3rd Grade - Gateway 1

The materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet the criteria for Indicator 1b. 

Each of the 10 units contain a variety of text types and genres including fables, folktales, diary, journal entries, historic fiction, plays, myths, mystery, procedural, biographies, personal narrative, realistic fiction, opinion, various poetry, and informational texts based on social studies and life science concepts. Across the core texts for all units, there is a 51/49 balance of literary and informational texts. This does not include the read aloud poem at the end of each unit because the lesson and tasks associated are not directly connected to the unit purpose or skills.  The majority of units early in the program focus completely on either literary or informational.  Later units provide mixed text types for students to cross-reference. 

Materials reflect the distribution of text types/genres required by the grade- level standards. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 1, Week 1, students read the short informational life science text Animal Disguises by Maria Guerro. 

• In Unit 2, Week 2, during whole group instruction, students read the myth The Tale of King Midas: A Greek Myth by Gare Thompson.

• In Unit 3, Week 3, the extended read is an informational social studies text African-Americans and Women Get the Right to Vote by T.P. Durban.

• In Unit 4, Week 1, during small group instruction, students read the fantasy text Cricket Concert by Christine Taylor-Butler.

• In Unit 5, Week 3, the read-aloud poem is “My Smart Phone isn’t Very Smart” by Kenn Nesbitt.

• In Unit 6, Week 1, during small group instruction, students read the informational narrative nonfiction Two Lumps of Sugar by Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve.

• In Unit 7, Week 1, students read the historical fiction extended read text, Sarah and the Chickens by Patricia MacLachlan. 

• In Unit 8, Week 1, during whole group instruction, students read the free verse “Fairweather Clouds” by Carmen Corriols.

• In Unit 9, Week 1, students read informational and literary paired texts. The short reads are an informational social studies text Ben Franklin’s Two Cents by Kelly Gold and the fable The Ants and the Grasshopper by Aesop.

• In Unit 10, Week 1, during small group instruction, students read the informational science text Hot and Cold in the Kitchen by Susan Taylor.

Materials reflect an approximate 50/50 balance of informational and literary texts. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Overall the materials include 22 informational core texts and 23 literary core texts for a 49/51 balance.

• Unit 1 contains 4 core texts with 100% being informational.

• Unit 2 contains 6 core texts with 100% being literary.

• Unit 3 contains 4 core texts with 100% being informational.

• Unit 4  contains 4 core texts with 100% being literary.

• Unit 5 contains 4 core texts with 100% being informational.

• Unit 6 contains 4 core texts with 100% being literary.

• Unit 7 contains 4 core texts with 75% being literary and 25% being informational.

• Unit 8 contains 4 core texts with 50% being literary and 50% being informational.

• Unit 9 contains 4 core texts with 33% being literary and 67% being informational.

• Unit 10 contains 4 core texts with 60% being literary and 40% being informational.

The materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet the criteria for Indicator 1c. 

Anchor texts range from 540L–890L, with most texts falling in the mid- to high-end of the Lexile Stretch Band for Grades 2–3. Texts have an appropriate level of qualitative complexity, with most ranging from moderate to high complexity. The qualitative complexity of texts spans dimensions such as complex sets of events and characters that require an understanding of the time period, complicated plots, time shifts, and unfamiliar vocabulary including academic and domain-specific words. The Program Support Guide provides a text complexity analysis and rationale for purpose and placement.

Anchor/core texts have the appropriate level of complexity for the grade according to quantitative and qualitative analysis and relationship to their associated student task. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 2, Week 3, Days 1–3, students read “Uncle Parrot's Wedding” by Andrés Pi Andreu (650L). The qualitative complexity rating is high because the text contains many longer, complex sentences with extensive clauses. Students read this cumulative tale over the course of three days as they distinguish amongst multiple characters and follow the plot. 

• In Unit 5, Week 3, Days 1–4, the extended read is an informational social studies text titled “Hear All About It!: New Technologies to Help the Deaf” by Rosalba Glarratano (840L). The quantitative complexity for this text is above the Grades 2–3 Lexile Stretch Band. The text contains complex sentences, information about ASL which may be new to some readers, academic and domain-specific vocabulary, and concepts that may require inferences. Students discuss the text structure and then determine which text in the unit has the most effective text structure. 

• In Unit 7, Week 3, Days 1–4, students read “Sarah and the Chickens” (580L) a literary excerpt from the Newberry winner Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan. The quantitative complexity falls at the lower end of the Lexile Stretch Band for Grades 2–3; however, the text has a substantially complex qualitative rating due to its extensive dialogue and antiquated language indicative of the time period conveyed. The layers of meaning may be ambiguous to some readers and require inferencing. Students discuss and compare how the characters’s actions contributed to events in the story.  Then, students compare character actions across texts. 

• In Unit 10, Week 3, Day 1, students read Magnetic Fields by Brooke Harris (840L). The quantitative complexity is above the Grades 2–3 Lexile Stretch Band. The text is considered highly difficult due to domain-specific words and abstract concepts. Students read and annotate the text, describe the relationship between steps in a procedure and look across procedural texts to infer or draw conclusions about procedures in experiments. 

Anchor/Core texts and series of texts connected to them are accompanied by an accurate text complexity analysis and a rationale for educational purpose and placement in the grade level. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Materials include a separate text complexity document for both anchor texts and small group texts. The text complexity documents are accessible as PDFs for each grade in the digital Program Support Guide under the tab for Text Complexity Analyses and Rationales for Purpose and Placement. 

• The Teacher Resource System for each unit also includes introductory materials including a Guide to Text Complexity section that provides an accurate summary of the quantitative and qualitative data for each anchor text in the unit. This guide contains an overall qualitative text complexity measure based on a color-coded system with levels of low complexity, moderate complexity, substantial complexity, and highest complexity. The guide shares a brief statement on the four qualitative measures of each text: Purpose and Levels of Meaning, Structure, Language Conventionality and Clarity, and Knowledge Demands.

• The accuracy of the provided quantitative measures was verified using MetaMetrics or determined using the Lexile Text Analyzer on The Lexile Framework for Reading site. The accuracy of the provided qualitative measures was verified using literary and informational text rubrics.

The materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet the criteria for Indicator 1e.

Materials provide opportunities for students to engage in a range and volume of reading. The anchor texts provide some range of text types, with the majority of texts being informational science or social studies texts. More varied text types are included in the small group instruction Building Knowledge Text Sets. Each unit also includes a novel study that is recommended but not required for independent reading. 

Materials provide support for the teacher to foster independent reading; however, the prompts frequently focus on comprehension strategies. Materials provide independent reading procedures but many are not built into the program framework. The program includes “independent reading mini lessons;” however, there is no schedule or guidance available for teachers to know when to teach these mini lessons. Accountability systems for independent reading include a reading log and corresponding family letter. Materials provide a recommended amount of time students should spend reading, along with a schedule to provide students adequate opportunities to engage in independent reading; however, there is no information on the volume of reading students should do during this time. The Pacing Guide in the Teachers Resource Guide for each unit delineates implementation formats for 90-minute, 120-minute, and 150-minute blocks. For the implementation of the program within a 90-minute reading block, the Read Aloud is removed and the time for small group and independent reading time is combined to 15 minutes or less which would significantly reduce the volume of reading for students, as time allotted for the Building Knowledge Text Sets is reduced. 

Instructional materials clearly identify opportunities and support for students to engage in reading a variety of text types and genres. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Across Units 1-10, the anchor texts include informational life science and social studies texts, biographies, dramas and plays, fables, journals, personal narratives, ballads, myths, folktales, and free verse and narrative poetry. 

• The Building Knowledge Text Sets (in which not every student will access all texts) include animal fantasy, realistic fiction, fairy tales, social studies texts, biographies, mystery, plays, memoirs, procedural texts, opinion, drama, historical fiction, life science, legends, narrative nonfiction, tall tales, and personal narrative texts. 

• In Unit 3, Week 1, Days 1-3 mini lessons, students read the informational social studies text Working Together by Sarah Glasscook. In Unit 3, Week 1, Day 4 mini lesson, students read the informational social studies text Election Day by Neil Wilson. In Unit 3, Week 2, Days 1-4 mini lessons, students read the biography Fighters for Rights by Harper Larios. In Unit 3, Week 3, Days 1-3 mini lessons, students read the informational social studies text African Americans and Women Get the Right to Vote by T.P. Durban. In Unit 3, Week 3, Day 4, mini lesson, students read the poem Lincoln Monument:Washington by Langston Hughs. 

• In Unit 6, Week 1, Days 1-3 mini lessons, students read the realistic fiction text Addison and Rocky by Crystal Allen. In Unit 6, Week 1, Day 4 mini lesson, students read the realistic fiction text A President for Everyone by Crystal Allen. In Unit 6, Week 2, Days 1-4 mini lessons, students read the realistic text Rapping Magicians by Crystal Allen. In Unit 6, Week 3, Days 1-3 mini lessons, students read the realistic fiction text The Big Game by Crystal Allen. In Unit 6, Week 3, Day 5, mini lesson students read the narrative poem Choices by Allen Steble.

Instructional materials identify opportunities and support for students to engage in a volume of reading. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Students read 50 anchor texts over the course of the year. 20 of these texts are short reads, 20 are extended reads, and 10 are poems. Additionally they read 30 vocabulary practice texts and 10 reader theater texts. Students listen to a read aloud for 10-15 minutes daily.

• Within a school day students listen to a read-aloud for 10-15 minutes, engage with an anchor text, and participate in small group and/or independent reading. 30-40 minutes of independent reading time is suggested per day.

• The Weekly Comprehensive Literacy Planner includes a section titled Independent Reading & Conferring. While materials offer independent reading selections, the teacher is also prompted within the lesson for students to use this time to complete the whole group reading and task. Each day has a focus task for independent reading including “Set Personal Learning Goals,” “Read Independently,” Begin the Blueprint,” “Read the Vocabulary Practice Text,” or “Create a Decision Making Guide.” The planner provides these teacher recommendations for independent reading:

  • Ensure that all students read independently to build volume and stamina.

  • Confer with a few students on their text selections, application of strategies, and knowledge building tasks.

  • See additional independent suggestions (including the Research and Inquiry Project) on the Unit Foldout. 

• In Unit 8, during a three week time period, students read two short reads in Week 1; a free verse poem Fairweather Clouds by Carmen Corriols and an informational science text Earth’s Weather and Climate by Laura McDonald. Students read two extended texts; in Week 2, a realistic fiction text After the Storm by Faride Mereb and in Week 3, an informational science text The Tropical Rainbelt by NOAA. In addition they read the narrative poem Who Has Seen the Wind by Christina Rossetti. In addition students participate in daily independent and/or small group reading.

There is sufficient teacher guidance to foster independence for all readers (e.g., independent reading procedures, proposed schedule, tracking system for independent reading). Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• The teacher edition includes daily Reading and Responding lessons to be used with the anchor texts.

• Materials provide a list of trade books for read alouds that could also be used as recommendations for students during independent reading time.

• Materials include a weekly reading log for both at home and at school, as well as a family letter that coincides with the home reading log.

• Materials offer additional resources to support the teacher with fostering students’ independent reading; however, some of these resources are not a part of the core program or are not incorporated into the daily framework. These materials include:

  • Independent reading mini lessons are provided but information as to when to do them is not included.

  • The Teacher Edition provides Review and Routines which includes independent reading routines. The routines provide information as to what to do during independent reading. They do not provide information for setting up procedures or expectations. Materials also do not provide information on the volume of reading students should be doing during this time.

  • The Additional Resources section includes a Managing Your Independent Reading Guide. This  resource includes teacher guidance on conferring periodically or as often as possible with students. The “Conferring with Students'' section explains what a reading conference is, why teachers should have them and a general idea of how to run one. This section does not give teachers guidance on how to grow independent readers during a conference.

  • Each unit provides a student ebook for recommended independent reading; however, materials do not provide text-specific guidance, student tasks, or accountability measures for the ebook.

The materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet the criteria for Indicator 1f. 

The majority of questions and tasks are text-specific, text-dependent, and require evidence from the text. Activities such as Build, Reflect, Write; Extended Thinking Questions; Apply Understanding; Share and Reflect; Constructive Conversations, and Guided Practice accompany the anchor texts for Short Reads and Extended Reads. When completing many of these tasks, students must use textual evidence to support answers to questions and discussions, both independently and collaboratively. Each unit also includes text-specific questions during which students synthesize or compare and contrast information across texts. 

The Teacher’s Resource System for each unit provides implementation and follow up support for text-dependent questioning and discussion. The Teacher’s Resource System also includes text-dependent questions and tasks for the teacher to use during mini-lessons and small group instruction. The student ebook for each unit’s anchor texts also includes text-dependent questions in the Apply Understanding and Build Knowledge sections after each text. Writing prompts that build toward the unit culminating task are also typically text-dependent. Materials include possible responses for many questions or discussion prompts posed during the mini-lessons. The Small Group texts also include text-dependent questions; however, due to the choice in literacy block length and needs of students, some students may not have the opportunity to respond to all of the text-dependent questions during small group time.

Text-specific and text-dependent questions and tasks support students in making meaning of the core understandings of the texts being studied. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 2, Week 1, students read a text set that includes the fables, “The Dog and the Bone” and “The Ant and the Dove” from Two Fables from Aesop retold by Jerry Pinkney and two poems, “The Ballad of John Henry” (anonymous) and an excerpt from “The Village Blacksmith” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. In the Apply Understanding section of Lesson 13, students respond to the following question: “How might one or both of the morals to the fables apply to John Henry or the village blacksmith? Cite evidence from the texts in your analysis.” Then, in the Build Toward the Culminating Task, students “look back through the texts to identify the decisions that the different characters made. Think of the consequences of each decision. Which decisions were responsible decisions?”

• In Unit 5, Week 1, Lesson 4, after reading “Dr. Shirley Jackson's Scientific Mind” by Roger K. Smith and “From Phone Calls to Videochat” by Caleb Adams, students respond to the following Apply Understanding prompt during their independent time: “Use information from ‘Shirley Jackson's Scientific Mind’ and ‘From Phone Calls to Videochat’ to explain the telephone’s development as a communication tool, as well as how and why Graham’s quote on page 6 has come true.” 

• In Unit 10, Week 3, Lesson 4, after reading Magnetic Fields by Brooke Harris, students independently write in response to the question, “Why is Step 9 necessary to answer the question posed at the beginning of the procedural text on page 22? Support your answer with specific evidence from the text.”

Teacher materials provide support for planning and implementation of text-based questions and tasks. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following: 

• In Unit 2, Week 3, Lesson 9, students compare and contrast the plots of “The Ant and the Dove” retold by Jerry Pinkney and “Uncle Parrot’s Wedding” by Andres Pi Andreu. The teacher engages students’ thinking when setting the purpose for the lesson: “Today, you’ll compare and contrast the plot of these stories and how they support the morals. You’ll cite textual evidence to support your ideas.” Guidance directs the teacher to monitor students as students respond to the prompt and materials include possible responses to the prompt to support the teacher. 

• In Unit 6 Week 2, Lesson 8, students reread “Rapping Magicians” by Crystal Allen. Students complete question one of the Apply Understanding section in their e-notebooks. The Teacher’s Resource System includes a possible response in the margin of the mini-lesson: “Kendra’s main motivation is Magician Camp. Kendra doesn’t want to go without Sara. Sara is her best friend, and this is the last year they can go to camp. (Paragraph 23) This is the problem. Kendra wants to do something ‘magical’ to solve this problem (paragraph 23), and she comes up with the idea that they can use their money from mowing Mrs. Billings’s lawn to pay for tuition rather than new costumes. She reveals this solution in a magic trick in which she fills a hat with money: ‘ABRACADABRA . . . my hat’s full of money!’ (Paragraphs 27–29) Kendra’s actions contribute to the climax because her trick revealing the solution to the problem is the most dramatic part of the story.”

• In Unit 8, Week 1, Lesson 4, to support students with analyzing the descriptive language used in the poem “Fairweather Clouds” by Carmen Carrials, the teacher activates student knowledge by referencing a previous lesson on determining the central idea: “We saw that a central message of a poem is often communicated by the language and details…” Materials provide possible responses in the teacher guide. 

The materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet the criteria for Indicator 1g. 

Materials include regular opportunities for students to engage in discussions with the class or partners. The discussion protocols fall primarily under the following two protocols: Turn and Talk and Constructive Conversations. These discussion opportunities are frequent in the materials and vary in purpose. Guidance for teachers and students includes a question for the teacher to pose, possible student responses, and generic protocol directions through the use of the “Guidance for Effective Classroom, Small Group and Partner Discussion in the Review and Routines Guide.” Most notably, the materials provide a breakdown of each protocol in the “Speaking and Listening Protocols” document found in the Additional Materials section. 

Materials provide varied protocols to support students’ developing speaking and listening skills across the whole year’s scope of instructional materials. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Multiple opportunities to Turn and Talk throughout each unit and the year. These Turn and Talks vary on their structure and their purpose. 

• Each unit contains Discuss the Blueprint lessons. These lessons include a Constructive Conversations component. The directions remain the same throughout the units and the school year. 

• Under Additional Resources for each unit, materials provide a Real-World Perspectives Supporting Constructive Conversations reproducible for use with the corresponding lesson of the unit. This reproducible tells students the different parts of a Constructive Conversation and includes sentence stems for student use during each part. According to the reproducible, the five parts of a Constructive Conversation include state ideas; clarify ideas; support and build up ideas; introduce, clarify, and support a second idea; and evaluate and compare ideas. The reproducible includes 5 Respectful Conversation Tips and a Build Knowledge Word Bank. The reproducible starts with the first 3 parts of the conversation and adds the fourth and fifth step as the year progresses. The Build Knowledge Word Bank changes from unit to unit. 

• In the Research and Inquiry guide for teachers, the margin on page 10 provides Options for Presenting for student use when they are preparing to present what they have learned about the animal they researched. The options are the same for each research project and the following is provided:

  • “There are many ways that students can share with one another. Choose one that works well in your classroom setting.

  • Whole group: Students can present to the entire class.

  • Small group: Break students into groups of 3–4 to present to one another.

  • Partnerships: Pair students up to share their projects.

  • Video: Students can film their presentation and share them on a digital platform.

  • Visits: Students can visit other classrooms to share what they have created and learned, or guests can join you in the classroom in person or virtually.

  • Out in the World: If the inquiry project is one that would be useful for others, students can mail or email the project. For example, a local nature center could display something students made.”

• In Unit 1, Week 3, Lesson 14, the teacher reviews the “Rules of Conversation” anchor chart. The Rules listed include:

  • Give the speaker eye contact.

  • Show interest by nodding occasionally and smiling.

  • Let everyone have a chance to talk.

  • Value others’ thinking.

  • Ask questions if you don’t understand.

  • Speak clearly and listen attentively.

• In Unit 2, Week 3, Lesson 12, students engage in a Turn and Talk to discuss their knowledge about characters and tone of the passage. “Ask partners to reflect on what makes the characters and the situation of the poem humorous. Call on few students to share their ideas with the class.” 

• In Unit 5, Week 1, Lesson 3, students engage in a Share and Reflect to discuss the topics they chose for an opinion essay. “Have partners share their topic ideas and discuss why they selected the topics they chose. Students should also discuss why they eliminated other potential essay topics. Select students to share their topics and their thoughts about the selection process with the whole class.”

• In Unit 9, Week 3, Lesson 3, students practice presenting their muli-media presentation with a partner. A Multimedia Presentation Speaking Checklist is provided including but not limited to:

  • Do I speak clearly so that my audience can understand what I am saying?

  • Do I speak in a loud voice so that everyone in my audience can hear?

  • Do I speak at an understandable pace, neither too fast nor too slow?

Speaking and listening instruction includes facilitation, monitoring, and instructional support for teachers. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the Teacher Resource material, under the Additional Materials section for each unit, materials include a document that provides general teacher guidance on “Maximizing the Quality of Classroom Constructive Conversations.” This guidance is the same throughout all units across the year.

  • For example, the resource states, “Teachers and students can better understand how to improve conversations with the tools that accompany the Benchmark Advance program. The first tool, the ‘Conversation Blueprint,’ is a visual guide to help teachers scaffold students’ conversations. This tool shows the structure of the two main types of conversations that should happen during lessons. The tools especially designed for students are the … Think-Speak-Listen Flip Book…” These tools offer sentence systems for various skills within a conversation.”

• The “Discuss the Blueprint Constructive Conversations” lessons include an Observational Checklist for Constructive Conversations for teacher use. Guidance in the Observational Checklist includes, “As peers engage in conversation, use the questions below to evaluate how effectively they communicate with each other. Based on your answers, you may wish to plan future lessons to support the constructive conversation process.” Topics include, “stay on topic throughout the discussion, listen respectfully, and build on the comments of others.”

• In Unit 1, Week 1, Lesson 7, in Connect Skills to Knowledge: Turn and Talk, teachers are directed to, “Pose questions that require students to use their knowledge of domain-specific vocabulary to focus on Enduring Understandings 2 and 3 from the Knowledge Blueprint. Ask partners to share ideas using words from the Build Knowledge Word Bank. Invite a few students to share their ideas.” Materials include questions and possible responses.

• In Unit 4, Week 3, Lesson 10, students conduct a Constructive Conversation with a partner. Materials include a list of Look-Fors for the teacher to use when monitoring students’ conversations. 

  • “Partners are actively engaged in discussion, with both partners contributing ideas.

  • Partners are referring to their Blueprints and going back into their Texts for Close Reading and referring to annotations.

  • Words from the Build Knowledge Word Bank are being used, as well as words related to different characters’ points of view.” 

• In Unit 10, Week 3, Lesson 14, students participate in a Real-World Perspectives Constructive Conversation. The Teacher Edition includes the following teacher guidance: “Explain that they will use the questions in this section to have a Constructive Conversation with their small group. Review the rules of conversation, using the anchor chart. They will need to share and clarify their ideas, and build upon the ideas of others. As needed, distribute the Real-World Perspectives Supporting Constructive Conversation reproducible.”

The materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet the criteria for Indicator 1h. 

Throughout the year, students typically have the opportunity to engage in speaking and listening daily, including opportunities to speak in whole group, partner, and small group settings. In some units, students engage in whole group presentations. These opportunities include speaker and audience expectations in the form of teacher directions and anchor charts. The materials provide partner sharing and small group discussion opportunities during the majority of speaking and listening tasks. Students complete a Knowledge Blueprint graphic organizer during the unit and hold a class discussion on what they learned at the end of the unit; the Knowledge Blueprint is expanded upon throughout the unit. Materials include opportunities to implement agreed upon rules for discussions, partner and small group work, and to guide students on answering questions about a speaker. While the materials do provide opportunities for students to address all of the Speaking and Listening standards, some of the activities are optional or at the discretion of the teacher. 

Students have many opportunities over the school year to demonstrate what they are reading through varied speaking and listening opportunities. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Come to discussions prepared, having read or studied required material; explicitly draw on that preparation and other information known about the topic to explore ideas under discussion. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • In Unit 3, Week 1, students read “Election Day” by Nell Wilson. During Guided Practice: Annotate, Pair, Share, students complete the following task: “Reread and annotate paragraphs 6–7. Describe the sequence of events that led to women and young people gaining the right to vote. Circle dates or signal words that allow you to identify sequential text connections.” The teacher brings students together and students “describe the events that led women and young people to gain the right to vote.” 

• Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions (e.g., gaining the floor in respectful ways, listening to others with care, speaking one at a time about the topics and texts under discussion). Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • The Foundations and Routines Additional Materials Bank includes a one-page overview of active listening and Constructive Conversation routines. These speaking and listening norms are built upon and reviewed over the course of the year.

  • In Review and Routines Grade 3, Day 4, Establishing Routines, the teacher and students co-create an anchor chart about how to participate in Constructive Conversations.

• Create engaging audio recordings of stories or poems that demonstrate fluid reading at an understandable pace; add visual displays when appropriate to emphasize or enhance certain facts or details. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • In the Grade 3 Reader’s Theater Handbook, Unit 4, Lesson 1, Discuss Staging, the materials indicate that the teacher should “consider whether to video- or audiotape the performance to post on a sharing website or add to students’ portfolios.” While teachers have the option to have students create audio recordings, it is not a requirement in the core materials.

  • In Unit 8, Week 3, Lesson 13, the teacher models how illustrations support the reader’s understanding of the text. During independent time, students add drawings or images found online to their research report.

Speaking and listening work requires students to utilize, apply, and incorporate evidence from texts and/or sources. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Ask questions to check understanding of information presented, stay on topic, and link their comments to the remarks of others. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • In Unit 3, Week 2, students participate in a Constructive Conversation with a partner to answer the following question: “Rosa Park and Cesar Chavez are both remembered as great leaders. Based on your reading, what can you infer about the qualities a person needs to be a great leader? Cite specific examples from the text to support your answer.” Upon the completion of the partner work, the teacher “invite[s] volunteers to share their inferences and the evidence they used to support them” and encourages students to build on their peers’ ideas, “ask clarifying questions, or express conflicting ideas.” 

  • In Unit 5, Week 3, students compare two unit texts: “Hear All About It” by Rosalba Giarratano and “From Phone Calls to Video Chat” by Caleb Adams. During the Constructive Conversation: Partner section, students work together to discuss their responses to the task: “‘Hear All About It!’ and ‘From Phone Calls to Video Chat’ both deal with the topic of how technology helps people communicate. Cite specific text evidence as you compare and contrast the important points each text makes about this topic.” Then, during Share and Reflect, students “share their findings with another partnership” and the teacher “[encourages] students to ask clarifying questions, build on other’s ideas, and present opposing ideas.” 

• Explain their own ideas and understanding in light of the discussion. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • In Unit 4, Week 3, Lesson 10, during the Share and Reflect portion of the lesson, the materials direct teachers to have students, “Ask partners to reflect on how discussing their Knowledge Blueprint helped them build knowledge about the different perspectives of characters in a story and better understand the unit’s Enduring Understanding. Point out that reading two texts featuring the same characters can help them build knowledge about why characters view the same experiences differently. Invite several pairs to share their reflections with the class.”

• Determine the main ideas and supporting details of a text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • In Unit 6, Week 2, Lesson 3, students engage in a brief text‑dependent discussion about the text in order to complete a main idea and details chart, using some or all of the following questions:

    • What kind of work did Rachel Carson do?

    • What was important to Rachel Carson?

    • What effect did Rachel Carson’s work have?

• Ask and answer questions about information from a speaker, offering limited elaboration and detail. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • In the Research and Inquiry Project Teacher’s Guide Grade 3, Unit 2, Step 5, students are required to ask and answer question about their classmates’ presentations. The materials direct teachers to say to students, “Listeners: After the presentation, the presenter will ask you questions about the knowledge you built during the presentation. You should also ask questions about the information presented. Remember to explain, elaborate, and offer appropriate details about your questions as needed. Everyone should follow our agreed-upon rules for discussion: gain the floor in a respectful way, listen carefully to others, and talk one at a time.” The speaker is also expected to “ask others what they learned from your project.”

• Report on a topic or text, tell a story, or recount an experience with appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details, speaking clearly at an understandable pace. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • In Unit 9, Week 3, students wrap up the unit by discussing the knowledge gained from their unit texts, during the Real-World Perspectives: Have a Constructive Conversation section of the lesson. Teacher guidance for the small group discussion includes: “Review the rules of conversation, using the anchor chart. They will need to share and clarify their ideas, and build upon the ideas of others.” Students choose an economic choice and then discuss their responses to the questions provided in the student e-book:

    • “What did you learn about economic resources, including time and money, from your choice? 

    • Was your economic choice similar to or different from any of the choices you read about in this unit? 

    • What did you learn about needs and wants?”

The materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet the criteria for Indicator 1i. 

Materials provide opportunities for on-demand writing and longer process writing tasks throughout the school year. Mini-lessons provide students with direct instruction, guided practice, and independent time for writing. Students engage in a variety of genres of writing tasks including, but not limited to, informative/explanatory, opinion, narrative, and poetry. At the end of each text or text set, students have opportunities to write in response to text and are required to cite text evidence in their response. With multi-day writing tasks, the teacher models various revision and editing strategies and students have time to revise and edit their writing. Materials provide guidance for digital opportunities with some writing tasks. Materials also include additional guided inquiry projects aligned with unit(s) topics that can be incorporated within the unit. 

Materials include on-demand writing opportunities that cover a year’s worth of instruction. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 2, Week 2, students write 1–2 paragraphs in response to the Build Knowledge Across Texts prompt: “Compare and contrast how the actions of Marigold in ‘The Tale of King Midas’ and Theseus in ‘Theseus and the Minotaur’ (see Word Study e-book) influence the plot of each story. Cite specific text evidence to support your answer.”

• In Unit 6, Week 1, students write an ending for a narrative: “You have read a personal narrative about trying to make it across the monkey bars at a school playground. Write an ending of the narrative.” 

• In Unit 9, Week 1, students write several sentences to compare “The Ants and The Grasshopper” (author not cited) and “Ben Franklin’s ‘Two Cents” by Aesop.  

Materials include process writing opportunities that cover a year’s worth of instruction. Opportunities for students to revise and edit are provided. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 2, Weeks 1–3, students write an opinion essay in response to the following prompt: “After reading ‘Two Fables from Aesop’ write a multi-paragraph essay in which you give your opinion about which fable has the most important message. Support your opinion with details from the fables.” The teacher creates an anchor chart that summarizes key features of an opinion essay. Students work on the essay and use the writing checklist to revise and edit their work. 

• In Unit 7, Weeks 1–3, students write a historical fiction piece. Students plan and draft and use the Historical Fiction Checklist to revise their work. 

• In Unit 8, Weeks 1–3, students choose a topic related to a scientific topic: weather and climate. Then, students select sources, and plan their work. When writing their draft, students incorporate facts and details from the sources. Students revise and edit their writing. 

Materials include digital resources where appropriate. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following: 

• All units include Build-Reflect-Write eNotebooks for student use when responding to the close reading text Apply Understanding questions and Culminating Activity Enduring Understanding questions, as well as when completing Build Vocabulary tasks, Build Grammar and Language tasks, and graphic organizers for their Research and Inquiry project.

• In Unit 3, Week 1, students write an informative essay about their choice of topic connected to the focus on government. On Day 3, the teacher models how to find and properly use information from a website to avoid plagiarism. Students then complete the Guided Practice section to create their own graphic organizer using internet sources and their notes. Teacher guidance includes, “Allow partners access to online resources, and have them visit one of the sources they identified in Mini-Lesson 6. Have partners work together to record the information about the source and at least one fact or detail from the source they could use in their essays. Provide additional modeling or guidance as needed.”

• In Unit 5, Week 1, students evaluate online sources. The teacher uses the Evaluating Sources anchor chart to model how to evaluate sources in order to gather evidence for their opinion essay. Under the teacher’s supervision, students identify and evaluate online sources. Then, students work with a partner to find credible information for their essay. 

The materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet the criteria for Indicator 1j. 

Materials provide a balance of required writing throughout the year. Within each unit students have opportunities to write in every lesson. Students engage in writing to respond to text, build knowledge, write essays, and create products. Lessons include direct instruction, guided practice, and independent application of writing tasks. Writing opportunities include, but are not limited to, opinion essays, research projects and a narrative journal. 

Materials provide multiple opportunities across the school year for students to learn, practice, and apply different genres/modes/types of writing that reflect the distribution required by the standards. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following: 

• The following percentages or number of writing opportunities for opinion writing encompass the writing types and prompts from the writing mini-lessons across the year but do not include the daily text-based questions:

• Approximately 30% of writing in Grade 3 is opinion writing. Students have opportunities to engage in opinion writing at the beginning and twice in the middle of the year. 

• The following percentages or number of writing opportunities for informative/explanatory writing encompass the writing types and prompts from the writing mini-lessons across the year but do not include the daily text-based questions:

  • Approximately 35% of writing in Grade 3 is informative/explanatory writing. Students have opportunities to engage in informative/explanatory writing at the beginning, middle, and end of the year.

• The following percentages or number of writing opportunities for narrative writing encompass the writing types and prompts from the writing mini-lessons across the year but do not include the daily text-based questions:

  • Approximately 35% of writing in Grade 3 is narrative writing. Students have opportunities to engage in narrative writing at the beginning and middle of the year.

• Explicit instruction in opinion writing:

  • In Unit 2, students write an opinion essay based on the poems “The Ballad of John Henry” by anonymous and “The Village Blacksmith” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow . The student writing prompt states, “After reading the two poems, write a multiparagraph essay in which you give your opinion about which poem created a more vivid character. Support your opinion with details from the poem. “ In Week 2, Lesson 6, the teacher models how to use evidence from the text to help form an opinion. During Guided Practice students work with partners to look for reasons that each poem creates a vivid character. In independent time students complete the Opinion and Reasons chart and draft their opinion statements and reasons.

• Explicit instruction in informative/explanatory writing:

  • In Unit 3, the teacher models and supports students through process writing for an informative/explanatory essay.  Over the three week unit, students choose their own topic related to government and plan, draft, and revise an informative/explanatory essay. The teacher models how to use information they have gathered to develop an essay with a “clear introduction, detailed body paragraphs, and a satisfying conclusion.”.

• Explicit instruction in narrative writing: 

  • In Unit 7, the teacher models and supports students through the process of narrative writing in the form of historical fiction. In the opening writing lessons, teachers display the HIstorical Fiction checklist which students use to analyze a mentor text.“ Students use the mentor text and the Brainstorming Story Ideas to develop the characters for their own historical fiction piece. During Week 2, students continue developing their characters, sequencing events and providing closure. Before finalizing their story in Week 3, students work to add vivid details to their story. 

Different genres/modes/types of writing are distributed throughout the school year. 

• Students have opportunities to engage in opinion writing. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following: 

  • Introduce the topic or text they are writing about, state an opinion, and create an organizational structure that lists reasons. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

    • In Unit 5 students write an opinion essay about a science and technology topic of their own choosing. In Week 2, the teacher models how to write an introduction paragraph. During independent writing time students draft their introduction. They continue working on their opinion essay, drafting, revising and editing, through Week 3, when they use technology to publish.

  • Provide reasons that support the opinion. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

    • In Unit 2, Week 2, the teacher models using a Reason and Evidence anchor chart to gather text evidence to support the opinion of the essay. The teacher says “ In the second paragraph, I see that the ant stings a hunter who tries to shoot the dove and saves the dove’s life. In both of these examples, one character’s selfless act saves another character’s life. This evidence supports my reason, so I added it to my chart.” Students practice finding evidence in the text to support their opinion and write it on their chart. 

  • Use linking words and phrases (e.g., because, therefore, since, for example) to connect opinion and reasons. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

    • In Unit 2, Week 3, the teacher models editing an opinion essay to add linking words and phrases.  Students discuss how they could use linking words or phrases to connect ideas.  During independent work time, students look for places to add linking words and phrases in their opinion essays.

  • Provide a concluding statement or section. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

    • In Unit 5, Week 2, the teacher models writing a concluding statement or section to the mentor opinion essay.  Students orally rehearse their ideas for the concluding paragraphs of their individual opinion essays.  The teacher reminds students to restate opinions and reasons in new ways.  During independent time, students continue to draft their opinion essays by adding a concluding statement.  

• Students have opportunities to engage in informative/explanatory writing. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Introduce a topic and group related information together; include illustrations when useful to aiding comprehension. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

    • In Unit 6, Week 2, the teacher models using the mentor text and evidence found to model introducing the topic for the writing piece on Rachel Carson by expressing the main idea in the topic sentence of the draft and using details to support the main idea.  Students discuss how they can follow the same process for their individual writing pieces.  During independent work time, students draft an introduction.  

  • Develop the topic with facts, definitions, and details. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

    • In Unit 1, Week 3, the teacher models incorporating facts and details from sources into an informative writing piece.  Students focus on incorporating facts and concrete details from their sources to their individual writing pieces.  

  • Use linking words and phrases (e.g., also, another, and, more, but) to connect ideas within categories of information. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

    • In Unit 3, Week 2, the teacher models how to use linking words to connect words and phrasing in writing. Students work with a partner to add linking words to their essays and then work independently to add linking verbs to their essays. 

  • Provide a concluding statement or section. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

    • In Unit 3, Week 2, the teacher models writing a strong conclusion for an informative/explanatory essay.  Students discuss ways to create a statement or section to conclude their individual writing pieces.  During independent work time, students write their own concluding statements or sections.  

• Students have opportunities to engage in narrative writing. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Establish a situation and introduce a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

    • In Unit 7, Week 1, the teacher models drafting parts of a narrative story including the beginning, events, and end of the story. Then students work on creating an outline to organize the events of their story.

  • Use dialogue and descriptions of actions, thoughts, and feelings to develop experiences and events or show the response of characters to situations. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

    • In Unit 4, Week 1, the teacher models how to use different techniques to show characters' voices through action or dialogue. Then during independent time students choose a character trait and write a paragraph to show Cinderella’s voice. 

  • Use temporal words and phrases to signal event order. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

    • In Unit 4, Week 3, the teacher models the use of temporal words and phrases in a narrative journal entry.  Students work in pairs to review their drafts and identify sections where temporal language could be added.  During independent work time, students work on adding descriptive details and temporal words to their individual narratives.  

  • Provide a sense of closure. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

    • In Unit 6, Week 1, the teacher models writing an ending to a personal narrative.  The teacher reminds students “to make sure your ending builds on the events introduced in the beginning of the narrative.”  Students  write an ending to their individual  personal narratives. 

Where appropriate, writing opportunities are connected to texts and/or text sets (either as prompts, models, anchors, or supports). Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 1, Week 2, students write a story extension for “Why the Turtle Sleeps Through Winter.” Students talk to a partner and then write the expansion in their notebooks.

• In Unit 6, students write 1-2 paragraphs to answer the question,” How does the introduction to “Addison and Rocky” factor into the plot of the story. Cite at least two specific details from the text that informed your answer.”

• In Unit 8, Week 1, students write an answer to the question “What factors affect the climate of different regions of the Earth? Cite specific text connections that helped you answer the questions.”

The materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet the criteria for Indicator 1k. 

The majority of units feature text-based prompts or process writing prompts that explicitly require students to gather and use evidence from either anchor texts or outside sources such as websites. Evidence-based writing instruction occurs during writing lessons and includes intentional modeling, practice, and analysis. Teacher modeling typically uses graphic organizers or anchor charts, think-alouds, and underlining in the text where to find evidence. Each unit includes three writing prompts and 1–2 longer writing texts in which students must use text evidence in their responses.

Materials provide frequent opportunities across the school year for students to learn, practice, and apply writing using evidence. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 2, Week 1, Lesson 6, the teacher models how to introduce reasons to support an opinion. The teacher does a think-aloud that models this skill then students have an opportunity to practice.

• In Unit 6, Week 2, Lesson 9, the teacher models how to reread a text to search for evidence to support an explanation. After the teacher models this skill, students practice in partnerships with a mentor text, then independently with their own writing.

• In Unit 8, Week 2, Lesson 6, the teacher models how to draft body paragraphs in a research essay using facts, definitions, descriptions, and examples. After the teacher models, students rehearse orally, then practice independently in their own writing.

Writing opportunities are focused around students’ recall of information to develop opinions from reading closely and working with evidence from texts and sources.

• In Unit 1, Week 1, after reading “Animal Tools for Survival” by Sue Cin, students use evidence from the text to respond to questions. One example of the questions students respond to includes, “Think about the ways cheetahs and sloths use their claws. What other ways might these animals use their claws? Cite text evidence to support your answer.” The bottom of each e-notebook page includes the following checklist: 

  • “State an answer to the question.

  • Cite specific evidence from the texts to support the answer.

  • Check spelling, grammar, and punctuation.”

• In Unit 5, Week 1, students read “Shirley Jackson’s Scientific Mind'' by Roger K. Smith. After the teacher models how to distinguish the reader’s point of view from the author’s point of view, students read the rest of the passage and use sentence stems to state their point of view and the authors. In the Apply Understanding section, “students identify a point of view expressed by an author in a previously read leveled text” and cite specific text evidence as they “write a few sentences explaining their point of view on the same topic.” Students also respond to the following question in their notebook or e-notebook: “Use information from ‘Shirley Jackson’s Scientific Mind’ and ‘From Phone Calls to Videochat’ to explain the telephone’s development as a communication tool as well as how and why Graham’s quote on page 6 has come true.”

• In Unit 9, Week 1, on page 10 of the students’ Close Reading Book under Build, Reflect, Write, students respond to the following question: “Go back to the ‘Let It Grow’ article and find two or more statements that support Michael Pollan’s quote on page 8 that ‘farmers’ market is the new public square.’”

The materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet the expectations of Indicator 1l.

Grade 3 materials include explicit instruction for all grammar and usage standards for the grade level. Student practice opportunities are designed to lead to mastery of the standards. Instruction on grammar and usage occurs in context within anchor reading texts and in grammar lessons provided in the writing block. Student practice is included in Grammar in Context lessons, the Phonics and Word Study Resource Book, and the Build-Reflect-Write e-Notebook. The Grammar & Spelling Activity Book contains opportunities to further reinforce students’ skills through guided practice, scaffolded learning, independent work, in class or for homework. Students routinely apply grammar and usage standards to their writing. All grammar lessons require students to return to their writing to edit for recently-taught skills, and students edit their writing for appropriate usage. 

Materials include explicit instruction of all grammar and usage standards for the grade level. For example:

• Explain the function of nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs in general and their functions in particular sentences.

  • In Unit 1, Week 1, Lesson 8, the teacher reviews the definition of a noun and how nouns can function in a sentence. The teacher uses the shared lesson text to model identifying concrete and abstract nouns. Students identify concrete and abstract nouns in two sentences from the anchor text. 

  • In Unit 1, Week 2, Lesson 7, the teacher reviews the definition of verbs and verb tenses. The teacher reviews the rules for forming singular and plural present tense verbs. Students identify the verbs in two sentences from the shared reading text and explain how they know if the verb is singular or plural. 

  • In Unit 2, Week 1, Lesson 8, the teacher reviews the definition of adjectives and adverbs. The teacher uses two sentences from the shared text to model identifying adjectives and adverbs and describing their function in the sentence. In partners, students identify adjectives and adverbs in model text. Students identify which word is being described and what question the adjective or adverb answers. 

  • In Unit 3, Week 3, Lesson 5, the teacher tells students that a pronoun takes the place of a noun. The teacher reviews the subject pronouns I, he, she, you, it, we, they and object pronouns me, you, him, her, them, us, it. The teacher tells students that pronouns and nouns must agree in person, number, and gender. The teacher uses shared lesson text to model checking for pronoun-antecedent agreement. Students use two sentences from the text to practice identifying the pronoun and antecedent and explain how they know they are used correctly. 

• Form and use regular and irregular plural nouns.

  • In Unit 1, Week 1, Lesson 8, The teacher models changing the words way and advantage to plural nouns by adding -s or -es. 

    • In the Build-Reflect-Write e-Notebook Unit 1, Week 1, Build Grammar and Language, students respond to Texts for Close Reading, noticing that regular plural nouns are formed by adding an -s to a singular noun. Students find a sentence in their reading with a regular plural noun and write it in the box. Then, students write their own sentences using a regular plural noun.

  • In Unit 6, Week 1, Lesson 8, the teacher tells students that irregular plural nouns do not follow the plural noun rules. The teacher discusses the examples fish and wolves. The teacher displays a sentence from the shared reading text containing the word children and identifies the irregular plural noun. Students identify the irregular plural noun geese in an additional sentence from the text and explain how they know the noun is irregular. Students reflect on what they learned about irregular plural nouns and share how they could check the spelling of irregular plural nouns. 

    • In the Grammar and Spelling Activity Book, Unit 6, Week 1, students complete the following activity:

For each sentence, underline the plural noun. Then write regular or irregular to describe the plural noun. Students identify the correct irregular plural noun to match the sentence by circling from two choices.

• In the Grammar and Spelling Activity Book, Unit 6, Week 1, students identify the irregular plural noun that matches the clue and write the noun on the line. Next, students complete analogies while forming irregular plural nouns. For example, “Hands are to fingers as legs are to _____.” Then, students identify and write the irregular plural noun that matches each definition.

• Use abstract nouns (e.g., childhood).

  • In Unit 1, Week 1, Lesson 8, the teacher models forming and using concrete and abstract regular nouns. The teacher displays and reads aloud the first two sentences of “Animal Disguises” of Animal Adaptations and says, “When I read the first sentence, I see it has two nouns: animals and features. As I read this sentence, I can create a definite mental image of each. For example, when I read the word animals, I create a mental image of my cat, and when I see the word features, I can think of my cat’s whiskers, claws, and tail. Since these nouns are things we can actually see, we refer to them as concrete nouns.” The teacher continues by telling students that “like concrete nouns, abstract nouns can be singular or plural.” Students identify and discuss the concrete and abstract nouns in two sentences from the core text.

  • In Unit 1, Week 1, Lesson 14, the teacher uses the anchor text “Animal Disguises” by Maria Guerro to model identifying concrete and abstract nouns. The teacher explains that concrete nouns are words that we can form mental images of using animals, reptiles, snakes, lizards, turtles, and crocodiles as examples. The teacher explains that abstract nouns are difficult to form definite mental images of, using the example classification and examples. In partners, students write two sentences about animals containing abstract nouns. 

• Form and use regular and irregular verbs.

  • In Unit 1, Week 2, Lesson 13, the teacher displays and reviews the Rules for Regular Verbs Chart and the Verb Tense Chart. The teacher displays the Present Tense Verb Practice Text and reads aloud a sentence, modeling how to analyze the sentence to determine the correct form of the verb. “There are no signal words or phrases such as yesterday or next year in this sentence, so that tells me that the sentence is in the present tense. The subject of the sentence is the plural noun horses. That lets me know that the verb must also be plural. I know that to form the plural present tense of a verb, I don’t need to add -s or -es to the end of the word, so I know that the correct form of the verb in this sentence is walk.” The teacher guides students to work in pairs, circling the correct form of each verb in sentences 2-4 of the Present Tense Verb Practice Text. 

  • In Unit 2, Week 2, Lesson 7, the teacher reminds students that most past-tense verbs are formed by adding -d or -ed. The teacher tells students that irregular verbs do not follow this rule. The teacher uses shared reading text to discuss the irregular verb went. Students identify the past-tense verbs danced and shone in two sentences from the text. Students identify the regular and irregular verbs. Students share other examples of irregular past-tense verbs. 

• Form and use the simple (e.g., I walked; I walk; I will walk) verb tenses.

  • In Unit 3, Week 2, Lesson 13, the teacher models forming and using regular past tense verbs. The teacher displays and reads sentences, modeling how to revise the verb for correct tense. “The phrase in the 1960’s is a context clue that lets me know that the main verb in this sentence needs to be in the past tense. The main verb in this sentence is wants, which is in the present tense. I know that want is a regular verb so I form the past tense by dropping the s and adding ed at the end. This gives me the correct form of the past tense, wanted.” Students work with a partner to identify and correct the incorrect verbs in the remaining sentences. Following independent writing time, students share their writing and identify the verbs used in their paragraphs.

  • In Unit 7, Week 1, Lesson 8, the teacher models identifying verbs and tenses in paragraphs 2 and 3 of “My St. Augustine Journal.” Students read the final paragraph on page 5 and identify the verbs and tenses of each verb. During independent time:

    • In the Build-Reflect-Write e-Notebook, Unit 7, Week 1, students find a sentence in their own reading in which the verb tense is the simple past, the present, or the future and write it in the box. Next, students write their own sentence(s) in which the verb tense is the simple past, the present, or the future. The teacher reminds students to pay attention to the skills they are learning to draft, revise, and edit their writing. 

• Ensure subject-verb and pronoun-antecedent agreement.

  • In Unit 1, Week 3, Day 5, the teacher reviews the definition of a complete sentence and reminds students that the subject and verb must agree in number. The teacher uses two sentences from the shared reading text to model identifying correct subject-verb agreement in a sentence. The teacher posts two additional sentences, and students identify the subject and verb and explain how they know the subject-verb agreement is correct. 

  • In Unit 3, Week 3, Lesson 8, the teacher models identifying and correcting errors in pronoun-antecedent agreement. Students work with a partner to correct the pronoun-antecedent agreement in two sentences. 

• Form and use comparative and superlative adjectives and adverbs, and choose between them depending on what is to be modified.

  • In Unit 4, Week 1, Lesson 8, the teacher tells students that comparative adjectives compare two nouns and are usually formed by adding -er. Superlative adjectives compare more than two nouns and are typically formed by adding -est. The teacher displays two sentences from the shared reading text and models identifying the comparative and superlative adjectives worst and meaner. The teacher explains worst as an irregular superlative and models how to determine if the correct form is used based on the number of things being compared. Students practice identifying comparative and superlative adjectives in three additional sentences from the text and explain why each is correct based on the number of things being compared. 

  • In Unit 4, Week 2, Lesson 7, the teacher reminds students, “comparative and superlative adverbs compare two or more ways something is done.” The teacher displays sentences from the text “Rabbit & Coyote” and models identifying the adverb and what it is comparing. Students work in partners to identify the adverb and “how many things are being compared.” 

    • In the Build-Reflect-Write e-Notebook, Unit 4, Week 2, students find sentences in their reading that contain comparative and superlative adverbs and write them in the box. Then, students write their own sentences using comparative and superlative adverbs, underlining the adverb and circling what is modified.

    • In the Grammar and Spelling Activity Book, Unit 4, Week 2, students complete the following activity: “Write the comparative form of the underlined adverb. You may need to change the spelling of the word. 1. Our class lined up quietly, but my cousin’s class lined up ____________.”

• Use coordinating and subordinating conjunctions.

  • In Unit 5, Week 1, Lesson 8, the teacher tells students that the seven coordinating conjunctions are and, but, or, for, nor, so, and yet. The teacher explains the differences between phrases and clauses. The teacher models identifying the coordinating conjunction so in a sentence from the shared reading text and explains how two clauses have been joined with the coordinating conjunction. Students identify the clauses and the coordinating conjunction in an additional sentence from the text. Students reflect on how they can use coordinating conjunctions in their writing, and the teacher reminds them to use what they know about language when they write. 

  • In Unit 5, Week 2, Lesson 7, the teacher models how to form a complex sentence using a subordinating conjunction. The teacher gives examples of subordinating conjunctions: after, although, as, because, before, if, since, unless, until, when, where, while. Students identify the clauses and subordinating conjunction in an additional sentence from the text. Students reflect on how they can use subordinating conjunctions to improve their writing. 

  • In Unit 8, Week 2, Lesson 13, the teacher models analyzing simple, complex, and compound sentences. The teacher says, “The third sentence is a compound sentence. It contains two independent clauses connected by a coordinating conjunction.” The teacher guides students to look at more sentences, identifying subjects and verbs, dependent and independent clauses, and the conjunction that links them. Students look for opportunities to include simple, complex, and compound sentences in their writing during independent time.

• Produce simple, compound, and complex sentences.

  • In Unit 5, Week 1, Lesson 14, the teacher displays the coordinating conjunctions chart and tells students that compound sentences are formed by joining two simple sentences with a comma and a coordinating conjunction. The teacher displays a text, which contains three examples of two simple sentences. The teacher models how to use the first two sentences and a coordinating conjunction to create a compound sentence. In partners, students create compound sentences using the remaining items in the modeling text. The teacher directs students to use compound sentences in their independent writing. 

  • In Unit 5, Week 2, Lesson 13, the teacher displays the subordinating conjunctions chart and tells students that complex sentences are formed by joining two simple sentences with a subordinating conjunction. The teacher displays a text. The teacher uses the text to explain how subordinating conjunctions are used to form complex sentences from two simple sentences. In partners, students add the suggested subordinating conjunctions to the remaining two items in the text. Students explain how changing the conjunction changes the meaning of the sentence. Students write three complex sentences about plans for the weekend. 

  • In Unit 8, Week 2, Lesson 13, the teacher displays a text and models analyzing simple, complex, and compound sentences. “The first sentence is a simple sentence. It contains a single clause with a subject and a verb. There are no other clauses that describe the subject or contain a separate subject.” The teacher guides students to work with partners to identify the kinds of sentences from the remaining modeling text. Students continue their research essays during an independent time, looking for opportunities to include simple, complex, and compound sentences in their writing.

    • In the Grammar and Spelling Activity Book, Unit 8, Week 2, students complete the following activity: “Underline whether each sentence is simple, compound, or complex. Circle the conjunction in the compound and complex sentences.”

• Capitalize appropriate words in titles.

  • In Unit 1, Week 3, Lesson 11, the teacher uses the unedited and edited text to show students that the first word and any nouns, verbs, pronouns, adjectives, and adverbs in titles should be capitalized. Students correct errors in title capitalization in items four and five of the modeling text and share their corrections.

  • In Unit 5, Week 3, Lesson 13, the teacher reminds students to capitalize “the first and last words and any other nouns, verbs, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, and subordinating conjunctions in their titles.” Next, the teacher models selecting an appropriate title so that readers take the opinion essay seriously. Students work with a partner to brainstorm titles for their essays and try typing the titles in different fonts to determine whether the font style is appropriate for their topic.

  • In Unit 9, Week 2, Lesson 3, the teacher models creating a title for a multimedia presentation. The teacher reminds students to capitalize the first word and every noun and verb in a title. Student partners orally rehearse the introductions to their multimedia presentations. During independent writing time, students focus on drafting their title and introduction. Students create their introductions using slideshow software or line paper that allows for display-sized writing. After independent writing time, students share their titles and discuss as a whole class.

• Use commas in addresses.

  • Only one instance of commas in an address was found in the materials. 

    • In Review and Routines, Day 4, the teacher reminds students to place a comma between the city and state when they use their address in a letter. The teacher models an example. 

• Use commas and quotation marks in dialogue.

  • In Unit 4, Week 3, Lesson 3, the teacher displays and reads the Modeling Narrative Journal Entry Excerpts, explaining why dialogue makes the text more cohesive and interesting to read. The teacher gives students time to review their planning documents and think about using dialogue in their journal entries. Students work on their narrative journal entries during an independent time, adding dialogue to “make the entries come to life.” The teacher reminds students that they should draft cohesive paragraphs and correctly punctuate their dialogue.

  • In Unit 7, Week 3, Lesson 5, the teacher displays a sentence from the shared reading text containing a line of dialogue. The teacher uses the text to explain how to correctly punctuate dialogue.

    • In the Build-Reflect-Write e-Notebook, Unit 7, Week 3, students find a sentence in their own reading that is an example of spoken English and write it in the box. Students write their own sentences with an example of spoken English. 

    • In the Grammar and Spelling Activity Book, Unit 7, Week 3, students complete the following activity: Read each sentence. Then rewrite it using the correct punctuation. Maria said I will start my homework after dinner. 

• Form and use possessives.

  • In Unit 7, Week 2, Lesson 7, the teacher tells students that we use an apostrophe to show ownership. The teacher tells students that the apostrophe comes before the s in singular nouns and after the s in plural nouns that already end in s. The teacher displays and discusses two sentences from the shared reading text containing a singular and plural possessive noun. Students identify the possessive noun family’s in an additional sentence from the text and explain how the possessive was formed. Students give examples of possessive nouns and how they are used in sentences. 

    • In the Build-Reflect-Write e-Notebook, Unit 7, Week 2, students find a sentence in their reading that contains a possessive and write the sentence in the box. Students write their own sentence with a possessive and rewrite the sentence not to have a possessive. 

    • In the Grammar and Spelling Activity Book, Unit 7, Week 2, students complete the following activity: “Write the possessive form of each underlined noun.”

  • In Unit 7, Week 2, Lesson 13, the teacher displays the Form Possessive Nouns Chart and reads aloud each row of words, pointing out how the nouns change as they become plural, possessive, and plural possessive. The teacher displays the modeling text. Students work in partners to fill in the correct forms of the nouns in sentences 3-5 of the modeling text. Students write their completed sentences on paper and share them with the whole group. 

• Use conventional spelling for high-frequency and other studied words and for adding suffixes to base words (e.g., sitting, smiled, cries, happiness).

  • In Unit 3, Week 2, Lesson 13, the teacher models forming and using regular past tense verbs. 

    • In the Grammar and Spelling Activity Book, Unit 3, Week 2, students practice spelling words with r-controlled vowels er, ir, ur spelling patterns.

  • In Unit 9, Week 1, Lesson 1, Phonics and Word Study Resource Book, the teacher writes the words wash, washable, joy, joyful, fear, and fearless. The teacher reviews suffixes and underlines the suffix in each word. Students sort a list of words into a chart headed -able, -ful, and -less. Students complete a spelling pre-assessment of words with suffixes and sort the words into the suffix spelling chart. 

  • No evidence found for using conventional spelling for high-frequency words.

• Use spelling patterns and generalizations (e.g., word families, position-based spellings, syllable patterns, ending rules, meaningful word parts) in writing words.

  • In Unit 5, Week 2, Lesson 1, Phonics and Word Study Resource Book, the teacher writes party, person, dirty, purple, and morning. The teacher reviews r-controlled vowels and underlines the vowel-r spelling in each word. Students sort a list of words into a chart headed ar, er, ir, or, and ur. Students complete a spelling pre-assessment of r-controlled vowel words then sort the words into the vowel-r spelling chart. 

  • In Unit 10, Week 1, Lesson 1, Phonics and Word Study Resource Book, the teacher writes the words broken, dragon, mountain, and cousin. The teacher reviews unaccented final syllables and underlines the final syllable in each word. Students sort a list of words into a chart headed an, on, ain, and in. Students complete a spelling pre-assessment of unaccented final syllable words then sort the words into the spelling chart. 

• Consult reference materials, including beginning dictionaries, as needed to check and correct spellings.

  • In Unit 9, Week 2, Lesson 2, the teacher reminds “students to check print and/or digital reference materials to confirm the definitions and spellings” of words. The teacher provides a reference guide to students as needed. 

  • In the Spelling Reference Guide, during mini-lessons, students explore a variety of spelling reference material, look up words in a dictionary, and use a word’s definition to help check and correct spellings.

• Choose words and phrases for effect.

  • In Unit 3, Week 2, Lesson 9, the teacher tells students that linking words help show how facts and reasons are connected. The teacher displays a text and demonstrates inserting the word because to connect an idea and reason, for example to connect an idea to the previous sentence, and but to show the contrast between two ideas. Students look for places in their writing to add linking words. 

  • In Unit 4, Week 3, Lesson 6, the teacher tells students that when writing journal entries, people use descriptive details and temporal words and phrases to bring the experience to life for readers. The teacher displays two journal entries, one without descriptive details and temporal words and phrases, and one edited to include them. The teacher explains how the edited entry is more descriptive and cohesive. Students work with partners to identify places in their writing that would benefit from descriptive details and/or temporal words and phrases. 

  • In Unit 7, Week 3, Lesson 3, the teacher models revising the mentor text to include vivid details. “In the first sentence, I wrote that Anna saw ‘the older boy go through the crowd.’ Go is a very generic word. He could be running, or walking, or even crawling. I’m going to change this word to a more vivid choice, dash. This shows that he is moving quickly.” Partners review each other’s drafts to identify sentences or paragraphs that could be improved to include vivid details. The teacher advises students to look for vague verbs and to work together to make changes. During independent writing, students continue to work on their historical fiction stories.

• Recognize and observe differences between the conventions of spoken and written standard English.

  • In Unit 5, Week 3, Lesson 6, the teacher tells students that they often use informal language that may include slang words and/or contractions when they talk with friends. The teacher tells students that informal language is not acceptable in a formal academic essay. The teacher displays and discusses rules for formal writing, including, “Use complete sentences that follow the rules of grammar and punctuation. When possible, use words with more than one syllable. Avoid contractions, idioms, and common slang. Avoid unnecessary exclamation points and question marks.” The teacher displays and discusses a model text written in both informal and formal English. Students read their drafts to identify and correct informal language use. 

  • In Unit 6, Week 3, Lesson 5, the teacher reviews the features of written and spoken English using the text “The Big Game”. The teacher models identifying the type of English, saying, “In these sentences, I see words and expressions I would use if I were talking to my friends. Sometimes, when you are reading fiction, you will notice that writers use informal spoken English to make the dialogue sound natural and interesting to read. The expression “fry you like chicken” is an expression. You would not use this type of language in written English….” During guided practice, students discuss why the author would use these types of writing in the text. The teacher reminds students to use their knowledge of written and spoken English as they read and write. 

    • In the Build-Reflect-Write e-Notebook, Unit 6, Week 3, during independent time, students read the dialogue found in paragraph 18 of page 24 of Texts for Close Reading, noticing that the character uses informal English to apologize. Then, students find a sentence in their reading with an example of informal, spoken English and write it in the box. Next, students write their sentence with an example or two of informal, spoken English, then write it again using formal English.

• Materials include authentic opportunities for students to demonstrate application of skills in context, including applying grammar and convention skills to writing. For example:

  • In Unit 2, Week 3, Lesson 8, the teacher models how to edit sentences for correct verb tenses. Students practice by editing the sentence, “Next time the dog will thought twice about dropping his bone.” Students review their current writing piece for correct verb tenses. 

  • In Unit 6, Week 3, Lesson 13, students review their writing to revise and strengthen their writing and edit for capitalization and punctuation. Students are reminded to use other skills from the unit, including irregular plural nouns and comparative and superlative adjectives and adverbs.

  • In Unit 7, Week 3, Lesson 8, students read each other’s stories and identify areas where they might strengthen the dialogue. Students review and improve their dialogue using the Rules for Punctuating Dialogue chart. 

The materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet the criteria for Indicator 1m. 

The Program Support Guide provides a one-page Year-Long Vocabulary Development Plan which provides the focus word list for each week. Vocabulary relates to the Unit’s theme or topic and appears in the texts and activities students engage in during the lessons. Each unit focuses on different types of vocabulary development including Language of Instruction, General and Domain-Specific Vocabulary, and Word Study/Spelling. Within these focuses, students have opportunities to work with vocabulary including, but not limited to, context clues, determining meaning through roots and affixes, drawing, and acting out words. The digital Program Support Guide includes an expanded version of the Vocabulary Development Plan. Anchor text and close reading texts have selected vocabulary identified and provide brief opportunities for students to define and/or exemplify the words. Vocabulary is explicitly taught before reading each anchor text in various ways.

The Additional Materials section provides several graphic organizers such as a Concept Map or Frayer Model for vocabulary acquisition. Materials also provide a Vocabulary Development Tool that includes graphic organizers and a one-page explanation of the Define/Example/Ask routine which is the main vocabulary routine highlighted in each unit. Materials also provide a Multilingual Glossary that includes a definition, example, and image for each of the focus words for the units. 

Materials provide teacher guidance outlining a cohesive year-long vocabulary development component. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Materials include a year-long vocabulary development plan which lists the explicitly taught words by units and weeks. The list identifies the words as Tier 2 or Tier 3 words. While this document is labeled as a plan, it is a one-page list of words per unit.

• The digital Program Support Guide includes an expanded version of the Vocabulary Development Plan. This plan highlights the vocabulary development research base and the key types of vocabulary instruction used in the materials.

• The Teacher’s Resource System includes a Vocabulary Development section for each unit. This section provides a two-page overview of the Build Knowledge Word Bank, Language of Instruction, General Academic and Domain-Specific words, graphic organizers, and Word Study/Spelling supports. The Build Knowledge Word Bank lists the words that are explicitly taught in the first lesson of each unit and repeated throughout. The Vocabulary Development section also provides a chart that includes the Tier 2 and Tier 3 words that are found in each text. Materials highlight words that are explicitly taught at the beginning of each week and include images of the graphic organizers used to teach these words. Each identified word also includes the page number on which it appears in the student text. 

• Materials provide a Vocabulary Development Tools resource. This resource contains printable vocabulary tools, including an analogy graphic organizer, a concept map, a Frayer model, a vocabulary word study log, vocabulary routines, and making meaning with words. There are two protocols in the Vocabulary Routine section: Define/Example/Ask and a Kate Kinsella routine. During the Kate Kinsella routine, the teacher introduces the word and provides verbal practice for students, and then students engage in written practice. 

• Materials include Vocabulary Routines that the teacher can use to introduce vocabulary words. The routine that is stated in the teacher lesson plans is Define/Example/Ask; however teachers can choose to use the Academic Vocabulary Routine provided in Vocabulary Routines. While the directions for these routines state that teachers should review vocabulary every day, the actual lesson plan does not allot time or provide guidance on vocabulary review other than in the lessons where vocabulary is introduced or when the skill is vocabulary-related. Additionally, teacher guidance for using vocabulary words that are not explicitly taught is unclear. 

Vocabulary is repeated in contexts (before texts, in texts) and across multiple texts.

• The Vocabulary Development Plan notes that the Build Knowledge Vocabulary “words and phrases may or may not appear in the unit texts that students read. They were chosen to provide conceptual language that supports the unit topic and Enduring Understandings and for students to use as they communicate and grow their word knowledge within and across grades.” For example, in Unit 1, Unit Resources, Vocabulary Development, the Building Knowledge vocabulary words and phrases are characteristic, adaptation, environment, survive/survival. The vocabulary terms adaptation and survive appear in “Animal Disguises” by Maria Guerro and characteristics appears in “Animals’ Tools for Survival” by Sue Qin. Environment does not appear in any of the unit texts that students read.   

• In Unit 5, the focus is on Advancements in Technology. Under the Vocabulary Development section of the Teacher Resource System, the Build Knowledge Word Bank includes the words communication, innovation, develop, information, and system. These words are explicitly taught in Week 1, Mini-lesson 1, and they occur in multiple texts, tasks, and discussions across the unit. For example, the word innovation appears in the Week 1 text “Shirley Jackson’s Scientific Mind” by Roger K. Smith and the Week 3 text “Hear All About It!”by Rosalba Giarrano. In Week 1, Mini-lesson 1, students define and discuss innovation. In Lesson 2, students share examples of the word with a partner before reading it in the text. In Week 3, students encounter this word in the extended read. In the Apply Understanding section of Mini-lesson 7, students answer a question about innovation: “Which photograph from this unit contributed the most to your understanding of the value of innovation? Cite specific evidence from the illustrations and text to support your thinking.”

Attention is paid to vocabulary essential to understanding the text and to high-value academic words (e.g., words that might appear in other contexts/content areas). 

• In each unit, the Vocabulary Development tab within Unit Resources illustrates the vocabulary terms students will cover. Materials note that the Build Knowledge Word Bank terms “are explicitly introduced in Mini-Lesson 1, practiced each week in Texts from Close Reading “Build Vocabulary” activities, and used orally and in writing as students construct the Knowledge Blueprint, discuss the Essential Question and Enduring Understandings, and complete-building tasks.” The General Academic and Domain-Specific words “appear in this unit’s Texts for Close Reading selections. Highlighted words are explicitly taught during First Reading mini-lessons each week. Students encounter these words again as they read the weekly Vocabulary Practice Texts.” Because explicit instruction focuses on the highlighted words, many of the General Academic and Domain-Specific words listed are not addressed. 

• Each unit includes a Vocabulary Practice Text for each week. This short new text focuses on some of the vocabulary words from the anchor texts. Students read these texts independently and complete vocabulary tasks in their Build-Reflect-Write e-Notebooks. 

• In Unit 3, Week 1, students engage in a mini-lesson where they read a section of “Government for the People” by Sarah Glasscock. At the beginning of this mini-lesson teachers use the Define/Example/Protocol to introduce two vocabulary words from the text: cast and victory. The teacher defines victory as a “...success against someone or something.” Then the teacher provides an example, “People often celebrate a victory with a party.” Finally, the teacher asks students to turn and talk to their neighbor to answer the question, “What is a victory you have celebrated in the past?” 

The materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet the expectations of Indicator 1n.

Grade 3 materials provide a consistent progression of phonics and word recognition lessons over the course of the year. The materials include a Scope and Sequence of phonics and word recognition skills and Phonics and Word Recognition Quick Checks that assess a range of phonics and word recognition skills. The materials indicate that the Quick Checks may be given at the beginning, middle, and end of the year or as needed to inform core instruction or intervention. Tasks and questions in the materials progress in a logical sequence that leads to the application of skills. Materials provide explicit instruction in grade-level phonics and word recognition skills and provide regular practice decoding multisyllabic words using a repeating Reading Big Words Strategy. Routines for decoding and building automaticity of reading multisyllabic words occur in each unit. Teachers use assessments to drive instruction and to help students make progress toward mastery. While all necessary assessment components are present, navigation of the multitude of related but separate assessment pieces is not streamlined. Teachers monitor students’ writing for the phonics skills and provide additional instruction and practice, as needed.

Materials contain explicit instruction of phonics, word recognition, and word analysis consistently over the course of the year. For example:

• Identify and know the meaning of the most common prefixes and derivational suffixes.

  • In Unit 9, Week 3, Phonics and Word Study, Lesson 1, the teacher displays the words prepay and reread and introduces the prefixes pre- and re- and explains the definitions, before and again. Students sort the following words into the categories pre- and re-: preplan, rethink, preheat, recycle, recheck, premix. Students underline the prefix and discuss the meaning of each word. 

  • In Unit 10, Week 2, Lesson 2, the teacher displays the words: warning, movement, fairness, unpleasantness, and encouragement and guides students to use the Reading Big Words Strategy to pronounce each word. The teacher circles the suffix in each word and explains how the suffix changes the word’s meaning.

• Decode words with common Latin suffixes.

  • In Unit 7, Week 1, Lesson 5, the teacher displays words: informer, visitor, receiver, supplier, and guides students to use the Reading Big Words Strategy to pronounce each word. The teacher circles the suffix in each word, explains the meaning, and models how to use this knowledge to determine word meaning.

  • In Unit 9, Week 1, Lesson 5, the teacher displays the words: doable, understandable, hopeful, and careless. The teacher guides students to use the Reading Big Words Strategy to decode each word. Students circle the suffix in each word. 

  • In Unit 10, Week 2, Phonics and Word Study Resource Book, Lesson 1, the teacher writes the suffix -ment and explains the suffix changes the part of speech of a word. The teacher writes words with different suffixes, including -ment. Students read the words, write them in their notebook, and underline the suffix.

• Decode multisyllable words.

  • In Unit 1, Week 1, Lesson 5, the teacher models decoding using the Reading Big Words Strategy by displaying the words  advantages, grasshopper, insects. The teacher models the flexible use of syllable division, dividing each word after the vowel, then after the consonant to see which makes a familiar word. The teacher models pronunciation of each word using knowledge of short-vowel spelling patterns and that vowels are usually pronounced with their short sound when placed in a closed syllable.

  • In Unit 6, Week 1, Lesson 5, the teacher displays the words ladies, women, children, centuries, and wolves and models dividing the words into syllables to sound them out. The teacher models the flexible use of syllable division. The teacher reviews the steps of the Reading Big Words Strategy, and students practice using the following multisyllabic words: baby, babies, country, countries, species. 

  • In Additional Resources, Reading Big Words Strategy, materials include instructional routines to assist in decoding multisyllabic words. The routine indicates the teacher models looking for word parts at the beginning and end of words, looking for root words, and sounding out and blending all parts together.

• Read grade-appropriate irregularly spelled words.

  • In the Scope and Sequence, Unit 6, Week 1, the materials indicate students focus on reading the high-frequency words of, for, from, think, gave, give, good, kind, my, now.

  • In Unit 7, Week 2, Lesson 2, the teacher displays the following words: meet, meat, for, four, I, eye, there, their, ate, eight. Students pronounce each word using decoding skills and knowledge of spelling patterns. Students circle each pair of homophones. The teacher points to ate/eight and explains that one of the words has a regular spelling in some homophone pairs, and the other has an irregular spelling.

All tasks and questions are sequenced to application of grade-level work (e.g., application of prefixes at the end of the unit/year; decoding multi-syllable words). For example: *Note: Look for the sequence of skills over the course of the year

• In the Scope and Sequence, materials outline the following sequence of phonics and word study skills: short vowels, long vowels, compound words, r-controlled vowels, closed syllables, syllable types, inflectional endings, irregular plurals, diphthongs, suffixes, homophones, variant vowels, hard and soft g and c, prefixes, unaccented final syllables. For example:

  • In the Scope and Sequence, Unit 4, Week 1, introduces open syllables, Week 2 introduces consonant -le syllables, and Week 3 introduces vowel team syllables.

  • In the Scope and Sequence, Unit 9, Week 1, introduces suffixes, and Weeks 2 and 3 introduce prefixes. 

Multiple assessment opportunities are provided over the course of the year to inform instructional adjustments of phonics, word recognition, and word analysis to help students make progress toward mastery. For example:

• In Unit 5, Teacher’s Resource System, Intervention and Reteaching Resources, a guide indicates phonics and word recognition quick checks assessment results for VCe, vowel-r, and inflectional endings, correlate to reteaching Lessons 53-57, 34-35, and Lesson 48.

• In Assessments, Phonics and Word Recognition Quick Checks, materials include 116 Quick Check assessments. The materials contain a Quick Check to Intervention Resource Map that indicates which intervention lessons correspond to specific Quick Check skills. 

• In Phonics and Word Recognition Quick Checks, Quick Check 1, students read a word and choose from four additional words to circle the word with the same sound.

• In Phonics and Word Study Resource Book, Cumulative Unit and Weekly Assessments, Unit 1, students complete a spelling and dictation assessment. Teachers are to use assessments to drive instruction and to help students make progress toward mastery. Teachers monitor students’ writing for phonics skills and provide additional instruction and practice, as needed.

The materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet the expectations of Indicator 1o.

Grade 3 materials offer opportunities for students to apply grade-level phonics, word analysis, and word recognition skills. Materials include tasks and questions that provide opportunities for students to access different foundational skills within the anchor texts and supporting texts. The weekly lesson pattern includes independent practice using a word study text that contains words targeting the week’s phonics or word analysis skill. Phonics and word analysis lessons provide students an opportunity to apply the skill to the core text with teacher guidance. During recurring weekly phonics and word study lessons two and three, students engage in two readings of the week’s accountable text targeting newly-taught or reviewed skills. 

Multiple and varied opportunities are provided over the course of the year in core materials for students to learn, practice, and apply phonics, word analysis, and word recognition skills in connected tasks. For example:

• In Unit 2, Week 2, Lesson 2, students focus on words with long i spelling patterns i_e, igh, y, ie and i. First, the teacher displays words: myself, untied, fighting, unwind, hillside. The teacher models the Read Big Words Strategy to decode with flexible use of syllable division. During guided practice, students use the Read Big Words Strategy to decode words: nearby, upright, sacrifice, gigantic, subscribe, eyesight, bypass, reapplied, biological. The teacher extends the learning throughout the week using Lessons 1-5 in the Phonics and Word Study Resource Book. Next, students use decoding and context clues to determine word meaning in the text “The Tale of King Midas: A Greek Myth.”  The students apply understanding of decoding long i words by reading “Theseus and the Minotaur.”

• In Unit 7, Week 2, Lesson 2, students independently read “The Levi Coffin House” in the Word Study e-book to develop fluency and automaticity with homophones. The teacher reminds students to monitor their accuracy using knowledge of word families and syllable types. 

• In Unit 8, Week 1, Phonics and Word Study Resource Book Lesson 1,the teacher explains “the letter c can have a hard or soft sound” and writes six words on the board. The teacher underlines the c and states the sound in each word. The teacher asks students to sort six additional words into a two-column hard and soft c chart. Students practice reading a list of fifty additional words in isolation. Materials indicate the teacher extends the learning by “noticing and decoding words with the skill while reading.”

Materials include tasks and questions that provide opportunities for students to access different foundational skills within the anchor text and supporting texts. For example:

• In Unit 3, Week 2, Lesson 2, after a lesson on r-controlled vowels, students read the second paragraph of the week’s core text, “Fighters for Rights: Rosa Parks and Ceasar Chavez,” which contains the words register, Parks, turned, together, others, and worked. Students read the text chorally, and the teacher pauses to model decoding and determining the meaning of the word register. Students read the word study text “Thomas Paine” independently to gain fluency and automaticity with words containing r-controlled vowels. 

• In Unit 4, Week 1, Small Group, students read “Cricket Concert”. The teacher uses the level L prompting card and selects “a two-or three-syllable word with multiple syllable patterns” and models how to break the word into parts and decode the word. Students practice reading and re-reading portions of the text. 

• In Unit 10, Week 1, Lesson 5, after a lesson on unaccented final syllables, students read the second stanza of the core text, “Taking Newton’s First Law to the Hoop,” which contains the words motion and commotion. Students read the text chorally, and the teacher pauses to model decoding and determining the meaning of the word commotion. Students read the word study text “The Tortoise and the Hare” independently to gain fluency and automaticity with words containing unaccented final syllables.

The materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet the expectations of Indicator 1p.

Grade 3 materials include explicit instruction, modeling, and student practice in all areas of fluency. The materials include explicit instructional routines for rate, accuracy, and expression, including teacher modeling and student practice. Students engage in multiple readings of the core text and accountable texts each week. The materials support using context and decoding strategies to confirm understanding and word meaning. The materials indicate how to use quick checks to determine fluency. A resource map suggests Instructional adjustments to help students make progress toward mastery of fluency. The resource map references specific lessons to focus on reading with understanding, intonation, and expression. 

Multiple opportunities are provided over the course of the year in core materials for students to demonstrate sufficient accuracy and fluency in oral and silent reading. For example:

• Read grade-level text with purpose and understanding.

  • In Unit 2, Week 2, Phonics and Word Study, Lesson 2, the teacher guides students through a whisper read of the accountable text “The Boy Who Cried Wolf.” Next, students read the text chorally. The teacher asks students comprehension questions about the text. Students respond and underline words and phrases in the text to support their answers. 

  • In Unit 5, Week 1, Lesson 2, the teacher indicates, “fluent reading requires readers to pay attention to punctuation by pausing at commas and making full stops at the end of sentences.” The teacher models the strategy, and students partner-read a paragraph focusing on pausing. 

  • In Unit 6, Week 3, Phonics and Word Study, Lesson 2, the teacher guides students through a whisper read of the accountable text “A Difficult Decision.” Students read the text chorally. The teacher asks students comprehension questions about the text. Students respond and underline words and phrases in the text to support their answers. 

Materials support reading of prose and poetry with attention to rate, accuracy, and expression, as well as direction for students to apply reading skills when productive struggle is necessary. For example:

• Read grade-level prose and poetry orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression on successive readings.

  • In Unit 1, Additional Resources, Instructional Routines and Strategies, the materials provide instructional routines in areas of fluency: Inflection/Intonation - Pitch, Volume, Stress; Speed/Pacing - Slow, Varied, Fast; Dramatic Expression - Characterization/Feelings, Anticipation/Mood; Phrasing - Units of Meaning in Complex Sentences, Dependent Clauses; Confirm or Correct Word Recognition and Understanding; Short Pauses; Full Stops; High-Frequency Word Phrases. Each routine includes teacher modeling along with explicit instruction and student practice. 

  • In Unit 4, Week 1, Lesson 2, the teacher reminds students that fluent reading requires them to read with expression that matches the text's mood. The teacher uses the fluency routine to model reading the core text with expression and students practice. 

  • In Phonics and Word Study Resource Book, Week 1, Lesson 3, students read a text and focus on fluency. The teacher notes “students’ speed, accuracy, and intonation” and provides feedback while circulating the room and listening to students read. 

Materials support students’ fluency development of reading skills (e.g., self-correction of word recognition and/or for understanding, focus on rereading) over the course of the year (to get to the end of the grade-level band). For example:

• Use context to confirm or self-correct word recognition and understanding, rereading as necessary. 

  • In Unit 5, Week 2, Lesson 2, the teacher reminds students to use “what they know about word families and syllable types” to monitor their reading, checking references to confirm definitions when needed. Students read “George Eastman and the Kodak Camera” during independent work time to practice building fluency.

  • In Unit 7, Week 2, Lesson 2, the teacher models decoding and context clues to determine the correct usage of the word here in a second reading of the core text. The teacher models identifying the homophone for here and using context to confirm accurate usage. 

  • In Instructional Routines, Fluency Routines, the teacher uses a routine to guide students to read words correctly and make “sure that the words they read make sense in context.” The routine includes the teacher modeling how to confirm the meaning of a word, students choral-reading the same section, and students rereading the text while paying “attention to word parts.”

Assessment materials provide teachers and students with information of students’ current fluency skills and provide teachers with instructional adjustments to help students make progress toward mastery of fluency. For example:

• In Assessments, Fluency Quick Checks, the materials include ten Grade 3 assessment passages that can be used to assess oral reading accuracy, reading rate, and fluency (phrasing, intonation, and expression). The passages are identified by Lexile level. Students read passages at their instructional reading level. For example:

  • In Grade 3, Fluency Quick Check #26, Mouse’s Escape, students complete a fluency quick check with the teacher on how many words read per line. To determine fluency mastery, the teacher assesses students on oral reading accuracy, reading rate (words per minute), and comprehension.

  • In K-6 Fluency Quick Checks, Grade 3, an Oral Reading Fluency Passage “Now THAT’s a Pumpkin” features four paragraphs with a total of 157 words. The rubric on the bottom of the assessment monitors oral reading accuracy, rate, comprehension, and overall fluency on a scale of 1-4.

• In Assessments, Fluency, the Fluency Quick Check Resource Map provides a map of fluency intervention lessons that match each fluency skill and quick check. The directions for assessment outline how to assess each skill and determine whether a student needs intervention lessons. 

  • In Assessments, Fluency Quick Checks, the Additional Teacher Resources section contains alternate fluency assessments, including fluency rubrics, fluency self-assessments, Reader’s Theater self-assessments, performance assessments, and oral presentation assessments.