Kindergarten - Gateway 1

The materials reviewed for Kindergarten meet the criteria for materials provide explicit instruction for letter identification of all twenty-six letters (uppercase and lowercase). (Kindergarten)

In From Phonics to Reading Level K, students are introduced to the letters of the alphabet and are taught to connect the letter forms with the letter names by associating them while singing the alphabet song. This activity is repeated with charts containing uppercase letters, followed by practice with lowercase letters. Each letter is introduced as the focus of an instructional lesson that is taught over a period of five days. On each of these days, students are provided practice on identifying both the uppercase and lowercase forms of the letter. There is a sequence for the identifying of letters in the contents page as well as the scope and sequence at the beginning of the book.

Materials contain isolated, systematic, and explicit instruction for all twenty-six letters (recognize and name uppercase and lowercase). Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• Each lesson in Teacher's Edition Level K introduces a specific letter that is then the focus of instruction for five days. Each day students are provided explicit instruction on identifying both the uppercase and lowercase forms of the letter which is the focus of instruction.

• In Teacher's Edition Level K, each of the first twenty-six out of thirty total lessons explicitly teaches a letter.

• In Student Book Level K, each of the first twenty-six out of thirty total lessons explicitly teaches a letter.

In Teacher's Edition Level K and Student Book Level K, each letter is taught using the same instructional routine that includes instruction in identifying, naming, and forming uppercase and lowercase letters.

• In Teacher's Edition Level K and Student Book Level K, Unit 1 includes extra practice with alphabetic sequence and matching uppercase and lowercase letters.

• In Teacher's Edition Level K, Unit 1, Lesson 1, Day 1, the teacher points to each letter on an alphabet strip, chart, or wall frieze. The chart provided begins with introducing only uppercase letters.

• In Teacher's Edition Level K, Unit 2, Lesson 6, Day 1, during the Learn and Blend section, the teacher states that the /n/ sound is spelled with the letter n. Then the teacher points to the uppercase and lowercase Nn.

There is a defined sequence for letter instruction to be completed in a reasonable time frame over the school year. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Teacher's Edition Level K, on the contents page, the manual explains the scope and sequence for letter identification of uppercase and lowercase letters during alphabet knowledge activities in Unit 1. The writing of the letters of the alphabet is presented from Lessons 1-26 out of thirty lessons. Each letter is allotted the same amount of instructional time for introduction and practice of both writing and connecting the sound to the symbol.

• In Teacher's Edition Level K, in each unit, students practice writing, saying, and identifying the following specific letters.

  • Unit 1:

    • Target skill Lesson 1: Mm

    • Target skill Lesson 2: Aa

    • Target skill Lesson 3: Ss

    • Target skill Lesson 4: Tt

    • Target skill Lesson 5: Pp

  • Unit 2:

    • Target skill Lesson 6: Nn

    • Target skill Lesson 7: Ii

    • Target skill Lesson 8: Cc

    • Target skill Lesson 9: Ff

    • Target skill Lesson 10: Dd

  • Unit 3:

    • Target Skill Lesson 11: Hh

    • Target skill Lesson 12: Oo

    • Target skill Lesson 13: Rr

    • Target Skill Lesson 14: Bb

    • Target skill Lesson 15: Ll

  • Unit 4:

    • Target skill Lesson 16: Kk

    • Target skill Lesson 17: Ee

    • Target skill Lesson 18: Gg

    • Target skill Lesson 19: Ww

    • Target skill Lesson 20: Xx

  • Unit 5:

    • Target skill Lesson 21: Vv

    • Target skill Lesson 22: Uu

    • Target skill Lesson 23: Jj

    • Target skill Lesson 24: Qu

    • Target skill Lesson 25: Yy

  • Unit 6:

    • Target skill Lesson 26: Zz

The materials reviewed for Kindergarten meet the criteria for materials engage students in sufficient practice of letter identification.

Each lesson in From Phonics to Reading Teacher's Edition Level K provides activities for students to practice locating and saying letters in both their uppercase and lowercase forms. Lessons provide cumulative practice on previously introduced letters to ensure that practice has been provided. Students have opportunities to engage in naming the letters through the practice of a variety of activities, such as: think and writes, tracing activities, singing the alphabet songs, and identifying the letter that makes a sound for a beginning word. The materials engage children in some identification, location, and naming of all twenty six letters. Letter identification work is largely focused on lowercase letters.

Materials provide students with frequent opportunities to engage in practice identifying all twenty-six letters in uppercase and lowercase. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Teacher's Edition Level K, Day 1 of each lesson includes an Introduce Sound-Spelling routine that instructs teachers to ask children to identify and underline the target lowercase letter in a series of words.

• In Teacher's Edition Level K, Unit 1, Lesson 2, Day 4, the Independent/Partner Work is an alphabet review in which teachers provide each group with a set of uppercase or lowercase letter cards. Have children place the cards face down on a desk or tabletop and then take turns revealing a card and naming the letter.

• In Teacher's Edition Level K, Unit 1, Lesson 5, Day 1, students write the lowercase letter that goes with the uppercase letter in the Student Book.

Materials provide opportunities to engage in practice locating all twenty-six letters (uppercase and lowercase). Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Teacher's Edition Level K, Unit 1, Lesson 4, Day 1, during the alphabet knowledge activity, students match uppercase and lowercase letters.

• In Teacher's Edition Level K, Unit 1, Lesson 5, Day 1, the lesson begins with an alphabet recognition routine where students are asked to name all uppercase and lowercase letters on the workbook page and then match the uppercase letter to a lowercase letter and write the corresponding lowercase letter. The lesson introduces the new sound/letter which is the focus of the next five lessons. Students are taught both the uppercase and lowercase forms of the letter and identify/underline the letter in words.

• In Teacher's Edition Level K, Unit 4, Lesson 17, Day 1, during Learn and Blend, the teacher guides students to find the lowercase e in the word engine and underline it.

• In Teacher's Edition Level K, Unit 5, Lesson 22, Day 1, the lesson introduces the uppercase and lowercase u, connecting the short /u/ sound with the letter name and has students identify the letters in the context of words and sentences.

Materials provide opportunities to engage in naming all 26 letters (uppercase and lowercase). Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Teacher's Edition Level K, each lesson contains a Trace and Write activity with uppercase and lowercase letters that instructs teachers, “Remind children to say the letter’s name and sound each time they trace or write it. This will accelerate their mastery of the letter-sound connection.

• In Teacher's Edition Level K, Unit 1, Lesson 2, Day 1, students sing the alphabet song while pointing to each letter on an alphabet strip, chart, or wall frieze as they sing. Next, students are guided to find the last letter in their own name and identify the name of that letter. Students practice naming all the letters from letters a through z while connecting dots to complete a drawing of an object. The letter Aa is then introduced in the uppercase and lowercase forms, along with the short sound of the letter. Students identify the a within words.

• In Teacher's Edition Level K, Unit 1, Lesson 3, Day 1, students trace the letters in their student books while saying the name of the letter.

• In Teacher's Edition Level K, Unit 1, Lesson 5, Day 2, students participate in an activity in which children are given uppercase and lowercase letter cards that they use to name and match the letters.

The materials reviewed for Kindergarten meet the criteria for materials embed letter identification practice in meaningful print use.

The From Phonics to Reading Level K materials embed letter identification practice in meaningful print use in several ways. Students identify uppercase and lowercase letters within the context of their names, in high-frequency words that are the focus of instruction, and in alphabet books that they construct. Students identify letters within connected texts that are part of the daily lessons. With the exception of a few introductory activities in Unit 1, letter identification practice is limited to the print words and examples in Student Book, Level K. Extensions to meaningful print (e.g., names, environmental print) are not included, with the exception of lowercase vowel identification located in the family extension suggestions.

Materials contain a variety of tasks/activities that apply letter identification and naming of all twenty-six uppercase letters to meaningful print use (e.g., initial letter of a child’s name, environmental print, letter assortments, alphabet books, shared writing). Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Teacher's Edition Level K, Unit 1, Lesson 1, Day 2, students have an alphabet book they read in class and then take home which has all uppercase letters listed. The lesson guides students to make an alphabet book by cutting out the pages and then folding to form a booklet. This booklet is used for repeated practice both at home and at school.

• In Teacher's Edition Level K, Unit 1, Lesson 1, Day 2, teachers are instructed, “Call on children to point to and identify the first letter in their names. Tell children that when they write their names and the names of other people they should begin the name with an uppercase, or capital, letter. Have children write their names on the board or find their name on a chart or name card in the classroom. Ask them to chorally identify the first letter in each name.”

• In Teacher's Edition Level K, Unit 1, Lesson 2, Day 3, in the dictation routine, students read the sentence starter "My name is ..." and complete it by writing their name. Students are reminded to begin their name with an uppercase letter and say each letter name as they write it.

Materials contain a variety of tasks/activities that apply letter identification and naming of all 26 lowercase letters to meaningful print use (e.g., initial letter of a child’s name, environmental print, letter assortments, alphabet books, shared writing). Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Teacher's Edition Level K, Unit 1, Lesson 1, Day 2, students have an alphabet book they read in class and then take home, which has all lowercase letters listed.

• In Teacher's Edition Level K, Unit 3, Lesson 13, Day 1, the teacher tells students that the /r/ sound is spelled with the letter r. Students find the words ready, race, round, and racetrack and underline the letter r in the words.

• In Teacher's Edition Level K, Unit 3, Lesson 13, Day 2, in Understanding How Sentences Work, students partner up and choose a word in the sentence. The student states the letter names and sounds and then says what the word is.

• In Teacher's Edition Level K, Unit 3, Lesson 15, Day 4, during a cumulative review activity, students write the week’s high-frequency words by saying the names of the letters and building the words with letter cards.

• In Teacher's Edition Level K, in the “Home Connection” letters, parents are instructed to look for words with the targeted lowercase vowels in books, signs, magazine covers, etc.

The materials reviewed for Kindergarten meet the criteria for materials provide explicit instruction to print and to practice the 26 letters (uppercase and lowercase).

In From Phonics to Reading Teacher's Edition Level K, teacher directions provide opportunities for the teacher to model how to correctly write the uppercase and lowercase letters, but explicit instructions are not provided on how to teach the formation of letters. Instructions do not provide for a sequence of strokes in the formation of each letter. The program offers frequent opportunities in all units for students to practice forming and writing the uppercase and lowercase letters through paper/pencil tasks such as trace and write activities and the read-spell-write activity. Multimodal or multisensory instruction opportunities are found in the intervention activities suggested for students struggling with letter formation.

Materials include directions for the teacher concerning how to explain and model how to correctly form each of the 26 letters (uppercase and lowercase). Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Teacher's Edition Level K, Unit 1, Lesson 1, Day 2, students are prompted to write their name. The teacher is told to model how to write your name on primary writing lines. They are told to say each letter as they write their name and point out uppercase and lowercase letters.

• In Teacher's Edition Level K, Unit 1, Lesson 1, Day 3, the teacher is to, “model how to form the letter m in both the uppercase and lowercase forms.” Students are asked to trace, then form, the uppercase and lowercase versions of the letter m and say its sound as they write it.

• In Teacher's Edition Level K, Unit 1, Lesson 3, Day 1, for Independent/Partner Work, the teacher is instructed to “Guide children to notice that the letters of the alphabet are formed with different lines and curves. Have children work with partners to identify and draw the lines and curves they see in alphabet letters. Model for Aa to show that it has five different lines and curves (A: /, \, -: a:o, |).”

• In Teacher's Edition Level K, Unit 3, Lesson 12, Day 2, the teacher is instructed to “model how to form Oo. Have children trace and then write Oo. Remind children to say the letter’s name and sound each time they trace or write it.”

Materials include frequent opportunities for students to practice forming all of the 26 letters (uppercase and lowercase). Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Teacher's Edition Level K, Unit 4, Lesson 18, Day 2, students complete the trace and write activity for the letter Gg, uppercase and lowercase.

• In Teacher's Edition Level K, each daily lesson provides practice on a letter that is the specific focus of instruction, as well as a cumulative review of previously taught letters.

  • In Teacher's Edition Level K, Unit 2, Lesson 9, Day 2, students focus on the letter Ff, which was introduced in the previous lesson. Students practice writing both the uppercase and lowercase forms of Ff. On Day 3, students practice writing words containing the letter Ff.

  • In Teacher's Edition Level K, Unit 3, Lesson 13, Day 2, students focus on the letter Rr, which was introduced in the previous lesson. Students practice writing both the uppercase and lowercase forms of Rr. On Day 3, students practice writing words containing the letter Rr.

  • In Teacher's Edition Level K, Unit 5, Lesson 21, Day 2, students focus on the letter Vv, which was introduced in the previous lesson. Students practice writing both the upper and lowercase forms of Vv. On Day 3, students practice writing words containing the letter Vv.

Materials include opportunities for students to practice forming letters using multimodal and/or multisensory methods. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Teacher's Edition Level K, Unit 1, Lesson 1, Day 1, the teacher is encouraged to set up in the alphabet corner of their learning center: letters to trace, plastic or magnetic letters, alphabet stamps, and alphabet puzzles or games.

• In Teacher's Edition Level K, Unit 1, Lesson 4, Day 1, Intervention, teachers are instructed to “provide children with a tactile experience, writing the uppercase and lowercase letters on individual index cards and having children manipulate the cards to make a match….”

• In Teacher's Edition Level K, Unit 1, Lesson 4, Day 2, Intervention, teachers are instructed to help develop fine motor skills for children struggling with letter formation. The Teacher’s Edition states, “Children may enjoy writing letters in a tray of sand, finger painting them, or making letters out of pipe cleaners or clay.”

• In Teacher's Edition Level K, Unit 5, Lesson 24, Day 1, students complete a read-spell-write activity. Each time they write the word, they say the letters of the word they are writing.

The materials reviewed for Kindergarten meet the criteria for materials provide instructional support for general concepts of print and connect learning of print concepts to books (Kindergarten-Grade 1) and provide cumulative review of print concepts, letter identification, and printing letters. (Kindergarten-early Grade 1).

The From Phonics to Reading Kindergarten materials provide instruction around the organization of print concepts on Day 2 of all lessons throughout the text. The lessons on print concepts address skills such as spacing between words, how spoken words correlate to letters, and how uppercase letters appear at the beginning of certain words or at the beginning of sentences. However, the instruction for teachers is limited to a single sentence that reminds teachers to demonstrate the skill or explain the skill to students. Periodically, the initial instruction of print concept skills is provided after the student has already been expected to use the skill in reading connected text (e.g., instruction on left to right progression, return sweep, and reading from top to bottom of the page). Practice on connected text occurs with student take-home books constructed from the Student Book. Level K materials provide instructional support for concepts of print and connects the learning to Take-Home Books.

Materials include sufficient and explicit instruction for all students about the organization of print concepts (e.g., follow words left to right, spoken words correlate sequences of letters, letter spacing). Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• Follow words from left to right, top to bottom, and page by page.

  • In Teacher's Edition Level K, Unit 1, Lesson 1, Day 2, students are told that letters of the alphabet are used to write words, including their names. The teacher models writing their name, saying each letter name as it is written, and pointing out that a name begins with an uppercase letter.

  • In Teacher's Edition Level K, Unit 2, Lesson 6, Day 2, the teacher writes the sentence, “What is it?” The teacher reminds students that we read from left to right. The teacher moves their finger left to right as the teacher models reading each word. Students chorally read the sentence as it is tracked.

  • In Teacher's Edition Level K, Unit 3, Lesson 13, Day 2, the teacher writes the sentence on the board, “He ran to the rock.” The teacher has students raise their hands when they hear the word ran. Then the teacher says “This is ran, because the letters /r/ /a/ /n/ stand for the sounds /r/, /a/, /n/, which makes the word ran.”

• Recognize that spoken words are represented in written language by specific sequences of letters.

  • In Teacher's Edition Level K, Unit 1, Lesson 1, Day 2, the teacher tells students that the letters of the alphabet are used to write words including people’s names.

  • In Teacher's Edition Level K, Unit 2, Lesson 8, Day 2, teachers are instructed to write the sentence " My cat is big." on the board. The teacher says, "Follow along as I read the sentence and raise your hand when you hear the word big. Then point to the word big and say: “This word is big because the letters b, i, g, stand for the sounds /b/, /i/, /g/, which make the word big.” This instructional routine is repeated in Lesson 13.

• Understand that words are separated by spaces in print.

  • In Teacher's Edition Level K, Unit 1, Lesson 2, Day 2, the teacher is instructed, “Write the sentence on the board: "I can run'. Call on children to read the sentence and count the words. Guide children to understand that the words are separated by spaces.” This instructional routine is repeated in Lessons 3-5.

  • In Teacher's Edition Level K, Unit 2, Lesson 9, Day 2, the teacher is reminded to state there are spaces between words in order to know where one word ends and another begins.

  • In Teacher's Edition Level K, Unit 2, Lesson 9, Day 2, the teacher is instructed to use sentences from passage "Can It Fit?" to review word spacing. This instructional routine is repeated in Lessons 12, 17, 21, and 26.

Materials include frequent and adequate lessons, tasks, and questions for all students about the organization of print concepts (e.g. follow words left to right, spoken words correlate sequences of letters, letter spacing). Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Teacher's Edition Level K, print concept activities are practiced every five days Day 2, during the Print Concepts section of the lesson (i.e., students count the number of words in a spoken sentence, the teacher guides students to understand words are separated by spaces, and that sentences end with a period).

• In Teacher's Edition Level K, Unit 1, Lessons 6 and 7, students practice following words left to right. Spoken words correlating to sequences of letters are practiced in Lessons 1, 8 and 11. This concept is reinforced through word building activities. Letter spacing is practiced in Lessons 2, 9, 12, 17, 21 and 26.

• In Teacher's Edition Level K, Unit 1, Lesson 2, Day 2, students are asked to listen and count the words in the sentence. After the teacher models, the students repeat the sentence and count. The teacher calls on students to read the sentence and count the words in the sentence. The teacher is guided to remind students that words are separated by spaces.

• In Teacher's Edition Level K, Unit 2, Lesson 6, Day 2, the teacher is instructed to, “Remind children that we read a sentence from left to right. Move your finger left to right as you model reading each word. Then have the children chorally read the sentence as you track the print.”

Materials include a variety of physical books (e.g., teacher-guided, such as big books) that are suitable for the teaching of print concepts. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• Each of the thirty lessons in Student Book, Level K, provides a student book to practice connected reading and teach print concepts. These books are cut out and constructed by the student and reread multiple times both at home and in class. They are initially introduced in a teacher guided reading and then incorporated into independent practice.

Materials include explicit instruction about the organization of print concepts (e.g., follow words left to right, spoken words correlate sequences of letters, letter spacing) in the context of a book. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Teacher's Edition Level K, Unit 1, Lesson 5, Day 2, in the book, "I Like," students identify and count the words in the sentence, and then identify where one word begins and another ends.

• In Teacher's Edition Level K, Unit 2, Lesson 7, Day 2, the teacher reviews left to right progression and then introduces the concepts of ‘return sweep’ and moving top to bottom to read the page. Students then take turns working with a partner to demonstrate “how they follow words from left to right, top to bottom, and page by page to read the book.”

Materials include opportunities for students to engage in authentic practice using print concepts in the context of student books. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• Students practice print concepts in the Read Connected Text portion of the Student Book. For example, In Teacher’s Edition, Level K, Unit 1, Lesson 4, Day 2, students apply how sentences work and review word spacing using text from Student Book, "Sam Sat."

Materials contain periodic cumulative review opportunities during which the teacher reminds students about previously learned grade level print concepts, letter identification, and letter formation. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• The Teacher's Edition Level K provides periodic review of print concepts on Day 2 of each of the thirty lessons in the book. It provides a Cumulative Review section on Day 4 of each of the thirty lessons in the book to review previously introduced concepts taught.

  • In Teacher's Edition Level K, Unit 4, Lesson 17, Day 2, the teacher asks students how many words there are in the sentence that they are reading. The concept of counting words was taught in Unit 1.

  • In Teacher's Edition Level K, Unit 6, Lesson 26, Day 2, the teacher reviews word spacing. The teacher models a sentence with no spacing. The teacher writes the same sentence with spacing. The teacher guides students to recognize spacing makes a sentence easier to read.

Materials include students’ practice of previously learned print concepts, letter identification, and letter formation. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Teacher's Edition Level K, Unit 3, Lesson 12, Day 2, students take turns reading a sentence and identifying the words in the sentence. Students learn and practice this skill in Unit 1.

• In Teacher's Edition Level K, Unit 5, Lesson 21, Day 2, students take turns reading a sentence from the story and counting the words in the story.

The materials reviewed for Kindergarten meet the criteria for materials have frequent opportunities for students to engage in phonological awareness activities through Kindergarten and early Grade 1.

The Teacher’s Edition for Level K provides daily activities for students to practice phonemic and phonological awareness skills. These skills are addressed in the first exercise of the day and then reinforced through various activities that are woven into the lessons and the activities found in the Student Book. All skills are introduced with explicit teacher modeling and follow-up exercises ask students to orally practice the skills.

Materials include a variety of activities for phonological awareness. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, introductory material explains that phonological awareness exercises include the following skills: recognizing and producing rhyme, clapping and counting syllables, blending syllables, identifying words in a spoken sentence, alliteration, isolating beginning, middle and ending sounds, oral segmentation, and phonemic manipulation.

• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 2, Lesson 9, Days 1-5, students practice oral blending , recognizing and producing rhymes, and isolating beginning, medial and ending sounds with some words containing /f/.

• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 3, Lesson 11, Day 1, students blend sounds to make words after the teacher says the sound sequences.

There are frequent opportunities for students to practice phonological awareness. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 1, Lesson 5, Days 2-5, students practice an oral blending activity and identify words in spoken sentences on Day 2. On Day 3, students isolate beginning and ending sounds. On Days 4 and 5, students clap and count syllables.

• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 3 planner, Lesson 11, Days 1-5, students complete oral blending, segmentation, and then isolate beginning, medial, and ending sounds for five minutes each day.

• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, there are thirty lessons which include activities that focus on one or more of the following skills: identifying that words are made up of sound units, clapping and counting syllables, blending phonemes into syllables and words, and identifying beginning and ending sounds in a word or syllable. In all thirty lessons, each instructional day's activities include instruction and/or practice in phonological awareness.

The materials reviewed for Kindergarten meet the criteria for materials provide explicit instruction in phonological awareness through systematic modeling across the Kindergarten-Grade 1 grade band.

From Phonics to Reading Level K materials provide teachers with systematic lessons in rhyming, syllables, blending and segmenting onsets and rimes, and isolating and manipulating phonemes. Lessons include teacher scripts for explicit modeling and examples for students’ practice. The Teacher’s Edition Level K combines phonemic analysis and phonemic awareness skills under the heading of phonemic awareness when introduced within the program. The Teacher’s Edition provides examples for teaching each of the skills included in the scope and sequence chart. The Instructional Guide for Phonological Awareness Scope and Sequence Rationale contains additional routines.

Materials provide the teacher with systematic, explicit modeling for instruction in syllables, sounds (phonemes), and spoken words. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• Recognize and produce rhyming words.

  • In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 1, Lesson 1, Day 1, page 9, the teacher states two words: “Mat, sat. Ask: What is the same about the words? Yes, mat and sat end with the same sounds. Listen: /m/ /at/, mat; /s/ /at/, sat. Words that end with the same sound rhyme. Mat and sat rhyme because they both end in -at. Continue with these word pairs. Have children repeat the words after you. Ask children to show thumbs up if the words rhyme and thumbs down if they do not: man, pan; man, top; mop, top; cat, bat; bat, run; run, sun.”

  • In Teacher Edition Level K, Unit 1, Lesson 4, Day 3, page 56, there is explicit modeling for instruction in recognizing words that rhyme (e.g., “Listen, k/at/ and b/at/ rhyme because they both end in -at.) and includes seven word sets as examples for teaching the concept.

  • In Instructional Guide: Phonological Awareness Scope and Sequence Rationale, page 4, there is the Rhyme Routine. It includes the following steps: Introduce, Model (I Do), Guided Practice/Practice (We Do/You Do).

• Count, pronounce, blend, and segment syllables in spoken words.

  • In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 1, Lesson 1, Day 2, page 11 the teacher introduces the concept of syllables. Teachers are instructed, “Tell children that words have parts called syllables. Say pan, then clap the syllable. The word pan has one syllable, or part. Repeat for the word pancake. Say: The word pancake has two syllables, or parts, pan-cake. Have children say and clap the syllables after you. Continue by having children repeat these words and then say and clap the syllables: class, classroom, ball, baseball, table, teacher, desk, pen, pencil”

  • In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 1, Lesson 4, Day 5, page 61, during the blending syllables exercise, teachers are instructed, “Remind children that words have parts called syllables. Tell children they will put together syllables to say words. Say: The syllables are cup-cake. Say the syllables with me, and then put them together to say the word: cup-cake, cupcake. The word is cupcake. Continue with the following syllables: bath-tub, out-side, sun-set, pea-nut, hap-py, gar-den, mit-ten, tun-nel.”

  • In Instructional Guide: Phonological Awareness Scope and Sequence Rationale, page 5, there is the Oral Blending Routine. It includes the following steps: Introduce, Model (I Do), Guided Practice/Practice (We Do/You Do).

• Blend and segment onsets and rimes of single-syllable spoken words.

  • In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 1, Lesson 3, Day 1, page 35, teachers introduce oral blending of single-syllable words. Teachers are instructed, “Tell children they will be blending, or putting together, sounds to make words. Say the first sound of a word and then the rest of the word. Use the following sound sequences. Ask children to blend the sounds together to make a word. /m/ /at/ /s/ /at/ /m/ /an/ /p/ /an/ /m/ /op/ /s/ /it/ /s/ /un/ /p/ /et/”

  • In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 3, Lesson 13, Day 2, page 167, the teacher tells students they will be segmenting or breaking apart, words. “Say the words below one at a time. Ask children to segment each word in the first row by beginning sound and the rest of the word onset and rime.” Students can practice with the words mop, hop, tan, and can.

  • In Instructional Guide: Phonological Awareness Scope and Sequence Rationale, pages 4-6, there is the Oral Blending Routine and Oral Segmentation Routine (Sound by Sound). It includes the following steps: Introduce, Model (I Do), Guided Practice/Practice (We Do/You Do).

• Isolate and pronounce the initial, medial vowel, and final sounds (phonemes) in three-phoneme (consonant-vowel-consonant, or CVC) words.1 (This does not include CVCs ending with /l/, /r/, or /x/.)

  • In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 2, Lesson 8, Day 4, page 110, the teacher introduces isolation of beginning, middle and ending sounds. Example words include cat, pin, big, cup, mop, tap, win, and pup.

  • In Teacher Edition Level K, Unit 2, Lesson 10, Day 2, page 129, the teacher is instructed to “tell children they will be segmenting words...Ask the children to segment each word in the first row by onset and rime. Ask them to segment each word in the second row sound-by-sound, then count the number of sounds.” Instructions then say to provide feedback by modeling how to segment the word, as opposed to providing explicit instruction first and then feedback if they make mistakes with the skill.

• Add or substitute individual sounds (phonemes) in simple, one-syllable words to make new words.

  • In Teacher Edition Level K, Unit 6, Lesson 27, Day 3, page 344, the teacher introduces adding a new sound to the beginning of a word to make a new word. It is modeled with five examples and practiced again on Day 4 with another four examples. Following the addition of sounds to the beginning of a word, students are instructed to make new words by adding syllables to the end of a word.

Materials provide the teacher with examples for instruction in syllables, sounds (phonemes), and spoken words called for in grade level standards. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 1, Lesson 5, Day 2, page 66, the teacher introduces the skill of identifying words in spoken sentences. The teacher is instructed, “Tell children that they will count the words in sentences you say. Say: 'I see Pat.' Repeat, holding up a finger for each word: I, see, Pat. The sentence 'I see Pat' has three words. Continue with these sentences: Sam sat on the mat. I like to nap. Can you tap?”

• Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 2, Lesson 7, Day 1, page 103 - In an oral blending lesson, teachers are instructed, “Tell children they will be blending, or putting together, sounds to make words. Say the following sound sequences. Ask children to blend the sounds together to make a word. /k/ /at/; /k/ /up/; /t/ /ok/; /d/ /ek/; /k/ /a/ /p/; /p/ /a/ /k/; /k/ /i/ /d/; /s/ /t/ /a/ /k/.”

• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 3, Lesson 13, Day 3, page 170, the teacher tells students they are going to be segmenting words. The teacher says the following words: rug, pat, fish, ramp.

• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 6, Lesson 27, Day 4, page 346, it directs receives the teacher how to have students practice adding a sound to the beginning of the word to make a new word with -up and /k/.

The materials reviewed for Kindergarten meet the criteria for materials provide practice of each newly taught sound (phoneme) and sound pattern across the Kindergarten-Grade 1 band.

The Teacher’s Edition Level K teaches sounds and sound patterns and provides practice across a number of activities within each lesson. There are opportunities for students to: clap the syllables, create words that rhyme with words, and listen and practice segmenting and blending sounds. Level K materials feature daily practice in phonological awareness, and this practice focuses on the newly taught sound in each lesson.

Materials provide ample opportunities for students to practice each new sound and sound pattern called for in grade-level standards. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• Recognize and produce rhyming words.
• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 1, Lesson 1, Day 1, students recognize words that rhyme. Students show thumbs up if the words rhyme.
• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 2, Lesson 7, Day 2, students recognize rhyme in six examples.
• Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 5, Lesson 21, Day 5, students recognize and produce rhymes with the short /u/ sound that is the focus of the five instructional segments for Lesson 21.
• Count, pronounce, blend, and segment syllables in spoken words.
• Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 1, Lesson 2, Day 4, students blend syllables with short vowel sounds.
• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 4, Lesson 17, Day 3, students segment words one at a time, sound by sound and then count the number of words. The word list is: he, egg, by, pet, tell, end, mess, and deck.
• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 4, Lesson 17, Day 4, students practice oral blending with the following words: eg to beg, -an to man, men, top, pak and kis.
• Blend and segment onsets and rimes of single-syllable spoken words.
• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 1, Lesson 5, Day 1, students blend the first letter of the sound and then the rest of the word /s/ /at/. Students blend the sounds together to make words.
• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 3, Lesson 14, Day 3, students segment words first by onset and rime, then by phonemes during an oral segmentation lesson. The following words are segmented by onset and rime: big, box, rub, tub.
• Isolate and pronounce the initial, medial vowel, and final sounds, or phonemes, in three-phoneme CVC words ,not including CVC words ending with /l/, /r/, or /x/.
• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 2, Lesson 9, Day 4, students practice isolating beginning, medial and ending sounds in a list of words. The beginning sound: if, ten, dog, and pack. Middle sound: sap, sit, cup, and dock. The ending sound: in, set, fit, and luck.
• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 3, Lesson 14, Day 4,students have four examples of isolating four beginning sounds: big, run, him, bat; four middle sounds: rub, hid, pan, back; and four ending sounds: sat, mop, bit, hot.
• Add or substitute individual sounds (phonemes) in simple, one-syllable words to make new words.
• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 6, Lesson 27, Day 3, students add sounds with up /k/; ox /f/; end /b/; and inch /p/.
• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 6, Lesson 29, Day 3, students practice adding a sound to the beginning of a word to make a new word and then they practice adding a syllable to the end of the word to make a new word. For example, the syllable -ed to the end of act. Students have an opportunity to practice adding a new sound to four words.
• Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 6,Lessons 28-30, students continue to practice adding sounds in short words.

Materials include multimodal/multisensory activities for student practice of phonological awareness. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Teacher’s Edition Level K. phonological awareness exercises are largely choral oral practice. Some exercises include clapping, moving counters, and “thumbs up, thumbs down” responses.
• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 1, Lesson 5, Day 5, students clap and count the syllables in the words toe, tiptoe, ball, baseball, cow, cowboy, soccer, kick, and kicker.
• In Multisensory/Multimodal Techniques, Level A, Lesson 1, students receive multimodal practice of listening/speaking, and auditory practice during oral blending.

The materials reviewed for Kindergarten meet the criteria for materials emphasize explicit phonics instruction through systematic and repeated modeling.

The materials provide teachers with explicit examples, instructional routines, and systematic and repeated instruction for students to hear, say, encode, and read each newly taught grade level phonics pattern. According to the High-Impact Routine: Dictation, a teacher can model encoding a word using the Think and Write tool. According to the High-Impact Routine: Word Building, a teacher can model building a word with the Make New Words tool. There is instruction and modeling for associating long and short sounds with the common spellings (graphemes) for the five major vowels. Each short vowel sound is introduced in a separate lesson, one in each of the first five units. The final three lessons (Lessons 28, 29, 30) of the last unit (Unit 6) introduce long vowel sounds for long a, long o, long e, and long i. Two lessons teach the final -e spelling for long vowel words with a_e, o_e, i_e.

Materials contain explicit instructions for systematic and repeated teacher modeling of all grade level phonics standards. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• Demonstrate basic knowledge of one-to-one letter-sound correspondences by producing the primary sound or many of the most frequent sound for each consonant.
• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, each consonant is introduced and practiced lesson by lesson. Each letter/sound is introduced in the same way, using an action rhyme and an explicit explanation that the sound is spelled using the letter shown.
• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 2, Lesson 6, Day 1, the materials introduce sound-spelling during Blend It. The teacher is to guide the students to say the sound for each letter in the first line, which are consonant sounds /n/, /p/, /t/, and /a/.
• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 5, Lesson 23, Day 2, during Sound-Spelling Blending, students chorally say the /a/sounds from the cards for all previously taught phonics skills with no modeling provided.
• Associate the long and short sounds with the common spellings (graphemes) for the five major vowels.
• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 1, Lesson 2, Day 1, the teacher models the short /a/sound using the action rhyme and explains that short /a/ is spelled with the letter a.
• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 2, Lesson 7, Day 1, the teacher reads the action rhyme from the Student Book. The teacher explains that the short /i/ is spelled with the letter i.
• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 3, Lesson 12, Day 1, the teacher tells students that the short /o/ sound is spelled with the letter o. The teacher explains that /o/ can appear at the beginning or in the middle of the word. The teacher guides students to find the word on.
• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 4, Lesson 17, Day 1, the teacher models blending the first word with short /e/ sound.
• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 5, Lesson 22, Day 1, the teacher models for students how to read short /u/ words.
• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 6, Lesson 28, Day 1, the teacher reads the action rhyme and explains the following about long vowels in open syllables: long /e/ is spelled e, long /i/ is spelled i, and long /o/ is spelled o.
• Distinguish between similarly spelled words by identifying the sounds of the letters that differ.
• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 2, Lesson 9, Day 2,during Word Study, the teacher states fit. The teacher explains the beginning sound /f/ and the ending sound /t/. The teacher states tan and asks, “Is /n/ the beginning or ending sound in tan?”
• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 5, Lesson 21, Day 2, Word Study, students identify the difference between tan and Stan. After teacher instruction in consonant blends, students practice with led/sled, tick/stick, pill/spill, and pan/plan.

Lessons provide teachers with systematic and repeated instruction for students to hear, say, encode, and read each newly taught grade level phonics pattern. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, each lesson includes recurring instructional routines that provide teachers with systematic and repeated instruction. For example:
• Students hear the newly taught sound in the Learn and Say and Say and Write routines.
• Students say the newly taught sound in the Learn and Say, Say and Write, Sort it Out, and Cumulative Review routines.
• Students encode the newly taught sound in the Retell and Write, Listen and Spell, and Think and Write routines.
• Students read the newly taught sound in the Blend It and Reading Connected Text routines.
• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 2, Lesson 7, Day 2, the teacher writes the word sits. The teacher guides the students in separating the base word sit from the -s ending to identify the word. The teacher guides them in blending sit and the -s ending in sits. The students practice with the words taps, naps, pins, tips, and sips.
• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 3, Lesson 11, Day 4, students write lesson's word and sentence. The teacher subsequently writes the answers so students can self-correct their work.
• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 5, Lesson 24, Day 3, the teacher displays all of the sound-spelling cards for all previously taught phonic skills, one at a time. Students chorally say the sounds. The teacher mixes up the card set and repeats the activity.

The materials reviewed for Kindergarten meet the criteria for materials include frequent practice opportunities for students to decode words that consist of common and newly-taught sound and spelling patterns and provide opportunities for students to review previously taught phonics skills.

From Phonics to Reading Level K materials provide frequent opportunities for students to practice reading words containing new and review phonics elements through decoding by phoneme and reading complete words. Opportunities for practice are built into daily instructional time. Teacher’s Edition Level K is structured so that, in each of its thirty lessons, students are introduced to a phonics skill in the Sound-Spelling/Blending exercises and are provided daily opportunities to cumulatively review previously taught phonics skills with a quick review on Days 2-5 of each lesson. Phonics elements are practiced when reading words in isolation, in short sentences, and in connected text selections that are a part of each lesson. Additional decoding practice is provided through Connected Text selections incorporated in each lesson.

Lessons provide students with frequent opportunities to decode (phonemes, onset and rime, and/or syllables) phonetically spelled words. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Teacher Edition, Level K, Unit 2, Lesson 9, Days 1-5, students have practice opportunities for the phoneme/grapheme /f/.

  • In Day 1, Introduce Sound-Spelling, students blend and read words containing the /f/ sound using the Learn and Build activity in the Student Book.

  • In Day 2, Sound-Spelling/Blending, students review sound-spelling cards for all previously taught phonics skills and reread the Blend It lines in the Student Book to a partner. Students are provided an opportunity to read the /f/ sound in connected text selections in the Student Book.

  • In Day 3, Sound-Spelling/Blending, students review all previously taught phonics skills and reread the Blend It activity from the Student Book.

  • In Day 4, students complete a second reading of the connected text in the Student Book.

  • In Day 5, Writing Extension, students reread the connected text selection from the Student Book.

• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 3, Lesson 11, Day 2, students decode the words to read the text "Hats."

• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 6, Lesson 26, Day 1, students practice blending the lines of the Blend It activity with /z/ words.

Lessons provide students with frequent opportunities to read complete words by saying the entire word as a unit using newly taught phonics skills. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 1, Lesson 3, Day 1, Blend It, students practice blending line 2 and reading words with /a/, /m/, and /s/.

• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 2, Lesson 6, Day 4, students practice reading the text, "What Is It?", which has phonics skills from Unit 2.

• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 3, Lesson 12, Day 3,students read the Blend It lines with the /op/ and /ot/ words.

Materials contain opportunities for students to review previously learned grade-level phonics. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 3 , Lesson 14 , Day 3, students complete Cumulative Quick Check activity where the teacher displays the sound-spelling cards for all of the previously taught phonics skills for students to practice one at a time. The cards are mixed up, and the activity is repeated.

• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 4, Lesson 16, Day 3, students read the Blend It lines again.

• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 6, Lesson 26, Day 4, students participate during the Sound Spelling/Blending activity where the teacher displays all of the previously taught phonics skills on the sound cards. Once students have practiced it one time, the teacher mixes the cards, and students reread the sounds.

Materials contain a variety of methods to promote students’ practice of previously taught grade level phonics. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 2, Lesson 8, Day 3, students practice blending words and sounds that they were previously taught during Cumulative Quick Check.

• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 3, Lesson 15, Day 3, students complete a Cumulative Quick Check using sound-spelling cards with previously taught phonics skills.

• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 6, Lesson 29, Day 4, Read and Write Activity, students circle the word that has the long vowel sound and then the word is written on the word.

The materials reviewed for Kindergarten meet the criteria for materials promote frequent opportunities for students to practice decoding phonetically regular words in a sentence.

From Phonics to Reading Level K materials provide frequent and systematic practice decoding phonetically regular words in the context of a sentence. Students have the opportunity to practice decoding sentences, and there is systematic practice for decoding words in a sentence. Both the Blend It and the Read Connected Text exercises provide students with opportunities to decode words that contain targeted sound-spelling patterns and previously-taught sound-spelling patterns. Beginning in Lesson 2, practice with decoding words in sentences occurs once or twice daily.

Materials provide explicit, systematic practice for decoding phonetically regular words in a sentence. Examples include, but are not limited to the following:

• In Student Book Level K, beginning in Lesson 3, the Blend It exercise includes at least one context sentence. Students use this sentence to practice decoding words that contain the current or past target sound-spellings and/or high frequency words. Students read the sentence(s) chorally on Day 1, then practice independently or with a partner on Days 2-5.
• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 3, Lesson 11, Day 1, students read the Blend It lines with the letter h in it, along with one-syllable words. On Day 2, students read the sentences from the Blend It activity again. On Day 3, students practice reading the Blend It sentences again.
• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 5, Lesson 21, Day 4, Home School Connection, students write five sentences in their journals containing words from the target skill. After writing the sentences, students read the sentences to build fluency. The sentences are:
• Did the fox go to the den?
• Do not get hurt!
• Dad got gas for the van.
• A vet helps cats and dogs.
• A vat is a big tub.

Lessons provide students with frequent opportunities to decode words in a sentence. Examples include, but are not limited to the following:

• In Student Book Level K, beginning in Lesson 2, each lesson contains a Take-Home Book that students use in class and at home to practice decoding words in sentences. The teacher guides students in a choral reading of the book on Day 2 and Day 4, and students read the book independently on Day 5 of each lesson.
• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 1, Lesson 5, Day 1, students read sentences with the letter p in it. For example:
• Pam sat.
• I see a map.
• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 4, Lesson 19, Day 3, Listen and Spell, students write sentences that contain the letter w and read the sentences to a partner with words.
• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 6, Lesson 30, Day 1, Blend It, students read words with /ī/, /ō/, and final -e words. The sentences are:
• I hope I can go.
• I like to ride the bike.

The materials reviewed for Kindergarten meet the criteria for materials include daily practice opportunities for students to build/manipulate/spell and encode grade-level phonics, including common and newly-taught sound and sound patterns.

From Phonics to Reading Level K materials include some recurring instructional routines that give students frequent practice building and encoding words, both in isolation and in written responses to text. There are practice opportunities for students to build, manipulate, and spell words. There is encoding practice that students complete included in the Dictation activities, Think-Write-Spell activities, and Sort It Out activities. According to the High-Impact Routine: Dictation, a teacher can model encoding a word using the Think and Write tool. According to the High-Impact Routine: Word Building, a teacher can model building a word with the Make New Words tool.

The materials contain teacher-level instruction/modeling for building/manipulating/spelling and encoding words using common and newly-taught sound and spelling patterns of phonics. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 2, Lesson 6, Day 3, Dictation, the teacher explicitly models segmenting a word and encoding its sounds. The teacher says the word pan and models segmenting the word with left to right hand motions, then guides children to connect each sound to a spelling. Children then complete another example, map, independently.
• In Teacher's Edition Level K, Unit 3, Lesson 13, Day 4, Dictation, the teacher says the word rip. The students write the word. The teacher says the sentence, Ron and Pam ran. The teacher writes the answers for children to self-correct their work.
• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 5, Lesson 22, Day 3, during Independent/Partner Work, the students independently complete the Spell It activity in Daily Practice in Student Book with partners. The teacher is to prompt each student to select five words for their partner to write.

Lessons provide students with frequent opportunities to build/manipulate/spell and encode words in isolation based in common and newly-taught phonics patterns. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Student Book Level K, Unit 3, Lesson 11, Day 3, Dictation, students say the name of each picture for items 1 and 2. Next, students write the letter for the first sound in the picture name. The students practice segmenting the words. The students complete item 4 on their own in their Student Book.
• In Student Book Level K, Unit 4, Lesson 16, Day 3, Word Building, Trace, Write and Build, students use their letter cards to trace, write, and build words.
• In Student Book Level K, Unit 6, Lesson 29, Day 4, students complete the Sort It Out activity where they read each word, then sort the words with either short a or a_e words. The students write the words in the correct box.

The materials reviewed for Kindergarten meet the criteria for materials include systematic instruction of high-frequency words and practice opportunities of high-frequency words to develop automaticity.

In From Phonics to Reading Level K, recurring instructional routines explicitly model and teach both reading and spelling of high-frequency words, primarily using the Read-Spell-Write routine. High-frequency words are read and written in isolation and in context. An appropriate number of high-frequency words are taught over the course of the materials, and materials provide explicit examples for teacher modeling. There is high-frequency practice for students in the Read-Spell-Write activities. Students practice at least two high-frequency words in each lesson. Most of the reading of high-frequency words happens in context of sentences and not in isolation. During the Spell section of the Read-Spell-Write activities, the students say the letters as they write the word, but they do not necessarily read the whole word.

Materials include systematic and explicit instruction of high-frequency words. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• Read common high-frequency words by sight (e.g., the, of, to, you, she, my, is, are, do, does).
• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, beginning in Lesson 2, each lesson introduces two high-frequency words. The high-frequency words are taught and practiced using recurring instructional routines three out of five lesson days. Those routines include the Read-Spell-Write routine and the Use in Context routine.
• In Teacher's Edition Level K, Unit 1, Lesson 3, Day 2, the High-Frequency Words section introduces the week’s two new high-frequency words see and a using a Read-Spell-Write routine. The teacher is provided one model for explicitly introducing students to reading, spelling, and writing the new high-frequency words.
• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 2, Lesson 6, Day 2, the teacher reviews and reteaches the high-frequency words is and it using the Read-Spell-Write routine.
• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 3, Lesson 13, Day 1, Read, the teacher writes a context sentence and underlines the high-frequency word. The teacher points to the words and children read it. The teacher says, “The hat is red and blue.” The teacher points to the word and and asks what the word is.

Materials include frequent opportunities for the teacher to model the spelling and reading of high-frequency words in isolation. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 3, Lesson 13, Day 1, the teacher spells the high-frequency words out loud. The teacher is guided to briefly point out any letter-sounds or spellings children might already know or that are the same as other words they have learned. The teacher spells the word, writes the word, and says each word as she writes it.
• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 1, Lesson 4, Day 2, High-Frequency Words, instructions are for the teacher to, “Spell the word aloud and have children repeat it.” The model provided is: “Say: the word the is spelled t-h-e. Spell it with me: t-h-e. The begins with a t, but not the /t/ sound. The letters th together make a new sound, /th/.”
• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 6, Lesson 28, Day 1, High-Frequency Words, instructions are for the teacher to, “Spell the word aloud and have children repeat it.” The model provided is: “Say the word come is spelled c-o-m-e. Spell it with me: c-o-m-e. What is the first letter in the word come? What sound does this letter make?”

Students practice identifying and reading high-frequency words in isolation. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Student Book Level K, Day Four of each lesson features a Cumulative Review in which students read high-frequency words independently in isolation before using them in context.
• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Day Five of each lesson reviews high-frequency words by having the teacher write the lesson’s two target words in isolation, then have students chorally read each word.
• In Student Book Level K, Unit 3, Lesson 14, Day 1, Read-Spell-Write activity, students read the word or after the teacher writes it on the board. The word or is found in a sentence.
• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 6, Lesson 21, Day 1, Read-Spell-Write activity, the students write the high-frequency words go and hurt on in their Student Book. The students say the letters as they write the words.

Materials include a sufficient quantity of grade-appropriate high-frequency words for students to make reading progress. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, two high-frequency words are taught in each lesson, beginning in Lesson 2, for a total of fifty-eight high-frequency words by the end of Kindergarten.
• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 2, Lesson 6, Day 1,teacher presents two new high-frequency words: is and it.
• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 4, Lesson 16, Day 1, teacher presents two new high-frequency words: she and her.
• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 6, Lesson 30, Day 1, teacher presents two new high-frequency words: use and blue.

The materials reviewed for Kindergarten meet the criteria for materials provide frequent practice opportunities to read and write high-frequency words in context (sentences).

In From Phonics to Reading Level K materials, recurring instructional routines provide students with frequent practice both reading and writing high-frequency words in context. Practice occurs in frame sentences, student-generated sentences, and connected text. The students complete pages in their Student Book that would allow them to go back and look at words when they are writing other activities.

Lessons provide students with frequent opportunities to read grade-level high-frequency words in a sentence. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, each lesson has an Use in Context exercise in which students write high-frequency words in the context of a frame sentence. The teacher asks students to read the sentences to a partner.
• In Student Book Level K, each lesson has a Take-Home Book in which students read connected text that includes targeted high-frequency words.
• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 1, Lesson 2, Day 5, during the building fluency with high-frequency words activity in corresponding Student Book, the teacher displays the words I and can. Students chorally read each word, and students write the word in a sentence.
• In Student Book Level K, Unit 3, Lesson 11, Day 3, students complete the high-frequency sentences, and when completed, they read the sentences to a partner.
• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 6, Lesson 26, Day 2, students read the story, "Zig, Zag, Buzz!" which has high-frequency words for and finds.

Lessons provide students with frequent opportunities to write grade level high-frequency words in tasks (such as sentences) in order to promote automaticity in writing grade appropriate high-frequency words. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, each lesson has a Use in Context exercise that asks students to write the targeted high-frequency word in a frame sentence.
• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, each lesson has a Cumulative Review that asks students to write a high-frequency word in the context of a frame sentence and asks students to generate and write a sentence using a given high-frequency word.
• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 2, Lesson 7, Day 2, the teacher extends practice by creating oral sentences for each word. Students say each sentence to a partner and then write the sentence.
• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 4, Lesson 16, Day 1, students write the high-frequency word two times and then write the words into a predetermined sentence.
• In Student Book Level K, Unit 6, Lesson 21, Day 3, students complete the Use in Context sentences, and students read the sentences to their partners.

Materials provide repeated, explicit instruction in how to use student-friendly reference materials and resources and reading high-frequency words (e.g., word cards, word lists, word ladders, student dictionaries).

• Students complete pages in their Student Books that can be used as a reference to look back on and review. Students complete Read-Spell-Write lessons in their Student Books on Day 1 and on Day 3 the teacher reteaches the words and students use their work from Day 1 to apply the high-frequency words in context of a sentence.

The materials reviewed for Kindergarten meet the criteria for materials explicitly teach word analysis strategies (e.g., phoneme/grapheme recognition, syllabication, morpheme analysis) based on the requirements of the standards and provide frequent practice opportunities for students to apply word analysis strategies.

From Phonics to Reading Level K materials provide explicit instruction in phoneme/grapheme recognition using the Word Study routines and when introducing long vowel patterns in the Blend It exercises. Opportunities for students to practice word analysis strategies are present during various activities including.

Materials contain explicit instruction of word analysis strategies (e.g., phoneme/grapheme recognition, syllabication, morpheme analysis). Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 2, Lesson 8, Day 2, the teacher uses Word Study exercises to teach the -ck ending. The teacher explains that the letters /c/ and /k/ together make one sound /k/. Students practice reading words with -ck endings.
• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 4, Lesson 20, Day 1, during the Spell part of the Read-Spell-Write activity, the teacher spells the word aloud and has the children repeat it. The teacher briefly points out any letter-sounds or spellings students might already know or that are the same in other words they have previously learned. Example: The teacher says one. “The word one is spelled o-n-e. The word one has an n in the middle. What sound does the letter make?”
• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 5, Lesson 25, Day 2, the teacher uses the Word Study exercise to teach double final consonants. The teacher uses the word yell to point out that the word has three sounds, but four letters. The teacher explains that double final consonants make one sound together. Students practice reading words with double final consonants.
• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 6, Lesson 27, Day 1, the teacher says, “When there is one vowel and it is at the end of the word, it can have a long vowel sound.” Students find examples me, hi, go, so, and no, and underline the vowel.

Materials contain frequent explicit instruction of word solving strategies to decode unfamiliar words. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Read Connected Text, the teacher is instructed to provide corrective feedback if students have difficulty with a word, then have students reread the sentence with the corrected word, confirming the word is correct using syntax and semantic cues. The teacher asks: “Does the word make sense in the sentence? Is it the kind of word that would fit (e.g., noun, verb)? Is it the right word?”
• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 5, Lesson 24, Day 1, the teacher explains that qu says /kw/. The teacher guides students to find the words quack and quietly and underline the qu.
• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 6, Lesson 29, Day 1, the final -e pattern is introduced. The teacher studies the word ate with students, and then the teacher points out that a final -e signals a long vowel sound. Students then underline the a_e pattern in grape, ate, plate, and grapes.

Multiple and varied opportunities are provided over the course of the year for students to learn, practice, and apply word analysis strategies. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Teacher’s Edition Unit 3, Lesson 12, Day 3, Dictation, students write the letter for the first word of the picture name.
• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 5, Lesson 21, Day 3, the teacher says the word wax. The teacher models segmenting the word. The teacher asks, “How many sounds are in the word wax?” The teacher asks the following questions: What is the first sound in wax? What letter do we write for that sound?”
• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 6, Lesson 29, Day 4, students sort word cards by their vowel sound and spelling.

The materials reviewed for Kindergarten meet the criteria for materials provide opportunities for students to engage in decoding practice focused on accuracy and automaticity in Kindergarten and Grade 1.

From Phonics to Reading Level K materials offer frequent opportunities for students to engage in decoding practice; students repeat the Blend It words and sentences daily, and decodable Take-Home Books are reread multiple times per lesson as part of recurring instructional routines. Explicit instruction and teacher modeling of fluent reading focused on accuracy and automaticity are completed in all of the kindergarten lessons. Teacher models fluency in all thirty lessons by echo reading, audiobook modeling, and oral recitation, as well as other types of modeling.

Materials provide limited systematic and explicit instruction and practice in fluency by focusing on accuracy and automaticity in decoding. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Teacher’s Edition Level K has a decodable text that is introduced on Day 2 of each lesson. The teacher is instructed to, “Guide children in a reading of ‘____’ on Student Book, pages ‘____’.... Have children point to each word as they chorally read it aloud. If they have difficulty with a word, provide corrective feedback. Have children reread the sentence with the corrected word.”
• On Day 4, students complete a second reading of the decodable text selection. The teacher instructions are to ”have students whisper-read the book or read it to a partner. Circulate, listen in, and provide corrective feedback.”
• By Day 5, students reread the text to themselves, while the teacher circulates and asks students to read a few sentences so the teacher can check on growing fluency.
• In From Fluency to Comprehension Routines and Minilessons, Lesson 1 the teacher models fluency by highlighting aspects of fluent reading, such as “pointing out dialogue when reading the way a character says the words.” The teacher also says, "Listen to me when I read the passage. Notice how I read each sentence." The teacher then explains what a strong reader is.
• In From Fluency to Comprehension Routines and Minilessons, Lesson 3, Model Fluency: Pauses Between Words, teacher explains and models how reading a passage without pausing between words will sound silly. The teacher rereads the text pausing and phrasing things appropriately, telling students it takes practice to read a text like this.

Materials provide opportunities for students in Kindergarten and Grade 1 to engage in decoding practice focused on accuracy and automaticity. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Student Book Level K, Blend It, the exercise asks students to “Read the words each day by yourself and to a partner.” Students read both words in isolation and in sentences.
• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 3, Lesson 13, Day 1, Blend It, the teacher tells students to “Read the words each day by yourself and to a partner to build fluency.”
• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, each lesson contains a decodable Take-Home Book. This book is used for two readings. The second read is designed to build fluency as students whisper-read the text.
• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Day 2 and Day 4 of each lesson, Independent/Partner Work, students reread the Take-Home Books from the current and previous lessons.
• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 1, Lesson 5, Day 4, Independent/Partner Work, the Teacher’s Edition states the teacher should send the book "I like" home with students at the end of the week so that the students can read to their families. The teacher is instructed to ask students to bring it back to school in the future and place it in their Book Folders so they can have repeated readings in the future to build phonics mastery.

The materials reviewed for Kindergarten meet the criteria for materials provide teacher guidance to support students as they confirm or self-correct errors and emphasize reading for purpose and understanding.

From Phonics to Reading Level K materials contain connected text that students use for both decoding and comprehension. Materials provide teacher support and guidance for helping students read with purpose and understanding, including a variety of comprehension questions for each text and opportunities to write about the text. There is teacher guidance for providing feedback when the teacher uses the Reading Observation Form. There is information concerning the purpose of reading the text in the Differentiation: Above Level Students and English Language Learners during small group time for decodable texts.

Multiple opportunities are provided over the course of the year for students to read emergent-reader texts (Kindergarten) for purpose and understanding. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• Read emergent-reader texts with purpose and understanding.

  • In Teacher’s Edition Level K, each lesson contains a Take-Home Book used in a recurring Read Connected Text instructional routine. This routine engages students in a Preview and Predict, First Read, and Check Comprehension routine. These routines include explicit instructions for teachers and model prompts to promote understanding of the text.

    • In Teacher’s Edition Level K, Unit 3, Lesson 12, Day 2, students read the text, "What is This?". The teacher asks students what they predict the story will be about and why. After reading the text, the teacher asks the following questions:

      • What is the girl’s mother cooking?

      • Where does the story take place?

    • In Teacher's Edition Level K, Unit 4, Lesson 19, Day 2, students read the text, "We Will Win." The Teacher’s Edition instructs the teacher to have students read out loud. If the students make a mistake, the teacher provides correct feedback. The students reread the sentence with the corrected word. The teacher confirms that the word is correct by asking, “Does the word make sense in the sentence?” “Is it the kind of word that would fit?” or “Is it the right word?”

    • In Teacher's Edition Level K, Unit 6, Lesson 26, Day 2, the teacher asks students what they think the text is about and why. After reading the text, the teacher asks the following questions:

      • What is the bee looking for at the beginning of the story?

      • What is it looking for at the end of the story?

Materials contains some explicit directions and/or think-alouds for the teacher to model how to engage with a text to emphasize reading for purpose and understanding. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, the Read Connected Text routine includes explicit directions for teachers to provide corrective feedback. Teachers are instructed: “Confirm that the word is correct by asking children to use other cues. For example, ask: ‘Does the word make sense in the sentence? Is it the kind of word that would fit? Is it the right word?’”

• In Teacher’s Edition Level K, during the Read Connected Text routine, the teacher is directed to describe the first page picture and use key words to frontload vocabulary. For example:

  • In Unit 3, Lesson 15, Day 2, the teacher is to “Describe the picture on the first page using key words to frontload vocabulary.”

  • In Unit 5, Lesson 24, Day 2, the teacher is to “Describe the picture on the first page using key words to frontload vocabulary.”