shows the children how to open the book, listen to the audio, and turn pages. 

Evaluation for 9.1
Materials include developmentally-appropriate diagnostic tools (e.g. formative and summative progress monitoring) and guidance for teachers, students, and administrators to monitor progress.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The materials provide a professional learning guide, in both English and Spanish, that includes a variety of diagnostic tools that are developmentally appropriate. The first formative assessment identified in the professional learning guide is “Apoyo diferenciado,” used to assess throughout the school day and lessons. The tool helps meet the learning needs of every student in the class, teachers can adjust the lesson to the various forms of learning; such as auditory, visual, and kinesthetic. The material supports daily monitoring of students’ progress through the use of observations and provides strategies to use within the lesson to support student’s mastery of the content. The “Guia de desarollo Profesional,” of the professional learning guide, provides data tracking points where teachers can make quick data observational checks and provide immediate support to students. In the “Verificar la comprension'' section, found in almost all lessons through all themes, the teacher can observe a specific skill and provide immediate and clear-guided support to address it. 

The teacher’s manual includes an evaluation guide, “Guia de evaluacion'' located at the end of every theme that provides four major assessment points for evaluations; “Evaluación diagnóstica al principio del año, verificación de progreso 1 (12 semanas), verificación de progreso 2 (24 semanas), y Evaluación de fin de año.” The first assessment given is at the beginning of the school year, the second is at twelve weeks, the third completed at twenty-four weeks, and the last one done at the end of the school year. All forms are present in the evaluation guide for teachers to address throughout the school year, and also offer a “Portfolio” assessment strategy to address the organization of daily data collected. The portfolios help gather, organize, and follow the data to verify the long-term progress of each student. Throughout this program, and in the professional learning guide, there are various diagnostic tools that are appropriate for all levels of students.

The materials offer guidance to ensure consistent and accurate administration of diagnostic tools. Teachers are guided through the use of the resource “Guia de evaluacion Uno, dos, tres: Prekinder!” found every week for all themes in the program. The guide offers clear directions for the administration of each evaluation tool and states clear strategies the teacher can use to ensure that quality observation checkpoints are met throughout the school day. The Observational checklist, “Lista de verificación por observación,” is easy to follow and includes the Early Childhood domains. The observation sheets include all concepts to cover and how to address the need for more supports after the initial observational assessment. For example, for social and emotional development the checklist emphasizes teaching the child to follow classroom rules and routines, with occasional reminders from the teacher. In the resource Screening Assessment, “Registro de la evaluación diagnóstica,” administered at the beginning of the year, the teacher has a description of the one-on-one tool which includes directions and scripting. The materials include anecdotal records, a two-page document titled “Registro anecdotico” to collect data in areas such as; behaviors, consequences, follow-up events, supports needed, areas addressed, and details from daily observations. The materials provide explicit guidance to ensure consistent and accurate administration of diagnostic tools for teachers and administrators to understand the function of the evaluation tools, and the material’s assessment guide provides recommendations for its use.

The materials offer various tools, such as an auto-evaluation sheet, for students to reflect on their own growth and progress or the areas that need improvement. Provided are lists of goals located in the “Guia de evaluacion” of the teacher guide for all themes. Teachers are to guide the students as they take part in their own learning and development by using this sheet where all areas are auto-assessed and address social skills. Students express ownership of their own learning and reflect on the areas of growth in “Herramienta para la Reflexión y autoevaluación del niño” form found in this evaluation guide. The tool offers clear directions for teachers to prompt students to respond to their abilities and needs. The form separates different skills and gives students the opportunity to self-assess by circling the thumbs-up or thumbs-down drawing, according to how they perceive themselves in the specific area. The teacher reads a specific behavior and asks the students to think about the behavior and circle the thumbs up, thumbs sideways, or thumbs down to score themselves for that specific behavior. The teacher provides students with time to reflect on their own behaviors and gives a child-friendly explanation of each skill in the list with examples of what each one means. The guide recommends that students maintain a portfolio supported by the teacher. Portfolios help keep track of student progress in all domains. Included in the portfolios can be anecdotal notes, writing samples, self-portraits, math samples, literacy skill evidence, and STEM anecdotal notes. When a preschooler selects work that they check as a “good example,” they are using higher-order thinking skills. The materials provide tools for students to track their own progress and growth throughout the school year.

The “Guia de evaluacion Uno, dos, tres: Prekinder!” located in the teacher’s manual, includes diagnostic tools that measure the process skills and content for prekindergarten, as outlined in the Prekindergarten Guidelines. The diagnostic tool Screening Assessment Recording Form “Evaluación de lectoescritura,” assesses the following: literacy, phonological awareness, concepts of print, and concepts of print directionality. The core subjects in prekindergarten cover Language and Communication, Emergent Literacy Reading, and Emergent Literacy Writing, among other domains like math, science, and social studies. The materials explain how to use “SCOUT,” the digital program and app that allows teachers to snap photos, record observations, and make anecdotal notes. The program lists the steps to access it, where to enter all the information, and provides a list of goals the teacher and administrator can access after entering the data. The observational assessment sheets are also used after every theme week and posted in the student’s portfolio. The materials are a digital platform that allows teachers to keep all data records and assessments in one easy-to-find space. The “Lista de verificación por observación” section at the end of every week uses theme order. All evaluations provide the evaluator information on the following Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines domains; social and emotional development, literacy, writing, communication, mathematics, science, social studies, fine arts, technology, and physical development. These assessment and diagnostic tools measure all content and process skills for prekindergarten, as outlined in the Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines.

Evaluation for 9.2
Materials include guidance for teachers and administrators to analyze and respond to data from diagnostic tools.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The Assessment Guide, included throughout the themes, provides a variety of support and assessments with guidance and direction to respond to individual student needs in all domains based on measures of student progress appropriate to the developmental level. For example, the Beginning of Year Screening Assessment “Evaluación diagnostica,” is a one-on-one assessment that establishes a baseline measurement of children's skills in emergent literacy and mathematics skills. The assessment uses age-appropriate visuals, manipulatives, oral questions, including prompts to determine student skill level. The recording sheet is available for the collection of student responses. The assessment tool provides teachers with an overview defining “what the assessment looks like, how it works, and the purpose.” This Screening Assessment provides the teacher with a guideline on how to use assessment results. 

Observational Tools “Lista de Verificación por Observación,” included for Themes 1‒9, contains prekindergarten learning outcomes to be observed weekly and provides the teacher with data to inform instructional and grouping decisions. The materials provide clear guidance and support for teachers to respond to individual students’ needs. The materials include a wide variety of assessment tools to address student’s growth and difficulties in understanding. The materials suggest differentiation of instruction for all students based on data from the initial evaluation and for those done at different times in the school year across themes and lessons.

The diagnostic tools yield meaningful information for teachers to use when planning instruction and differentiation. The teacher can use the data gathered to set up flexible groupings and to guide instructional decisions throughout the day. The Observational Tool “Lista de Verificación por Observación,” is used throughout the themes that allow teachers to record notes, observations, and track student progress. The observation checklist contains prekindergarten learning outcomes that can be observed weekly throughout the year. Teachers can then analyze students’ strengths and individual needs to adjust instruction based on outcomes. 

The “Evaluación de verificación de progreso” also found throughout the units, support teachers in making necessary adjustments in lesson delivery and accommodations based on the data obtained. The forms arrange information clearly and provide visual support for teachers to separate the evidence and records for easier analysis of the data collected. The form is divided into the different domains covered which allows teachers easy access to the data. Results are recorded with easy-to-understand visuals, providing teachers with a clear understanding of specific Texas guidelines mastery levels. Diagnostic tools yield meaningful information for teachers to use when planning instruction and differentiation.

The materials provide a variety of specific strategies, resources, and teacher guidance on how to leverage different activities in support of students' needs based on the data collected. The “Usar los resultados de la evaluación” diagnostic tool, found at the end of the guide, presents a strategy table to guide the teacher on how to use resources within the theme lesson plan. If students’ results are in the “Emergente” category, the teacher is guided to use the notes and extra help guide. Teachers can also use built-in supports to adjust the lesson through the use of small accommodation boxes of information next to the original lesson. For example, “Tema 2 Resultados del aprendizaje del niño” guides the teacher to determine the areas of development covered in the lesson. If this is one of the areas of need, differentiation strategies are included for supporting skill development. The teacher provides direct support for the identified areas of need based on the assessment. The teacher uses; retelling, using images for comprehension, visual supports, modeling, physical guidance, and other strategies to support students’ understanding of the concept.

The teacher auto-evaluation form allows administrators to reflect on supports needed. The “Reflexión y autoevaluación del maestro” section is a tool found at the end of the guide that addresses instructional strengths and weaknesses. The teacher gathers data regarding strengths in planning and instruction to discover what areas need improvement. The auto-evaluation focuses on four domains; planning, teaching, environment, and setting of teaching, and professional practice. The materials include “observaciones formales'' at the end of the resource, which recommends administrators to fill out. The auto-evaluation breaks down into two separate assessments called “find my strengths,” with sub-informative areas that address all professional domains. It also includes reflection questions such as “¿Están guiadas mis acciones en la clase por los datos de observaciones y evaluaciones?” The program creates guidance for administrators to support teachers in analyzing and responding to data and has access by both administrators and teachers.

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

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The materials provide routine and systematic progress monitoring opportunities that measure and track the students’ progress. The Observation Checklist “Lista de verificación por observación,” found throughout the year for Themes 1‒9, tracks development on a weekly basis for skills such as; to communicate experiences, the ability to regulate emotions, or communication skills that can be difficult to assess. The materials cover the domains for early childhood; Social and Emotional Development, Language and communication, and Emergent Literacy Reading. Included is a table of assessment and timelines with recommendations for standardized diagnostic evaluations to complete within the first weeks of school. The assessment guide, “Guia de evaluacion,” provides teacher baseline data to make adjustments to lessons and center activities based on assessment results. 

The “Guia de evaluacion” recommends teachers use the following three evaluations tools at 12 weeks, 24 weeks, and at the end of the year, “Verificación de progreso 1; 12 semanas, Verificación de progreso 2; 24 semanas, Evaluación de Fin de año.” The timelines ensure that students are not pulled out of their educational environment nor over the assessment of students. Instead, the materials offer strategic tools to conduct observations and anecdotal documentation during authentic activities. The assessments provide information on students’ skill development in all ten domains and provide teachers with monitoring data that match the necessary supports and interventions. The assessments are progressive, systematic, and identify the areas and levels of student development throughout the school year. The table “Habilidades evaluadas,” found in the evaluation guide, creates three columns to specify the level to which the skill should be present at the end of the specific three checkpoints. In the counting area, the first progress monitoring offers guidance to ensure that the students are counting 1‒10, the second progress monitoring assessment evaluates counting 1‒20, and a rubric for the end of the year progress assesses counting 1‒30. The same rubric is in all other 9 domains and includes routine and systematic progress monitoring opportunities that measure and track the students’ progress. Materials contain observation forms for every week of instruction during the entire nine themes and relate to the theme and concepts presented.

The frequency of progress monitoring is appropriate for the age and content skills. The materials include specific guidance on timelines for all assessments provided. The observational forms at the end of every week provide teachers with current information and center around the theme concepts and skills taught during the week. All theme weeks provide a “Verificar el progreso” section at the beginning of the unit week, and within this section, the “Lista de verificación por observación” form is available for that specific week. The material includes the specific domains covered next to each one of the lessons presented daily. For example, in “Tema 2 Resultados del aprendizaje” the students can recognize words that rhyme. This specific goal is also included at the end of the week in the “Lenguaje y comunicación” section, where students are to notice the difference between words that sound alike and ones that do not. For students who score “not yet mastered” in specific areas; the materials provide “Apoyo diferenciado” strategies that address the domain in the following weeks and the teacher provides rapid accommodations to the lesson to address needs on an ongoing basis. The teacher assesses each student as an individual, in small groups, or in whole groups so as not to interfere with lesson time. The assessment frequency of progress monitoring is appropriate for the age and content skill, which allow preschoolers to master skills and mature, using appropriate preschool content guidelines.

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

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

All themes include “Apoyo diferenciado,” a lesson component that has activities to support differentiation in each content but not all lessons include suggestions. “Tema 1,” “Semana 1,” includes activities for students who need extra help, as the teacher assists students in making “school to home connections” by meeting individually with those students who are not able to express in their own words how routines are developed. The teacher helps students better understand the concept of ‘rutina/routine’ by making connections with their daily life. The teacher speaks to them individually about the various routines that they follow at home. “Por ejemplo: ¿Qué haces cuando te despiertas? Eso es parte de tu rutina.” 

All themes have a section in math small group lessons that begin with a targeted activity that reinforces a previously taught concept. The teacher then varies the instruction and keeps children engaged and focused by using manipulatives, classroom objects, books, and vocabulary, picture, alphabet, and numeral cards, based on which theme and activity they are doing that week. In “Tema 3,” “Semana 1,” under “La hora de los centros y los grupos pequeños,” subsection “Matemática: agrupar the teacher,” the teacher reviews what sorting is with the classroom based on shape, color, and size. The teacher shows several objects and models how to sort them based on color, then shape, and so on. For additional support, the activity shows that the teacher reminds them what grouping is and explains again, then asks students to volunteer and demonstrate how to sort classroom objects like pencils or books and describing their actions in complete sentences as they work. Later in “Hacer conexiones entre las lenguas,” the teacher reminds students that the word grupo in Spanish and group in English are very similar. They discuss how they are similar and different and then discuss that they have the same meaning 

In “Tema 3” “Círculo de estudios sociales,” the teacher uses the resource “Tabla de cuatro columnas,” titled “Vestirse para las estaciones,” to review how the weather affects the clothing they use. The teacher connects the activity to home experiences by asking students their everyday routine as they get dressed for school. The teacher states, “Si fuera un día fresco de otoño, ¿qué pondría primero: la chaqueta o la camisa? ¿Qué se pondrían último: los calcetines, los zapatos, o los pantalones? ¡Muéstrenme!” No direct guidance for scaffolding verbal responses for students with limited or advanced verbal abilities is available. 

In “Tema 3,” “Semana 4,” under “Prepararse y reflexionar,” subsection “Día de la celebración del tema: ¡A prepararse!” the teacher reminds students that at the end of the week they have their celebration called “La silla del autor.” The teacher shows the “tablero de avisos cubierto de hojas, flores, copos de nieve, y soles.” The children will practice reading their “Libro de estaciones.” Then, the teacher invites children to sit in the author's chair and those who feel comfortable can read their book to the class. The teacher supports students with the sentence frames, “En otoño/primavera/verano/invierno, me gusta... Me gustaría...en otoño/primavera/verano/invierno. Mi estación favorita es...porque... El tiempo de hoy es... “ The differentiated support square next to this activity says that for students who show advanced reading skills, the teacher can provide an additional sentence frame such as, “Mi mejor recuerdo de...es...” (Visual)

In “Tema 5,” “Revitaliza Centros,” “Centro para el tema: Arena, agua y maas,” the resource supports the development of problem-solving skills through the use of hands-on experiments to determine if energy from the sun or energy from the wind will dry a damp cloth faster. The teacher provides two damp cloths for the center and asks the students how they think they can dry them. The teacher explains that one way to dry them would be to use electricity in a clothes dryer, but they can also conduct an experiment by asking the following question, “¿Qué creen que secara maas rapido la tela: el sol o el viento?” The teacher models by placing one cloth in a sunny place and the other one by a fan. The teacher observes and notes if the students are able to make accurate observations about the sources of energy and monitors if the students can describe and discuss the effects of the energy during the whole group discussion. The resource Revitaliza Centros includes additional ideas to enrich student learning throughout the theme by asking questions and using various types of investigations.

In “Tema 8,” “Semana 4,” “Círculo de Lectoescritura,” the group transitions into the alphabet knowledge part of the day and reviews letters and sounds. The teacher distributes the “Tarjetas de letras” for Yy, Qq, Gg, Hh, Ññ, Jj, Vv, and Ff so that each child has one and then points to each one and has them name the letter they have. Then, they switch cards with a classmate and have them name their new letter, and if time allows they can repeat this process one more time. Finally, the teacher has the children stand together if they have matching uppercase and lowercase letters. Then, the teacher calls on each partner to name their letter and use this sentence frame to tell the sound it makes, “El sonido de la letra...es...” Under the differentiated support block next to this activity, it asks the teacher to display the children’s name cards and call out uppercase and lowercase letters and has the children find the letters in various names.

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

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

In “Tema 1,” “Semana 3,” the teacher engages the entire class by asking them to sing together. The teacher uses the lyrics of the song and the image of the cards to show them the importance of following rules in school. The material provides specific and clear guidance for teachers to explain the meaning of new words and why following rules in school is important through the use of song and imaging. The teacher asks questions to check for understanding and to add clarification as needed. The guidance states: “¿Qué reglas seguimos? ¿Qué hacemos juntos?” The materials provide guidance for teachers to scaffold learning by providing the section “Apoyo Diferenciado,” which provides kinesthetic or auditory suggestions to help students who have difficulty engaging in the activity. In this lesson, the suggestion is to ask students to move to the rhythm of the music instead of singing. The guidance states: “Si los niños tienen dificultades para cantar la letra de la canción, pídales que muevan el cuerpo rítmicamente mientras la escuchan.” 

“Tema 1,” “Semana 4,” “En grupos pequeños,” includes a section called “Hacer conexiones entre las lenguas,” where activities are introduced to use for English development, the teacher helps children find the similarities and differences between the words letter/letra, image/imagen. The teacher says, “¿Con qué sonido comienza la palabra i-magen? ¿Con qué sonido comienza la palabra i-mage? ¿Es el mismo sonido? ¿Estas palabras terminan con el mismo sonido?” The teacher then guides the students to answer and identify that the words begin with the same letter in both English and Spanish.

In “Tema 3,” “Semana 1,” “¡Aprender a jugar y moverse!” students learn through kinesthetic activities in teacher-guided routines. The lesson resource “Hoja roja, hoja verde” is an activity in which the teacher draws a start and finish line, then has the students line up on the start line. The teacher says, “Cuando oigan hoja verde deben caminar lentamente a la línea de llegada. Cuando oigan hoja roja deben retenerse.” If students are still moving when the teacher says “hoja roja,” then those students need to return to the start line. The teacher tells the students that they have to walk slowly towards the finish line when they hear “hoja verde.” The teacher also explains that when they hear “hoja roja,” they have to stop immediately where they are at. If students are still moving when the red sheet is drawn, then those students need to return to the start line. 

In “Tema 5,” “Semana 1,” “Habla,” students practice conversation norms as they discuss the question of the day, “¿Cómo nos ayudan las personas de nuestra comunidad?” Students take turns listing the different community helpers and state things they learned throughout the week about the different ways they help our community. Teachers encourage students to speak in complete sentences, and they review what it means to speak in complete sentences. 

In “Tema 8,” “Semana 3,” in “Revitaliza Centros,” which can be found in all units, materials provide guidance in the use of collaborative learning through small centers where students are asked to create different parts of the caterpillar cycle as part of project-based learning. Students are split into smaller groups, and each small group creates a part of the cycle of a caterpillar, which is presented at the end of the theme unit as a whole class project. The extension to this activity is to have students work in pairs or independently, and each team is in charge of creating the various stages of the cycle of life. The materials provide guidance for teachers to direct students to independent practices according to their mastery level of the concepts presented as well as step-by-step instructions to develop changes within the centers to ensure that students continue to explore and engage with the materials.

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

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The examples provided below show the connections the teachers draw on when presenting a lesson in English. The lessons do not include accommodations for linguistics, either communicated, sequenced, and scaffolded, which commensurate with various levels of English language proficiency of each student. Many times the English Language Development (ELD) lessons simply state to repeat the lesson done in Spanish in English, without language strategies or differentiation consideration. 

In “Tema 1,” “Semana 1,” “Hacer conexiones entre las lenguas” section, the teacher uses repetition strategies to support students’ understanding of the number concepts in both languages. Students repeat the lesson presented in Spanish and practice counting the stars on each page in English. Guidance states, “¿Qué notan sobre los nombres de los números en inglés y en español? ¿Son iguales o diferentes?”

In "Tema 7" "Semana 1,” "Apoyo para los estudiantes bilingües" students identify the different sounds that animals make. The teacher models the sounds that ducks make "¡Cuac! ¡Cuac! ¡Cuac!" and other animals such as dogs, roosters, sheep, and birds. Later in “Hacer conexiones entre las lenguas” the teacher draws on the content knowledge developed in their native language to connect to the names of the animals in English. The teacher reviews the animal names and tells them that in English, their sounds are onomatopoeic: "quack!; woof; cock-a-doodle-doo; baaaa; tweet-tweet" Students then practice saying the animal sounds in both languages. 

In "Tema 8" "Semana 1,” "Apoyo para los estudiantes bilingües" students learn that sentences start with an uppercase letter and end with a period. Two students come up and one receives a capital G and a period. The teacher draws three lines to represent the three words in the sentence. Students determine where the uppercase letter will go and where the period belongs in the sentence "Ganamos el juego." Students place the cards appropriately and practice with additional sentences. In "Hacer conexiones entre las lenguas," the teacher repeats the lesson connecting to what they learned previously. No additional guidance for language strategies or differentiation was found.

Evaluation for 11.1
Materials include year-long plans with practice and review opportunities that support instruction.

The evidence from the English materials in this report can be verified in full within the transadapted and translated Spanish materials.

Evidence includes but is not limited to: 

The materials provide a year's worth of content across nine themes. Each theme is four weeks in length for a total of 36 weeks of instruction. Many of the themes connect with kindergarten Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS). These vertical connections are summarized prior to each theme in a chart titled, “Ready for Kindergarten.” This resource can help teachers see the alignment between Pre-K and Kindergarten at a glance. For example, the theme called “On the Go” includes a study of transportation forms and how things move. This theme has a direct connection to the kindergarten TEKS that expects students to observe and describe the way that objects can move. All ten domains in the Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines are represented throughout the Thematic units, or “Themes.” 

Throughout these themes, the content plan is cohesively designed to build upon children’s current level of understanding with clear connections within and between the lessons. Domains are addressed at the beginning, middle, and end of the year, and instruction follows a general progression of skills. Using math as an example, at the beginning of the year, students rote count and identify numerals. By the end of the year, students use concrete models or make verbal word problems for subtraction. 

The instructional materials include repeated opportunities for students to review and practice skills across all domains. Each theme includes a section entitled “Weekly Focus,” that lists the guidelines that will be covered during the theme as well as the guidelines that are spiraled during the theme. During a “Transition Activity” in Theme 2, the teacher reviews previously taught rhyming words through a “Chant and Rhyme.” Then, the teacher has access to relevant guidance when setting up learning centers for concept review and practice. At the end of the theme, the teacher references the “Centergize Theme Centers” section to refresh, introduce, and add materials to learning centers. This section helps teachers customize centers according to each thematic topic and helps teachers keep activities interesting and engaging.

Materials in Themes 4 and 5 provide multiple opportunities to review and practice knowledge and skills. For math skills, students first practice counting in Theme 4, week 1, when students use words to count from 1–30. This practice is also described as aligning to the Kindergarten skill, “students should be able to count to 100 by both ones and tens beginning with any given number.” Then in Theme 5, students review counting up to ten using picture cards in a small group. In this activity, they compare numbers with their classmates and count upward from any given number. Other opportunities for review or practice occur during “Outdoor Play” and transitioning periods during this theme. During “Outdoor Play,” students practice following two- and three-step directions while playing the game, Follow the Leader. Then when transitioning from one subject to the next, students say a syllabication chant that involves repeating words that have different syllables.

Throughout Theme 7, the children practice social skills that were taught previously in Theme 2. At the beginning of Theme 2, students identify where they are and where their body is located in a particular space. Then at the beginning of Theme 7, children revisit this concept prior to the activity. They are reminded to show respect for other people's space by not bumping into one another. When they complete the activity, teachers hold them accountable for their body and watch for intervention opportunities. 

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

The evidence from the English materials in this report can be verified in full within the transadapted and translated Spanish materials.

Evidence includes but is not limited to: 

The curriculum supports implementation by providing educators with the “Professional Learning Guide” (PLG). In this guide, teachers have access to an overview, lesson walkthrough, relevant research, vocabulary list, scope and sequence, and resources for linguistics and letter formation. The “Scope and Sequence” aligns with the Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines. The different sections are Social and Emotional Development, Language and Communication, Emergent Literacy-Reading, Emergent Literacy-Writing, Math, Science, Social Studies, Fine Arts, Physical Development, and Technology Applications. Each section lists the skills and the themes in which the skills are taught. For example, this resource shows that students explore geographic tools and resources in Themes 5 and 7.

The materials include 36 weeks’ worth of full-day instruction across nine themes. The pacing guidance is realistic as the direct instruction lessons include a full “I do, We do, You do” instructional model within 15-minute time blocks. “Purposeful Play” is either 60 minutes long or 90 minutes long, and it occurs both in the morning and in the afternoon. This model provides children with opportunities to thoroughly explore content or concepts within each instructional day.

Themes and lessons are organized in a way to support teacher implementation of the curriculum. Each theme includes a section called “Theme at a Glance” that includes the books and resources used during instruction. Then, the materials provide guidance on how to launch each theme, followed by an overview summarizing the theme “focus skills” and “spiraled skills.” Some resources, such as the Javi doll, are used across themes and lessons to introduce the topics and to focus attention during lessons. Finally, the materials present an explanation of each lesson in a day-by-day format. “Pacing Your Day” includes a complete, predictable schedule for the teacher and student. Both themes and lessons are color-coded. Different types of text are color-coded accordingly within individual lesson plans, and teacher scripts clearly state what they should say during direct instruction. Additionally, there is a color-coded section of the necessary materials for activity implementation. These lessons and many associated instructional resources are available in both print and digital format. 

Teachers and students can access the online resources through the “The Go Digital!” portal. The website gives teachers access to a planning portal that allows them to view instructional components as either teacher or student, plan anytime and anywhere, and customize lesson plans to meet the daily needs of the students. “Alphabet Cards,” “Vocabulary Cards,” pictures, and “Social and Emotional Learning cards” are all available online. Students can use these resources both in class and at home as well. 

Themes break down all observations and progress monitoring that should occur within that particular theme. For example, in Themes 4, 5, and 6, teachers should monitor students’ progress each week by using observational checklists, portfolios, and checks for understanding daily. These resources help teachers monitor Phonological Awareness, Alphabet Knowledge, and Theme Vocabulary. During the first week of instruction in Theme 7, teachers monitor the phonological awareness skill of sentences, the alphabet knowledge skill of letter identification, patterns in math, light and electricity in science, and vocabulary development.

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

The evidence from the English materials in this report can be verified in full within the transadapted and translated Spanish materials.

Evidence includes but is not limited to: 

The materials are built around nine themes, each theme spanning four weeks. Early themes have a focus on exploring the school environment, while later themes are more content-driven. For example, the first theme is titled, “Hello School!” while Theme 9 is titled, “Earth, Moon, and Sky.” These thematic units are sequenced in a way that the focus begins with the child, then moves toward the community, and finally, the world and beyond. Themes are designed to be taught in order as most of the embedded skills increase in complexity over time. 

To accommodate programmatic design and scheduling considerations, the materials can easily adapt to either a full-day or half-day prekindergarten class. While originally designed for full-day instruction, the materials integrate intuitive suggestions that make half-day instruction simple. The half-day program is identified with broken dots, and some of the instructional activities are reduced or modified. Both half-day and full-day pre-K classes provide materials that are easy to use. 

The “Professional Learning Guide” (PLG) includes a “Scope and Sequence,” recommending how the teaching skills should be taught in a progressive manner. While pre-K outcomes are taught in a thematic sequence that increases in complexity over time, skills within each theme also increase in complexity as well. 

As lessons progress in rigor, they include strategic implementation guidance ensuring the sequence of instruction is consistent with the developmental progression of skills. Early math instruction includes rote counting and numeral recognition through the numeral 5, but later in the year, the numbers go up to 20. Instead of the alphabet being taught from A–Z, the letters are introduced in a sequence that supports how children learn best. In Theme 1, the teacher introduces the alphabet with a song. Later in Theme 2, the teacher introduces the letter Tt, /t/. In Theme 3, the teacher introduces the letter Pp, /p/. Starting with familiar consonants, moving through vowels and lesser-used consonants, alphabetic instruction also uses the students’ names as a foundation for learning. This structure reflects the current research understanding of how students best develop alphabetic knowledge.

The focus in Theme 5 is on “Everyday Helpers.” “Language and Communication” lessons within this theme follow a progression of skills that begin with responding appropriately, move toward following two- and three-step directions, and end with students engaging appropriately in conversation. Language and Communication skills end with students using sentences that have more than one phrase. Writing instruction for this theme follows a similar sequence that reflects developmental progression.

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

The evidence from the English materials in this report can be verified in full within the translated Spanish materials.

Evidence includes but is not limited to: 

The “Professional Learning Guide” (PLG) outlines the importance of “Family Engagement” and why it matters in both an early childhood classroom and at home. This section indicates that teachers support families as partners when they create a welcoming environment that promotes respect. The guide states that communication with parents is key to fostering a positive connection between home and school. 

To support this communication, teachers have access to weekly letters that outline the learning targets for the week and how parents can reinforce the learning targets at home. These letters can be sent home in English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese, Tagalog, or Arabic. As well, families are encouraged to read with their children at home. Digital books are provided so that families can access them from the home setting to facilitate reading. Along with the books from the “Three Cheers for Pre-K Engagement” site, the “Go Digital!” interface gives families access to the “Games” app and “Javi’s Whirly World” from home. These resources allow families to support students’ learning and development at home and connect them to instruction in the classroom. On the website, parents can also find how-to-videos to improve at-home learning.

Each theme includes a “Let’s Celebrate” section at the conclusion of each unit. For Theme 1, families are invited to a “School is Cool” celebration during which families sing songs and participate in a gallery walk of children’s art and writing. Theme 2’s Let’s Celebrate opportunity invites families to sing and look at student’s hand-drawn family portraits. During this time, students share what they have learned through their purposeful play centers. Afterward, students reflect and celebrate what they have accomplished in this theme. 

In Theme 4, “Take Care,” students discuss different traditions in the community. At the end of the theme, teachers encourage families to discuss traditions that are important to them with their children. In a subsequent lesson, students come prepared to share these traditions with the class. Then, in the Let’s Celebrate section, families are invited to prepare their favorite foods and bring them to school. 

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

The evidence from the English materials in this report can be verified in full within the translated Spanish materials.

Evidence includes but is not limited to: 

The “Teacher Guide” is designed so teachers can easily navigate to desired; each main section includes a bolded content title like, “Story Time,” “Literacy Circle,” “Alphabet Knowledge,” “Math Circle,” “Science,” “Social Studies,” and “Technology.” The sections for differentiated support are easily identifiable because they are consistently outlined by a bold purple box. Within lessons, “Check For Understanding” boxes are consistently colored yellow and located along the edge of the page. Extra times during the day like recess, snack, and rest time are always found in a green box. When a lesson references a resource, such as a vocabulary support card, the teacher’s guide notes this with a small yet clear picture of the specific resource. Themes are color-coded weekly, and visuals are provided for teachers to identify the materials they will use for each lesson. For example, all the themes include four weeks. All Week 1s are color-coded with a green border, Week 2s are purple, Week 3s are yellow, and Week 4s are orange. This color code is used consistently throughout the nine themes. 

The student-facing materials contain a combination of real and cartoon images with bright colors. These materials, including vocabulary cards, 5x5 cards, books, and alphabet cards, are large enough for the class to see during circle time activities. Each alphabet card consists of a letter and a picture. The bolded letter includes both lower and uppercase letters, while the graphic representation serves as a cue word to help children remember the letter and its sound association. For example, the alphabet card for the letter Bb includes the picture of a cartoon baby. Similarly, vocabulary cards list a definition paired with a large photograph that helps students understand the vocabulary word. In Theme 2, the vocabulary card Senses includes clear and realistic pictures that help define the word. The card shows a photo of a child using his senses. 

Throughout the classroom, visuals help support student engagement without causing distraction. Center signs have a picture specific to each domain. For instance, the math center sign has a truck that is filled with numbers and shapes. These interactive images help students navigate the classroom appropriately. The mood meter poster uses plants to indicate the different moods of sad, happy, mad, and calm; the colors are bright and vivid. For individual “Social and Emotional Learning Cards,” the graphics used are also age-appropriate and kid-friendly. Students can easily recognize the intent of the Social and Emotional card and describe the action that they see. The cards are designed to promote conversation between the teacher and students, as well as between the students and their peers. In all, materials and resources adhere to the User Interface Design guidelines integrating functionality and aesthetic design.