Units of Study in Phonics, Grade 1

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

Phonics Instruction in the Units of Study in Phonics, K–2, includes a chart outlining lesson topics and concepts from Unit 1 through Unit 5. The online Heinemann platform also provides access to a "Phonics K–1 Scope and Sequence." Although these planning supports are present, the print and digital materials do not provide explicit or consistent connections to the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) or the English Language Proficiency Standards (ELPS). The Units of Study in Phonics includes an overview on the inside front cover that outlines the structure for each lesson, including the Mini-Lesson, Share Time, and Extension Activities. However, they do not explicitly connect to the TEKS or the ELPS.

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

The overview of each unit book lists lessons organized into Bends I, II, and III for each unit. This resource outlines the structure of each lesson, including suggested time allocations for components such as Rug Time, Share, and Extensions, as well as an estimated duration for overall phonics instruction. A Guide to the Phonics Units of Study describes the structure of a daily lesson, including recommended instructional time and the purpose of each segment. Additionally, the inside front cover of each unit contains a unit overview with information on the three Bends, instructional routines, and a sequence guide detailing the order of activities. While these resources provide general guidance on lesson structure and approximate instructional time, they do not include a pacing guide that aligns specific lessons to a daily or weekly calendar.

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

A Guide to the Phonics Units of Study offers an overview of how phonics concepts are introduced throughout the curriculum. This can be found in the Nuts and Bolts section along with the structure, methods, schedule, materials, and social systems for phonics instruction. Materials include a rationale for the unit order. Phonics Instruction in the Units of Study K–2 provides a rationale for the pacing and sequencing of instruction. For example, it explains how the Bends connect throughout each unit and the K–2 grade-level band. Each unit contains a section titled Orientation to the Unit, which outlines its content and describes the Bends, including the instructional purpose behind their order. For example, the Orientation to the Unit in "From Tip to Tail" (Unit 3) includes a unit overview, Getting Ready guidance, and access to online digital resources. While these resources explain individual units' structure and instructional purpose, they do not present a cohesive overview of how phonics concepts build across the entire course.

Evaluation for 1.1d
Materials include protocols with corresponding guidance for unit and lesson internalization.

The materials include a unit overview for each unit and protocols to support teacher preparation for daily instruction. Small Groups to Support Phonics contains an Orientation to Small Groups to Support Phonics section, which guides preparing for small group instruction, including management and materials, architecture of small groups, and how to utilize the extension activities within each session. The Orientation to the Unit section in "The Mystery of the Silent E" (Unit 2) offers an overview of the unit and Getting Ready guidance to help teachers prepare for instruction by understanding the entire unit, having materials prepared, and accessing digital resources. Grade 1, Unit 2, Bend I, Session 1 includes embedded professional learning that supports teachers in internalizing the content and delivery of the lesson. These include sample anchor charts, coaching moves, and look-fors in student learning.

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

The Guide to the Phonics Units of Study includes an appendix titled "Assessment Tools," which offers a recommended assessment schedule, checklists, benchmarks, and scoring sheets to support assessment implementation and inform instruction. Chapter 3 of A Guide to the Phonics Units of Study, K–2 details the overall program structure, daily instructional routines, and strategies for establishing a schoolwide phonics system. Additionally, each unit contains an Orientation to the Unit section, which includes a unit overview, a Getting Ready subsection, and directions for accessing online digital resources. However, the materials lack implementation resources and guidance for administrators, such as pacing guidance, a comprehensive materials list, and implementation tools like checklists or rubrics specifically designed for instructional leaders.

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

The materials include unit overviews that support teacher understanding of previously taught concepts and how activities and learning experiences connect to core ideas and recurring themes. However, the overviews do not include a focus on academic vocabulary. In "The Mystery of the Silent e" (Unit 2), the Orientation to the Unit section states, "It is helpful for you to know that there are several goals to this unit and that this work builds off the concepts students reviewed in Unit 1 of the phonics series for first grade." The lesson then provides a bulleted list of four previously taught concepts. "From Tip to Tail" (Unit 3) provides a detailed orientation that outlines the unit content and describes each bend, helping teachers develop background knowledge by understanding how the Bends are interconnected and build on each other. "Marvelous Bloopers" (Unit 5) offers instructional context before lesson implementation. This includes where the lesson falls in the learning sequence and learning goals that build on previous learning. Although sidebars throughout the units include some academic vocabulary and instructional tips, there is no systematic method to help teachers easily locate or reference academic vocabulary across lessons. As a result, support for academic vocabulary is limited and not readily accessible within the lesson-level materials.

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

A Guide to the Phonics Units of Study includes strategies to support English learners during Phonics Instruction. Chapter 5 provides additional instructional guidance for supporting students' phonics development, with specific attention to English learners and students with dyslexia. However, the materials do not include resources to engage families or caregivers in supporting phonics learning at home. This includes lacking take-home materials, guardian letters, or home-language resources in English or Spanish. "The Mystery of the Silent e" (Unit 2) features a Getting Ready section with coaching moves to support struggling students. These moves include guidance on saying the word slowly, listening to the sounds within the word, and checking the card referenced in the lesson for clues. Although the materials support classroom instruction, they do not include guidance or resources for family engagement.

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

Talking and Learning about Letters (Unit 1) states, "Today, you'll teach students that readers and writers do not just glance past words on classroom walls and street signs; instead, they take note of the letters and sounds to learn how words work." This gives teachers the details necessary to set the purpose of the lesson. However, it does not align with the TEKS or ELPS. Guidance identifies lesson objectives in "From Tip to Tail" (Unit 3). Session 3 sets the following goals: "Today, you'll teach that some word endings—like -ed—can sound more than one way," and "Today, your students will read and sort words with -ed endings by the sound the ending makes." Also in "From Tip to Tail" (Unit 3), the materials include questions to check for understanding. In Session 10, questions include "How many syllables does 'benches' have?" and "What sounds do you hear in the beginning? In the middle? At the end?"

Evaluation for 1.3b
Materials include a lesson overview listing the teacher and student materials necessary to effectively deliver the lesson, and the suggested timing for each lesson component.

The materials include a lesson overview that lists the teacher and student materials necessary for implementation; however, the overview does not include suggested timing for each lesson component. "Talking and Thinking about Letters" (Unit 1) offers a comprehensive reference of student materials needed across the unit. These materials include a stuffed animal mascot, whiteboards and markers, a name wall, and access to the listed digital resources. In A Guide to the Phonics Unit of Study, Nuts and Bolts describes the Mini-Lesson as a "Micro-Lesson," shorter than a typical reading Mini-Lesson. It details three parts with approximate timings: Connection (about one minute), Teaching (two to three minutes), and Active Engagement/Link (two to three minutes), but does not specify times for Rug Time, Share, or Extensions. However, The Architecture of Your Small Groups within Small Groups to Support Phonics does provide minute breakdowns for its lesson components, and this section also includes Getting Ready, "Best Taught to . . ." and "Best Taught during" sections to prepare teachers for small group instruction. Materials include the teacher materials necessary to deliver the lesson effectively. "Marvelous Bloopers" (Unit 5) provides guidance for prepping lesson materials. The lesson includes setting up anchor charts, preparing short video clips, providing whiteboards and markers for students, and having student writing folders ready.

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

"Talking and Thinking about Letters" (Unit 1) offers a structured list of enrichment opportunities. In the first session, these opportunities include walking through the halls to notice and observe words and using games and songs to help kids learn each other's names. "The Mystery of the Silent e" (Unit 2) provides two detailed extension activities for teachers to use either throughout the day or after the lesson. For example, one extension states, "Guide students through the process of making a snap word. Refer to the chart, 'Make it a snap word!' to remind students of the steps..." and includes a sample teacher script. "From Tip to Tail" (Unit 3) provides additional extension activities. These activities include channeling kids to look all the way across words during a shared reading of the class text and learning five new snap words.

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

In "From Tip to Tail" (Unit 3), during Rug Time, students work with partners to create sentences using target words and to practice spelling. The teacher provides each pair a target word; one student constructs a sentence using it, while the other identifies and spells it. This collaborative activity supports oral language development, sentence construction, and encoding skills. A Guide to the Phonics Units of Study, K–2, includes summative assessments aligned to the curriculum. The resource provides teachers with a chart indicating which assessments to administer following each unit. The grade 1 materials list four specific assessments: (1) Assessing Developmental Spelling: Help Rasheed Label a Picture Book, Version 1: My Dog; (2) Assessing Developmental Spelling: Help Rasheed Write a Picture Book, Version 2: My Stick; (3) Assessing Snap Words: Blacking Out Your Word Wall; and (4) Assessing Phonic Blending: Silent E, Vowel Teams, R-Controlled Vowels. These assessments vary in format, from oral student responses to written completion tasks embedded within picture books. These summative assessments are at the unit level and vary in types of tasks and questions. In Session 3 of "Word Builders" (Unit 4), students engage in a lesson focused on vowel teams. During Rug Time (called clubs), the teacher uses formative assessment strategies by observing students as they read words that include familiar vowel team patterns. The teacher prompts: "I have a baggie of words for each rug club. Look across the word from start to end and use what you discovered about vowel teams to help you read the word." The teacher's manual includes suggested coaching moves to guide instructional conversations and assess student understanding in real time. These formative assessments are at the lesson level and vary in types of tasks and questions.

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

Online digital resources, under the "Assessment Tools" subheading, offer links to various assessments. These links provide the assessment, a description of its purpose, procedures, necessary materials, and scoring guidelines. For example, a phonological awareness assessment for rhyming includes procedures for both rhyme recognition and production, along with scoring guidelines. Additionally, the "Assessment If/Then" link within the "Assessment Tools" subheading offers guidance on when to use this assessment. This guidance suggests: "As you near the end of each phonics unit of study, you will want to use the Units of Study in Phonics assessments to guide your next steps. These assessments will help you determine the phonological and phonics concepts students have mastered, the concepts to revisit and re-teach in small groups, and help you identify any areas where the majority of your class will benefit from additional support." Materials include the intended purpose for the types of instructional assessments, but not the definition of the types of assessments. The Assessment Chapter of A Guide to the Phonics Units of Study provides a list of assessments and detailed descriptions of each and their intended purpose. These assessments address a range of phonics skills, including letter-sound correspondence, phonological awareness, and spelling proficiency. Each description outlines the focus area and intended outcome of the assessment. In the appendix of A Guide to the Phonics Units of Study, the materials emphasize one type of instructional assessment—summative—and offer guidance on when to administer these assessments throughout the year. Under the "Use this Tool" column, a summative assessment titled Assess Snap Words is recommended for administration after Unit 2.” The stated purpose for this assessment is: "Assess snap words for children who are not keeping pace with learning snap words."

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

The materials ensure accurate administration of instructional assessments with a guiding document that outlines the name of each assessment. A Guide to the Phonics Units of Study, the assessment First Grade—Assessing Phonic Blending provides teachers with a list of materials needed before testing, the procedure for administering the assessment, scoring guidance, and an Implications for Teaching section. Directions instruct the teacher to sit with students one-on-one and say, "I have a list of words that you probably have not seen in your books, but I bet you can use your decoding skill to read them. Can you read these words to me?" The materials provide additional directions for administering the nonsense word portion of the assessment. The directions do not include a suggested time limit for the assessment. After assessing students, teachers can refer to the Implications for Teaching section to determine appropriate next steps for instruction. The appendix section of the resource A Guide to the Phonics Units of Study includes a recommended schedule of assessments, assessment templates, and benchmark charts to guide teachers in administering assessments and interpreting student scores. In A Guide to the Phonics Units of Study, a guiding document supports the instructional assessments. This document provides the name of the assessment (e.g., Vowel Patterns), the materials needed, the procedure for assessing the words' vowel patterns, scoring guidance, and a section focused on instructional implications for teaching after administration. The materials in this assessment do not define the accuracy of administration, such as suggested time limits or what is considered "on benchmark/level". The materials do not explicitly instruct teachers on whether to sound out words or how long to wait for responses, potentially leading to inconsistent administration. Materials do not include teacher guidance to ensure consistent administration of instructional assessments.

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

In Session 2 of "From Tip to Tail" (Unit 3), the objective is for students to "look carefully at words with common endings and begin to understand how endings change the meanings of words. They will practice making new words by adding some of these common endings and apply their knowledge to read a nonfiction text that includes words with common endings." After the teacher instructs students, they come to the rug. During this time, they use whiteboards to use common endings to change words. For example: Teachers give students the word look and they are to change the word into looks on their board. They then change the word to looking. While they are working, the teacher is instructed to "coach students on the endings and have them repeatedly reread the words they wrote."In A Guide to the Phonics Units of Study, teachers are supposed to use the Assessing Phonics Blending assessment when they have completed Unit 2 of instruction. This assessment has multiple components to use after other units, but the first part of the assessment is for students to read low-frequency silent E words correctly. The words students are supposed to read are tote, flame, ripe, chime, and mule. Students are then shown the nonsense words: yome, mebe, shuke, zode, and shabe to read. Summative assessments align with the objectives of the unit.

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

The appendix of A Guide to the Phonics Units of Study provides an assessment for phonics blending. This assessment progresses from silent e to vowel teams to r-controlled vowels. Students are provided lists of nonsense and low-frequency words to read for each assessment. For the silent e words, students are asked to read words like tote, flame, and ripe. For the vowel team assessment, students are given words like cream, hail, and groan. Also in the appendix of A Guide to the Phonics Units of Study, the First Grade Assessing Developmental Spelling has students start with writing labels, then move to filling in words in sentences. This is two levels of difficulty. In My Online Resources: A Guide to the Phonics Units of Study, the grade 1 materials include instructional assessments with TEKS-aligned items that evaluate reading complexity at DOK level—recall and reproduction, and Bloom's taxonomy "remembering knowledge" stage. For example, the materials ask students to "read it (the word) in a snap and write the word."

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

A Guide to the Phonics Units of Study, K–2, provides teachers with multiple assessments. The First Grade Assessing Developmental Spelling: Help Rasheed Label/Write a Picture Book assessment provides a Scoring section. In this section, teachers are instructed to mark between 0 and 2 points for features in words in the assessment. For example, "Teachers should mark zero if the child did not write the feature at all, or if what is written is not yet following any discernible logic." Once teachers have the student assessment information, they can refer to the Assessment If/Then curriculum materials in A Guide to the Phonics Units of Study or the Small Groups to Support Phonics books to determine next steps for students' continued growth. In A Guide to the Phonics Units of Study, K–2, scoring procedures have inconsistent guidelines for interpreting student performance and responses. For example, the Vowel Patterns assessment provides a section titled Procedure for Assessing Words with three steps for the teacher to follow. Afterwards, a section titled Scoring provides the teacher with expectations for meeting proficiency, but does not provide any guidance for interpreting student performance on the assessment. A Guide to the Phonics Units of Study, K–2 includes information about how the assessment is scored, but does not provide consistent guidance for interpreting student performance on the assessment. For example, the Assessing Your Snap Words assessment states in the Procedure section that "For first grade, ask a child to read words from their personal word wall. Then, if they can read some words, you can ask them to spell the batch they just read. Highlight the words they can both read and write." Afterwards, the Scoring section of this assessment states, "The goal for the end of first grade is for children to be able to read about 150 words with automaticity, and to write about 110 words with automaticity. What is most important is that children are growing their banks of snap words over time. Make plans to support children who do not add new words to this list each time you assess." However, it does not provide information on students' strengths, weaknesses, and/or gaps due to their performance on this assessment.

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

Within A Guide to the Phonics Units of Study, K–2, the Developmental Spelling Assessment Scoring Sheet section provides guidance on benchmark scores for that skill. Suggestions for supporting students who do not meet the benchmark include referring to the resource Small Groups to Support Phonics for targeted practice. The resource A Guide to the Phonics Units of Study, K–2, provides teachers with an If/Then section to use after assessing student progress. For example, after assessing grade 1 students on High-Frequency Words, the teacher can reference Unit Supports or Extensions. The Unit Supports point teachers to specific units in the materials, such as Unit 1, Session 12: "Learning New Snap Words." In Small Groups to Support Phonics: K–1, the materials include instructional guidance that helps the teacher utilize results from assessments to support the purposeful planning of tasks and activities for the course. For example, the entire spiraled TE is dedicated to phonics small groups with the following purpose for its creation: "These groups will help you support students' transferring all that you teach during phonics time into their reading and writing, and they will also allow you to provide the individualized, assessment-based support in phonics that your youngsters need."

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

In A Guide to the Phonics Units of Study, K–2, materials include a First Grade Assessing Phonic Blending recording sheet that teachers can use to record student performance on the assessment. Teachers can indicate with a checkmark if the child responded correctly, incorrectly, or with no reply to the prompt. Although this tool may be reused to record student performance over multiple test administrations, there is no indication or guidance about using this resource to track data over time. Teachers can access tools to monitor student progress online and in A Guide to the Phonics Unit of Study, K–2. For example, a teacher might use the Assessing Letter-Sound Correspondence record-keeping sheet to track assessment results. Teachers would use this same assessment record-keeping sheet each time they assess student progress, allowing them to see student growth over time. The materials do not include tools for students to track their own progress and growth. For example, Chapter 5 of A Guide to the Phonics Units of Study, K–2 states, "What follows are the nuts and bolts of using the phonics assessment tools. As you study these, keep in mind the goal is for these assessments to provide signals that indicate when a child's progress in phonics is not what you would hope for so that you can remedy matters straight away." The use of "you" and "you would" is teacher-centric language around assessment progress.

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

A Guide to the Phonics Units of Study includes a section called Assessment If/Then, a collection of lessons and activities correlated with targeted phonics skills that students may need support with. The section guides teachers to use data from assessments and the If/Then chart to plan for small group instruction that supports students. For example, for students who have difficulty with compound words, suggested lessons to support their proficiency with this skill include Unit 2, Session 15—The Compound Word Puzzle. Small Groups to Support Phonics provides teachers with next steps for differentiated instruction, activities, and paired (scaffolded) lessons for students who have not yet reached proficiency on grade-level content and skills. Small Group 37 is a lesson to help students sort and read words with -ed endings. The lesson provides a script for teachers to use when working with their small group. It also gives teachers possible coaching moves to use with students: "First read the word. Listen to the ending." At the end of the lesson, there is a box called Other Supports. Teachers can use this to see how to replicate this lesson using other materials or what lessons in the curriculum connect to this topic. A Guide to the Phonics Units of Study includes teacher guidance for differentiated instruction and activities for students who have not yet mastered proficiency on grade-level content and skills. For example, the guidance for differentiation states that "This chapter will teach you our most current thinking about small groups in phonics...Know from the start that some of your small groups will be prompted by assessments that alert you to a child who needs additional help with particular phonics content. For example, if some children lag in their letter-sound knowledge, you will want to provide them with additional opportunities to learn this and will provide small-group instruction for these children." Additionally, guidance for the activities to use are included in a supplemental resource provided within the program to help teachers "find small-group lessons that correspond to your whole-class instruction so that you can support students during and after you introduce particular concepts." This means the embedded small-group activities are consistently available across all units based on student need.

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

In "Talking and Thinking About Letters" (Unit 1), in a lesson on blends and digraphs, the teacher reviewed students' knowledge of previously taught concepts of blends and digraphs. The teacher responds to the idea that some letters were "stolen" from a name and states, "Yes, the thief took two-letter combinations. Blends that have two sounds so close together they stick, and digraphs with two letters that make one sound." Although materials contain similar lessons across the curriculum that introduce and pre-teach concepts and words, they do not include pre-teaching vocabulary or references in text. The resource "Talking and Thinking about Letters" (Unit 1), Bend I, Session 1 has a phonological awareness goal for students to hear, say, and clap syllables. The teaching point is when the teacher says, "This is first grade. Let us use our special eyes and ears to study the letters and sounds in the word. We already read it out loud together, so now let us say it again and this time, listen for the beats of the syllables." No pre-teaching or embedded supports were provided for unfamiliar vocabulary in this lesson. In the resource Word Builders (Unit 4), the Overview of the Unit provides some guidance for teachers on vocabulary used in the unit. Specifically mentioned are vowel teams and diphthongs. The author defines vowel teams as "a kid-friendly way of describing any group of letters that together represent a vowel sound." Diphthong is referred to as "the sound a vowel team makes. A diphthong starts as one vowel sound and moves to another. . . . While this is an interesting fact for teachers, we do not feel that it is helpful for children to learn or use the term diphthong, and we do not differentiate between these vowel teams and others when talking to kids." In this same unit, Bend I, Session 2, vowel teams are taught to students. During "Name the Teaching Point," the teacher says, "Today I want to teach you that word builders pay careful attention to what is in the middle of a word. They especially watch out for vowel teams, like 'EE' and 'EA.'" No pre-teaching or embedded supports are provided for unfamiliar vocabulary.

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

A Guide to the Phonics Units of Study provides teachers with assessments to use with students after each unit in the curriculum. There is specific guidance offered to students who need additional practice with their skills. This tells teachers specifically to use the Assessment If/Then resource that will lay out all of the sessions, extensions, small groups, or additional online resources you can use to support students with additional practice." The lessons do not have suggestions for adapting instruction for students who have demonstrated mastery of the concepts and skills. "Marvelous Bloopers" (Unit 5) includes Extension activities that support further practice of target phonics skills. However, these activities are provided for all students, with no evidence of differentiation for students who have demonstrated proficiency in the skill. For example, in Session 9, Extension 3, students practiced identifying Snap Words/High frequency words and bloopers or mistakes in writing and fixing them. Extension activities are provided throughout the curriculum but are not indicated as differentiation for students who have demonstrated proficiency; instead, they are for reinforcement for all students. A Guide to the Phonics Units of Study refers to the Extension activities as "extensions you could do to give students further opportunities to solidify their understanding of that day's instruction."

Evaluation for 3.2a
Materials include explicit (direct) prompts and guidance to support the teacher in modeling and explaining the concept(s) to be learned.

"From Tip to Tail" (Unit 3), Bend I, Session 3, provides an example of the explicit prompts that support teachers with modeling and explaining concepts for students to learn. The objective of this lesson is for students to read and sort words with -ed endings by the sound the ending makes. The Connection portion of the lesson has the teacher project the following sentences: "I saw a bear! I stopped walking. I stayed very still. Then I slowly started to back away." The teacher asks, "What do you notice about all the words that I underlined?" Students are given an opportunity to talk to their partner. The teacher then provides Share Time, and the class reads the underlined words together. During the Teaching portion of the lesson, the teacher explains that -ed can make three different sounds and shows examples. Rally the class to help you investigate new words with the same ending. Categorize the words by their ending sound. In the resource "Marvelous Bloopers" (Unit 5), Bend I, Session 6, teachers are provided with guidance to support modeling and explaining the concepts to be learned during the lesson. The objective for this session is for students to practice writing words with the air sound. The Connection portion of the lesson reminds students that c can make the k sound or the s sound and provides examples. The teaching point is that sounds can be spelled in different ways. A sample story is projected for students to read and notice air words. The guidance continues throughout the lesson. "The Mystery of the Silent e" (Unit 2) includes explicit prompts to support teachers in modeling and explaining the concepts to be learned. For example, one bolded prompt in blue and one bolded prompt in red support the teacher with teaching students about vowels. The bolded blue prompt states, "Demonstrate the process of sorting words: say the word aloud, listen for its vowel sound, then decide whether it goes with short-vowel words or long-vowel words." The bolded prompt in red always prompts teachers to "Name the teaching point," and then explains the concepts afterwards using a script.

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

The curriculum resources provide teachers with more than two instructional approaches in each lesson. For example, The "Mystery of the Silent e" (Unit 2), Bend I, Lesson 4, covers making words with phonograms. During the Teaching portion of the lesson, guidance is provided for a think-aloud that teachers can use. The unit says, "Now let us make another three-letter word. Leave the word 'man' on your board. Can you change one letter to turn it into the word 'can'? That is a word wall word, so you should also be able to write it in a snap!" During the Rug Time portion of the lesson, the teacher presents a graphic organizer with four columns, each labeled with ake, ane, ame, and ate. Students are given time to sort words from the lesson onto the chart. These lesson elements provide teachers with guidance and recommendations for effective lesson delivery. "The Mystery of the Silent e" (Unit 2) incorporates and provides guidance on more than one instructional approach, including direct instruction and collaborative practice. Under the "Teaching" section, direct instruction is provided for "how to locate a word that does not make sense and using what you know about silent 'E' to fix it up." Collaborative practice guidance for this same skill is provided underneath the Rug Time portion of the lesson. A lesson in "From Tip to Tail" (Unit 3) utilizes several instructional approaches, starting with students reading words with endings with their partners, then practicing reading words with endings from a short text. The lesson also gives an example of an anchor chart that can be utilized. During the Active Engagement piece, the teacher uses magnetic letters, and the students use dry-erase boards to make and write words with endings.

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

Each lesson provides information for teachers that includes recommended structures for the lesson and guidance for teachers to support effective implementation. In the resource, "Word Builders" (Unit 4), Bend II, Session 11, students are learning about using vowel teams to build new words. The lesson begins with students on the carpet for the Mini-Lesson portion. During the Rug Time portion of the lesson, students work with their partners to look at pictures, identify the vowel team in the middle of the word, and write it on the dry-erase board. The materials guide teachers on how to structure and implement the lessons included in each unit. Teachers can use A Guide to the Phonics Units of Study, Chapter 3, Nuts and Bolts, to learn more about each lesson portion: Mini-Lesson, Connection, Teaching, Active Engagement/Link, Rug Time, Share Time, and Extensions. Each portion of the lesson is described in detail, including how long it should take and how students will be grouped during each time. Another portion of the chapter offers guidance on shared reading, word sorts, making words, and interactive writing components that are also included in some sessions. The materials include more than two types of practice (whole-group, collaborative, and independent) and recommended structures to support effective implementation. For example, collaborative and independent practice occurs during lessons during the Active Engagement/Link component of A Guide to the Phonics Units of Study, by "sometimes working with a partner, sometimes working on his or her own." Additionally, ongoing whole-group practice occurs within the Share portion of the lesson by "sometimes the whole class participating in a shared song, chant, game, or call-and-response activity based on the work of the day."

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

In the resource A Guide to the Phonics Units of Study, Chapter 2 provides information for teachers on supporting phonics development in English Learners and Students with Dyslexia. The guidance states, "Luckily, there are quick and easy steps you can take to make sure that Phonics Instruction is not an isolated or abstract activity for English language learners (ELL). In fact, researchers have a consensus around this: To promote language acquisition in general, you will want to involve students in a rich classroom culture of talk and play, of interactive read-alouds and interactive writing, of structured and unstructured conversations with peers and with you." Specifics on incorporating the ELPS or specifics for providing linguistic accommodations are not mentioned in this guidance or in the curriculum lessons. Each lesson provides teachers with guidance on the daily objectives for students, a section called Getting Ready that includes a list of materials needed for the lesson, and a list of the Phonics Instruction that will be covered in the lesson. For example, in "The Mystery of the Silent e" (Unit 2), Bend II, Lesson 6, the objective is for "students to read CVCe words with the vowel 'O,' identifying words that make a long vowel sound, and then use this knowledge to label and collection of pictures." This section does not give teachers any guidance on providing linguistic accommodations for various levels of language proficiency as defined by the ELPS. The lesson also provides no guidance on how students can support students using linguistic accommodations. The materials include generic tips for emergent bilingual students. For example, the generic guidance in A Guide to the Phonics Units of Study suggests, "To make it truly powerful for English learners, you will want to tuck in some quick and easy vocabulary instruction...A simple and quick way to do this is to do an internet search for images of words you will be using and have these ready to display." This guidance is not provided with any units or lessons; it is only in the guide supplement.

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

A Guide to the Phonics Units of Study features one-size-fits-all accommodations. For example, the generic guidance suggests, "To make it truly powerful for English learners, you will want to tuck in some quick and easy vocabulary instruction...A simple and quick way to do this is to do an internet search for images of words you will be using and have these ready to display." Though this guidance is helpful, the materials do not include the systematic use of scaffolds needed within the daily lessons. This general guidance is provided in a program's guide document and not embedded in the materials teachers need for daily instruction. There are no documents that include the step-by-step process, tools, timelines, and roles needed to carry out the curriculum effectively in bilingual or ESL programs. According to the A Guide to the Phonics Units of Study, "This phonics curriculum provides many examples of (play, song, and talk), and you and your students will surely integrate your own favorites into the culture of your classroom." Small Groups to Support Phonics guides teachers in using the materials to support students who have not reached phonics proficiency within a small group structure; however, there is no evidence of support for using the program in state-approved bilingual/ESL programs. For example, Small Group 47 provides explicit instruction and practice in building sentences with snap words/high-frequency words.

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

Although there are opportunities for all students to increase comprehension through oral discourse, build background knowledge through oral discourse, increase comprehension through written discourse, and build background knowledge through written discourse, these opportunities do not provide teachers with embedded guidance on how to use the activities specifically with emergent bilingual students. "Marvelous Bloopers" (Unit 5) provides ongoing practice through extension activities and oral discourse in teacher modeling and peer interactions, but this is a strategy for everyone and not specifically targeted at emergent bilingual students. For example, in Session 9, the teacher models part of the lesson, which included students studying word parts and deciding if they were snap words (high-frequency words) that needed to be memorized, or if they were spelled like they sounded. Students also engaged in partner discussion and sorting for practice. The lesson also included extension activities that provide more practice with decoding and encoding words. In "Talking and Thinking about Letters" (Unit 1), Bend I, Session 7, students learn about digraphs. During the Teaching portion of the lesson, the teacher shows a chart with sh, ch, th, and wh. Each digraph has a picture across from the letters. The side note says, "Teachers, it would be most fun if you can make a version of this chart in front of the kids, drawing on their own ideas for illustrations and using the ones we suggest only if needed." There is no mention of how this portion of the lesson could be used to support emergent bilingual learners in building background knowledge, and by having them talk and write. In the resource "From Tip to Tail" (Unit 3) Bend I, Session 2, students are learning about common endings in words like -ing, -ed, -s, -es, and -er. The Teaching portion of the lesson says, "Really experienced readers use all the parts of the word to help them read. It is like when you ride a bicycle, you need to use the handlebars, the pedals, and the brakes to ride! It is the same when you read. As you are reading along in a sentence, you look across the whole word and look at each of the parts, even at the endings. When you know some common ending—the kind that often come at the end of a word—it will help you read all the parts more easily." The teacher then gives some example sentences and creates an anchor chart. A sidebar on page 11 offers this instruction for teachers with emergent bilinguals: "Putting these words into the context of a sentence allows kids to use syntax as well as the visual cues in the word to cross-check. Using both sources of information will be especially helpful to you, emergent bilinguals, who may not always be able to confirm which ending 'sounds right.' (Although even first-graders who speak English as their first language are still acquiring it—it is good practice for them, too!)"

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

This guidance is not applicable because the program is not designed for dual language immersion (DLI) programs.

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

Materials provide a review of previously taught phonics skills, then move students to progressively new and more challenging skills in a developmental sequence. For example, in Sessions 1 and 2 of Unit 1, students review letter-sound identification (previously learned in kindergarten) by studying labels and each other's names. In Bend II of Unit 2, lessons focus on identifying and using vowels to decode consonant-vowel-consonant-e (CVCe) pattern words and exploring words with the long E vowel team. In Session 9, students engaged in activities like sorting and spelling CVCe patterned words with the long O sound, and looking in books to find words with the long E vowel team. In Sessions 7 and 8 of Unit 3, students practice identifying, decoding, and encoding words with common endings that are blends and digraphs. In Bend I of Unit 5, the lessons build on prior phonics skills by identifying and using words with r-controlled vowels. Materials guide teachers in teaching phonics skills following a predictable sequence. Each lesson begins with a connection to the lesson objective, followed by a Teaching session, an Active Engagement activity, Rug Time, Share, and Extensions. For example, in session 2 of the resource "Marvelous Bloopers," the lesson sequence involved sections that provide opportunities for students to activate prior knowledge and build engagement with the lesson, learn the skill, practice individually and with partners, share their new learning, and apply it to a task. In the resource "The Mystery of the Silent e" (Unit 2), Bend I, Session 1, the teacher points to an anchor chart called "Good Habits for Solving Hard Words." This chart has five steps for students to follow: 1—Check the picture. 2—Look at ALL the parts of the word. 3—Get a running start. 4—Check it! Do a double-check! 5—Try it two ways. This method of phonics instruction relies on the three-cueing method and is not a systematic way to teach students phonics skills.

Evaluation for 4.1b
Materials include explicit (direct) and intentional ongoing practice opportunities for phonics (sound-symbol correspondence) skills, both in isolation and through decodable texts.

The materials include explicit and intentional ongoing practice opportunities for phonics skills in isolation. For example, students receive explicit practice learning CVCe words with the long A (e.g., made) in Session 1, Unit 2, and ongoing practice across several lessons in Unit 2. Students review short vowels in the resource "Talking and Thinking about Letters" (Unit 1), Bend I, Session 5. The Connection part of the lesson reminds students about the short vowels that they learned in kindergarten, with the teacher reviewing the short A, E, I, O, and U sounds. During the Rug Time portion of the lesson, students are given names and are supposed to decide if the vowel is long or short. Practice continues for students during the "Extension 2" activity, where they play the robot game. For example, the teacher says a word like bug and students say b-u-g while the teacher ensures they correctly say all the sounds in the word. In addition, a decodable text, found in the online resources, uses the consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) pattern called "The Mess." This book continues the practice of CVC words for student independent practice. The lessons do not reference the use of the decodable texts (available online), and teachers are not guided when or how to use them in relation to the lesson. Materials provide ongoing and explicit practice in word endings. In Session 2 of "From Tip to Tail," students learn about and practice adding and reading words with common endings such as -ing, -ed, -s, -es, and -er. Throughout the session, students practice adding endings to words by using base words from the word wall (jump to jumping), adding and changing endings to words with partners (look to looks), and playing a partner game that involves adding endings to base words, then using the new word in a sentence. Students engage in a shared reading activity using the text "My Hot Dog" with the teacher. There is no evidence of opportunities for students to continue reading the connected text or any other decodable or connected text as ongoing and independent practice of the target skill.

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

The resource "Marvelous Bloopers" (Unit 5), Bend I, Session 2, teaches students how to use r-controlled vowels—ar, or, and er. In this lesson, the teacher begins teaching by showing students a toy car, a stuffed tiger, and a fork, and discussing the sounds each r-controlled vowel makes. These become three columns of an anchor chart for students to use during the lesson (ar, er, and or). Each set of partners then gets picture cards to sound, write, and sort the words onto the chart. Because the teacher modeled the sorting and placing into the chart using her own examples first, students were prepared for the activity. Teachers can use the Small Groups to Support Phonics to get ideas on how to work with students during small group time. Lesson 23 helps students with "Tricky Spelling Patterns: dr and tr." The teacher works with a small group of students and models on how to spell tricky blends. She begins with the drum and then works on truck. Students write these words on their dry-erase boards and then work with partners to use picture cards of tricky words and write them on their dry-erase boards. After students have completed that task, they all work together to "fix" up a piece of writing with dr and tr mistakes. In Session 7 of "Talking and Thinking About Letters," the teacher used magnetic letters to show a T and an H, far apart, then slid them together. The teacher explains that th makes a whole new sound. "Today I want to remind you that letters can work together to make new sounds, like when an 'S' and an 'H' come together in shop. You can look out for these letters and sounds to help you read and spell tough words."

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

Materials provide scripts that teachers can use to provide immediate and corrective feedback during the student practice portion of a lesson. For example, in Session 3 of "Word Builders," materials include a Possible Coaching Moves section. This section contains scripts teachers can use with students struggling with the lesson objective. For example, it states, "Remember what we discussed about vowel teams. Try a long sound for the 'A.' The 'I' is silent." The resource, "Word Builders" (Unit 4), Bend I, Session 4, provides teachers with explicit guided instruction and includes coaching moves they can use to offer immediate and corrective feedback. In this lesson, the teacher will teach students about vowel teams (oa, ai, and ay). The teacher uses Elkonin boxes to show students how to spell words with these vowel patterns. The first word the class spells is toast. The teacher gives students picture cards to spell the words with these vowel pairs. Possible coaching moves include, "Listen for the vowel sound in the middle! What vowel team could help you?" The materials provide directions for teachers to continue providing feedback while students work individually or with partners. In the resource "The Mystery of the Silent e" (Unit 2), Bend III, Session 12, students are learning about double consonants in multisyllabic words. The lesson begins with direct, guided instruction. The teacher tells students that "when we spot the double letters, we can pull them apart to break the word into two syllables." They tell the students they can use this strategy to figure out words they do not already know. The teacher pulls out several words from a word list with double consonants and breaks them down with students. As the lesson continues, students work with partners to solve words they may not know. The materials provide coaching moves for teachers to use with students. For example, "Is that a real word? Can you use it in a sentence?"

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

Each lesson provides opportunities for students to practice phonics skills through collaboration, as described in A Guide to the Phonics Units of Study. Chapter 3, Nuts and Bolts, provides specific information on how each lesson is structured. Each lesson contains seven parts: Mini Lesson, Connection, Teaching, Active Engagement/Link, Rug Time, Share, and Extension Activities. During the mini lesson, the teacher demonstrates, and then the students work on the same skill. During the Active Engagement/Link, the lesson lists activities that provide students time to work with partners. Rug time also allows students to work in partnerships or small groups. The lessons do not specifically describe independent practice time. In the resource "Talking and Thinking about Letters" (Unit 1), Bend III, Session 15, students are learning about vowel-consonant (VC) words and how to add and subtract letters to make new words. During the Teaching portion of the lesson, the teacher has students use their dry-erase boards to follow her directions. The students write up on their board and add other letters to make new words like pup and cup. For the Active Engagement/Link, students work in partners using the letters B, C, F, H, R, S, M, and P. The partners work together to make new words. Once that activity is complete, students work to create words using up, at, and can. During Share Time, students return to their collaboration partners and read each other's lists of words. No specific time is included in the lesson for students to practice the skill independently. Session 9 of "Word Builders" gives students multiple opportunities to work with a partner while working with the sounds that OW makes. For example, "I'm going to give each rug club a baggie of cut-up sentences just like the ones we put in the pocket chart. Each of these sentences has one or two words with "OW." Work together to read these sentences." The lesson does not allow students to practice the skill independently.

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

The materials include intentional phonics practice activities throughout the curriculum. For example, phonics student practice opportunities are designed daily during Unit 1, Sessions 1–11, 13–17, 19; Unit 2, Sessions 1–13, 16–17; Unit 3, Sessions 4–8, 14; Unit 4, Sessions 1–17; and Unit 5, Sessions 1–6. In Session 2 of "Talking and Thinking About Letters," the teacher reviews the steps to studying a name introduced in kindergarten. The steps show phonics skills previously learned in kindergarten, and they include Read It (Clap the syllables, stomp them, snap them), Name the Letters (Study it closely), Use the Sounds (Notice the vowels, use short vowel power), and Notice the Blends and Digraphs. However, there is no evidence of a systematic and cumulative review of this target skill across the curriculum. The materials do not include a cumulative phonics review of the entirety of the program. For example, the "Online Cumulative Review Guide" states, "We have developed these materials to help you provide cumulative review of the phonics that you are teaching in the Phonics Units of Study. These resources are designed for you to draw on them as you think necessary during the first half of the year." "The first half of the year" indicates that the review is not designed to last throughout the curriculum.

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

Practice opportunities include only phonics skills that have been explicitly taught. For example, in Small Groups to Support Phonics, Small Group 42, the teacher provides explicit instruction and guided practice on diphthongs that make different sounds (the ou diphthong). Students then practice sorting and spelling words with diphthongs. In Session 4 of "Marvelous Bloopers" (Unit 5), the teacher provides explicit instruction and guided practice in reading part of a poem and decoding words with blends. Students then practice this skill by reading the remainder of the poem and identifying and decoding words with blends. In "From Tip to Tail" (Unit 3), Bend II, Session 8, the objective for the lesson is for students to learn about common phonograms ending in digraphs. The focus endings for the lesson are: -ick, -ash, and -uck. After the lesson, students are given the endings and work on creating new words with them. During Rug Time, students worked with partners to read riddles containing these ending sounds to determine the answer to the riddle.

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

The materials do not include cumulative practice opportunities for phonics skills through decodable texts. For example, Units 1–3 include 27 opportunities for students to practice sound-symbol correspondence (CVCe) through decodable texts. In Session 1, students are asked to solve CVCe words in the text by asking, "Does it make sense?" as the strategy instead of learning CVCe as a syllable type for long vowel sounds. Compared to Session 3, students read words with phonograms within a riddle with blends and digraphs and are asked, "Can you first try reading these and solving these riddles?" By releasing students to three-cue in Unit 1 and reading the text first in Unit 3, the instruction lacks direct teacher modeling. After Unit 3, decodable texts are not available for a cumulative review during the remaining units in the program. In the resource, "Word Builders" (Unit 4), Bend I, Session 5, the teacher teaches with a postcard from the classroom mascot. After a brief shared reading of the first part of the postcard, students read the rest with their partner. The note on the side of the page gives the following information to teachers: "Pay attention to the way your readers problem-solve the word build. Encourage anyone who gets stuck to use the strategy of vowel flexing (trying out the long and short sounds of the first vowel and then the second). Even though you have not introduced this particular vowel combination, it provides the perfect opportunity to use this strategy." This text and instruction do not meet the requirements for a decodable text. Session 15 in "From Tip to Tail" uses a riddle as a shared reading. Session 15 is about making contractions. This text contains contractions, endings, phonograms, and sight words. The lesson concludes without an opportunity for students to use decodable readers.

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

The materials include opportunities for practice in isolation; for example, in "Word Builders" (Unit 4), Bend I, Session 3, the objective for the session is for students to explore the vowel teams EA, AI, and OA and to look for patterns and draw conclusions about those vowel teams. After the teacher teaches the lesson, students are given words during Rug Time to find eight words that use one of the patterns for the lesson. This gives students time to practice the skill in isolation. During the Extension one activity, students are sent around the room to find more words in other books and resources with these vowel teams, and they are then supposed to write the words in their notebooks. There are no decodable texts available for this unit online. In the resource "Marvelous Bloopers" (Unit 5), Bend I, Session 5, the objective for students is to learn about how 0 changes vowel sounds. After the teacher teaches the lesson, students practice adding R to words to change the word; for example, students add R to the following words: cap, had, skit, spot, pat, and pot. During this time, students work with a partner to practice the skill in isolation. During Share Time, the lesson uses two nursery rhymes ("Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" and "Baa, Baa Black Sheep") to have children find and read "Controlling R" words. These nursery rhymes are not decodable text. Session 9 in "The Mystery of the Silent e" teaches the vowel teams ea and ee in isolation. Students use dry-erase boards to write the word eat in sound boxes, then read the word, and push the sounds together to say the word eat. The lesson ends without an opportunity to use the skill in a connected text.

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

In the resource A Guide to the Phonics Units of Study, K–2, assessment tools evaluate reading skills progressively from foundational to decoding. Assessments start by evaluating concepts of print, letter-sound correspondence, initial and final consonants, medial sounds, and snap words (i.e., high-frequency words), developmental spelling, and digraphs, and then move to phonics blending to read CVC words. In A Guide to the Phonics Units of Study, K–2, the assessment tools are designed to progress from simpler to more complex tasks. For example, students are assessed on the following skills in order of increasing difficulty: Assessing Snap Words, Assessing Phonic Blending of CVCe words, and Assessing Phonic Blending of vowel teams. In A Guide to the Phonics Units of Study, K–2, when teachers complete teaching Unit 4, the curriculum recommends that they assess students orally and one-on-one on r-controlled vowels. The teacher shows the students five low-frequency words (dart, smirk, torn, blurt, term) for them to read aloud. Students then read five nonsense words (gark, clerm, starb, furt, lort).

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

A Guide to the Phonics Units of Study, K–2, includes assessments administered at the end of each unit to monitor progress. Some of these assessments include benchmark recommendations and charts with guidance on where students should be at specific points in the school year. For example, the Developmental Spelling Assessment Scoring Sheet consists of a score chart that indicates students' phonics-spelling proficiency. In A Guide to the Phonics Units of Study, K–2, the Blacking Out Your Word Wall assessment determines how many high-frequency words students can read and write. The TEKS state that students need to identify and read 100 high-frequency words. The goal for this curriculum is for students to read and write 110 words accurately, though this one-time assessment does not meet the standard of a systematic or ongoing tool. The progress-monitoring materials in A Guide to the Phonics Units of Study, K–2, meet two of three criteria (deliberate, planned) from the TEA-specific definition of "systematic" regarding systematically measuring students' acquisition of grade-level phonics skills. However, they do not meet the third required criterion (e.g., logically sequenced) to be considered completely "systematic." In the "Recommended Schedule for Assessment" section, students are progress-monitored on skills in an order that does not align with the syllable-type awareness continuum. For example, in the "My Stick Ball Game" assessment, students are assessed on r-controlled endings in the words players, turn, third, star; vowel teams in the words coach, waited; and a diphthong in the word joy after Unit 1 before being assessed on Reading Words with Silent E after Unit 2 or Reading Words with Vowel Teams after Unit 4.

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

Within A Guide to the Phonics Units of Study, K–2, although materials do not explicitly guide timelines for instruction and assessment, they include opportunities for assessment after each unit, which target specific skills needed to progress to more complex phonics growth. The Phonics Blending assessment is recommended to be given at the end of Units 2, 4, and 5 after students have had opportunities to learn and apply the skill. Assessing snap words and developmental spelling are administered after Units 1, 3, and 5. A Guide to the Phonics Units of Study, K–2, states, "Below is a chart that indicates when you can expect children to demonstrate proficiency in the different levels of phonological awareness indicated by this assessment. Note that this assessment is not meant as a formal diagnostic tool, but rather as a way to identify children who would benefit from extra support with blending or segmenting at a particular time of year." A Guide to the Phonics Units of Study, K–2, states, "Choose the version of the assessment you will give, depending on the time of year and your students' level of proficiency." The version 2 assessment, "My Stick Ball Game," "tests phonics features students learn across the first-grade year. You might give it several times during the school year."

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

Within A Guide to the Phonics Units of Study, K–2, the Assessing Phonics Blending assessment gives teachers a printable recording sheet and guidance on next steps to take with students. For example, the Implications for Teaching states, "Students who have knowledge of vowel patterns and demonstrate an ability to engage in phonological blending but still have difficulty on this assessment will require additional support with phonic blending." It then gives teachers a recommendation to coach students during guided practice and to begin including a phonics warm-up in instruction. Teachers can also refer to the First Grade Assessment If/Then section to determine next steps after assessing students. In A Guide to the Phonics Units of Study, K–2, teachers are provided hard copy assessments for the Developmental Spelling Assessment: Help Rasheed Label a Picture Book. The page can be copied to track student progress on the assessment. The bottom of the page is where teachers can tabulate student scores and follow the scoring guidelines for next steps. Scoring guidelines state that the beginning of the first-grade goal is 5–6 points in each category. The materials instruct teachers to use the Small Groups to Support Phonics: K–1 resource for students who do not meet the benchmark for this assessment. In the Implications for Teaching Section of A Guide to the Phonics Units of Study, K–2, it states, "Students who have knowledge of vowel patterns and demonstrate an ability to engage in phonological blending but still have difficulty on this assessment will require additional support in phonic blending.” The charts included in the assessments are used to collect individual student data.

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

In A Guide to the Phonics Units of Study, K–2, teachers are given four assessments for students throughout the year (not including the assessments that can be reused from kindergarten). Each assessment provides teachers with a hard copy they can use with each student. This hard copy tracks individual student performance, but does not offer a way to track whole-class performance on assessments. For example, when teachers assess phonics blending, they can copy a page to use with students to mark the correct and incorrect responses and then tally the information into a score that leads to the next steps. This form, however, does not lead to a classroom document where trends in the classroom can be seen overall. The materials within A Guide to the Phonics Units of Study, K–2, include data-management tools (digital and/or hard copy) for tracking individual student data but not whole-class progress. For example, in the appendix "Assessment Tools," blackline masters of the assessments are available with space for one student's name and date at the top to be written in. The materials do not help teachers analyze patterns and needs in the data at the whole-class level. For example, the Assessing Developmental Spelling assessment in A Guide to the Phonics Units of Study, K–2, underneath the scoring section, states, "If a child does not meet this benchmark for a feature, plan to give that child additional support." The words "that child" indicate that the data management tools are for individual students, not the entire class.

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

A Guide to the Phonics Units of Study, K–2, provides general guidance on instructional practices to implement to support students' phonics-blending needs. There is no specific guidance on when or how often to re-administer the assessment as a progress-monitoring tool. For example, the recommended assessment chart instructs teachers to use previous assessment tools as needed. Further, the assessment recommendation chart instructs teachers to give the snap words assessment to children not showing proficiency; there is no specific recommendation for systematic progress-monitoring. A Guide to the Phonics Units of Study, K–2, includes ambiguous recommendations for increasing frequency for struggling students and reducing it for students who are consistently performing at or above grade level. For example, in An Orientation to Small Groups to Support Phonics, it states, "You will not progress through this collection of small-group lessons in a chapter-by-chapter fashion, but will instead dip in and out of these chapters in ways that respond to your children's needs and interests." A Guide to the Phonics Units of Study, K–2, requires all students to complete progress-monitoring assessments at varying intervals, such as during or at the end of the unit, without including frequency based on student performance. For example, the A Summary of the Recommended Assessments section states, "You will see that we recommend giving these assessments toward the end of the particular phonics units, roughly speaking." Using "roughly speaking" indicates unclear guidance on frequency based on student performance, leaving it up to the teacher's discretion.

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

The resource Small Groups to Support Phonics: K–1 provides targeted lessons to support mastery of phonics skills for the whole class or a group of students needing targeted tier 2 instruction. For example, Small Group 22 is best taught to students who need support with blends and digraphs. A Guide to the Phonics Units of Study, K–2, provides guidance on supplemental tier 1 or small group lessons to support students' skill mastery. The Developmental Spelling Assessment scoring sheet provides a benchmark chart that guides teachers in evaluating student progress on phonics-based spelling. Students who do not meet the benchmark indicators can be additionally supported through lessons in the resource Small Groups to Support Phonics: K–1. In "From Tip to Tail" (Unit 3), the unit materials provide teachers with an extension activity or activities to do each day. For example, teachers are given two extension opportunities. The second extension opportunity is called "The Vowel Inspector is Coming!" Students are given Post-it notes and told that the teacher is going to do a "vowel inspection" and they need to work on cleaning up their writing for "inspection" that specifically focuses on using the correct vowel combinations for spelling words. This directly correlates to the assessments in the A Guide to the Phonics Units of Study appendix, "Assessment Tools," the First Grade chart. In Unit 3, teachers are encouraged to assess students on developmental spelling using the Help Rasheed Label a Picture Book: Version 2: "My Stick Ball Game." In this assessment, students fill in the blank with words they should know how to spell based on the patterns they have learned in class. After Unit 3, the goal for students with consonant-vowel-vowel-consonant (CVVC) words is 0–2. By the end of Unit 5, the goal for CVVC words is 5–6.

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

The materials include explicit and systematic instructional guidance on developing oral language through a variety of methods. For example, in "Talking and Thinking about Letters" (Unit 1), Bend I, Session 7, the teacher guidance provides explicit instructional guidance on developing oral language. The lesson objective is for students to learn the digraph SH. During the lesson's Active Engagement/Link portion, the teacher states, "Let's read this together. We started to read the first line together, I paused before the word 'sharp.' Hmmm... thumbs up if you're noticing the start of this word." Then the students call out SH. The lesson continues, and the teacher says, "Wow! How cool! You can look out for these letters and sounds at the beginning and the end of words you need to read or write." The teacher models and provides guided practice throughout the curriculum lessons. However, the materials do not provide explicit and systematic instructional guidance on oracy. The materials do not include explicit or systematic instructional guidance on developing oracy. For example, the TEA definition for "systematic" is that it must be planned, deliberate, and logically sequenced. Though the Share components include opportunities for students to express knowledge (oral language development) as they share their work, there is no planned or deliberate sequence of the specific listening and speaking skills students will use within and across lessons and units for the year. For example, in "Word Builders" (Unit 4), the guidance in the culminating Share portion of a lesson names that students should "Think of the words you found in your book today! Turn and talk to your partner. I listened in as students talked, mindful of the fact that not all the words suggested would necessarily be spelled with the 'ou' vowel team." This is an act of speaking, but does not deliberately have students develop their listening skills through a predictable process or name the skills. In the resource "The Mystery of the Silent e" (Unit 2, Bend III, Session 17), students review strategies learned throughout the unit to decode challenging words. The lesson begins with the teacher modeling the expectations for the culminating activity. During Share Time, students return to the carpet for structured discussion after completing their word investigations. The teacher asks, "'Will you look over all the evidence you collected and choose one or two words to share with your rug club?' Do not just read the word or point to it. Make sure to explain how that word proves what we've learned about how words work." For example, the teacher might say, "I found the word 'bookshelf' and added it as evidence that compound words fit two words together. 'Book' and 'shelf' fit together to make a compound word." This closing activity provides both independent and collaborative opportunities for students to use academic language, explain their thinking, and reinforce phonics concepts. The sentence frames and partner talk routines support oral language development in a structured and purposeful way.

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

The materials include opportunities for students to engage in social and academic communication for different purposes. For example, in A Guide to the Phonics Units of Study, it is stated that during Rug Time, students are encouraged to communicate socially to build "a strong rapport with one another, teamwork, questioning, and risk taking." Academic communication purposes include "working to apply a growing repertoire of strategies for studying letters, sounds, and word parts." The materials include opportunities for students to engage in social and academic communication with different audiences. For example, in A Guide to the Phonics Units of Study, teachers are directed that during Rug Time, students will work in "partnerships or in rug clubs...This allows you an opportunity to study what kids know and need and to offer feedback that nudges them to do a bit more." The audiences named in this example include the student peers and/or the teacher. In "Talking and Thinking About Letters" (Unit 1), students can communicate about topics that are not strictly academic. For example, in a lesson about studying words to discover phonics principles (syllables, letters, sounds), students turn to a partner to share the story of their name (how and why their guardians gave them the name they have). The teacher guides the structure of what to share by asking, "Do some of you know why your guardians chose your name? Does someone else in your family have that name?" Session 3 begins with the teacher setting the stage for the lesson objective (writing names to practice letter writing fluency) by sharing that they wrote their name in a misty mirror. The teacher then asks students to share with their partner if they have ever written their name on a misty mirror or in cake frosting.

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

For example, in the resource "Talking and Thinking about Letters" (Unit 1), Bend II, Session 11, the objective is for students to learn snap words with the letter O. This lesson allows students to authentically engage in discussion to understand information by having them work with partners to discuss similarities in the O snap words. The coaching moves on the side of the page provide the teacher with prompts to encourage student discussion. For example, "So which word are you studying? What do you notice about how that word is spelled?" and "What other words might be spelled that way?" Students are given time to discuss and work with their partners on the activity, but not to ask questions. In "From Tip to Tail" (Unit 3), Bend II, Session 7, students listen actively to understand and share information and ideas authentically. The lesson's objective is for students to make new words by adding letters to phonograms. During the lesson's Teaching part, the teacher has students write words with blends on a dry-erase board while they are teaching. After the lesson is taught, the students begin Rug Time and work with their partners to make sentences with the words they learned about in the lesson. They make sentences with their partners and then join another group to share and check sentences. The lesson concludes without authentic opportunities for students to ask questions in the sessions. A Guide to the Phonics Units of Study includes authentic opportunities for students to listen actively and engage in discussion to understand information. For example, listening is encouraged during the Connection and Teaching portions of the Mini-Lesson, stating "the first part connects the day's teaching to the ongoing work that children have been doing in writing...Although you invite kids' participation [during the Teaching portion], once you have kids seeing themselves as participants in the work, you often pull ahead of them and demonstrate the strategy you are teaching, before passing the baton to them in the active engagement portion of your brief Mini-Lesson." Students are given opportunities to engage in discussion to understand the information during the Active Engagement/Link portion of the lesson. For example, "In the active engagement, students try to do what you just demonstrated, or they continue the work you and they began together...Youngsters quickly become accustomed to these brief invitations for them to try whatever you've just demonstrated, and it takes just seconds for them to shift from listening or watching to actually doing something or saying something to a partner." However, opportunities to ask questions to understand information better are not present.

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

This guidance is not applicable to the product.

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

This guidance is not applicable to the product.

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

This guidance is not applicable to the product.

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

This guidance is not applicable to the product.

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

In the "Units of Study Phonics, Cumulative Review Guide," the materials systematically introduce letter-sound relationships in an order that allows for application to basic decoding and encoding. For example, during the "Use Your Word Part Power to Write" routine, it suggests that teachers use it as their interactive writing for the day, stating, "Encourage students to orally segment the word in onset-rime fashion, then write the word as they say the onset and rime to themselves. Show students the correct spelling, and ask them to check if they got it. At the end, encourage students to reread their list of words and share a sentence that uses a cloud of the words." There is a script that follows this guidance. The materials directly and systematically introduce letter-sound relationships in an order that allows for application. In "Talking and Thinking about Letters" (Unit 1), Bend I, Session 3, the students are learning about their names. The teacher begins by using the classroom mascot, and the students spell Rasheed together with the teacher. The students use dry-erase boards and "name maps" to write their names. "A name map is a child's name with numbers and arrows so that children have support making each letter. The name map is a scaffold for the letter formation pathways involved in each of the letters in a child's name." Materials provide explicit instruction in letter-sound correspondence in an order that systematically builds up to basic decoding and encoding. The order of letter-sound correspondence introduces the letters M, S, T, R, N, A, which students then begin to combine during writing sessions. For example, in Making Friends with Letters (Unit 1), Session 12, students are guided by the teacher to spell the words bed and tent by sounding them out first and matching the sounds to letters. In Session 13, students applied their knowledge of letter-sound correspondence to write the word me. In Unit 2, Session 13, students receive guided and collaborative practice in encoding words following the strategy of sounding out the words and matching letters to sounds. "The Mystery of the Silent e" (Unit 2), Bend III, Session 17, allows students to encode and decode silent e words. During the Rug Time portion of the lesson, students work with partners to search the room for evidence (words) that support the big ideas learned in this unit. For example, "Silent e usually makes the vowel long." Working with a partner, they put the words they find around the room into the correct big idea box. After the students have recorded the words with their partners, they share their findings during the Share Time.

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

The materials provide teacher guidance for explicit instruction that connects phonemes to letters within words and includes recommended explanatory feedback based on common student errors and misconceptions. For example, in "Talking and Thinking about Letters" (Unit 1), Bend II, Session 14, students apply their knowledge of letters and sounds during writing. During Rug Time, the teacher uses coaching moves such as: "Remember to reread as you write to make sure your writing makes sense and sounds right." Another example is, "Is that a snap word? Look at the word wall to check it.” The teacher also states, "Listen for the vowel in the word ____. What vowel makes that sound? You can use the chart to help you." Also, the teacher says, "That's a tricky word. You heard the 'th' like in then. You used a part you know!" These types of coaching prompts are embedded throughout the unit resources. During active writing instruction, they guide students toward corrective action and reinforce accurate decoding and encoding in context. The unit resources provide embedded coaching moves throughout the curriculum. These coaching moves provide explicit teacher guidance that teachers can use to provide feedback to students based on common errors and misconceptions. For example, in the resource "The Mystery of the Silent e" (Unit 2), Bend II, Session 9, students are looking for the long E sounds made by ea and ee in their books. The coaching moves are: "Listen for words with that long E sound as you read. Slow down and look carefully. You might want to put your finger in the book as you read to help your eyes look closely. Watch for the letters 'ea' or 'ee' side by side. That word has 'ea,' just like 'eat,' but does it make a long E sound? Say it out loud and listen." The materials include teacher guidance to provide explicit instruction focused on connecting phonemes to letters within words, with recommended explanatory feedback for students based on common misconceptions. For example, in "Word Builders" (Unit 4) during Session 9, the "Possible Coaching Moves" box provides the following script for teachers to use when providing feedback stating, "That word has 'OW.' Is it making a sound like flower or a sound like rainbow?" A common misconception students have about diphthongs is that they have only one pronunciation for the same spelling.

Evaluation for 5.C.2c
Materials include a variety of activities and/or resources for students to develop, practice, and reinforce (through cumulative review) their understanding of applying letter-sound correspondence to decode one syllable and multisyllable words in isolation and decodable connected text. (PR 2.A & 2.A.3) (S)

The resource "Talking and Thinking about Letters" (Unit 1), Bend II, Session 15, allows students to develop and practice applying letter-sound correspondence to decode one-syllable words. The lesson's objective is for students to write VC words and add and subtract letters to make words. During the Teaching portion of the lesson, the students use the dry-erase boards and -up to make words, guided by the teacher. For Active Engagement, the students work with a partner and make new VC words using -up and the letters B, C, F, H, R, S, M, and P. The lesson concludes without an opportunity to apply learning through decodable, connected text. The curriculum materials that can be accessed online (Cumulative Review Resources and Decodable Resources) provide limited decodable texts and a cumulative review for the first three units of the curriculum. Decodable texts are only available for Unit 3 of the curriculum, and there are five stories for teachers to access. These materials do not reinforce skills for the entirety of the curriculum. "Word Builders" (Unit 4) gives students the opportunity to develop and practice their understanding of applying letter-sound correspondence to decode one-syllable words. Session 2 uses snap cubes to teach vowel teams and how one phoneme is represented by one block. The teacher tells students, "Vowel teams make one sound, so they are on one block." The materials do not include a cumulative review or decodable connected text.

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

The materials include a systematic sequence for introducing phonological awareness activities, but not in accordance with grade-level TEKS that begin with simple skills and gradually transition to more complex skills. For example, in Making Friends with Letters (Unit 1), students review K–2 TEKS of identifying and segmenting syllables, producing rhyming words, and blending onsets and rimes. In "The Mystery of the Silent e" (Unit 2), students then move to a more complex skill of distinguishing between long and short vowel sounds in one-syllable words. However, the lessons on syllable awareness do not meet the rigor bar of the grade 1 TEKS. For example, though Unit 2 focuses on 1.2Aiii (distinguishing between long and short vowel sounds in one-syllable words), From Tip to Tail (Unit 3) and "Word Builders" (Unit 4) focus on "segmenting words into single-syllable words." However, the kindergarten TEKS requires students to not only segment words into syllables but also to be "multisyllabic" (K.2 Avi). This demonstrates that the skills are moving in a complex-to-simple order. Phonological awareness lessons include phonics components as letters are shown to the students during a lesson, making the lesson not completely auditory. For example, in a Unit 2, Session 12 lesson on syllabication of two-syllable words, the teacher provides instruction on syllabication of two-syllable words; the teacher places the word little under the document camera and then shows them how to split it in the middle at the double t. Students did not get a chance to explicitly explore the word auditorily before seeing it spelled out. The phonics component was taught before the phonological awareness concept. Further, in Unit 4, Session 1, the lesson on changing the beginning, end, or middle phoneme to make a new word, students used letter cubes to add and delete phonemes to create words like stand, standing, chant, and chanting. Finally, in Unit 4, Session 2, the lesson on substituting initial sounds in single-syllable words, students work with teacher guidance and letter cubes to substitute s in seat with a b, changing it to beat. They also substituted the er in teacher with a final ing to create teaching. In "Talking and Thinking about Letters" (Unit 1), Bend XIII, Session 15, the students learn about VC words and how to add and subtract letters to make new words. During the Teach piece of the lesson, the teacher has students write up on their dry-erase board. The teacher coaches students through adding different letters to make new words. The students end up with a series of rhyming words on their dry-erase boards (TEK 1.2.A.i). After Unit 1, the curriculum moves to "The Mystery of the Silent e" (Unit 2), which works with students on short and long vowel sounds. This lesson provides phonemes and phonological awareness simultaneously and is not delineated between the two skill sets.

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

The materials include direct instruction based on common errors and misconceptions, but lessons introduce the grapheme before the phoneme. For example, in "From Tip to Tail" (Unit 3), Bend II, Session 11, the teacher works with students on syllables in words. During the lesson's Teaching portion, the teacher and students are working on the syllables in the word together. The class claps the word together and the teacher says, "'to', 'geth', her'. Three syllables. So there needs to be at least 3 vowels." The students then work on the syllables in bumper. There are also coaching moves provided to teachers: "Clap that word out to hear the syllables—'stay' 'ing'. Then check if is there a vowel in each syllable." The lessons in the materials provide phonological awareness, but the lessons introduce the grapheme before the phoneme. In the resource Small Groups to Support Phonics (Small Group 37), extra practice is provided for students who mispronounce the -ed ending sound when they read. The teacher says, "One thing that is very tricky about words that end in -ed is that the -ed can sound like 'd', 't', or 'id'. For words that end with a 't' or 'd' sound, like 'start' or 'need', the -ed ending sounds like 'id', and adds an extra syllable, as in 'started' or 'needed'. Other words with the -ed ending like 'played' or 'looked' have the 'd' or 't' sound at the end of the word, which does not add an extra syllable." While this resource provides feedback to students, it also provides phonological awareness skills in conjunction with phonics instruction. In "The Mystery of the Silent e" (Unit 2), Session 4, the Phonics Instruction states that the lesson will include phonological awareness of segmenting single-syllable words and changing the beginning, ending, or middle phoneme to make a new word. However, in the lesson, the teacher included graphemes in the instruction before oral practice. For example, in the lesson's Teaching piece, the teacher has students use magnetic letters and dry-erase boards to make and write the single-syllable words. In the Active Engagement/Link section, the teacher has students make a can on their boards, add an E, and then read it to their partner. In phonological awareness, instruction should only include phonemes, but this lesson includes graphemes at the same time as phonemes. The sidebars in blue that provide feedback are not corrective feedback; instead, they give the teacher logistical ideas, such as "You will want to have some way of recording and displaying the words you build together. You may choose to place word cards in a pocket chart, as we do here, or create a list digitally on an interactive whiteboard."

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

In the "Cumulative Review Guide," the materials do not include a variety of activities and/or resources for students to develop, practice, or reinforce phonological awareness skills connected to grade-level TEKS. For example, within the lesson plans, students are occasionally provided with the same activity (listening to a poem/song) to develop two phonological awareness skills (rhyming production, recognizing the initial sound in their names). This activity typically occurs as an Extension Opportunity where students engage in a whole group setting without practicing it with partners or independently. In Session 4 of "Talking and Thinking About Letters" (Unit 1), materials include strategies for students to develop, practice, and reinforce phonological awareness skills connected to grade-level TEKS only in conjunction with graphemes, and do not include memory-building or cumulative review. This lesson states that it includes hearing and generating rhyming words under phonological awareness; however, the only rhyming activity included in this lesson has students sing a name song called "Willoughby Wallaby Woo," and the students utilize the print to sing the song. "Readers, do you remember this name song from kindergarten? I sang a verse of 'Willoughby Wallaby Woo,' switching the words so that our lion replaced the elephant." This is not a systematic phonological awareness activity. Materials include a variety of activities for students to develop and practice grade-level phonological awareness skills. However, the lessons integrate graphemes before developing and practicing sound knowledge. For example, in "Talking and Thinking about Letters" (Unit 1), Session 5, students are introduced to segmenting phonemes. The teacher writes the name Jon, then guides students to segment and blend the phonemes j-o-n.

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

The phonemic awareness activities are paired with writing and reading, and do not follow the definition for phonemic awareness: "The ability to identify and manipulate individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken words. Identification and manipulation are key skills in preparing students to read." In the resource "Talking and Thinking about Letters" (Unit 1), Bend I, Session 1, students identify the letter sound at the beginning of words and use the first letter to generate a list of other words. During the Active Engagement portion of the lesson, students notice labels around the classroom and follow these steps: Study the syllables; study the letters; name them, study them, use them." The sidebar ties this to assessment ("Do the children not know the names of the letters? Do some children refer to long and short vowels? Which can figure out the trickier vowel patterns? Which children read the word in a part-by-part way?") This is not a systematic sequence to introduce phonemic awareness activities. This example is the first lesson of the first unit. In the curriculum, the lessons' phonemic awareness and phonics pieces are put together without delineation. For example, "The Mystery of the Silent e" (Unit 2), Bend I, Lesson 1, students are learning about the vowel a—short and long. During the Teaching portion of the lesson, the teacher introduced the concept with an index card showing the word made. The teacher says (while looking at the card), "Mmmmm...yes, the letter 'M' is making the 'm' sound. Mmmmm ... and the letter 'A' is making the 'a' sound. Mmmm-aaa-de- and the 'D' is making the 'd' sound. But wait! What is this 'E' doing here? I do not hear any 'e' sound at the end of this word! This word is 'made,' not 'mad-eh or made-ee.' The 'E' on the end is not making any sound at all. It is silent!" The phonemic awareness portions of each lesson combine speaking, reading, and writing without delineating between the three. Though materials include activities focused on segmentation, the sequencing of these skills is not systematic. For example, phoneme segmentation practices are not evident in Units 1 through 3. Instead, these units emphasize syllable awareness, focusing primarily on onset and rime segmentation. It is not until "Vowel Power" (Unit 4) that students have opportunities to segment beginning, middle, and ending phonemes—and even then, this instruction is immediately paired with more complex manipulation tasks, such as changing phonemes to create new words in Session 1. The sequence lacks systematic progression; following this, the materials regress to less complex skills like distinguishing between long and short vowel sounds (identification), then abruptly shift back to isolating initial, medial, and final phonemes. This phonemic awareness instruction is not frequent or sustained—it appears sporadically throughout the rest of "Vowel Power" (Unit 4) and is absent from "Playing with Phonics" (Unit 5). Additionally, the product does not include blending activities that gradually transition from simple to complex manipulation practices. The materials do not include a systematic sequence of activities that begin with blending phonemes and gradually progress to more complex manipulation practices. For example, blending is addressed in only one session—"Word Scientists" (Unit 2), Session 13—where students are asked to blend three or more phonemes in a word. However, this instruction is isolated and not part of a consistent or scaffolded progression of blending skills across the units.

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

The materials do not include explicit instruction for teaching phonemic awareness with explanatory feedback based on common errors and misconceptions. For example, in the Small Groups to Support Phonics, Small Group 8, students are working on the letter V. To begin the lesson, the teacher states, "Let's get ready by reading the alphabet chart." The teacher then asks students to point to the letter V on the alphabet chart and "isolate the first sound in the keyword picture on the alphabet chart." The directions further state, "As students say the sound for the letter 'V', correct those who add the 'schwa' sound to the end of the letter 'V'. The sound is 'v' not 'vuh'. This is also true when they say other letters. Adding the 'schwa' sound will cause difficulty when children record sounds in writing and blend sounds when they are reading." This lesson provides feedback, but the phonemic awareness instruction is followed by print. Introduction to graphemes precedes practice with phonemes. For example, in "Word Builders" (Unit 4), Session 4, the teacher guides students in identifying an object in a picture, saying the name out loud, then segmenting the phonemes, including vowel teams, to spell the word using letter cubes. Teacher feedback includes, "Listen for the vowel sound in the middle! What vowel team could help you?" Remember, the long "e" sound could be the vowel teams "ee" and "ea"; you might need to try it two ways." In "The Mystery of the Silent e" (Unit 2), in the sidebar of the first page of the lesson, the Phonics Instruction states that the lesson will include phonological awareness of segmenting single-syllable words and changing the beginning, ending, or middle phoneme to make a new word. Changing a phoneme to make a new word is phonemic awareness when it falls under phonological awareness; however, in the entire lesson, the teacher included graphemes in the instruction. For example, in the Teaching piece of the lesson, the teacher has students use magnetic letters and dry-erase boards to make and write the single-syllable words. In the Active Engagement/Link section, the teacher has students make can on their boards, add an E, and then read it to their partner. The students do not have an opportunity to practice phonemic awareness before the introduction of graphemes through magnetic letters and writing on whiteboards. The sidebars in blue that provide feedback are not corrective feedback; instead, they give the teacher logistical ideas, such as "You will want to have some way of recording and displaying the words you build together. You may choose to place word cards in a pocket chart, as we do here, or create a list digitally on an interactive whiteboard."

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

The materials include explicit guidance for connecting phonemic awareness skills to the alphabetic principle, to support students in transitioning from oral language activities to basic decoding and encoding. In Small Groups to Support Phonics, Small Group 24, students work to build words with short-vowel rimes. Students are given time to work with partners to use consonants (S, F, B, P, L) and phonograms (-in, -an, -op, and -it) to make words. The steps are for students to choose a letter, choose a word part, crash them together, read the word, and repeat. Students then used the words they made in sentences with snap words they know. This lesson provided time for students to connect phonemic awareness with the alphabetic principle through decoding and encoding. In the resource "Talking and Thinking about Letters" (Unit 1), Session 14, students use what they have learned to write sentences for a familiar story. During the Rug Time portion of the lesson, students use word wall words, letters, and sounds in their own writing. The teacher states, "Today I want to remind you that it is not enough just to know a ton about words and letters. What really matters is that you use everything you've learned to read and write well." The teacher follows, "Now plan what you'll write down on the page and practice that sentence out loud before even touching your pen. Say the words you'll write." Then, students are given time to write their sentences. This activity provides students with a chance to use decoding and encoding. In Small Groups to Support Phonics, materials provide guidance for teachers in supporting students' developing skill of connecting letters and sounds. For example, in a small group lesson on making CVC words, the teacher guides students to listen for all the sounds in a word, then change one sound to create a new word. Students changed cap to map, then changed a letter to create words like mop, top, tip, sip, sit, and set. Guidance is provided for the teacher in examples of supportive feedback to offer, including "Use the Elkonin box. Touch the squares for each sound you hear, then write the letters to match."

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

The materials do not include a variety of activities or resources for students to develop, practice, or reinforce phonemic awareness skills connected to grade-level TEKS. The activities and resources provided in Small Groups to Support Phonics develop phonological awareness, but not phonemic awareness skills. For example, the resource provides teachers with only two print-based activities that incorporate memory-building strategies to support the following phonological awareness skills: segmenting and blending syllables. For blending, the memory-building strategy focuses on using an analogy to help with retention, stating "Do you know how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich? You need all the parts: bread, peanut butter, and jelly. But to make it a sandwich, you need to smoosh all the parts together...It's the same with words. Especially when a word is long, you can break the word apart, and then you can smoosh the parts back together to say the whole word. Let me show you what I mean." The materials do not include a variety of activities or resources for students to develop, practice, or reinforce phonological awareness skills connected to grade-level TEKS. For example, within the lesson plans in the "Cumulative Review Guide," students occasionally do the same activity (listening to a poem/song) to develop two phonological awareness skills (rhyming production, recognizing the initial sound in their names). This activity typically occurs as an extension opportunity where students engage in a whole group setting without practicing it with partners or independently. No phonological awareness opportunities are provided in the "Cumulative Review Guide." Instead, it states that the guide's purpose is to "help you provide a cumulative review of the phonics that you are teaching." This limited availability of resources/activities for phonological awareness development assumes students are entering into the product having already mastered this foundational component on the literacy continuum, which means those who have not mastered phonemic awareness will not receive the targeted support needed.

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

The curriculum systematically addresses the following TEKS in a logical progression. For example, "Talking and Thinking about Letters" (Unit 1) focuses on TEKS 1.2.B.i decoding words in isolation and in context by applying common letter-sound correspondence and TEKS 1.2.B.ii decoding words with initial and final consonant blends and digraphs. "The Mystery of the Silent e" (Unit 2), "From Tip to Tail" (Unit 3), "Word Builders" (Unit 4), and "Marvelous Bloopers" (Unit 5) cover TEKS 1.2.B.iii decoding words with closed syllables, open syllables, vowel-consonant-e (VCe) syllables, vowel teams, and r-controlled syllables. In the resource "Talking and Thinking about Letters" (Unit 1), the Orientation to the Unit provides the following guidance for the systematic sequence of instruction. There are three Bends to the Unit that build on what students learned in kindergarten about letter names and sounds, short vowels in CVC words, phonographs, blends, digraphs, and high-frequency words. The first Bend covers the alphabet using a classroom name study. The second Bend reviews high-frequency words. The third Bend reviews phonograms. This is a systematic sequence for introducing grade-level sound-spelling patterns that continues throughout the curriculum. In "The Mystery of the Silent e" (Unit 2), Session 1, students learn about the CVCe spelling pattern through an introductory investigation of words like made and comparing words like tap and tape. This lesson falls into a systematic sequence of sound-spelling pattern introduction.

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

The materials include teacher guidance to provide explicit instruction for grade-level sound-spelling patterns. Explicit teacher guidance is given to provide instruction for grade-level sound-spelling patterns. For example, in "Talking and Thinking about Letters" (Unit 1), Session 7, the teacher says, "You remember that in a digraph, two and sometimes three letters come together to make a whole new sound. It is almost magic. Let us do some of that magic right now. I used magnetic letters to show a 'T' and an 'H', far apart, then slid them together... Then two letters were side by side and I said, "A whole new sound: 'th'." This process was repeated for the sh sound. In the resource "Marvelous Bloopers" (Unit 5), Session 2, students learn about -ar, -er, and -or. During the Teaching portion of the lesson, the students build a chart called "Different sounds of R Controlled Vowels." The class looks at different items and says the words while the teacher jots the words and pictures and puts them under the correct column (-ar, -er, -or). The teacher says, "If you want to spell a word and you hear an 'r' sound in that word, you can ask, 'Is that word like car? Like tiger? Like fork?'" The side note for teachers states, "R-controlled vowels are represented by many spelling patterns. However, there are not that many r-controlled vowel sounds. In this lesson, kids come to know three of the most common r-controlled vowel sounds and a few of the most common spelling patterns for those sounds." The guidance in the session provides explicit instructions for grade-level sound-spelling patterns. Materials include teacher guidance to provide explicit (direct) instruction for grade-level sound-spelling patterns. For example, during the Teach section of a Session 1 in "The Mystery of the Silent e" (Unit 2) on vCe, the teacher states "Every time the word has a long 'a' sound, like made, 'cape,' and 'tape,' there is an 'E' at the end of the word, and that 'E' does not make a sound—it is silent. We should add those detective notes to our case file. Then you can use this information anytime you need it to help you figure out words during reading and writing. I quickly recorded the information on chart paper." The anchor chart includes key points for understanding the vowel-consonant-e (VCe) spelling pattern, stating "The Case of the Silent e: 1. The 'E' is at the end of the word. 2. The 'E' does not make a sound. 3. It changes the 'A' to a long sound: tap—>tape."

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

The lesson materials in each unit provide a variety of activities for students to use to develop and practice grade-level sound-spelling patterns. In the resource "From Tip to Tail" (Unit 3), Session 16, students learn about making contractions with not. The teacher teaches the lesson on contractions, and then students use the dry-erase board and a partner to practice making the following: has not, was not, were not, and am not. During Rug Time, the teacher gives students a baggie of contractions, and the students work to figure out what words were combined to make the contraction. Two extension activities are provided for this session: a song and a riddle for students to use with more contractions. This lesson does not include a cumulative review. Students reinforce sound-spelling patterns through activities provided throughout the units; however, these activities are not systematically reinforced and can be found in extensions and a cumulative review document that only addresses Units 1–3. For example, the document includes activities like Whisper the Name, Shout Out the Sound, where the teacher shows students a picture card, they whisper the letter name and shout out the sound; Make the Words Disappear, where students sound out and blend words written out by the teacher; and Presto Change-o, where the teacher dictates a word and uses it in a sentence. In contrast, students sound out and spell the word. The materials do not include a variety of activities and resources for students to reinforce grade-level sound-spelling patterns through cumulative review. For example, in the "Cumulative Review Guide" online, there is a six-week cumulative review that focuses on a combination of letter-sound, word reading, and sound-spelling patterns that span only the first two units of the year. Since this program has five units in total, less than 40% of the total is dedicated to cumulative review.

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

The materials provide a variety of activities and/or resources to support students in decoding and encoding words, including teaching sound-spelling patterns in isolation. The materials do not provide decodable connected texts that build on previous instruction. In the resource "The Mystery of the Silent e" (Unit 2), Session 4, students make CVCe words with the long vowel A. For this lesson, teachers are given the option of having students write the words they will make on a dry-erase board, or students can use magnetic letters to make words. The teacher begins by having students make one-syllable words (man and can). The teacher says, "'Now leave 'can' on your board and add an 'E' to the end of the word. Turn and tell your partner what this new word says.’ I watched closely to see if the children were able to use their knowledge of the CVCe pattern to decode this word quickly, and then added an index card with the word to the pocket chart. 'This says cane. It has a silent E at the end! That means it is going to make a long-vowel sound. Can you hear the change in the vowel?'" During Rug Time, the class sorts the words into a chart with ane, ate, ake, and ame. During Extension 1, the teacher dictates the sentence, "I gave Sam a game and a toy plane. Then we had cake." The students write the sentence using a pencil and paper. This lesson provides a variety of activities to support decoding and encoding in isolation. In "The Mystery of the Silent e" (Unit 2), Session 12, students learn to use double consonants to solve multisyllabic words. The teacher begins by using a folder titled "The Secret of the Letter Twins." This activity sets up what the students will use for the daily lesson. During the lesson's Active Engagement/Link portion, students work together to break words apart that have double letters in the middle, like blizzard. The teacher creates an anchor chart with the class called "Word Detectives Take an Even Closer Look." For Rug Time, each club gets words that they will cut into smaller parts. The teacher says, "Remember the secret of the letter twins—you can cut these long words into 2 parts by finding the double consonants in the middle. Then you can read each part before putting the whole word back together." The teacher tells the students to add double-consonant words to the class chart they find in their independent reading stories. However, there is no application to decodable, connected text. In "Word Builders" (Unit 4), Session 13, students engage in a whole group lesson on the vowel teams EW and UE that involves reading a page from a shared reading text to identify words with the vowel sound oo. Students segmented the words stew and blue to identify the target sound. Students also engaged in a shared reading and then a partner reading of a poem to find words with the target sound. Students then helped the teacher write down words they identified. Students practice with decoding and encoding in isolation, but not in connected, decodable texts.

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

Materials include a systematic sequence of instruction for regular and irregular high-frequency words. High-frequency words instruction begins with a review of kindergarten words, then new words are taught in "Talking and Thinking About Letters" (Unit 1), Session 12. Later, students use letter-sound patterns for ou and ow to study and learn high-frequency words: house, about, down, and our in "Word Builders" (Unit 4), Session 8. In this lesson, students learn how to identify the "tricky" part of high-frequency words. In "Marvelous Bloopers" (Unit 5), Session 9, students categorize high-frequency words into a group of "spelled like it sounds" and "tricky" words. Students then study the tricky words wait, very, look, like, they, and you, following an established procedure for studying high-frequency words. A Guide to the Phonics Units of Study provides a scope and sequence document showing high-frequency word lesson order. Materials also include a narrative explanation for the rationale behind the sequence chosen, which provides for connecting high-frequency words with phonemic skills. For example, in "Talking and Thinking About Letters" (Unit 1), Session 15, students use high-frequency words with the spelling patterns VC and CVC to create new words. In Session 17, students use blends and digraphs in combination with high-frequency words to generate new words. Materials include a systematic sequence for introducing irregular high-frequency words. For example, after multiple lessons in "Talking and Thinking About Letters" (Unit 1) on high-frequency words where they "say them, spell them, learn about letters and sounds" using review sets, students transition from VC and CVC words to irregular words like all, look, play, put, more, and of throughout "The Mystery of the Silent e" (Unit 2) and beyond.

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

The materials include teacher guidance to provide explicit instruction for decoding and encoding regular high-frequency words and irregular high-frequency words. Students learn how to identify the "tricky" part of high-frequency words. For example, in "Playing with Phonics" (Unit 5), Session 9, students categorize high-frequency words into a group of "spelled like it sounds" and "tricky" words. Students then study the tricky words following an established procedure for studying high-frequency words, including recognizing patterns in the snap word, drawing on that knowledge to figure out other similar snap words, and applying those snap words to writing. Students then study the tricky words from, wait, very, look, like, they, and you, following the same established procedure. In the resource, "Word Builders" (Unit 4), Session 1, the students learn the regular high-frequency word each. The teacher uses the anchor chart "Make it a Snap Word!" and has students read, study, spell, cover-write-check, and use the word. The teacher walks through the steps with students. The teacher ties the word each to the EA pattern students learned that day in class and then adds the word to the word wall. Students are encouraged to use the word wall when they spell words during their writing workshop. The curriculum does not differentiate between regular and irregular high-frequency words. For example, in the resource "From Tip to Tail" (Unit 3), Session 15, the teacher reviews snap words that students learned previously. The lesson has the following information for the teacher: "Engage your students in a review of word wall words by highlighting ones that are spelled differently than they sound." The students look at the words said, says, from, come, could, and was. The lesson continues with the teacher saying, "Which parts are spelled just the way they sound, and which parts are weird?" Students had already learned these words, but did not learn about them being irregular words. The materials do not provide explicit instruction for encoding irregular high-frequency words.

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

The materials include a variety of activities and resources for decoding and encoding regular high-frequency words, as well as decoding irregular high-frequency words. The students learn high-frequency words (snap words) in each unit of the curriculum. In "From Tip to Tail" (Unit 3), Session 1, students learn the words jump, where, there, never, and going" The teacher uses the anchor chart called "Make it a Snap Word!" and leads students through the following steps for each word: read it; study it; spell it; cover, write, and check it; use it. The teacher uses the word jump and has students read it, spell it on their dry-erase boards, and use it out loud in a sentence. This procedure is used throughout the curriculum units and allows students to decode and encode high-frequency words. The units provide a variety of games, activities, and songs for teachers to use as a cumulative review for the high-frequency words. One game students learn is called I Spy using the word wall. The teacher says, "I spy with my little eye a word with a digraph at the beginning." They then walk students through other word clues until the students guess the word on the word wall. Students develop high-frequency word knowledge through explicit instruction for decoding and encoding regular high-frequency words. For example, in "From Tip to Tail" (Unit 3), Session 14, the teacher guides students to follow specific steps in learning the high-frequency words could, should, would, mother, and from, which are regular high-frequency words. The steps include "1. Read it! 2. Study it! 3. Spell it! 4. Write it! 5. Use it!" These steps are repeatedly used throughout the curriculum when students decode and encode new high-frequency words. In the curriculum, irregular high-frequency words are not labeled as irregular. For example, in the resource "From Tip to Tail" (Unit 3), Bend 3, Session 14, students learn could, should, would, mother, and from. The teacher begins with a song, and students cheer several snap words they have already learned. Then the teacher introduces the words for the day. The teacher walks students through the steps on the "Make it a Snap Word" anchor chart using each word. The words could, should, and would are irregular. The only note to teachers says, "There are different perspectives on introducing such similar words together. We felt that highlighting the similarities between the words would help kids to internalize the unusual spelling." The materials do not use "irregular high-frequency words" or point that out to students. For example, the teacher uses the word could. The lesson states, "Together we clapped one syllable, then identified that the 'ou' in the middle was saying 'oo' like in 'look.' The kids were surprised to note that, even though 'ld' at the end usually says 'ld' like in 'cold,' in this word the 'L' was silent." That is the only direction given for the irregular words.

Evaluation for 5.E.2d
Materials include a variety of activities and/or resources (including the use of memory-building strategies) for students to read, and write high-frequency words in isolation (e.g., word lists) and in connected text (e.g., within sentences or decodable texts). (PR 2.A.1) (S)

Materials include a variety of activities and/or resources for students to read and write high-frequency words in isolation and connected texts. For example, in "The Mystery of the Silent e" (Unit 2), Session 6, students are given an anchor chart titled "My Vowel Chart," as they learn to read CVCe words with the long o sound. Teacher guidance for solving the irregular high-frequency word come states, "This time, I placed the snap word come under the document camera. Using my hand lens to highlight the features, I once again pointed out the vowel 'O' and the silent 'E'. 'Okay, now everybody read this word...Now, let us check that it makes the long 'O' sound...Wait a minute! I am hearing a short 'U' sound in the middle. Like 'u', 'u', up. It is not making a long 'O' sound at all! This word does not fit the pattern.' I moved the word to the pocket chart, placing it in a second column under an index card with a large X." Students are identifying these regular and irregular high frequency words in connected text (sentences). Finally, during Small Group Lesson 51 in Small Groups to Support Phonics, students are provided with an anchor chart titled "Building Sentences" that follows five steps for how to write a sentence using high-frequency words (e.g., snap words). The curriculum uses a variety of activities and memory-building strategies to help students read and write high-frequency words in isolation and in sentences. For example, in "Marvelous Bloopers" (Unit 5), Session 11, students develop and use strategies for learning high-frequency words. In this lesson, students bring their snap word bags to the carpet. The teacher has students pull out their cards and read the words so that students can sort them into words they can read in a snap and "not-yet" words. The teacher begins an anchor chart titled "Cool Ways to Learn Words" and adds the following: trace the words, rainbow write it, make up a wacky song, build a word with snap cubes, and go on a word search in your books. The teacher walks students through making a silly song with a word. During Share Time, the students play Snappo using their dry-erase boards, markers, and high-frequency words. This game is played with nine squares, and students play the game like bingo. Materials include a variety of activities for students to write high-frequency words in isolation. For example, in "From Tip to Tail" (Unit 3), after studying the words should, could, would, the teacher tells students it is "Time to spell the word...W-O-U-L-D...Time to cover, write, and check!...I then covered the word and reminded them to use their whiteboards...and began writing the word."

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

The materials do not include a systematic sequence for introducing grade-level syllable types and syllable division principles, as outlined in the TEKS. For example, in Talking and Thinking about Letters (Unit 1), Session 1, students are told to "listen to the beats of the syllables," but explicit instruction is not provided, telling students that syllables are a unit of oral language in which a vowel sound is heard. The first unit has students clapping syllables throughout, but does not assign the type of syllable they are clapping or provide specific examples. While the materials include some guidance for direct instruction in sound-spelling patterns, the lessons do not align with TEKS requirements or incorporate an explicit focus on syllable awareness. For example, in Talking and Thinking About Letters (Unit 1), Session 5, the teacher guides students in segmenting and blending the word Jon, helping students identify the medial vowel sound. Additionally, in "Marvelous Bloopers" (Unit 5), Session 2, students investigate the different sounds of r-controlled vowels: ar, er, and or. There is no reference to the identification of open or closed syllables. The instruction and activities are not embedded within a lesson on syllable types. In "From Tip to Tail" (Unit 3), Session 11, the teacher provides direct instruction in ensuring that every word or syllable has a vowel. Students practice editing and spelling one-syllable and multisyllabic words following the rule of clapping out the syllables and ensuring vowels are included. The lesson also does not refer to syllable types or focus on a systematic application of syllable types to decoding.

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

The materials do not include teacher guidance to provide explicit instruction for applying knowledge of syllable types and syllable division principles to encode and decode multisyllabic words. The sessions provide practice separating words into syllables, but teachers are not given information about the different syllable types and principles. In the resource "From Tip to Tail" (Unit 3), Session 10, students learn to spell words part by part. The teacher's anchor chart has students look at vowels, silent e, word parts, blends and digraphs, syllables, and word endings. The teacher uses the word benches with students and says, "'benches, clap the syllables with me.' I clapped two claps: 'bench' 'es'' How many syllables? Two!' I isolated the first syllable." The teacher continues to break down the word and spell it in front of the class. However, the teacher does not identify the first syllable as a closed syllable or explain its characteristics. Students are introduced to VCe words, vowel teams, and r-controlled vowels throughout the curriculum, but students are not taught about the syllables. For example, in the resource "The Mystery of the Silent e" (Unit 2), Session 9, students learn about vowel teams—ee and ea. The teacher uses Elkonin boxes to walk students through the word eat. The teacher says, "Max first underlined just the 'E', but he said that 'E' all by itself usually makes the short 'e' sound. Then he noticed the 'T' at the end, which makes the 't' sound. So Max went back and underlined the 'E' and the 'A' together. How cool! Those two letters seem to be working together as a team to make a long E sound." While students continue to learn vowel teams throughout the unit, the syllable type is not mentioned. Materials do not include teacher guidance to provide explicit instruction for applying knowledge of syllable types or division patterns. Session 11 of "Talking and Thinking about Letters" (Unit 1) teaches words with the vowel O and different sounds that O makes, for example, short O, long O, and high-frequency words you, got, look, and for. The open-syllable words taught are to, so, go, do, and no. The guidance states, "Readers, you made some pretty major discoveries about the letter 'O' and the sounds that 'O' can make. It seems like some of you came up with the idea that in some words, the 'O' makes the long O sound like 'go.' In other words, the 'O' is associated with the 'oo' sound, like 'do.' Were there other sounds associated with an O?" There is no instruction on how these words are open syllables because they do not have a consonant after the vowel.

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

The curriculum lacks a variety of activities and resources to support students in developing, practicing, and reinforcing skills to decode and encode one-syllable or multisyllabic words through cumulative review. While students are given opportunities to break words into syllables, the materials do not support the development of an understanding of syllable types and patterns. For example, in "Word Builders" (Unit 4), Session 1, students learn how to use the little parts that words are made of to build new words. The teacher provides students with letter-connecting cubes so that they can create words. The first word is chanting. After the teacher builds the words with students they say, "Chanting ...we were chanting the word wall words together. Or...She was chanting her favorite poem,' I said using the new word in a sentence. 'Let's clap this word to count the syllables.' We read the word again, clapping each part. 'Wow. Another two-syllable word! These little parts can fit together in lots of ways to build bigger words.'" While students learn that the word chanting has two parts, they do not learn or discuss that the first syllable is closed. The instructional materials do not include a variety of activities to decode and encode one-syllable or multisyllabic words. The types of syllables are not taught to students. For example, in the resource "Word Builders" (Unit 4), Session 16, students learn to listen for syllables in the Extension 2 activity. The teacher says a word, and then the students clap, tap, or snap the number of syllables in the word. The teacher starts with the word higher. The recommendation is to alternate between single- and multisyllabic words. The word higher has two syllables. The first syllable is a vowel team syllable, and the second is an r-controlled vowel syllable. The students do not read or write these words, and the teacher does not discuss the syllable type with them. While some activities are present, they are not intentionally designed to build knowledge of syllable types or support cumulative skill development of applying syllable knowledge to encode or decode. Some activities are Extensions, which are optional to the teacher and dependent on available extra time. In "Talking and Thinking About Letters" (Unit 1), Session 7, Extension 1, the teacher reviews learning on blends and digraphs by dictating words for students to spell. In Session 14, students use their phonics knowledge to add a sentence to their Small Moment writing.

Evaluation for 5.E.3d
Materials include a variety of activities and/or resources for students to practice decoding and encoding one-syllable or multisyllabic words, using knowledge of syllable types and syllable division principles, in isolation (e.g., word lists) and in decodable connected text that builds on previous instruction (e.g., within sentences or decodable texts). (PR 2.A & 2.A.3) (S)

Materials do not include a variety of activities and/or resources for students to practice decoding and encoding one-syllable or multisyllabic words, using knowledge of syllable types and syllable division principles, in isolation and in decodable connected text. For example, in Small Groups to Support Phonics, teachers are provided with at least two activities incorporating memory-building strategies to support the phonological awareness skills of segmenting and blending syllables. For segmentation, the memory-building strategy includes a procedural anchor chart titled "Hear the Beats in Words," followed by these steps: "1. Say the word. 2. Clap the beats." The syllable or division types' naming is missing from these two lesson examples. The curriculum does not provide students an opportunity to decode and encode one-syllable or multisyllabic words, using knowledge of syllable types and syllable division principles in isolation or decodable texts. For example, in "Marvelous Bloopers" (Unit 5), students learn about r-controlled vowels. Sessions 1–6 teach students about r-controlled vowels, but the lessons do not teach students about r-controlled vowel syllables. In Session 6, students read a poem with r-controlled vowel words like orange, largest, member, forests, birds, lizards, bears, and others. The lesson has students highlight the r-controlled vowel words, but no instruction is given on this syllable type or division. This unit is the last in the curriculum, and no activities for teaching r-controlled vowel syllables are included. In the resource "Small Groups to Teach Phonics," Small Group 2, students learn how to blend syllables. The teacher prepares picture cards for two-, three-, and four-syllable words. During the lesson, the teacher says, "Especially when a word is long, you can break the word apart, and then you can smoosh the parts back together to say the whole word. Let me show you what I mean. Let's try this with a long word. I'm going to say and clap each beat, each syllable. Then, I'll smoosh the beats back together to say the whole word." The teacher demonstrates with the word lollipop. The teacher points out that there are three "beats" to the word, but does not teach students about the open and closed syllables in the word.

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

The curriculum introduces affixes in the resource "From Tip to Tail" (Unit 3), Session 2. In this lesson, students are taught to use affixes -ing, -ed, -s, -es, and -er. The lesson does not systematically introduce the affixes. For example, the teacher shows students the word play and the lesson affixes. Then the teacher says, "Read this word with me, play. Now let us give the word one of these endings. What if we gave the word play the ending -ing—can you and your partner read the 2 parts and put it together? What word will we get?" The teacher continued to use play and changed the ending to -ed and had students read the new word. Students continue this activity through the lesson. The lesson covers each of the five endings. One "decodable" reader is provided in the online materials for this lesson. The title is "Meet the Frog." It contains the words dragonfly and mosquito that are not decodable. The -er ending is not part of the grade-level TEKS. In the resource "From Tip to Tail" (Unit 3), Session 3 students learn about the affix -ed. This lesson continues the learning that began in Session 2. The teacher shows students sentences on the board and discusses with students how -ed can sound more than one way. The teacher created an anchor chart with d, t, id sounds, and students sorted words based on how -ed sounded at the end. Students then explored -ed words in their own books and shared with a partner. The teacher does not talk to students about -ed being the past tense. In this same lesson, but in the Extension section, students are taught that -es also makes different sounds, and the teacher repeats the lesson process with the new affix. This session combines multiple sounds without a systematic sequence. There are only three lessons focused on affixes in the materials, according to the online "Scope and Sequence of Phonics Instruction" in the Units of Study in Phonics, K–2. These lessons are in "From Tip to Tail" (Unit 3) and focus on the -ing and -ed word endings and the different sounds that "-ed" can make. The lack of additional lessons focused on TEKS 1.3C (identify the meaning of words with the affixes -s, -ed, and -ing) indicates that the materials do not meet one of the three criteria for being "systematic," which is that materials are "deliberate.”

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

The curriculum does not provide professional resources for teachers to enhance their knowledge of morphological study and how to support students. For example, the resource A Guide to the Phonics Units of Study provides two paragraphs to support teachers' professional development. The book states, "Another strategy for figuring out a word's meaning is to study its morphology, or the meaningful parts that make up the word. For instance, the word 'skillful' has 2 meaningful parts, the base word 'skill' and the suffix -ful, which means 'full of.' A second grader who did not yet know the word 'skillful' but who understood the word 'skill' and the suffix -ful could easily guess that a skillful dancer is 'full of skill,' and therefore quite good at dancing." This example, while valid, is not specifically for the grade level of this curriculum. The resource does not provide explicit instruction or guidance to teachers to support students in recognizing common morphemes and using their meanings. For example, in "From Tip to Tail" (Unit 3), Session 6, students learn how to spell their way across words using these steps: say it, slide it, hear it, write it. The students use what they know about the endings -ing, -ed, -s, -es, and -er as they edit their stories. Some possible coaching moves are provided to teachers. One coaching move states, "Wow, Bryan was reading over his work so carefully and he came across a place where he meant to write 'playing' and instead he just wrote 'play.' When he looked back carefully just now, he saw right away that this word needed an ending, and just like that he added -ing. I wonder what other word endings our friends will add." While this coaching move points out a common suffix, it does not support the student in understanding the meaning and the why behind adding -ing to the word. Materials provide teacher guidance for instruction on common word endings that include word parts; however, the lesson is not presented in the context of morphemes or morphemic awareness. For example, in "From Tip to Tail" (Unit 3), Session 2, the teacher provides instruction in common word endings (-ing, -ed, -er, -s) without referencing what morphemes are and how they support proficient decoding and encoding. Students practiced adding word endings to the word play to create playing and played.

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

Materials include activities for students to practice grade-level morphological skills. In "From Tip to Tail" (Unit 3), students practice these skills in a variety of ways, including independently writing/manipulating the words using a dry-erase board, in partnerships through sorts, shared reading of an information text, and word-ending hunts within a text. The opportunities for reinforcing morphological skills through cumulative review is minimal. For example, in the online "Cumulative Review Guide," there is guidance provided that outlines five weeks of optional lessons focused on common word endings through a recurring activity titled "Break It Up" that are recommended to teach during Unit 3. Since these are optional lessons, students are not guaranteed to have the opportunity for cumulative review. Materials include a variety of activities for practicing grade-level morphological skills. Session 3 of "From Tip to Tail" (Unit 3) uses a modeled writing where the teacher and students read the writing together. "Did you notice how ''teaches sounds different from ''writes? And goes and does sound different from both of those words. -Es is another ending like -ed that makes different sounds." Materials do not include a variety of activities to develop or reinforce these skills through cumulative review.

Evaluation for 5.E.4d
Materials include a variety of activities and/or resources for students to decode and encode words with morphemes in isolation (e.g., word lists) and in decodable connected text that builds on previous instruction (e.g., within sentences or decodable texts). (PR 2.A.1 & 2.A.3) (S)

The materials do not include activities and resources for students to decode words with morphemes in isolation and connected text. In the resource Small Groups to Support Phonics Instruction, Small Group 38 students review adding -ing to words. The teacher posts four words to the board (putting, eating, clapping, and hopping). Students study the words and then sort them based on their appearance. After students have discussed the sort, the teacher says, "So maybe we could say that usually for CVC words, you double the last C (Consonant) before you add -ing. Let us check the words we sorted to see if this rule works." Students then write the endings on word cards that the teacher provides. This lesson directly ties to "From Tip to Tail" (Unit 3), Session 2. In the Extension 3 activity, students add -ing to CVCe words. Students use their dry-erase boards to write CVCe words and add -ing. Because these activities are optional and not part of core instruction, they do not ensure that all students receive consistent, scaffolded opportunities to decode and encode words with morphemes in isolation and connected text. In the resource "From Tip to Tail" (Unit 3), Session 3, students learn the different sounds that -ed makes. Two extension lessons for this session focus on -es endings, and the last extension focuses on the -ed ending. Students use a dry-erase board and write words and their endings as the teacher rolls dice, such as the word pencil. The teacher rolls the dice, and the students decide if it is pencil or pencils. Most activities in the curriculum have students write words on dry-erase boards. Some guidance is provided for teachers: "There are various rules and exceptions for whether to pluralize with -s or -es. Instead of delving into that work now, we rely on students' knowledge of syntax to help them choose the correct ending. This will continue to build their flexibility as word solvers." These activities are not applied to decodable, connected text. Materials provide a few activities for practice with common word endings that include word parts; however, the lesson is not presented in the context of morphemes or morphemic awareness. For example, in "From Tip to Tail" (Unit 3), Session 6, the teacher provides instruction on how to say all the sounds in a word to encode correctly. Students practice saying the word every, all the way to the end to hear all the sounds, then using their phonics knowledge to spell the word.