Kindergarten - Gateway 1

The instructional materials reviewed for Kindergarten partially meet expectations that they consistently support meaningful student sensemaking with the three dimensions.

Across Kindergarten, multiple learning sequences include opportunities for students to engage in sensemaking using all three dimensions. In a few sequences, students engage in sensemaking with two dimensions. In some cases student sensemaking takes place across the entire sequence and in others student sensemaking happens within a single learning opportunity. In cases where there is only two-dimensional sensemaking, a CCC is missing. When sequences do not engage students in sensemaking, they typically include tasks for students to recall information or apply the SEPs or CCCs in isolation, however, there is a missed opportunity to provide students the opportunity to use SEPs and CCCs in concert to make sense of a DCI.

Examples of materials that are designed for SEPs and CCCs to meaningfully support student sensemaking with the other dimensions:

• In Kindergarten, Unit 2, Lesson 1: What Plants Need, students determine what plants need and how sunlight affects plant growth. Students make sense of the concept that plants stay green and tall when they have sunlight and water and lose their color and wilt when they do not. Students plan an investigation (SEP-INV-P1) to determine the effect of water (CCC-CE-P2) on plant growth. Students use their evidence to make a claim that plants need water to grow (SEP-CEDS-P2, DCI-LS2.A-P1). Students then use observations (SEP-DATA-P1) of plants kept in the light and dark to make a claim that plants need sunlight to live and grow (SEP-CEDS-P1).

• In Kindergarten, Unit 4, Lesson 1: Protection from the Sun, students engage in a learning sequence that explores the effects of sunlight on objects. Students compare the temperatures of cups of water left in or out of sunlight to make the claim that an object left in the sun will be warmer than an object out of it (CCC-CE-P2, SEP-CEDS-P1, and DCI-PS3.B-P1). Students then design and build a shade structure and use it to conduct an investigation to determine that a rock protected by the shade will be cooler than a rock left in the sun (DCI-ETS1.B-P1, DCI-PS3.B-P1). Students use these explorations to make sense that people will feel cooler inside of a tent because they are protected from the light of the sun. 

• In Kindergarten, Unit 5, Lesson 1: All About Motion, students engage in a learning sequence to explore how pushes and pulls can change the speed and direction of moving objects. Students explore moving a wooden block with a stick and then with a string. Students then make a claim about the ways in which they move the blocks and provide evidence from their firsthand observations to explain that pushing or pulling an object can change its speed and/or direction (SEP-CEDS-P1, DCI-PS2.A-P2, and CCC-CE-P2). With the teacher’s help, students plan, share, improve, and conduct a collaborative investigation to move a ball in different directions and at different speeds using a piece of cardboard (SEP-INV-P1). The teacher directs students to fan the ball slowly and quickly and make observations. Students develop a claim about how they changed the speed and direction of the ball by fanning the cardboard faster or slower (SEP-CEDS-P1, CCC-CE-PE1, and DCI-PS2.A-P2).

Examples of materials that are designed for SEPs OR CCCs to meaningfully support student sensemaking with the other dimensions:

• In Kindergarten, Unit 3, Lesson 1: Plants and Animals Make Changes, students engage in a learning sequence to make sense of how plants and animals can change their environment. Students make observations about what they see in a worm home each day for three days (SEP-DATA-P1). Students use their observations to help them explain (SEP-CEDS-P1) how worms change their environment (DCI-ESS2.E-P1). Students look at pictures of plants that have changed their environment and make a claim, citing their evidence about why/how plants change their environment (DCI-ESS2.E-P1). Finally, students design a playground and share their designs with other students. There is a missed opportunity for students to use a CCC to help them make sense of the DCI. 

Examples of materials that are not designed for SEPs and CCCs to meaningfully support student sensemaking with the other dimensions:

• In Kindergarten, Unit 2, Lesson 3: Where Plants and Animals Live, students engage in a learning sequence that matches animals and plants to the environments where they live. Students match animal picture cards to the environments they live in and identify that they live there to get what they need (DCI-LS4.D-P1). Students make observations of two plants; one that is watered every day and one that is watered once a week (SEP-DATA-P1). Students are told that plants live in wet or dry climates based on what they need, and that not all plants can live in wet climates and not all plants can live in dry climates. There is a missed opportunity for students to engage in making sense of the DCI in this lesson, they use the information they are told to answer the Can You Explain It? question that plants and animals live in the desert to get what they need. 

• In Kindergarten, Unit 3, Lesson 2: Natural Resources, students engage in a learning sequence to understand what natural resources are and how to reduce trash. Students look at images of items made from natural resources and match them with a natural resource (a tree, water, or soil). Students observe an image of land next to water that is covered in trash. Students are then asked to design a solution to reduce trash (DCI-ESS3.C-P1) and share it with a partner. There is a missed opportunity for students to use SEPs or CCCs to help them make sense of the DCI in this learning sequence.

The instructional materials reviewed for Kindergarten partially meet expectations that they are designed to elicit direct, observable evidence for the three-dimensional learning in the instructional materials.

In Kindergarten, materials provide three-dimensional lesson objectives tied to performance expectations. Each lesson includes a Lesson Objective stating what students will do in the subsequent explorations. The lesson objectives are supported by the Making 3D Connections feature, which names which performance expectations the lesson is building to and the elements of the three-dimensions that students are supposed to be engaged in. The exception is Unit 1, which only includes engineering performance expectations and does not include DCIs from life, physical, or earth and space science.

Each lesson includes multiple opportunities for formative assessment. The assessments, however, do not consistently reveal student knowledge of all of the elements of the lesson objectives. There is a Making Sense question at the end of each hands-on exploration that asks students to connect the exploration content to the publisher identified phenomenon or science concept presented at the start of the Lesson. This question is most often connected to a DCI. Can You Explain It? questions usually mirror the questions found in the Making Sense section. The remaining explorations also include Apply What You Know formative assessments that typically address a DCI. At the end of the lesson, the materials provide a Self Check quiz. This quiz consists of three-four multiple-choice or matching questions that rely heavily on pictures. These questions most often assess student knowledge of one dimension, typically a DCI or a portion of an SEP. The materials miss several opportunities to assess student understanding of SEPs and CCCs.

The materials inconsistently incorporate tasks for purposes of supporting the instructional process. They provide suggested responses or scoring guidelines, but only provide support for adjusting instruction for the hands-on explorations. 

Examples of lessons that have three-dimensional learning objectives, formative assessment tasks do not assess student knowledge of all (three) dimensions in the learning objective, and provide limited guidance to support the instructional process:

• In Kindergarten, Unit 3, Lesson 1: Plants and Animals Make Changes, the three-dimensional lesson objective is “Children can use evidence to explain how living things can change their environments to get what they need to grow” and is connected to performance expectation K-ESS2-2. Formative assessment is embedded in the Making Sense, Can You Explain It?, Apply What You Know, and Self Check portions of the learning sequence. The Making Sense and Can You Explain It? questions ask students to explain why plants change their environment (DCI-ESS2.E-P1, SEP-ARG-P6). In an Apply What You Know assessment, students must show how people change the environment to get what they need (DCI-ESS3.C-P1). There is a missed opportunity to assess CCC-SYS-P2. While the materials provide remediation guidance for hand-on explorations, the other formative assessments only include sample answers and scoring guidelines.

• In Kindergarten, Unit 3, Lesson 2: Natural Resources, the three-dimensional learning objective is “Children can model the relationship between natural resources and how people use them. Children can communicate solutions that will reduce their impact on the environment,” and is connected to performance expectations K-ESS3-1 and K-ESS3-3. Formative assessment is embedded in the Making Sense, Can You Explain It?, Apply What You Know, and Self Check portions of the learning sequence. The Can You Explain It? and Making Sense questions ask students about why and how people should reduce trash and reuse resources (DCI-ESS3.C-P1). In Apply What You Know assessments, students write how humans use a natural resource (DCI-ESS3.A-P1) and share a plan for recycling or reusing resources (SEP-INFO-P4). There is a missed opportunity to assess SEP-MOD-P3, CCC-SYS-P2, and CCC-CE-P1. While the materials provide remediation guidance for hand-on explorations, the other formative assessments only include sample answers and scoring guidelines.

• In Kindergarten, Unit 4, Lesson 3: Prepare for Weather, the three-dimensional lesson objective is “Children will consider ways they can prepare for the effects of different kinds of weather, especially severe weather like tornadoes,” and is connected to performance expectation K-ESS3-2. Formative assessment is embedded in the Making Sense, Can You Explain It?, Apply What you Know, and Self Check portions of the learning sequence. The Making Sense and Can You Explain It? questions ask students about how people might prepare for weather and how forecasts can help them do that (DCI-ESS3.B-P1). The Lesson Check includes questions asking students to interpret weather reports (SEP-INFO-P1) and when and how to prepare for weather (DCI-ESS3.B-P1). There is a missed opportunity to assess CCC-CE-P2. While the materials provide remediation guidance for hand-on explorations, the other formative assessments only include sample answers and scoring guidelines.

• In Kindergarten, Unit 5, Lesson 2: Change the Way Things Move, the three-dimensional learning objective is “Children will analyze data to determine if a designed solution works as planned to change an object’s speed or direction with a push or a pull,” and is associated with performance expectations K-PS2-1, K-PS2-2, K-2-ETS-1, and K-2-ETS1-2. In the Making Sense and Can You Explain It? assessments, students use observations to explain the effect of kicking a ball (DCI-PS2.A-P2, DCI-PS2.B-P1, and CCC-CE-P1). In Apply What You Know assessments, students investigate the effect of kicking a ball with stronger and weaker forces (DCI-PS3.C-P1, SEP-INV-P1) and list how to change an object’s direction (DCI-PS2.A-P2). There is a missed opportunity to assess SEP-DATA-P5. While the materials provide remediation guidance for hand-on explorations, the other formative assessments only include sample answers and scoring guidelines.

The instructional materials reviewed for Kindergarten partially meet expectations that phenomena and/or problems are presented to students as directly as possible.

Kindergarten materials present phenomena and/or problems to students as directly as possible in multiple instances but not consistently across the grade level. In multiple instances, the materials provide students access to the phenomena that leads to a shared common experience and a robust entry point into the phenomena. The materials present the phenomena as a video or image that is accompanied by narration. The lessons that include a video presentation often present the phenomenon or problem as directly as possible to the students. In general, phenomena are not presented to students as directly as possible when a change over time or motion is an element of the phenomenon. No instances are present where students engage with the phenomena first hand. Finally, some of the phenomenon presentations do not provide students with enough information about that event or process to make the phenomenon accessible to all students. 

Examples of phenomena and problems that are presented to students as directly as possible, providing a common experience of the process(es) and a robust entry point:

• In Kindergarten, Unit 1, Lesson 1: Using a Design Process, the problem is that children do not have enough bubble wands. Students view a narrated video of two children. One child is playing with a bubble wand and the narration states that the second child, without a bubble wand, would like to blow bubbles. 

• In Kindergarten, Unit 3, Lesson 1, Exploration 2: Look at Plant Changes, the phenomenon is that tree roots can crack a sidewalk. Students view an illustration of a tree growing next to a sidewalk with roots pushing up through the sidewalk. The narration explains that plant roots can crack a sidewalk. 

• In Kindergarten, Unit 4, Lesson 3: Prepare for Weather, the phenomenon is that a tornado moves across land. Students view a video of a tornado. Students can clearly see the tornado moving.

• In Kindergarten, Unit 5, Lesson 2: Change the Way Things Move, the phenomenon is that a boy kicks a ball. Students observe a photograph and video of a student kicking a soccer ball and the ball traveling in many directions. Students can clearly see the change in motion of the soccer ball caused by the child.

Examples of phenomena and problems that are not presented to students as directly as possible:

• In Kindergarten, Unit 2, Lesson 2, Exploration 2: Make a Pill Bug Home, the phenomenon is that a pill bug crawls in soil. Students observe a picture of a pill bug in its environment. It is not clear to students what environment the pill bugs live in. There is a missed opportunity for the presentation of this phenomenon to provide a common experience and a robust entry point.

• In Kindergarten, Unit 5, Lesson 1, Exploration 1: Push or Pull, the phenomenon is that a child pushes a shopping cart. Students view a picture of a child pushing a grocery cart. The still picture does not make clear the motion of the cart. There is a missed opportunity for the presentation of this phenomenon to provide a common experience of this process and a robust entry point.

• In Kindergarten, Unit 5, Lesson 2, Exploration 1: Roll a Ball, the phenomenon is that a bowling ball collides with pins. Students observe a photograph of a bowling ball in the middle of bowling pins. Students cannot observe the motion of the ball, the collision, or the motion of the pins. There is a missed opportunity for the presentation of this phenomenon to provide a common experience of this process and a robust entry point.

• In Grade K, Unit 5, Lesson 2, Exploration 2: Design a Track, the design challenge is to design a track that can change the speed and direction of a ball. Students observe a photograph of two students in front of various craft materials. The narration prompts students to ask a question about motion, but does not make the challenge clear. There is a missed opportunity for the presentation of this design challenge to provide a common experience of this process and a robust entry point.

The instructional materials reviewed for Kindergarten partially meet expectations that they intentionally leverage students’ prior knowledge and experience related to phenomena or problems.

The Kindergarten materials consistently provide opportunities for teachers to elicit students’ prior knowledge and experience of phenomena and problems. Phenomena and problems are present at both the learning sequence level, called Lessons, and the learning opportunity level, called Explorations. Phenomena and problems introduced at the lesson level include a question called a TELL Prompt in the Culturally Responsive Education portion of the teacher notes. The TELL Prompt typically asks students for their prior knowledge or experience related to the phenomenon or problem and provides possible student responses for the teacher. When phenomena are present in Explorations, the teacher notes sometimes include an Everyday Phenomenon. This provides an alternate phenomenon for teachers to describe to students, along with questions for students to make connections to the alternate phenomenon. In some cases these prompts are clearly connected to the phenomenon for the Exploration and in others they only connect to the alternate phenomenon.

While the materials consistently elicit students’ prior knowledge and experiences related to phenomena and problems, they miss the opportunity to leverage those ideas and experiences in student learning. The Culturally Responsive Education portion of the teacher notes in each Lesson includes generic guidance for the teacher to “use what you learn from children’s responses to help them connect new academic concepts,” but student responses to the TELL prompt are not recorded, returned to later in the sequence, or explicitly incorporated into the sequence.

Examples where the materials elicit but do not leverage students’ prior knowledge and experience related to phenomena and problems:

• In Kindergarten, Unit 2, Lesson 2: What Plants Need, the phenomenon is that a plant’s leaves have wilted and lost color. The TELL Prompt asks students to describe what they know about why a plant may lose its color. There is a missed opportunity to leverage student responses later in the lesson.

• In Kindergarten, Unit 3, Lesson 1, Exploration 2: Look at Plant Changes, the phenomenon is that tree roots can crack a sidewalk. In the guidance for the Everyday Phenomenon, the teacher puts students into groups to discuss their prior experience seeing how roots change an environment. There is a missed opportunity to leverage student responses later in the exploration.

• In Kindergarten, Unit 4, Lesson 1: Protection from the Sun, the phenomenon is that it is cooler in a tent than it is in the sun. The TELL Prompt asks students to describe what they know about the difference in temperature between places in direct sunlight and places in the shade. There is a missed opportunity to leverage student responses later in the lesson.

• In Kindergarten, Unit 4, Lesson 2: Weather Patterns, the phenomenon is that clouds can change from day to day. The TELL Prompt asks students to describe what they know about different types of clouds and what they mean. There is a missed opportunity to leverage student responses later in the lesson.

• In Kindergarten, Unit 5, Lesson 2, Exploration 1: Roll a Ball, the phenomenon is a bowling ball knocking over bowling pins. In the guidance for the Everyday Phenomenon, the teacher puts students into groups to discuss their experience with toys knocking into one another. There is a missed opportunity to leverage student responses later in the exploration.