The materials reviewed for Grade 2 partially meet the criteria that materials emphasize explicit phonics instruction through systematic and repeated modeling.

Materials include limited systematic, explicit, and repeated instruction for students to hear, say, encode, and read each newly taught grade level phonics pattern. Opportunities are missed for students to receive explicit instruction in all grade-level phonics standards. Limited work with syllables is provided in Step 6. While there are lessons and activities for each of the other phonics skills, explicit instructions each skill is limited. While there is some modeling during the initial instruction of the phonics skill, there is not consistent explicit modeling in subsequent lessons.

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

• Distinguish long and short vowels when reading regularly spelled one-syllable words.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 176-180, the teacher writes five vowels in a visible place. The teacher points to each vowel and the students say the vowel. After the students practice saying short vowel sounds and words, the teacher explains that long vowels “say their own name.” The teacher explains that there are many ways to write or spell the long vowel sound.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 186-190, the teacher writes short vowel words in a visible location and asks the students to decode the words. The teacher adds the Sneaky e to change the vowels to a long vowel sound, and the teacher asks the students to reread the words. Examples to choose from include rat and rate, spin and spine, mop and mope, and cub and cube.
• Know spelling-sound correspondences for additional common vowel teams.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 241-245, the teacher explains that there is another way to make a long vowel. The teacher teaches the sayings, “When two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking” and “When two vowels team up, they shout the first one’s name.”
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 226-230, the teacher introduces the vowel team ee. It indicates in the lesson that the order vowel teams are taught are ee, ea, ai, oa, and ui. The teacher writes ee in a visible location and then directs students to build words with the vowel team.
• In Purple Teacher Planner, Step 6, oo Long Unit, the teacher writes oo on the board and asks students to add oo to make a word. The Planner provides coop as an example. Students place the c card before the oo and the p after the oo.
• Decode regularly spelled two-syllable words with long vowels.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 221-225, the teacher shows students that they say a syllable when their chins drop as they say words. The teacher uses the word hospital as an example.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 246-250, the teacher instructs students in open and closed syllables. The teacher instructs students to segment words, explaining that if a syllable does not end with a consonant, it often makes the vowel long. Examples given include qui-et and o-pen. Students practice drawing lines between syllables and coloring the long vowel at the end of the open syllable(s).
• Decode words with common prefixes and suffixes.
• In Purple Teacher Planner, Step 6, Review Unit 7, the teacher instructs the students that a suffix added to the end of a root or base word changes the meaning of the word. The teacher helps the students work as a class to think of examples of four suffixes.
• In Purple Teacher Planner, Step 6, Prefixes and Suffixes unit, the teacher instructs students that a prefix is added to the beginning of a root or a base word to change the meaning of the word. The teacher works with students to think of examples for the prefixes re-, dis-, un-, and pre-. On Practice page 271, students read the words and circle the prefix.
• In Purple Teacher Planner, Step 6, Prefixes and Suffixes unit, the teacher presents the students with the definition of a suffix and has students think of words that end with -er, -est, -ed, and -ing.
• Identify words with inconsistent but common spelling-sound correspondences.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 191-195, the teacher uses the Sticky Word” flash cards and puts them on the floor. The teacher calls out a word from the list, and students hop on the word that the teacher called out.
• In Purple Teacher Planner, Step 6, Long /i/ Review unit, the teacher writes igh on the board, then asks for a volunteer to add an igh/y/ie card to make a word. Students write the word.
• The Student Activities Book, Steps 1-5, pages 32-39, contain the Sticky Word lists that students learn during Steps 4-6.

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

• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 251-255, the teacher instructs students that if a syllable does not end with a consonant, it often makes the vowel long. This is called an open syllable. The teacher reviews syllables that end with a consonant, which often makes the vowel short.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 256-260, the teacher explains to students that multi-syllabic words are words with more than one syllable and that “multi-” stands for multiple and means “more than one.” Each syllable in multi-syllabic words is long or short. The teacher writes the word houseboat on the board. The teacher and students practice pulling the two words apart to make smaller words. In Center #5 for that week, the teacher explains again what compound words are and uses the example homesick.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, the teacher explains that another way to make a long vowel is with vowel teams. The teacher builds words on the Vowel Team Mat, and students decode as a group using the newly learned spelling pattern. A list of possible words with the vowel team spelling is provided.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria that materials include frequent practice opportunities for students to decode words that consist of common and newly-taught sound and spelling patterns and provide opportunities for students to review previously taught phonics skills.

Materials provide frequent opportunities to decode words by routinely providing word lists for students to read that correspond with the sounds introduced, reading words in mini-books focused on the sounds introduced, and practicing reading with partners. Each lesson in Steps 4 and 5 include a phonics book which provides these opportunities.

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

• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 201-205, students pick words from a pile and place them on a sentence strip. The students read the sentence they created from choosing the words from the pile.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 231-235, students read the book, Pig at the Beach, decoding /ea/ and /ee/ words.
• In Purple Teacher Planner, Step 6, ar Unit, the students read an ar word under a picture. Student find and color the picture that matches the word.
• In Purple Teacher Planner, Step 6, Unit /-le/, students draw a picture to illustrate each word in the Sound Hunt Grid, and then they read each word.

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

• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 211-215, Couple Card Match, students lay out Couple Cards of words with Sneaky e. Students read the word and find the picture that matches.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 226-220, students practice reading the mini-book that focuses on words with /ee/ pattern. Students read each word and draw a picture of the word.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 256-260, the teacher writes homophones and homonyms in a visible space, and students read the words. Example pairs are see and sea, peak and peek, and tee and tea.
• In Purple Teacher Planner, Step 6, Practice page activity, the students work as a class to think of example words with four prefixes. Students read all of the words at the bottom of Practice page 271, and students underline the base word.

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

• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 216-230, students review long vowels with the Sneaky e by tossing a beanbag into the correct bin with the long vowel sound.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 236-240, students review learning /ee/ and /ea/ words by decoding the 14 previously learned words on the Express Spelling #1 word list.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 256-260, students review all of the vowel teams that they have learned. In the mini lesson on the /ui/ sound, students sound out and read each word on their paper from Student Activity Book (SAB) pages 193-194.

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

• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 241-245, students practice vowel teams by watching the teacher build words and then decoding words as a group. Students find the corresponding vowel team and individually place the vowel team on their vowel team mat.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 256-260, students practice what they learned about compound words from Day 256 by cutting apart the compound word base and one of the compound word picture sets. Students create new words.
• In Purple Teacher Planner, Step 6, short /o/ Unit, students cut out the /aw/, /au/, and /al/ cards from page 203. The teacher asks for a volunteer to make a word. Students write the /aw/ words on their mat and circle the short /o/ words.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 partially meet the criteria that materials promote frequent opportunities for students to practice decoding phonetically regular words in a sentence.

The Grade 2 materials provide opportunities to decode phonetically regular words in a sentence within decodable books. Students are introduced to the decodable book during whole class lessons, and the teacher selects a center activity where students continue practicing the decodable book. Every lesson has at least one decodable reader, and the phonics skill taught that week is highlighted in the decodable book. However, materials do not provide direction to the teacher to read daily, so this activity does not provide substantial opportunities for students to decode words in a sentence. There is an absence of explicit, systematic practice for decoding phonetically regular words in a sentence beyond general teacher instructions for modeling how to decode.

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

• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 106-110, the teacher provides “Blue Blends Silly Sentence” words and models how to choose a Bug card (a noun) and a Frog card (a verb), how to decode each word, write a sentence, and draw a corresponding picture.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Step 4 and Step 5, Days 186-190, students get the book, Snake 1 and Snake 2. The teacher points out the “Slow Down Sound” of the Sneaky e, and the teacher helps students to say sounds according to letter-to-sound correlations.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 211-215, the teacher reads the book, Frog has the Blues, and models how to say sounds according to letter-to-sound correlations. The teacher is instructed to help students decide whether a word is decodable or not and to think about whether the word makes sense in the sentence.

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

• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 106-110, students read Cub and the Drum. The teacher indicates that students should decode each word in the sentence and reread the sentence for meaning. Students are expected to read the story independently and identify the phonics structures that they have learned.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 191-195, after reading the book Duck Bakes a Cake, students complete a Cloze activity where they read the sentences that have missing words and pick the correct word to finish the sentences. The students reread the sentence.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 216-220, students practice reading a book, Cat gets a Scare, with a partner, switching off reading sentences in the book out loud. Students reread sentences if they needed to slow down to decode or identify words.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 236-240, students create sentences using “Bug” words (nouns) and “Frog” words (verbs). Students reread the sentences.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 partially meet the criteria that materials include daily practice opportunities for students to build/manipulate/spell and encode grade-level phonics, including common and newly-taught sound and sound patterns.

Materials include limited modeling in encoding, building, and manipulating words and modeling of each skill is not included in the daily lessons. Some opportunities are only in centers, which are flexible. The materials include explicit instructions on how to find the letter, say the letter sounds, model how to blend the words, and have students track their blending. Some lessons include student practice opportunities with no or limited teacher modeling.

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

• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 186-190, instructions take the teacher step-by-step through building the words save, make, and flake. To move from make to flake, the instructions explicitly explain “substituting a blend or letter to help the students make a new word.”
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, in Days 216-220, the teacher shows students how to complete the Bug and Frog activity by modeling how to decode each word one at a time and how to write the words in sentences.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, in Days 231-235, the teacher demonstrates how to build /ea/ words on the Vowel Team mat.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 231-235, materials provide explicit instruction that “teachers say a letter name and ask students to put their finger on that letter.” The teacher says the sounds and have students touch the letters that correspond with the sound stated. “Teachers repeat the sounds…and students echo the sound back.” Students are provided the letters a, s, v, m, k, and the blend /fl/. Examples are provided on Wonder Word strips #39-40.

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

• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 186-190, students practice typing each word on the list. After completing that task, students then use the Wonder Word Mat and Letter Cards to build each word on the list one time.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 191-195, Center #8: Sound House, a_e, students have sound houses with the spelling pattern /a_e/. Students choose a picture card and write the word for the picture.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 201-205, students sound out each word on their mini-book /i_e/ and read each of the words on their papers.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 231-235, students are provided letter cards for blends, digraphs, and the vowel team /ea/. Students also have a Wonder Word mat and picture cards with a word containing the sound /ea/. Students look at the picture and build the word.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 partially meet the criteria that materials promote application and encoding of phonics in activities and tasks. (mid Kindergarten-Grade 2)

Materials provide some application and encoding of phonics in activities and tasks. There is limited instruction for students to practice phonics within sentences. Materials include limited practice for students to encode words during spelling activities and during the Frog and Bug activities and additional activities require students to write single words, not sentences. Explicit instruction for each introduced pattern is not systematic. Materials include limited activities of application and encoding of phonics in Step 6.

Materials include limited explicit, systematic teacher-level instruction of teacher modeling that demonstrates the use of phonics to encode sounds to letters and words in writing tasks. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 196-200, students are shown picture cards. The teacher writes one of the words and puts a rectangle around the ending rime. The teacher gives students a paper with two ending rimes, and students are to write a list of rhyming words with the ending rime.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 216-220, Center #8: Silly Sentences, the teacher models how to create a sentence using words from the Frog and Bug bucket. The teacher models how to write the sentence, emphasizing how to write the uppercase letters at the beginning of the sentences, putting proper spaces between each word, and putting the end mark at the end of the sentence.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 226-230, in the practice pages /ee/, the teacher writes the sentence, “A weed is next to a seed.” Then the teacher decodes the sentence and helps students notice that the weed is alone.

Lessons provide students with limited activities and tasks to promote application of phonics as they encode words in sentences or in phrases based on common and newly taught phonics patterns. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 211-215, in the “Express Spelling” section, students write Sneaky e words by writing four or five sentences.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 216-220, students pick one word from the “Bug” group and one word from the “Frog” group to create a sentence. Students copy the sentences into their booklet with a pencil.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Step 4 and Step 5, Days 216-220 , students color an object in the picture that has a Sneaky “e” and a long vowel. Students encode that word by saying the word, listening for the phonemes, and using their knowledge of letter-to-sound correspondences and “Sneaky “e” to write the correct letters for the sounds in the word.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Step 4 and Step 5, Days 261-265, students color objects in the picture that are words with a vowel team and a long vowel. Students write two to three sentences about the pictures, using some of the vowel team words in their sentences. Students encode the vowel team words by saying the words, listening for the phonemes, and using their knowledge of letter-to-sound correspondences and vowel team words to write the correct letters for the sounds in the word.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 partially meet the criteria that materials include systematic instruction of high-frequency words and practice opportunities of high-frequency words to develop automaticity.

The materials contain practice for students in identifying the Sticky Words in isolation. The program lacks evidence of frequent opportunities for the teacher to model and read irregularly spelled words. There was no evidence of systematic and explicit instruction of irregularly spelled words or frequent opportunities for teachers to model the spelling and reading of irregularly spelled words in isolation. No evidence was found in Step 6 of teaching of irregularly spelled words other than these words being included on the weekly spelling list. Additionally, some of the practice of high-frequency words takes place in center activities, which are optional. Furthermore, the number of Sticky Words may not be enough for students in Grade 2 depending upon where the student began instruction in the Express Readers program.

Materials include some systematic and explicit instruction of irregularly spelled words. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• Recognize and read grade-appropriate irregularly spelled words.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 176-180, the teacher displays all the Sticky word display cards for Step 4. The teacher explains “a Sticky Word is a word we get stuck on. The teacher places the word they in the middle of the board. The teacher chooses a book from the class library. Students are instructed to put their hands on their head or make a movement or sound each time they hear or see the word they in the story read aloud.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 226-230, the teacher displays the Sticky Word what and puts it in the middle of the board. The teacher reads a story to students. Every time the students see/hear the word what, they put their hands on their heads.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Page 248, Days 226-230, the teacher displays the Sticky Word Display Cards for why and reviews the word. The students search for the word on the activity page, color the sticky word, do a hidden picture hunt for the words, and/or complete writing practice.

Materials include some opportunities for the teacher to model the spelling and reading of irregularly spelled words in isolation. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 176-180, the teacher displays all of the Sticky Word cards for Step 4. After explaining what Sticky Words are, the teacher reads a story that features Sticky Words. When the teacher says a Sticky Word, the students put their hands on their head, give a high five, or clap their hands.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 191-195, the teacher reads the book, Duck Bakes a Cake, with students. The teacher reads the book with students to help them track sentences and to find Sticky Words when they are reading.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 181-185, students are given Sticky Word display cards for Steps 1-4. The students place the words on the floor. The teacher reads each word one time, as students slap or tap that word. The teacher calls out the words multiple times in different orders for students to find and slap or tap.

Students practice identifying and reading irregularly spelled words in isolation. Example includes but is not limited to the following:

• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 176-180, the students are provided a Sticky Word hunt paper which has 100+ words. The words on the word hunt include Sticky Words and decodable words. The teacher determines three words for the students to find on the page, and each of the three words are circled with a different color of crayon. The teacher explains to students that they are not to read the text but scan and track each line to find the Sticky Words. Students are asked to count the number of times each word appears in the word hunt and record the number.

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

• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, students are introduced to the following Sticky Words: could, no, now, our, said, we, what, why.
• In Teacher Guidebook, Step 6, provides the 14 Sticky Words for Step 6 instruction. The Step 6 words include the following words: about, always, friend, how, know, knows, me, sorry, were, where, while, who, would, your.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 partially meet the criteria that materials provide frequent practice opportunities to read and write high-frequency words in context (sentences).

There are multiple opportunities for students to read high-frequency words through the use of decodable books and sentence solving activities; however, materials lack opportunities for students to write high-frequency words in sentences. Students are provided opportunities to write sentences as they complete sentence starters; however, the completed sentences may or may not contain high-frequency words.

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

• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 211-215, students read the book, Frog Has The Blues. The book contains the following Sticky Words: some, the, you, are, says, have, good, sees, wants, to, do, be, from, go.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 231-235, students read the book, Pig at the Beach. The new Sticky Words that students read are, now. There are previously learned "Sticky Words" in the book: of, the, does, for, to, was, he, when, good, wants.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Step 5, Days 226-230, students are given the book Duck Feels Sick and turn to the first page to find the Sticky Words in this story. Students go on a hunt, coloring the Sticky Words in the book with a yellow crayon. The teacher reads the book with the students, helping them find the Sticky Words and use prior knowledge to read those words.
• In Purple Teacher Planner, Step 6, Unit 2, Book: Snakes in a Storm, after students receive a copy of the book, the teacher reviews the information in the box. Included in the box are a list of Sticky Words found in the book with an explanation that “a Sticky Word is a word you can get stuck on! Don’t get stuck on the Sticky Words.” Students open to the inside of the front cover to review the Sticky Words. The teacher helps students read the book as a whole class, in partners, or in small groups.

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

• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 186-190, the students are given Spelling List #1, which contains 16 words. Two of the 16 words are Sticky Words. Students are instructed to choose four words from the spelling list and write sentences using those words.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 211-215, Sticky Word Activity Book, students trace the Sticky Word and then practice writing the word on the lines below.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 211-215, the activity has students respond to the prompt, “If I was sick, I would..,” which allows them to practice writing Sticky Words in sentences.”
• In Express Spelling, Steps 4-6, students are given a packet of spelling activities, which includes a page for students to write a sentence for four of the spelling words and a page for writing all of the words two times each. Students get to pick which four spelling words they write in sentences.

Materials provide limited instruction in how to use student friendly reference materials and resources and reading irregularly spelled words (e.g., word cards, word lists, word ladders, student dictionaries). Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 176-180, students have access to Sticky Words flash cards and Display cards for the story that the teacher reads to students.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 211-215, the teacher displays the Word Display Card for the word some.
• In Purple Teacher Planner, Step 6, Activity: Tricky Dictionary, the teacher directions say to give students the following list of words: pouts, slouch, grouch, gown, discount, vow. Students choose three words to write. They write each word in the box and complete the definition.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 partially meet the criteria that materials explicitly teach word analysis strategies (e.g., phoneme/grapheme recognition, syllabication, morpheme analysis) based on the requirements of the standards and provide frequent practice opportunities for students to apply word analysis strategies.

Materials include explicit instruction for syllabication to read longer words. Instruction in syllabication includes defining the term and modeling segmenting spoken words into syllables. Students are taught to identify blends and vowel teams by coloring them in a decodable book in order to draw attention to the blend while reading. There is explicit instruction of phoneme and grapheme word decoding strategies for students. However, there is limited evidence of explicit instruction for phoneme or grapheme recognition or morpheme analysis. Limited evidence was found for frequent explicit instruction of word-solving strategies to decode unfamiliar words or for multiple and varied opportunities being provided over the course of the year for students to learn, practice, and apply word analysis strategies. Materials are available for students practice reading, complete practice pages, and complete spelling activities.

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

• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 186-190, students have letters a, s, v, m, k and the blend /fl/. The teacher says a sound, a blend, or a digraph, and students put their finger on the card that makes that sound. Students complete this activity with the teacher to create the word make.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 191-195, the teacher explains that words have one or more syllables and that a syllable is one unit of sound and has a vowel. The teacher teaches the rule that you say a syllable “every time your chin drops down”. The teacher says a word, and the students count the syllables in each word by wiggling each time the teacher"s chin drops. The teacher asks how many syllables were in the word spoken.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 226-230, the teacher explains, “When two vowels team up, they should say the first one’s name.” The teacher displays the vowel team and asks students to repeat the sound. The teacher builds words using the spelling pattern, and students decode these words as a group. The teacher states a word with the vowel team, and students find the correct letter cards to build the word.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 246-250, the teacher writes the words defeat and windmill. The teacher reminds students that each syllable in a word is a unit that contains a vowel. The teacher starts with the word defeat and asks how many syllables the word has. The teacher explains that syllables that end with a vowel are most often read as a long vowel. The teacher models segmenting the word into syllables.

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

• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 186-190, the teacher chooses a card with a /a_e/ pattern and writes the word in a visible place. The teacher explains that students can make a rhyming list by taking this ending and adding a different onset or beginning sound. Students write a word list with the same rime.
• In Purple Teacher Planner, Step 6, Unit 7, students practice reading the multi-syllabic words by reading the words in chunks. The students are encouraged to cover up part of the word as they are reading the other part.

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

• In Orange Teacher Planner Steps 4 and 5, Days 191-195, the students read the book, Duck Bakes a Cake. The book has a_e words in it.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 216-220, the teacher writes a multi-syllabic word and circles each part, showing how words can be read in parts. Students are given a word pile and they choose a word from the pile, circle both syllables, and decode each part separately.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 246-250, Fish Gets Clean, students read the decodable book. Students color the vowel teams throughout the book, and teachers help students “chunk” two-syllable words.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 partially meet the criteria that instructional opportunities are built into the materials for systematic, evidence-based, explicit instruction in fluency (Grades 1-2).

Materials provide opportunities for explicit, systematic instruction in fluency elements in Steps 4 and 5. There are no opportunities for explicit, systematic instruction in fluency in Step 6. Parts of the phonics books are modeled during Step 6 fluency instruction, but there is no evidence that students have the opportunity to hear fluent reading of extended text by a model reader. Students are paired with classmates for readings or rereadings of decodable phonics books, but it is not specified if the partner is a fluent reader who can model accurate reading. The instructions for teachers include modeling examples and non-examples for fluent reading.

Materials include weekly opportunities for explicit, systematic instruction in fluency elements using grade-level text. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 186-190, the objectives include “to engage in supported practice to gain oral reading fluency” and “to understand the use and impact of phrasing, expression, punctuation, rate and accuracy.” To practice fluency, the teacher explains how to use intonation, read punctuation, read with a rhythm, and read with an appropriate pace.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Step 4 and Step 5, Days 211-215, the teacher explains the following fluency aspects: intonation, read punctuation, and read with rhythm and consistent pace.

Materials provide opportunities for students to hear fluent reading of grade-level text by a model reader. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 211-215, students reread the book Frog Has The Blues with a partner. The focus of the reread is to read with more accuracy and fluency simultaneously. Students switch off reading sentences in the book out loud.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 226-230, the teacher is prompted to provide examples for students of reading with expression and not in a monotone voice, reading proper rate, not too fast or too slow, and reading with accuracy. The teacher models reading stopping at every mark to take a breath.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 241-245, the teacher models reading the sentences with the students from the decodable book, Snakes on the Train.

Materials include some resources for explicit instruction in fluency. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 251-255, students read the story, Cub on a Boat. The teacher explains that students use intonation when they read out loud. The teacher explains that students should read for punctuation and with an appropriate pace.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 216-220, students read a Reader's Theater called Frog has the Blues.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 partially meet the criteria that varied and frequent opportunities are built into the materials for students to engage in supported practice to gain oral reading fluency beginning in mid-Grade 1 and through Grade 2 (once accuracy is secure).

Students have an opportunity to reread a decodable book introduced during the whole-class lesson, after it has been read once with the teacher and used in a center activity. During centers, there is consistently a center focused on rereading decodable texts after whole-class lessons; however, centers are flexible. Feedback and guidance from the teacher is limited to general reminders about slowing down, thinking if the word makes sense, or trying to read again. There is a lack of evidence regarding specific feedback suggestions. There are frequent opportunities for students to read short stories and phonics books to practice fluency. There is opportunity for self-correction procedure that is used to help students build automaticity and fluency. Students are typically presented with one new decodable book per five-day instructional sequence.

Opportunities are provided over the course of the year in core materials for students to gain oral reading fluency. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Orange Teacher Planner, Step 4, Scope and Sequence, in seven of ten weekly lessons in this step, students have the opportunity to practice oral reading fluency through the reading of a phonics book. In six of these weeks, they have the opportunity to practice oral reading fluency while reading the Express Readers.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Step 5, Scope and Sequence, pages 7-8, in seven of the eight weekly lessons in this step, students have the opportunity to practice oral reading fluency through the reading of a phonics book. In four of these weeks, they also have the opportunity to practice oral reading fluency while reading the Express Readers. Additionally, in seven of these weeks, students reread the phonics book during centers to practice fluency.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, the Scope and Sequence outlines Step 5 phonics books. There are seven different phonics books, such as Duck Feels Sick and Cub On a Boat.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 246-250, students read the short story, “Snakes in the Rain.”
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 251-255, students read Cub on a Boat simultaneously with the teacher and then reread with a partner.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 256-260, students read the book Cat On The Road simultaneously with the teacher and then reread with a partner.

Materials contain opportunities for students to participate in repeated readings of a grade-level text to practice oral reading fluency. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 236-240, students reread Dog’s Feast, which was introduced in a whole-class lesson during the five-day instructional sequence. Students reread with the teacher, a stuffed animal, or a classmate, and then the teacher facilitates an additional reread.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 241-245, students reread Snakes on a Train, which was introduced in a whole-class lesson during the five-day instructional sequence. Students reread with the teacher, a stuffed animal, or a classmate, and then the teacher facilitates an additional reread.

Materials include some guidance and feedback suggestions to the teacher for supporting students’ gains in oral reading fluency. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 191-195, for the book Duck Bakes a Cake, the teacher helps with self-correcting by reminding students to think about the sentence as a whole and whether the words make sense in context, to look at the phonics and sound out the words, and to identify whether the word is decodable or a Sticky Word.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Step 4, Days 196-200, the teacher explains that reading with fluency is reading smoothly and with a proper rate and breath-taking. Then the teacher models the effect fluency and expression have on ability to comprehend by: reading part of the script in monotone voice, reading a sentence leaving large pauses between each word, reading a section of the script quickly and reading a sentence very quietly. After providing these examples, the teacher asks students if they understood the reading or found it interesting to listen to.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 206-210, while reading the book, The Snakes Race, the teacher helps students to self-correct when making mistakes by identifying whether the word is decodable, looking back at the letters and saying each sound in order, and thinking about whether the word they read makes sense.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Step 5, Days 236-240, the teacher reminds students to read with expression, read with proper rate, read with accuracy, and stop at every end mark and take a breath. The teacher should provide examples of the above factors in reading out loud to show proper and incorrect examples.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 partially meet the criteria that materials provide teacher guidance to support students as they confirm or self-correct errors and emphasize reading for purpose and understanding.

Materials include strategies for how the teacher can help students self-correct errors. Although the teacher is prompted to give reminders about using looking carefully at the sounds in words, there is a lack of specific instructions on how to confirm students' use of the strategies and how to make students aware if they chose the correct strategy based on the error they made. The materials contain learning objectives and teacher discussion questions for students to understand the decodable texts; however, the teacher does not state the purpose for reading or provide a think-aloud during reading to guide students’ understanding.

Materials provide explicit lessons for the teacher in confirming and self-correcting errors in fluency. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

In Orange Teacher Planner, Step 4, Days 186-190, Snake 1 and Snake 2, the teacher is advised to help students to self-correct when making mistakes in reading by identifying whether the word is decodable or not, looking back a the letters and slowly saying each sound in order, and thinking about whether the word they read makes sense in the context of the sentence and the picture on the page in order to self-check accuracy.

• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 196-200, Dog and his Bone, the teacher helps students to self-correct by identifying whether the word is a decodable or Sticky Word. The teacher prompts the student to look back at the word, saying each sound in order, and thinking about whether the word they read makes sense in the context of the sentence and the picture on the page in order to self-check accuracy.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Step 5, Days 236-240, Dog’s Feast, the teacher is advised to help students to self-correct when making mistakes in reading by identifying whether the word is decodable or not, looking back a the letters and slowly saying each sound in order, and thinking about whether the word they read makes sense in the context of the sentence and the picture on the page in order to self-check accuracy.

Materials do not provide opportunities for students to practice using confirmation or self-correction of errors.

Multiple opportunities are provided over the course of the year for students to read on-level texts (Grades 1-2) for purpose and understanding. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 191-195, students read the decodable book Duck Bakes a Cake. The objectives include, “to engage students in oral language and discussion of text being read.”
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 206-210, students read the decodable book The Snake's Race. The objectives include, “to engage students in oral language and discussion of text being read.”
• In Purple Teacher Planner, Step 6, ou ow (the ouch sound) Unit, the teacher has students predict what the book Cub Frowns is about by looking at the cover. After the book is read, students discuss the book by answering basic example questions, simple questions, and complex questions.

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

• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 201-205, the teacher explains to students that they should use intonation in order to not have a monotone voice and have the story be boring. The teacher reads the text with a monotone voice and then reads the story a second time with a more interesting voice, and asks students which voice they liked more.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 211-215, the teacher explains that reading slowly is a wonderful way to discover the words and avoid making mistakes.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 236-240, the teacher provides students with the book Dog’s Feast. The objectives include, “to engage students in oral language and discussion of text being read.” The teacher is provided with example questions to ask students, such as, “What happens because of Dog’s fall?” and “How is the problem solved at the end of the story?”
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5,Days 241-245, the teacher provides the students with the book Snakes on a Train. The objectives include, “to engage students in oral language and discussion of text being read.” The teacher is provided with example questions to ask students, such as, “Why are the snakes travelling?” and “Why can’t the snakes take the bus?”

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria that materials contain a teacher edition with ample and useful annotations and suggestions on how to present the content in the student materials. Where applicable, materials include teacher guidance for the use of embedded technology to support and enhance student learning.

The materials provide comprehensive instructions for teachers to use when implementing routines, centers, activities, and practice pages to support student learning. The Teacher Planner outlines suggestions and hints for teachers on how to deliver instruction to students. Weekly overviews give sufficient detail on the skills that will be covered each week. Bold headings, tables, and suggested times are included for ease of use. Embedded technology is organized effectively and allows teachers to access assessments, reports, and documents online, but there are limited digital resources that provide teachers with instructional techniques and supports for students.

Materials provide a teacher resource (teacher edition, manual) for content presentation. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, page 22, Days 176-180, provides directions regarding student practice pages. Student practice pages are at the end of each 5-day cycle and the routine is similar in each 5-day cycle. Instructions include identifying the student materials, directions for teachers to tell the students to circle pictures that contain the long /a/ sound, and extensions for students to write the letter a or phonetically spell the word.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 236-240, in the mini-lesson, the students are prompted by the teacher to pick the Couple Cards for Step 4 and 5 and tell their peers what the sound of the medial long vowel sound is.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 251-255, in the Gray Space Activity, the teacher says the multi-syllabic word without segmenting into syllables. The students are instructed to determine whether the syllables are open or closed. The students open their arms to indicate an open syllable and close their arms to indicate a closed syllable.
• In Purple Teacher Planner, Step 6, Review Unit 3, “Clip-art Sort” activity, students sort words with the long and short /oo/ sound. They divide their paper in half, write a header on each side of their paper, and glue clip-art with the correct vowel sound under the corresponding header.

The teacher resource contains information and instructional routines that help the teacher to effectively implement all foundational skills content (i.e. phonics, irregularly spelled words, word analysis, fluency).

• In Teacher Guidebook, Step 6, page 28, Days 196-200, in the “Can You Hear it?” long vowel activity, the teacher says a word with a long vowel out loud while students complete a body movement.
• In Teacher Guidebook, Step 6, page 28, Days 236-240, in the “Act it Out” (Vowel Teams) activity, the teacher whispers a word containing a vowel team into the ear of the actor. The students are given a hint, and the students act out the word.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, pages 180-181, Days 211-215, provides teacher directions regarding student phonics book, Frog Has The Blues. Teacher instructions include identifying student materials, objectives of decoding phonetically regular words and identifying sight words, and writing complete sentences. The routine consists of students rereading the phonics book with the teacher or a buddy or taking turns reading pages or sentences with a classmate. The reading comprehension pages follow a routine of adding a picture, sequencing, answering true/false questions, and answering questions on the activity page.

Any technology pieces included provide support and guidance for the teacher and do not create an additional layer of complication around the materials.

• The online material includes six clear headers that include assessments, reports, and documents.
• Each of the headers has subheadings underneath, with documents, student assessments, and blackline masters of the assessments.
• In the subheading “Student Copy, ‘I Am Ready’ and ‘Steps 1 - 5,’” there are blackline masters of the uppercase and lowercase letter assessment.
• In Teacher’s Guidebook, Steps 1-5, page 193, Assessment Guide, there are directions for teachers for how to access the website, expressreaders.org.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 partially meet the criteria that materials contain full, adult-level explanations and examples of the foundational skills concepts included in the program so teachers can improve their own knowledge of the subject, as necessary.

The Teacher’s Guidebook summarizes what foundational skills concepts are included in the program. There are adult-level explanations of some foundational skills concepts in Step 6. However, explanations and examples of key phonics concepts are not included. Some definitions and explanations are limited in scope and do not provide enough information for teachers to understand the concept. Student examples are embedded in the teacher planners, but these are given in relation to how to present the skills to students. The explanations do not provide information to help teachers improve their own base of knowledge on the subject. Other concepts are illustrated with examples but do not have accompanying definitions.

Some detailed adult-level explanations are provided for each foundational skill taught at the grade level. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 211 - 215, the teacher writes three words in a visible place for students. The directions state the teacher should remind students that each syllable in a word is a unit that contains a vowel.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 236-240, Mini-Lesson: End Marks, the teacher is provided definitions of when to use punctuation marks and the reasoning for each end mark. The reasoning includes using a period for a fact or opinion without much expression and using an exclamation point for lots of feeling or a louder voice.
• In Purple Teacher Planner, Step 6, Practice Page activity, the directions state the following rule: “When E is the only vowel, and it is OPEN (without a letter after it), it says long /ē/.”
• In the Purple Teacher Planner, Step 6, Practice Pages Activities, “ight/y/ie” (long /ī/) - The planner states that the rule for long /ī/ is that it can be spelled out with “igh”, “y” or “ie”.

Some detailed examples of the grade level foundational skill concepts are provided for the teacher. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 206-210, the Whole Class Lesson says “Soft /C/ Introduction.”
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 216-220, in the mini lesson, it says that the teacher should label the buckets with long vowels, /a_e/, /i_e/, /o_e/, /u_e/, and /ue/.
• In the Purple Teacher Planner, Step 6, “Homophone Hands” activity: “Chimp at the Market”, the teacher gives the example of homophones with the words “meets” and “meats”.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 partially meet the criteria that foundational skills lessons are well-designed and take into account effective lesson structure and pacing. Content can reasonably be completed within a regular school year, and the pacing allows for maximum student understanding.

The scope and sequence includes mini-lessons, whole-class lessons, and center activities with suggested instructional time frames. This provides for teacher choice and flexibility within a five-day instructional sequence. Daily lessons are flexible and manageable for a variety of teacher schedules. However, the program lacks effective guidance for teachers in terms of pacing and delivering explicit lessons. Although time guidelines are provided for each activity, there is no indication of how lessons should be paced in order to cover all grade-level standards over the course of the school year. While materials provide lessons in five-day increments, there is no established number of lessons that would be completed in a school year, as students work at their own pace and begin work at their current level. Many of the lessons that include grade-level standards are included in center lessons and will not necessarily be completed by all students. It is not clear if students will complete enough lessons to master standards for the grade level, especially if a student starts with materials below grade level.

The lesson design structure includes both whole group and small group instruction. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Orange Teacher Planner, Days 236-240, the Whole Class Lessons can be done in smaller groups to accommodate behaviors and capabilities.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Days 246-250, the Whole Class/Small Group lesson is “Fish Gets Clean”, “Short Story: Snakes in the Rain,” and “Syllable Dividing.”
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4-5, Page 5-6, Scope and Sequence, Mini lessons, whole class lessons and centers/small group activities are listed.

The pacing of each component of daily lessons plans is partially clear and appropriate. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 216-220, Whole Class Lesson, the lesson is recommended to take 25-30 minutes.
• In Purple Teacher Planner, Step 6, “Cloze Activity for /ar/”, the planner states that the time allotted for the activity should be 15-20 minutes.
• In Purple Teacher Planner, Step 6, “Word to Picture Match” activity for /ow/ and /ou/, the time allotted for the activity is 15-20 minutes.

The suggested amount of time and expectations for maximum student understanding of all foundational skill content (i.e. phonics, irregularly spelled words, word analysis, fluency) can partially be completed in one school year and should not require modifications. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Teacher’s Guidebook, Step 6, page 13, is completed as review activities. There is one unit on open /e/ or long /e/, /ay/, and /ar/ sounds. Unit 2 is a review of Unit 1, with /or/, /er/, /ir/, /ur/, and /le/.
• In the Teacher’s Guidebook, Step 6, page 13, Unit 3 is a review of /oo/ as long /u/ and /oo/ as short /u/ sounds.
• In the Teacher’s Guidebook, Step 6, page 13, Unit 4 is “ow/oe” and “ow/ou” sounds.
• In the Teacher’s Guidebook, Step 6, page 13, Unit 5 is “igh/y” sounds and “y” long /ē/ sounds, “oy/oi”, /ȯ/, and /al/ sounds.
• In the Teacher’s Guidebook, Step 6, page 13, Unit 6 is “eu/eu” and silent letter review.
• In the Teacher’s Guidebook, Step 6, page 13, Unit 7 is a review of the skills prefixes, suffixes, soft /c/ and /g/, phonics chunks, and compound words.

For those materials on the borderline (e.g. approximately 130 days on the low end or 200 days on the high end), evidence does not clearly explain how students would be able to master ALL the grade level standards within one school year. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Teacher’s Guidebook, Steps 1-5 - Step 4 has eight weeks of Sneaky E work.
• In Teacher’s Guidebook, Steps 1-5 - Step 4 has eight weeks of vowel team work.
• In Teacher’s Guidebook, Step 6, there is one week of review for each focus of phonics.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 partially meet the criteria that the Scope and Sequence clearly delineate an intentional sequence in which phonics skills are to be taught, with a clear explanation for the order of the sequence.

The Teacher’s Guidebook for Ready, Set, GO!” and Big Steps includes a scope and sequence for phonics skills. The materials delineate an intentional sequence of instruction for phonics skills. The program clearly delineates an intentional sequence of instruction for each step. Step 4 includes sneaky e, long vowels, and soft c. Step 5 includes vowel teams (ai, ee, ea, oa, ui) and long vowels. Step 6 includes long e, vowel-controlled r, silent letters, prefixes, and suffixes. However, the materials do not provide a clear, research-based rationale for why the phonics skills were chosen in that order.

Materials clearly delineate a Scope and Sequence with a cohesive, intentional sequence of phonics instruction and practice to build toward application of skills. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Ready, Set, GO!, Teacher’s Guidebook, there is a scope and sequence for Orange Planner, Sections 1–3. In Sections 1–3, this is the scope and sequence:
• Days 166–175: Long Vowel Sounds vs. Short Vowel Sounds Intro
• Days 176–215: Sneaky “e”
• Days 216–255: Vowel Teams
• In Big Steps, Teacher’s Guidebook, there is a scope and sequence for Step 6. The focus topics of Step 6 are:
• Open “e” = long e
• ay (long a)
• ar (The Pirate Sound)
• or, ore, our, oor, oar
• er, ir, ur
• -le
• oo long
• oo short
• ow/oe (long o)
• ow/ou (The Ouch Sound)
• -igh/-y (long i)
• “y” = long e
• oy/oi
• aw, au, al (short o)
• ew/ue (The Yucky Sound)
• Silent letters (wh, kn, wr)
• Silent letters (mb, gn, ch, sw, sc, gh)
• prefixes/suffixes
• Soft c/g
• 2+ phonics chunks and compound words

Materials have a clear research-based explanation for the order of the phonics sequence.

• No evidence found.

Phonics instruction is based in high utility patterns and/or common phonics generalizations. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 186-190, the teacher explains, “Sneaky ‘e’ is VERY sneaky. It sneaks up on a word and whispers, ‘Say your name’ to the vowel, but you never hear its sound. It is silent!”
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 206-210, the teacher explains that c is soft and makes /s/ when followed by e, i, y.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 226-230, the teacher explains vowel teams as, “When 2 vowels go walking, the first 1 does the talking” and “When 2 vowels team up, they shout the first one’s name.”
• In Purple Planner, Step 6, ar Unit, the teacher explains The Rule for ar as “makes a sound like a pirate.”
• In Purple Planner, Step 6, ou, ow (the ouch) Unit, the teacher explains the The Rule for ow and ou “can say /ow/ like at the beginning of the word OUCH.”

Patterns and generalizations are carefully selected to provide a meaningful and manageable number of phonics patterns and common generalizations for students to learn deeply. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Orange Teacher Planner, Step 4, Scope and Sequence, Step 4 teaches long vowel words (Sneaky “e”) in an intentional sequence. Soft /c/ is also taught in this step. This phonics skill is taught and reviewed over an eight-week period.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Scope and Sequence, Days 196–200, the scope and sequence has one week for instruction on /o_e/ and /oe/ patterned words.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Scope and Sequence, Days 226–230, the scope and sequence allocates one week for /ee/ vowel teams instruction.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Scope and Sequence Days 236–240, students learn and practice the vowel teams /ee/ and /ea/.
• In Purple Teacher Planner, Step 6, students learn and practice igh/-y.
• In Purple Teacher Planner, Step 6, students learn and practice silent letters such as wh, kn, wr, mb, gn, ch, sw, sc, gh.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 partially meet the criteria that materials contain strategies for informing all stakeholders, including students, parents, or caregivers about the English Language Arts (ELA)/literacy program and suggestions for how they can help support student progress and achievement.

Steps 4-5 include a resource called Parent Posts, sample parent letters which can be customized and sent home to families. These newsletters provide a connection and explanation of specific activities introduced in the classroom. The Parent Post letters include description of vocabulary terms specific to the program, and explanations and examples of routine activities such as “Listen and Blend.” Assessment check-ins are explained, but there is no mention of further discussions or specific suggestions to stakeholders based on assessment results. There are no resources found for Step 6.

Materials contain jargon-free resources and processes to inform all stakeholders about foundational skills taught at school. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Teacher’s Guidebook, Steps 1-5, page 171, there is an explanation of the assessments that are completed.
• There are decodable books that students take home after they have read them in class.
• No resources were found for Step 6.

Materials provide stakeholders with strategies and activities for practicing phonological awareness, phonics and word recognition, fluency, and print concepts that will support students in progress towards and achievement of grade level foundational skills standards. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In student activities, Steps 4 and 5, there are decodable books that students take home after they have read them in class.
• In Teacher’s Guidebook, Steps 1-5, page 172, there is a Parent Post that explains what the check-ups are for and how they assess students.
• In Teacher’s Guidebook, Steps 1-5, page 163, Parent Post, the letter to parents is about the Take Home books with Sticky Words and Slow Down Sounds.
• No evidence was found for Step 6.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria that materials include decodable texts with phonics aligned to the program’s scope and sequence.

The Grade 2 contains decodable texts that align with the scope and sequence of phonics instruction. Materials outline which phonics skills will be introduced throughout each step of the program. The phonics patterns in the decodable texts are introduced in whole class instruction prior to the introduction of the decodable text.

Materials include decodable texts to address securing phonics. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 186–190, students receive the decodable book Snake 1 and Snake 2, which focuses on long vowels (a_e).
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 191–195, students receive the decodable book Duck Bakes a Cake, which focuses on long vowels (a_e).
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 196–200, students receive the decodable book Dog and His Bone, which focuses on long vowels (o_e).
• In Purple Teacher Planner, Step 6, students read the book, Dog Surfs. The text includes the “Slow Down Sounds” /ie/, /er/, and /ur/. It also includes the following two-syllable words: sunrise, after, seaweed, liquid, sunblock, into, onto, stronger, wetsuit, current, perfect, seconds, and enter.
• In Purple Teacher Planner, Step 6, students read the book, Cub’s Loyal Pal. The text includes the “Slow Down Sounds” /oy/ and /oi/ and the following two-syllable words: shopping, inside, sunshine, joyful, meantime, cannot, pinpoint, reason, upset, mistake, saying, poison, ointment, selfish, problem, loyal, being, myself, choices, and enjoys.

Decodable texts contain grade-level phonics skills aligned to the program’s scope and sequence. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 196–200, students read the text, Dog and His Bone. The scope and sequence states that the phonics skills are Sneaky “e” and /o_e/ words. In the Whole Class Lesson, the teacher has the students color the “Slow Down Sounds” /e/ in the book before they read it.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 211–215, students read the text, Frog Has The Blues. The scope and sequence states that the phonics skill is /u_e/, /ue/, multisyllabic words, and closed and open syllables. In the Whole Class Lesson, the teacher has the students color the “Slow Down Sounds” /e/ in the book before they read it.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 226–230, during Center #6, students read the decodable book Duck Feels Sick. The scope and sequence states that the phonics skills being taught is the vowel team /ee/. Students use an orange crayon to color the “Slow Down” words.

Materials include detailed lesson plans for repeated readings of decodable texts to address securing phonics skills. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Orange Teacher Planner, Step 4, Whole Class Lesson: Snake 1 and Snake 2, Days 186–190, one of the objectives of this lesson is for students “to practice reading a text multiple times to work towards accuracy and automaticity. After reading the book with the teacher, the directions state, “Students read the book a second time by taking turns, in partners, switching off by page, or in small groups. The teacher helps students self-correct when making mistakes in reading by: looking back at the letters and slowly saying each sound in order.”
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Step 5, Whole Class Lesson: Snakes on a Train, Days 241–245, one of the objectives of this lesson is for students “to practice reading a text multiple times to work towards accuracy and automaticity. After reading the book with the teacher, the directions state, “Students read the book a second time by taking turns, in partners, switching off by page, or in small groups. The teacher helps students self-correct when making mistakes in reading by looking back at the letters and slowly saying each sound in order.”
• In Purple Teacher Planner, Step 6, ar Unit, Book: Chimp at the Market, in the Alternative Activity Ideas, it is suggested that students collect autographs of people they read the book to. Another idea is to use a box to create a “Lovely Library” for each student. Students use the box to keep all of their Step 6 books at home or in a space in their classroom.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 partially meet the criteria that materials include decodable texts with high-frequency words aligned to the program’s scope and sequence.

Grade 2 materials contain a scope and sequence for instruction using decodable readers; however, the high-frequency words are not mentioned in the scope and sequence, and some of the decodable books have different high-frequency words than the words taught that week. Instruction of "Sticky Words" builds upon previous lessons, and “Sticky Words” are practiced in multiple books over the course in Steps 4-5. There is no evidence of instruction in Step 6. Students have opportunities to reread the decodable books, but these opportunities are not guaranteed to occur, as the books are reread primarily in optional centers or at home. There is no evidence that there is explicit instruction of all high-frequency words before students encounter them in text. The Scope and Sequence does not provide a list of "Sticky Words" that will be taught. Materials do not include detailed lesson plans for repeated readings to secure knowledge of high-frequency or irregularly spelled words.

Materials include decodable texts that utilize high-frequency/irregularly spelled words. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• Orange Teacher Planner, Step 4, Book 4, students read the decodable book Dog and His Bone. The “Sticky Words” in the text are “you”, “my”, “the”, “for”, “to”, “are”, “good”, “he”, “was”, “they”, and “put”.
• Teacher Planner, Step 6, students read the decodable book Pig at The Pool. The new “Sticky Word” is “your”, and the old "Sticky Words" in the text are “the”, “of”, “he”, “to”, “be”, “come”, “said”, “wants”, “we”, “does”, “do”, “are”, “puts”, and “you”.
• Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 191-195, Whole Class Lesson, students receive the decodable book Duck Bakes a Cake. The decodable book contains the new "Sticky Words" “again” and “wants” and contains previously introduced "Sticky Words" “to”, “for”, “he”, “the”, “puts”, and “likes.”
• Purple Teacher Planner, Step 6, students read the decodable book Fish’s New Jewel. The “Sticky Words” in the text are “how”, “her”, “was”, “again”, “could”, “does”, “says”, “want”, “to”, “when”, “there”, “my”, “be”, “for”, “have”, and “of”.

Decodable texts contain grade-level high-frequency/irregularly spelled words aligned to the program’s scope and sequence. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, students read the decodable book Ducks Bakes a Cake. The decodable book contains the “Sticky Words” “again”, “wants”, “to”, “for”, “he”, “the”, “puts”, and “likes”. The list is not mentioned in the Scope and Sequence.
• Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, students read the decodable book Frog has The Blues. The decodable book contains the “Sticky Words” “some”, “the”, “you”, “are”, “says”, “have”, “good”, “sees”, “wants”, “to”, “do”, “be”, “from”, and “go”. The list is not mentioned in the Scope and Sequence.
• Purple Teacher Planner, Step 6, students read the decodable book Pig Hikes. The decodable book contains the “Sticky Words” “when”, “the”, “does”, “good”, “to”, “he”, “do”, and “wants”. The list is not mentioned in the Scope and Sequence.

Materials include do not include lesson plans for repeated readings of decodable texts to address securing high-frequency words/irregularly spelled words in context. Lessons are general and do not provide detailed information for repeated readings. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 191-195, students read the book Duck Bakes a Cake. The decodable book contains the “Sticky Words” “again”, “wants”, “to”, “for”, “he”, “the”, “puts”, and “likes”. The teacher reads the book with the students, and then students read it again with another student.
• Purple Teacher Planner, Step 6 - Students read the book Pig at the Pool with the teacher in whole group, partners, or small group. During the Reading Comprehension section, students reread the book with a buddy, adult, or small group or classmates. The “Sticky Words” are “your”, “the”, “to”, “he”, “of”, “be”, “we”, “does”, “wants”, “do”, “are”, “for”, “you”, “puts”, “come”, and “said”.
• Purple Teacher Planner, Step 6, students read the book Duck’s Night Light with the teacher. The "Sticky Words" are, “your”, “for”, “what”, “the”, “does”, “when”, “have”, “says”, “he”, “to”, “do”, “all”, “of”, “too”, “you”, “are”, and “why.” During the Reading Comprehension section, students reread the book with a buddy, adult, or small group of classmates.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 partially meet the criteria that materials regularly and systematically offer assessment opportunities that measure student progress of phonics (as indicated by the program Scope and Sequence).

The Grade 2 materials provide the teacher with a record collection sheet to document data regarding student progress in phonics. Although Check-Ups are routinely given throughout the program, there is an absence of information to support instructional adjustments other than the number of correct items on each assessment. There are four Check-Ups in Steps 4 and 5; these Check-Ups are given at different points in the Steps. There does not appear to be a systematic pattern of when the Check-Ups are done. On some weeks, the teacher administers a Check-Up and a Formal Assessment, but this practice does not occur in other weeks. In addition, the Formal Assessment—Progress Testing and the respective Step Formal Assessment are also given in the same week. The Formal Assessment—Progress Test is given in every Step starting with the "I am Ready" Program. In the Step 6 Scope and Sequence and in the Purple Teacher Planner, there is no indication of when the Unit assessments are to be given, although the Step 6 Teacher Guidebook states that the assessments are to be given after each unit. The teacher is advised to use the Formal Assessments in Steps 4 and 5 to determine if students are ready to move to the next level. However, the materials do not provide guidelines that tell the teacher what scores mean to determine if the students are ready to move up. In addition, if a student is not ready, there are no guidelines on what the teacher should review to help students get to the next level.

Materials provide some resources and tools to collect ongoing data about students’ progress in phonics. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Scope and Sequence, pages 5–8, Check-Ups #7–10 are included in these two Steps. During these Check-Ups, students point to the digraph or vowel team when given the sound it makes, circle a word said by the teacher, and circle the vowel heard in a spoken word.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 221–225, during the assessment, students read simple sentences with CVC words, words with blends, and words with short vowels.
• In Teacher Guidebook, Step 6, Assessment, pages 77–94, the Step 6 Assessment is given at the end of each unit. The first part of the assessment for each unit assesses the chunks or simple phonics. Students say the sound for that chunk or spelling. During the second part, students read real words containing each of the phonics chunks within the units.

Materials offer limited assessment opportunities to determine students’ progress in phonics that are implemented systematically. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Teacher’s Guide, Steps 1–5, pages 108 and 110, teacher guidance includes detailed instructions on how to administer the Check-Up assessments. The directions identify the skill being assessed, such as “auditory blending, rhyming, letter recognition, and letter-sound correlations.” The assessment provides clear directions on what to say to the students during the assessment
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Scope and Sequence, pages 5–8, the Formal Assessment for progress testing and exiting the Step are given during the last week of lessons in both Steps 4 and 5. In the exit test, students read sentences to complete directions, write a missing vowel or vowel team in a word, write a word from a word bank under a picture, find a rhyming word, and choose the sentence that describes a picture.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 231–235, students take an express spelling assessment for words with /ea/. Students complete this assessment weekly.
• In Big Steps Teacher Guidebook, Step 6, Assessment, pages 77–94, the Step 6 Assessment is given at the end of each unit. There are eight assessments in Step 6. The first part of the assessment for each unit assesses the chunks or simple phonics. Students say the sound for that chunk or spelling. During the second part, students read real words containing each of the phonics chunks within the units.

Limited assessment opportunities are provided regularly for students to demonstrate progress toward mastery and independence with phonics. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Teacher’s Guide, Steps 1–5, pages 67–68, the materials provide the assessment schedule for the program. There are two Check-Up assessments for Step 4 between Days 196–215. During the Check-Up assessments, students identify blends from a row of blends, identify digraphs from a row of digraphs, circle a decodable word read aloud by the teacher, and circle a long vowel word read aloud by the teacher. There are an additional two Check-Up assessments for Step 5 between Days 246–265. During these Check-Ups, students identify vowel teams read aloud by the teacher and circle a decodable word read aloud by the teacher.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 221–225, during Center #1, the teacher administers Step assessments to students at the end of each Step to create a written record of students' understanding and ability.

Assessment materials provide teachers and students with some information that students’ current skills/level of understanding of phonics. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Teacher’s Guidebook, Steps 1–5, pages 99–103, the materials provide record pages for use when assessing letter sounds and students’ ability to decode additional phonics patterns throughout Step 1. Additional phonics patterns include CVC words, nonsense words, words with blends, digraphs, vowel teams, and Sneaky E words. The record sheet includes a score out of the total number of items in each category.
• In Teacher’s Guidebook, Steps 1–5, page 157, the guidebook states that if students correctly decode seventy-five percent (75%) of the words on the Step 4 online assessment on words with “Sneaky E” and long vowels, then students should start the program at Day 226, Step 5.
• In Teacher’s Guidebook, Steps 1–5, page 157, if students correctly decode seventy-five percent(75%) of the words on the Step 5 online assessment on words with vowel teams and long vowels, the guidebook suggests that students should start at Step 6.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Center #1, Formal Assessment Step 4, Days 221–225, this Step Assessment is given at the end of Step 4 to create a written record of student understanding and ability with the given material. The Step Assessments should be used along with the Express Readers Assessment to decide if students need more practice before moving on to the next Step in the program. By finding errors, the teacher can assess what types of practice students need as well. The Step 4 Assessment includes Read and Draw, Add to the Picture, Missing Vowel, Missing Word, Rhyming Words, and Pick the Sentence.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Center #1, Formal Assessment Step 5, Days 261–265, this Step Assessment is given at the end of Step 5 to create a written record of student understanding and ability with the given material. The Step Assessments should be used along with the Express Readers Assessment to decide if students need more practice before moving on to the next Step in the program. By finding errors, the teacher can assess what types of practice students need as well. The Step 5 Assessment includes Read and Draw, Add to the Picture, Missing Vowel Teams, Missing Word, Rhyming Words, and Pick the Sentence.

Materials genuinely measure students’ progress to support teachers with instructional adjustments to help students make progress toward mastery in phonics. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• No evidence was found.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 partially meet the criteria that materials regularly and systematically offer assessment opportunities that measure student progress of word recognition and analysis (as indicated by the program scope and sequence).

Assessments provide some opportunities throughout Steps 1–6 to assess Sticky Words. Although assessments are provided throughout the program, explicit information regarding instructional next steps based on assessment results is absent. The materials provide information regarding a starting point for placement into the program and provide general directions that students should be “placed in a prior Step or program” if students are unable to demonstrate mastery. The assessment delineates whether a score is considered Mastery, Developing, or Beginning, but no further explanation is given. A student error report is generated after each administration of the formal assessment, but the report does not explain what is included in this report and how much information it provides concerning students’ current skills and levels of understanding of word recognition and word analysis.

Materials provide limited assessment opportunities over the course of the year to demonstrate students’ progress toward mastery and independence of word recognition (high-frequency words or irregularly spelled words) and analysis. Example includes but is not limited to the following:

• In Big Steps Teacher’s Guidebook, Step 6, the materials provide assessments for Step 6 including Sticky Words. The assessments are delineated by Unit, because Step 6 is presented in a Unit instructional format.

Assessment materials provide teachers and students with information concerning students’ current skills/level of understanding of word recognition and word analysis. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• No evidence found.

Materials support teachers with instructional suggestions for assessment-based steps to help students to progress toward mastery in word recognition and word analysis. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• No evidence found.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 do not meet the criteria that materials regularly and systematically offer assessment opportunities that measure student progress in fluency (as indicated by the program scope and sequence).

There are no assessments that specifically evaluate students' fluency. The information in the teacher resources concerning the current skill being taught is general and does not specify what a teacher should be evaluating in regard to fluency. The Grade 2 materials reviewed offer an oral reading assessment for accuracy in Step 6. There is no mention in either the Scope and Sequence or in the list of activities in the review unit of this assessment of when the assessment should be administered. In addition, the teacher scores for accuracy only, not for fluency. Steps 4 and 5 assessments do not contain a fluency portion on the assessment. There is no assessment to provide students and teachers information about students’ current skills or levels of understanding fluency. Finally, the materials do not support teachers with instructional adjustments to help students make progress toward mastery in fluency.

Assessment opportunities are not provided regularly and systematically over the course of the year in core materials for students to demonstrate progress toward mastery and independence of fluency. Example includes but is not limited to the following:

• In Teacher’s Guidebook, Step 6, Assessments, pages 127–149, oral reading assessments for reading comprehension and accuracy are provided for Units 1–7. Students read the passage aloud while the teacher checks the box for each word read correctly, circles words read incorrectly, and underlines any word that was read correctly but needed to be self-corrected or sounded out in a very slow manner. On the teacher scoring sheet, certain words receive one point if read correctly, and other words receive two points. The total score is found by adding up each line and placing the score at the bottom of the sheet. Materials recommend the teacher finds the percentage of words read correctly. No additional guidance is provided.

Assessment materials provide teachers and students with information about students' current skills/level of understanding of fluency. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• No evidence found.

Materials support teachers with instructional adjustments to help students make progress toward mastery in fluency. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• No evidence found.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 partially meet the criteria that assessment materials include publisher-produced alignment documentation of the standards addressed by specific questions, tasks, and assessment and assessment materials clearly denote which standards are being emphasized.

The Grade 2 materials include publisher-produced alignment documentation of the standards addressed in assessments. The documentation lists the standard content from Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and the location in Express Readers assessment in which this content can be found. There is no evidence of alignment documentation showing specific standards correlated to specific questions and tasks. Materials contain a general correlation outline that states where the standards can be found in the instructional materials by component types.

Materials include denotations of the standards being assessed in the formative assessments. Example includes but is not limited to the following:

• In Teacher Guidebook, Step 6, pages 223–224, the Assessment Alignment outlines the standard content from the Phonics and Word Recognition strand of the CCSS, as well as the standard content for reading with accuracy and fluency to support comprehension. Next to each standard, there are notations of where these standards can be found in Express Readers assessments.

Materials include denotations of standards being assessed in the summative assessments. Example includes but is not limited to the following:

• In Teacher Guidebook, Step 6, pages 223–224, the Assessment Alignment outlines the standard content from the Phonics and Word Recognition strand of the CCSS, as well as the standard content for reading with accuracy and fluency to support comprehension. Next to each standard, there are notations of where these standards can be found in Express Readers assessments.

Limited alignment documentation is provided for tasks, questions, and assessment items. Example includes but is not limited to the following:

• In Teacher Guidebook, Step 6, pages 223–224, the Assessment Alignment outlines the standard content from the Phonics and Word Recognition strand of the CCSS, as well as the standard content for reading with accuracy and fluency to support comprehension. Next to each standard, there are notations of where these standards can be found in Express Readers assessments.

Alignment documentation contains standards correlated to lessons. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Teacher’s Guidebook, Steps 1–5, page 215, the Alignment Documentation: Standard guide denotes which standard goes with each Express Readers activity.
• In Teacher’s Guidebook, Step 6, page 205, the Alignment Documentation: Standard guide denotes which standard goes with each Express Readers activity.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 partially meet the criteria that materials regularly provide all students, including those who read, write, speak, or listen in a language other than English with extensive opportunities for reteaching meet or exceed grade-level standards.

The Grade 2 materials provide a brief discussion of the needs of English language learners in the alignment section of the Teacher Guidebooks; however, materials do not provide suggestions for teaching or reteaching in order for students to work towards meeting or exceeding grade-level standards. Additionally, the information provided for teachers does not vary for each standard. There is a lack of guidance in terms of specific strategies to use with English Language Learner (ELL) students in the lessons, and there is a lack of specific scaffolding and instructions within the Teacher Guidebooks. At the end of the Language Standards there is a section titled “Language Acquisition (informal and academic) - Second Grade. This section includes a list of examples for “Emerging, Expanding, & Bridging of English Language Development( ELD) in Express Readers in Second Grade.” However, there is no explanation of these levels to teachers, and the examples do not explain how to adapt the examples for the various levels. At the very end of this section it states “While there are no standards for Part III, this part signals to teacher [sic] that they will need to consider particular background characteristics of the K-12 English Learners ( EL)s when designing, teaching, and monitoring foundations literacy skills.” No further information is given to the teacher.

Materials provide limited support for ELL students. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Teacher Guidebook, Steps 1–5, page 226, materials provide teachers with information on EL proficiency: “If the student has little or no native language literacy,” the students “will need instruction in print concepts.” Students with some proficiency “will need instruction in applying their knowledge,” and students with literacy skills in a language that uses writing other than the Latin alphabet “will need instruction in learning the Latin alphabet.”
• In Teacher Guidebook, Steps 1–5, page 233, materials include this example for ELD: “[F]acilitate simple questions about what has been read.”

General statements about ELL students or few strategies noted at the beginning of a unit or at one place in the teacher edition are then implemented by the materials throughout the curriculum. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Teacher Guidebook, Step 6, page 206, teacher guidance states, “If students have no or little native language literacy, they will need instruction in print concepts.”
• In Teacher Guidebook, Step 6, page 207, Phonics and Word Recognition, 3. Know and Apply Grade level phonics, materials include information regarding students who have some foundational literacy proficiency in a language not using the Latin alphabet: “Students will be familiar with print concepts and will need instruction in learning the Latin alphabet for English as compared or contrasted with their native language writing system.”
• In Teacher Guidebook, Step 6, page 210, Common Core State Standards ( CCSS): conventions of Standard English, teacher guidance regarding students who have foundational literacy with a language that uses Latin alphabet (e.g., Spanish) includes: “Students will need instruction in applying their knowledge of print concepts, phonics and word recognition to the English writing system, as compared or contrasted with their native language alphabet (e.g., letters that are the same or different, or represent the same or different sounds) and native language vocabulary (e.g., cognates and sentence structure (e.g., subject-verb-object vs. subject-object-verb word order).”
• In Teacher Guidebook, Step 6, Alignment Section, pages 206–213 and 221–222, at the beginning of each set of standards (language-conventions of standard English, reading-print concepts, phonological awareness, phonics and word recognition, and fluency), a brief description of what ELL students will need is provided for three separate groups of students: no or little native language proficiency, some foundational literacy in a language not using the Latin alphabet, and some foundational literacy proficiency in a language using the Latin alphabet. At the end of the Language Standards there is a section titled “Language Acquisition (informal and academic) - Second Grade. On pages 221–222, examples for use of Emerging, Expanding & Bridging of ELD in Express Readers in Second Grade are listed.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 partially meet the criteria that materials regularly provide all students, including those who read, write, speak, or listen below grade level with extensive opportunities for reteaching to meet or exceed grade-level standards.

The Grade 2 materials provide some general accommodations and modifications; however, there are no lessons that teach the skill in a different way to help students who have not mastered the skills. There are opportunities to reteach information later in the week through centers and practice pages. There are some weeks where skills are repeated, which allows for more small group practice. No evidence of opportunities for small group reteaching was found.

Materials provide some opportunities for small group reteaching. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Orange Teacher Guidebook, Steps 4 and 5, page 4, the center overlapping explanation indicates “center overlapping is where the Green, Blue, and Orange Guidebook can be overlapped during center time.”
• In Orange Teacher Guidebook, Steps 4 and 5, Days 176–180, teacher guidance explains that mini-lessons can be repeated to review a skill; whole-class lessons “can also be done in smaller groups to accommodate behaviors and capabilities;” and centers “can be done in small groups.”
• In Orange Teacher Guidebook, Steps 4 and 5, Days 186–190, Whole Class Lesson, modifications include, “Teachers do the above accommodations in a small group to provide more individualized support and immediate help in self correcting.”
• In Orange Teacher Guidebook, Steps 4 and 5, Days 221–225, students complete the “Sticky Word Bingo” in Center #2. Then in Step 4, Practice Pages, students complete the Sticky Word cloze activity.

Materials provide some guidance to teachers for scaffolding and adapting lessons and activities to support students who read, write, speak, or listen below grade level in extensive opportunities to learn foundational skills at the grade-level standards. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Orange Teacher Guidebook, Steps 4 and 5, Days 176–180, modifications include “[O]nly use ‘Sneaky E’ words and CVC words, writing the word each time and visibly circling the vowel while saying the word” while teaching long and short vowel sounds. During the whole class at grade level lesson, students identify the long and short vowel sound for pictures shown by the teacher by holding up the correct vowel letter card.
• In Orange Teacher Guidebook, Steps 4 and 5, Days 201–205, in the accommodation section, students work with a partner to complete their activity book. As a modification, the teacher works with the student to complete their activity book.
• In Orange Teacher Guidebook, Steps 4 and 5, Days 236–240, modifications include “teachers avoid using the sentence writing page for this group of students” and “teachers work in a small group with students to decode each word on the list.”
• In Purple Teacher Guidebook, Step 6, the provided accommodation allows students to place all pictures and ask a teacher or adult to check their work before they glue it down.
• In Purple Teacher Guidebook, Step 6, /ou/, /ow/ Activity: Making couple cards, in the accommodation section, students use “Cub Frowns” to find /ow/ and /ou/ words for the Couple Cards. In the modification section, teachers write a word on the board. Students write that word on one card, and teachers ask students to give suggestions for the drawing and draw at the same time. Students repeat the process as a group until all eight pairs of cards are made.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria that materials regularly provide extensions and/or more advanced opportunities for students who read, write, speak, or listen above grade level.

The program includes extension activities that students further investigate and develop their skills. Practice opportunities for above students include additional instruction at an advanced level. Additionally, due to the design of the program, students can work within another Step that contains advanced skills.

Materials provide opportunities for advanced students to investigate grade-level foundational skills at a greater depth. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Orange Teacher Guidebook, Steps 4 and 5, Days 231–235, extensions include, “Students use Version 2, which requires written sentences about the setting.”
• In Orange Teacher Guidebook, Steps 4 and 5, Days 256–260, Extension Activity, students work with a partner to create a sentence containing each word (orally or written) to show meaning.
• In Purple Teacher Guidebook, Step 6, Unit /ou/ /ow/, Extension Activity, in the Book Elements Flipbook activity, students share their book with a partner and then present their book to the class, using proper presentation skills.
• In Purple Teacher Guidebook, Step 6, Unit /au/ /au/ /al/ = short /o/, Extension Activity, students write one sentence for each list on page 206.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria that digital materials (either included as supplementary to a textbook or as part of a digital curriculum) are web-based, compatible with multiple Internet browsers (e.g., Internet Explorer, Firefox, Google Chrome, etc.), “platform neutral” (i.e., are compatible with multiple operating systems such as Windows and Apple and are not proprietary to any single platform), follow universal programming style, and allow the use of tablets and mobile devices.

The materials provided with the curriculum are accessible on a Macbook as well as a PC. The materials can be opened in Safari, Chrome, and Firefox. The materials can also be accessed on a phone but might be difficult to see. There are some how-to videos, but reviewers were unable to open the videos. There are also free downloads, but reviewers were unable to open these files.

For example:

• Online link: Teacher dashboard includes assessment black line masters
• Online Link: Can be opened in Safari, Firefox and Google Chrome
• Online Link: Opened Teacher Assessment Guide
• The digital assessment program was accessed through Safari and Google Chrome on a Macbook as well as Google Chrome on a PC. The teacher platform was accessible through all popular browsers. As there was no student data to access, it is unknown if student data would populate easily.
• A USB drive was provided for Express Readers Steps 1-5. Materials were accessible on the USB drive on both a Macbook and a PC.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 do not meet the criteria that materials support effective use of technology to enhance student learning, drawing attention to evidence and texts as appropriate.

Materials include a digital assessment and a USB drive provided, but this technology does not enhance student learning. There is no evidence that digital resources draw attention to evidence and texts. There are no online resources that are used with the program to enhance student learning.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 do not meet the criteria that digital materials include opportunities for teachers to personalize learning for all students, using adaptive or other technological innovations.

The online materials contain an assessment portion where the teacher can look up reports on students and keep assessment data. There is no other information provided that would allow the teacher to personalize the learning for the students. The files on the USB drive are in Adobe PDF format. Due to the nature of the PDF documents, the documents are not editable without an additional program. Although the program is designed for teachers to begin instruction at different lessons to personalize learning, the lessons are static and not modifiable through digital means.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 partially meet the criteria that materials can be easily customized for local use.

The instructional materials include directions for the teacher to utilize the mini-lessons, whole class lessons, centers, and Gray Space activities as needed to fit within the teacher’s instructional minutes. The program is designed to begin instruction at the level of the students’ needs as measured by an initial assessment. The teacher can determine the appropriate starting lesson as well as look at center activities in other Steps of the program to interchange them based on student need. The materials are able to be customizable. The practice pages, centers, and forms that go home to parents can be updated and changed. The teacher materials allow for the teacher to use different questions and classroom management strategies based on the classroom structures that fit their needs.

For example:

• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, page 4, the Center Overlapping section indicates centers can be exchanged between the “Green, Blue, and Orange Planner” in order to “individualize content for different homogenous groups.” The instructions for mini-lessons, whole-class lessons, and centers repeat at the start of each five-day instructional sequence.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 176–180, teacher guidance indicates, “Most mini-lessons can be repeated daily;” “whole-class lessons can also be done in smaller groups;” “centers can be done in small groups, in a rotation, or as a larger class activity;” and Gray Space activities are for “a time in between periods.” The instructions for mini-lessons, whole-class lessons, and centers repeat at the start of each five-day instructional sequence.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 201–205, there is a list of short /e/ words and short /i/ words that the teacher can choose from.
• In Purple Teacher Planner, Step 6, Unit 2 Review, Practice Page 95, the teacher picks the words from previous word lists for students to complete.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria that the visual design (whether in print or digital) is not distracting or chaotic, but supports students in engaging thoughtfully with the subject.

The materials have a visual design in print that is not distracting or chaotic and that minimizes the print or visuals used on each page. The books, practice pages, and assessments have a large font and white space, and they are not covered in a large number of pictures or tiny font. Materials are easy to read from a distance and are clear and concise so that children are able to understand the work that is expected of them.

For example:

• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, students read the text, Duck Bakes a Cake from the toolkit. The book is black and white. There are words in large font and clear pictures in the book.
• In Purple Teacher Planner, Step 6, students create the Train sentences using /le/ words. The train engine cards contain one word on them and the word appears in a large font.
• The decodable reader, Cat Gets a Scare, has one sentence and a picture. The font is larger and easy for students to read. It is not chaotic, and there is not a lot of unnecessary information in the text.
• The “Chunk, Read, Draw” books have four spaces for students to draw on one page.
• The /ee/ and /ea/ sort pages have three words as column headings, with twelve words listed at the bottom to write and sort into the column headings.
• The Wonder Word Mats have four spaces for students to build words with a “Sneaky E.”