Frog Street Pre-K - Criterion 3.2

Frog Street Pre-K materials meet expectations for leveraging direct instruction, open-ended, experiential, and play-based learning (3.2a).

The materials are designed to support a range of instructional settings and developmental needs. Structured, teacher-led lessons are a cornerstone of the curriculum. Each day follows a consistent format across themes, with scripted guidance for whole-group, small-group, and practice center-based instruction. For example, Theme 7, Week 1 includes detailed scripting for the Brain Smart Start routine, morning messages, and literacy lessons that target specific skills such as onset and rime, concept of print, and alphabet knowledge. These lessons are explicitly tied to standards, ensuring intentional skill development and alignment with the curriculum. Modeling and guided practice are embedded throughout the curriculum. In math, small groups in Theme 7 (pgs. 22–23) instruction progresses from acting out number stories to modeling with manipulatives and creating new problems. Within this example, each day builds upon the previous one, reinforcing concepts and encouraging problem-solving. Teachers are provided with clear instructions for direct modeling and prompting student reflection, such as using number lines or retelling insect stories. 

Open-ended learning is supported through various questioning strategies, providing teachers with guidance on prompting meaningful discussions and effectively engaging children in questioning. Practice centers include reflective prompts such as, “Which of Betty’s guests do you find most interesting and why?” and “How did you know which path to follow and why?” (Theme 7, pp. 8–11). These questions foster critical thinking and personal expression. Read-alouds and STEAM activities also incorporate open-ended questions to guide exploration and deepen understanding (Theme 7, pp. 77).

Children have daily opportunities to choose from 6 practice centers, which rotate weekly and offer a variety of materials and activities. While most of these centers are teacher-guided, they offer diverse experiences such as outdoor learning and STEAM challenges (Theme 7, pp. 34–37). STEAM activities encourage design and experimentation, such as creating hybrid insects, coding with Frog-e, and building flying models (Theme 7, pp. 24–25, 50–51, 76–77, 102–103).

Play-based learning is primarily teacher-guided, with structured prompts and materials, and offers many easily accessible items for teachers to use in their classrooms. Examples include building city skylines with paper shapes and excavating sand with construction vehicles (Theme 5, pp. 9–11). Children also engage in other play-based Practice Centers. While free-play opportunities and guidance are limited, several guided-play opportunities are available. 

Materials offer a range of activities that promote problem-solving to understand the world, primarily in Conscious Discipline, STEAM, practice centers, and math activities. STEAM activities are present in each theme on a weekly basis, with a problem posed and children working throughout the week to solve it. Frog-e allows children to practice coding to solve problems (Theme 7, pp. 50-51). Conscious Discipline provides multiple opportunities for children to develop problem-solving skills, which are integrated throughout every unit and daily activities.

STEAM materials encourage experiential learning by offering guided opportunities to experiment, design, and create. STEAM is found in every theme, with activities present for each week (Theme 7, pp 24-25), demonstrating where children will apply their knowledge of insects to create a model of a make-believe insect that’s a combination of two insects. In Theme 7 (pp. 50–51), children use coding to program Frog-e to locate food while avoiding predators. In Week 3 (pp. 76–77), children design a flying insect using a paper airplane model as a base to explore how different designs affect flight distance. In Week 4 (pp. 102–103), children design a spider and construct a web capable of holding up to 10 insects.

Overall, Frog Street Pre-K materials support a range of instructional settings and developmental needs through structured teacher-led instruction, guided practice, open-ended questioning, and hands-on exploration. Daily lessons are clearly organized and aligned with standards, with consistent routines and explicit teacher support that promote intentional skill development across whole-group, small-group, and practice center settings. The materials also provide regular opportunities for children to engage in questioning, problem-solving, guided play, and experiential STEAM learning, allowing them to apply skills in meaningful ways. Across themes, these varied instructional experiences help support both direct teaching and active exploration, giving children multiple ways to build understanding and engage with content.

Frog Street Pre-K materials meet expectations for supporting experiences that build on and advance student learning. (3.2b) 

The Welcome Guide (p. 37) discusses how to tap into prior knowledge. There are opportunities to activate and connect with prior knowledge throughout the program. There are also opportunities for students to connect their existing knowledge with new content. For example, students compare their lunches, morning routines, playground equipment, and interactions with school workers to their own experiences (Theme 1, pp. 16-19). Additional examples include invitations to describe lived experiences, such as “discuss something that happened yesterday, last night, or today” in (Theme 3, p. 94) and “think of familiar items students can “push or pull” (Theme 4, Week 4), and identify environmental shapes (Theme 4, p. 22). 

Materials integrate a range of multiple modalities (visual, auditory, kinesthetic tactile) into learning activities, including photo/vocabulary cards, storytelling, posters, music and movement, tactile materials, manipulatives, practice centers, art, dramatic play, cooking, construction, sensory exploration, and weekly outdoor activities (Theme 3, pp. 4–5, 7, 9, 11, 37, 63, 89). 

Materials offer a meaningful balance of instructional settings, including daily whole-group, small-group, and practice-center structures, as well as differentiation supports for Dual Language Learners (DLLs), students with disabilities, and students with varied readiness levels. Examples are found throughout the Teachers’ Guides, color-coded on the sides (pink and purple callouts; blue up/down arrows). Students have opportunities to regularly engage socially and collaboratively through practice centers, STEAM tasks, and Conscious Discipline routines. Practice centers offer opportunities for differentiation; however, guidance for how teachers should individualize instruction is not clearly defined. 

There are also some opportunities for agentic learning that allow children to initiate, extend, and support their own learning. For example, in Theme 1 (pg. 87), during Makerspace, children are encouraged to create, invent, tinker, and design in a child-led, open-ended space.  Within Conscious Discipline, the connect-and-commit routines encourage daily goal-setting (Theme 8, p. 13). Practice Centers offer students opportunities to choose which ones to visit, where they can explore, experiment, and represent ideas in different ways. However, most activities throughout the materials remain largely teacher-directed, use set materials, follow scripts, and are prepared by the teacher. 

Overall, Frog Street Pre-K offers a range of engaging and developmentally appropriate experiences that effectively support student learning through connections to prior knowledge, varied modalities, and multiple instructional settings. The materials provide consistent opportunities for collaboration and include structures that support diverse learners. Strengthening opportunities for sustained, student-driven learning would further enhance the materials.

Frog Street Pre-K materials meet expectations for including opportunities for diverse instructional settings and structures (3.2c). 

Materials provide engaging, developmentally appropriate, and multimodal experiences across various instructional settings. The materials include varied instructional structures such as whole-group, small-group, and individualized learning through Practice Centers, predictable routines, and smooth transitions.

The materials include a variety of instructional settings and structures that support children’s learning throughout the day. Whole-group instruction is a consistent part of daily routines and includes components such as greeting circle (Theme 5, pp. 12–13), morning message (p. 14), music and movement (p. 15), read-alouds (Theme 5, pp. 16–19), STEAM (pp. 24–25), and closing circle (p. 26). These activities align with weekly themes and standards and include differentiation notes for children with special needs and Dual Language Learners. Together, these whole-group structures promote interaction, inclusivity, and shared learning experiences.

Small-group instruction is also embedded throughout the materials and follows a structured progression. Literacy small groups in Theme 5 ( pp. 20–21) include weekly instruction in vocabulary, phonological awareness, shared writing, guided writing, and alphabet knowledge. Math small groups (pp. 22–23) are organized around weekly standards and include peer interaction and mathematical discussion. STEAM small-group experiences (p. 25) also offer hands-on learning opportunities. These lessons are scripted to support teacher facilitation and encourage collaboration among children.

The materials also support individualized learning through Practice Centers. In Theme 5 (Teacher Guide, pp. 8–10), weekly Practice Centers include the Technology Center, Writer’s Corner, Construction Zone, Sensory Station, Creativity Station, Math Center, and Language/Literacy Center. Children can select center activities, which support choice and independence. Differentiation notes embedded within lessons also guide scaffolding. Although the materials do not provide clear guidance for individualized instruction, teachers are encouraged to differentiate instruction during small-group and practice center activities.

Predictable routines are another clear feature of the materials. Daily schedules follow a consistent format (Welcome Guide, p. 33), and Conscious Discipline strategies are embedded throughout arrival, transitions, meals, naptime, and departure. Rituals such as the Kindness Tree, celebration rituals, and Safekeeper routines (Welcome Guide, pp. 39–48) further promote stability, independence, and social responsibility. Reinforcement of routines is also evident in side notes throughout the Teacher Guides, such as in Theme 8 (pp. 13, 39, 65, 69, 103).

The materials also include structured and supportive transitions. Weekly Music and Movement songs align with themes and help maintain engagement during transitions. In addition, the Implementation Support Guide (Strategy 3) outlines strategies such as fingerplays, rhymes, and clear expectations to support smooth transitions. Together, these transition practices promote responsibility, teamwork, and efficient classroom flow.

Overall, Frog Street Pre-K materials provide comprehensive support for diverse instructional settings. The integration of whole-group, small-group, and some individualized learning structures, along with predictable routines and structured transitions, supports engagement, accessibility, and developmentally appropriate practice.