Kindergarten - Gateway 1
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Standards and Research-Based Practices
Alignment to Standards and Research-Based Practices for Foundational Skills InstructionGateway 1 - Partially Meets Expectations | 79% |
|---|---|
Criterion 1.1: Print Concepts and Letter Recognition (Alphabet Knowledge) | 5 / 10 |
Criterion 1.2: Phonological Awareness | 10 / 12 |
Criterion 1.3: Phonics | 18 / 20 |
Criterion 1.4: Word Recognition and Word Analysis | 7 / 8 |
Criterion 1.5: Decoding Accuracy, Decoding Automaticity and Fluency | 6 / 8 |
The Really Great Reading materials, Countdown, partially meet the expectations for alignment to standards and research-based practices for foundational skills instruction. The materials contain a defined sequence and explicit instruction for all 26 uppercase and lowercase letters; however, there are limited opportunities for students to practice letter identification and print concepts. The materials have explicit instruction in phonological awareness, and for most standards, students have ample practice in phonological awareness. The materials contain explicit, systematic instruction in decoding and encoding phonics skills. The materials have student opportunities for decoding and encoding words in isolation and connected tasks. However, the materials do not have opportunities for distinguishing between similarly spelled words by identifying the sounds of the graphemes that differ. Materials contain explicit instruction in high-frequency words and word analysis skills. Materials allow students to read and write high-frequency words in isolation and connected text. Materials provide decoding opportunities for students to practice automaticity and accuracy.
Criterion 1.1: Print Concepts and Letter Recognition (Alphabet Knowledge)
This criterion is non-negotiable. Materials must achieve a specified minimum score in this criterion to advance to the next gateway.
Materials and instruction provide embedded support with general concepts of print, and systematic and explicit instruction and practice for letter recognition.
The Really Great Reading materials, Countdown, have explicit instruction for letter identification. However, the materials do not contain opportunities for students to practice identifying, locating, and naming all 26 uppercase letters in isolation or meaningful activities. The materials do not have explicit instruction or practice in forming the 26 upper- and lowercase letters. There are ten concepts of print lessons. However, the lessons do not support authentic print concept practice with books.
Indicator 1a
Letter Identification
Indicator 1a.i
Materials provide explicit instruction for letter identification of all 26 letters (uppercase and lowercase) (K).
The materials reviewed for Kindergarten meet the criteria for 1a.i. (K)
Countdown Kindergarten materials provide isolated, systematic, and explicit instruction of all upper and lowercase letters using Countdown Online Name that Sound activities. Instruction is focused on the sound, with the letter symbol representing that sound being introduced after sound mastery. Although letter introduction does not begin in the materials until Countdown Teacher Guide Book 2, Unit 6, all letter instruction is introduced and reviewed from Unit 6 through Unit 16 with letter clusters composed mostly of three consonants and one vowel. Letter instruction within the Kindergarten materials can be completed in a reasonable time frame over the school year.
Materials contain isolated, systematic and explicit instruction for all 26 letters (recognize and name uppercase and lowercase).
Recognize and name all upper- and lowercase letters of the alphabet.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 1, Introduction, page xiii, the materials indicate that by the end of Unit 14, students will have learned all 26 letters (names and most common sounds).
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 2, Unit 10, Lesson 1, Part 2, pages 112-113, Name That Sound, the teacher opens Countdown Online to Unit 10, Lesson 2, Part 2, which displays a picture of a goat. The teacher asks students what the initial sound of the word goat is. The video shows an uppercase and lowercase Gg, and the teacher says, “This one (point to uppercase G) is called ‘capital G’, and this one (point to lowercase g) is called ‘lowercase g’. This is the one we will see most of the time so we will call it ‘g’.” This process is repeated for letters n, l, and u in the lesson.
In Countdown Guide Book 2, Unit 13, Lesson 1, Part 2, pages 188-190, Name that Sound, students identify the upper- and lowercase letters associated with the sounds /y/, /w/, and /z/. The teacher shows the students a picture of a zipper and says. “Do you remember Zach the Zebra? He likes to zip-line over the zucchini fields and the zipline sounds like a zipper? His favorite sound is /z/”. The teacher asks, “So what do you think these letters say? [z] Yes! The name of these letters is Z. This one (teacher points to uppercase Z, is called capital Z and this one (point to lowercase z).” The teacher points to each letter one at a time and reviews the letters and their names.
There is a defined sequence for letter instruction to be completed in a reasonable time frame over the school year.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 1, Introduction, pages ix-x, the Scope and Sequence contains the following letter per unit information: Unit 6, Cluster 1 m, t, p, a; Unit 7, Cluster 2 s, h, c, i; Unit 8, Cluster 3 d, f, r, o; Unit 10 Cluster 4 g, n, l, u; Unit 11, Cluster 5 b, k, v, e; Unit 13, Cluster 6 j, w, z; Unit 14, Cluster 7 qu, x, y.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 1, Introduction, page xiv, Alphabetic Principle chart in the upper left hand corner lists the unit, cluster, and letter symbols taught. The defined sequence that begins with Unit 6 and ends with Unit 14 can reasonably be completed during the school year.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 2, Introduction, page v, in Countdown’s Broad Structure: Strands and Sub-Strands, a chart is provided with Letter-Sound Instruction information detailing units, letter clusters, and letter symbols taught as follows:
Unit 6, Cluster 1: m, t, p, a
Unit 7, Cluster 2: s, h, c, i
Unit 8, Cluster 3: d, f, r, o
Unit 9: a review of Cluster 1
Unit 10, Cluster 4: g, n, l, u
Unit 11, Cluster 5: b, k, v, e
Unit 12: a review of Clusters 1-5
Unit 13, Cluster 6: j, w, z
Unit 14, Cluster 7: qu, x, y
Unit 15: a review of Clusters 1-7
Unit 16: a review of Clusters 1-7
Indicator 1a.ii
Materials engage students in sufficient practice of letter identification.(K)
The materials reviewed for Kindergarten partially meet the criteria for materials engage students in sufficient practice of letter identification.
Countdown Kindergarten materials provide students with frequent opportunities to engage in the practice of identifying, locating, and naming all 26 lowercase letters in activities such as Which Letter? and Letter Sound Look, Think, Say!. However, there are missed opportunities for students to practice identifying, locating, and naming all 26 uppercase letters.
Materials provide students with frequent opportunities to engage in practice identifying all 26 letters (uppercase and lowercase).
In Countdown Online, Supplemental Resources, Concepts of Print 1, Lesson 7, pages 8-10, Capitals vs. Lowercase, the teacher accesses Countdown Online Concepts of Print 1, Lesson 7. The online component displays lowercase letters a, b, c, and d. The teacher tells students they have learned about those letters. The teacher shows uppercase A, B, C, and D and displays the name Adelyn asking students where the capital A is. Later in the lesson, the teacher asks where the capital D is located in the name Dexter, and students respond at the beginning.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 2, Unit 8, Lesson 2, Part 2, pages 65-66, This Letter or That, the teacher asks students to sort words that begin with either /r/ or /o/. The teacher asks, “What is the first sound in rabbit?” while pointing to a rabbit. The teacher says, “Remember the sound /r/ is spelled with the letter tile r.” The teacher reads the following list of words for sorting: raccoon, rattle, olives, rooster, ostrich, otter, run, omelet, rollercoaster, October.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 3, Unit 18, Lesson 3, Part 1, page 43, in Review Short Vowel Phonemes and Motions, the teacher introduces the CVC pattern of bat: “Do you see a vowel letter in this word? What is the name of the vowel letter?” There is teacher scripting for asking the consonant names in the word. The same procedure is followed for the words net, hip, cup, and mop.
Materials provide opportunities to engage in practice locating all 26 letters (uppercase and lowercase).
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 2, Unit 9, Lesson 3, Part 3, pages 98-99, Guess My Word, the teacher provides students with guided practice in choosing correct letters from a soundbank to build CVC words from previously taught letters. Students locate the correct letter by listening for the sound. The teacher states, “Which of these letters spells /h/ like ham?” Students point to the letter and say its name.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 2, Unit 15, Lesson 3, Part 1, pages 250-251, Which Letter?, the teacher launches Countdown Online for the lesson and tells students they will spell letter sounds for the first or last letter of words. Students view _am as the teacher asks for the first sound of jam, then the letter set v, j, and l appears, and the teacher asks, “Which of these letters spells /j/ like at the beginning of /j/, jam?” Students point to the letter tile that spells /j/ and say its name. There is a practice set of 18 words for student practice in locating beginning letter sounds and names, including the words: elf, yes, jet, bus, log, gum, kid, ant, and ending sound for mix.
Materials provide opportunities to engage in naming all 26 letters (uppercase and lowercase).
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 2, Unit 7, Lesson 2, Part 2, page 38, This Letter or That, the teacher supports students in locating the correct letter that matches the first sound of the picture. The teacher states, “Should we put the /i/ insect under the h like hammer or under the i like itch?” Students respond with the correct letter name.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 3, Unit 26, Lesson 1, Part 1, pages 251-525, Letter-Sound Look, Think, Say!, students practice six letter sounds (a, b, c, k, d, e, and f) while playing the game Look, Think, Say!. Teacher scripting for the activity includes, “The letter is (letter name), and it spells the sound (letter sound).”
In Countdown Online, Supplemental Resources, Concepts of Print 1, Lesson 4, pages 4-5, Letter in Your Name, the teacher accesses Countdown Online Concepts of Print 1 Lesson 4. The teacher clicks and displays the names Frank, Asia, Ember, and Quinn. The teacher asks the first letter the name Asia and has students raise their hands if their names begin with Aa. The teacher does the same with the names Ember and Quinn.
Indicator 1a.iii
Materials embed letter identification practice in meaningful print use.(K)
The materials reviewed for Kindergarten partially meet the criteria for 1a.iii. (K)
The Countdown Kindergarten materials contain limited tasks and activities for applying letter identification and naming all 26 lowercase letters to meaningful print use. There are missed opportunities for tasks and activities that provide practice with identifying, locating, and naming all 26 uppercase letters.
Materials contain some tasks/activities that apply letter identification and naming of all 26 uppercase letters to meaningful print use (e.g., initial letter of a child’s name, environmental print, letter assortments, alphabet books, shared writing).
In Countdown Online, Supplemental Resources, PDF Resources, students practice writing their name in both upper- and lowercase letters on the Upper and Lower Case Name Matching Activity worksheet.
In Countdown Online, Supplemental Resources, Concepts of Print 1, Lesson 4, pages 4-5, Letter in Your Name, the teacher accesses Countdown Online Concepts of Print 1 Lesson 4. The teacher clicks and displays the names Frank, Asia, Ember, and Quinn. There is teacher scripting for the teacher to ask the first letter the name Asia. The teacher has students raise their hands if their names begin with Aa. The teacher repeats this process with the names Ember and Quinn.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 1, page Introduction, page xxix, the materials indicate that initially students learn to identify upper- and lowercase letters. However, Countdown states that students will not learn to identify all the uppercase letters because Kindergarten students usually only encounter lowercase letters.
Materials contain some tasks/activities that apply letter identification and naming of all 26 lowercase letters to meaningful print use (e.g., initial letter of a child’s name, environmental print, letter assortments, alphabet books, shared writing).
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 1, Introduction, page viii, the materials indicate that by the end of Book 2, students will have learned all 26 letters (names and most common sounds).
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 2, Unit 7, Lesson 2, Part 2, page 61, This Letter or That, the teacher supports students in locating the correct lowercase letter that matches the first sound of the picture. The teacher states, “Should we put the /i/ insect under the h like hammer or under the i like itch?” Students respond by naming the correct letter name.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 2, Unit 14, Lesson 2, Part 3, pages 224-225, Which Letter?, the teacher launches Countdown Online for the lesson and tells students they will spell letter sounds for the first and last letter of words. Students view bo_ as the teacher asks for the last sound in the word box, then the letter set v, x, and y appears, and the teacher asks, “Which of these letters spells /x/ like at the end of /x/, box? Point to the letter tile that spells /x/ and say its name.” There is a practice set of 18 words for student practice in locating beginning letter sounds and names, including the words: mug, van, net, sit, hug, leg, dog, and ending sound for fox and wax .
In Countdown Online, Supplemental Resources, Concepts of Print 1, Lesson 3, pages 3-4, What is a Letter?, the teacher points to a word in the classroom environment and tells students the name of the word then points to an individual letter within that same word. Students look around the room and identify letters and words.
Indicator 1a.iv
Materials provide explicit instruction to print and to practice forming the 26 letters (uppercase and lowercase).(K-1)
The materials reviewed for Kindergarten do not meet the criteria for 1a.iv. (K-1)
In the Countdown materials, students write letters. However, there are missed opportunities for explicit instruction and modeling to print the 26 upper- and lowercase letters. Additionally, there is no explicit student practice on writing and forming the 26 upper- and lowercase letters.
Materials do not include clear directions for the teacher concerning how to explain and model how to correctly form each of the 26 letters (uppercase and lowercase).
Print many upper- and lowercase letters.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 1, Introduction, pages ix-x, the scope and sequence lists the instructional activities of all of the units in the Countdown program. There are no opportunities within these activities to practice forming letters.
Materials do not include frequent opportunities for students to practice forming all of the 26 letters (uppercase and lowercase).
In Countdown Online, Supplemental Resources, PDF Resources, Upper/Lower Blast off Activity, students write words using lowercase letters from an uppercase example. There is a lowercase letter bank, but no letter formation practice based on explicit instruction.
Materials do not include frequent opportunities for students to practice forming letters using multimodal and/or multisensory methods.
No evidence
Indicator 1b
Materials provide instructional support for general concepts of print and connect learning of print concepts to books (K-1) and provide cumulative review of print concepts, letter identification, and printing letters. (K-early Grade 1)
The materials reviewed for Kindergarten partially meet the criteria for 1b. (K-early Grade 1).
The Countdown materials contain 10 concepts of print lessons in the Countdown Online Supplemental Resources. There are missed opportunities for instructional support in the authentic practice of print concepts in connection to books. Although the materials include words, phrases, sentences, and passages for students to read, and the teachers are encouraged to use self-selected books from their classroom libraries to teach selected concepts of print lessons, there are no physical books included. The materials provide activities such as Unscramble This and Spell It! for students to represent written language with specific sequences of letters. Although the materials contain the practice of previously learned and cumulative reviews of letter identification, there are missed opportunities for practice of previously learned and cumulative reviews of concepts of print and letter formation.
Materials include some explicit instruction for all students about the organization of print concepts (e.g., follow words left to right, spoken words correlate sequences of letters, letter spacing).
Follow words from left to right, top to bottom, and page by page.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 1, Unit 1, Lesson 3, Part 2, page 15, Launch, there is a lesson on beginning, middle, and end. Students practice naming the location of various pictures by using this vocabulary they will apply in later letters to letter location within words.
In Countdown Online, Supplemental Resources, PDF Resources, Countdown Concepts of Print, Lesson 10, pages 13-14, in Concepts of Book Reading 2, the teacher asks students where they should start reading in a teacher selected book. The teacher points to the bottom right of the page, then the top left, asking students to begin reading. Teacher scripting includes, “That’s right! I need to start reading here (point to the first word at the top left of the text on the page). Where should I read next?” (Have one or more students indicate left to right.)” The teacher repeats the question on another page.
Recognize that spoken words are represented in written language by specific sequences of letters.
In Countdown Online, Supplemental Resources, PDF Resources, Countdown Concepts of Print, Lesson 3, pages 3-4, What is a Letter? the teacher says, “Each letter we write down makes a sound, and those sounds together make up the words we say out loud.”
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 2, Unit 6, Lesson 4, Part 1, page 19, Letters Make Words, the teacher reminds students that letters are sounds that are written down and two or more letters together can spell words. The teacher tells students the word map is spelled with the three letters m, a, and p.
Understand that words are separated by spaces in print.
In Countdown Online, PDF Resources, Countdown Concepts of Print, Lesson 8, pages 9-10, Spaces Between Words, the teacher explains that when reading, there are spaces between each word, and that is how to tell when one word ends and another begins.
In Countdown Online, PDF Resources, Countdown Concepts of Print, Lesson 10, pages 13-15, Concepts of Book Reading 2, the teacher reviews the concept of spaces between words to tell where one word ends and another begins.
Materials include frequent and adequate lessons, tasks, and questions for all students about the organization of print concepts (e.g., follow words left to right, spoken words correlate sequences of letters, letter spacing).
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 1, Unit 1, Lesson 3, Part 2, page 15, in Left to Right & One to One: Directionality and Order, the teacher explains that when looking at pictures or in books, you begin at the top left and move to the right. Students practice by naming pictures in the image from left to right.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 1, Unit 1, Lesson 3, Part 3, Directionality and Spatial Sequence, pages 16-17, students learn about first, next, last, before, and after by using the words to describe the location of pictures that are in a row.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 2, Unit 7, Lesson 5, Part 3, pages 54-55, Unscramble This, students see the image of a CVC word out of order, segment the word orally, and use the correct sounds to spell the word correctly.
Materials do not include a variety of physical books (teacher-guided, such as big books) that are suitable for the teaching of print concepts.
The materials do not include physical books.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 3, Introduction, pages xiii-xiv, PDF Resources, the materials indicate that teachers may choose to download and print decodables. However, there is no evidence that the materials include a variety of physical books.
Materials do not include sufficient and explicit instruction about the organization of print concepts (e.g., follow words left to right, spoken words correlate sequences of letters, letter spacing) in the context of a book.
In Countdown Teacher Guide 1, Unit 1, Lesson 3, Part 2, page 15, Left to Right and One to One, the teacher introduces students to the concept of left-to-right. The teacher states, “Whether we are looking at pictures, charts or books we always start at the top of the board or page and start looking or reading from the left side. We call this our starting point.” (The teacher points to the top left corner of the book or screen.)
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 1, Appendix, page 195, Environmental Activities, there are recommendations for read alouds that can be used to reinforce concepts of print and solidify skills such as rhyming. These are not provided within the curriculum.
Materials do not include opportunities for students to engage in authentic practice using print concepts in the context of student books.
In Countdown Online, Supplemental Resources, PDF Resources, Countdown Concepts of Print, pages 1-15, Lessons 1-10, The Concepts of Print lessons contain ten lessons. Lesson 1 is Print is What We Read. Lesson 9 is Concepts of Book Reading 1. Lesson 10 is Concepts of Book Reading 2. All advise teachers to select a book from their classroom libraries to teach the lessons. There are no physical books in the materials.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 3, pages 18-19, PDF Resources, the materials indicate that teachers may choose to download and print decodables. There was no evidence for consistent opportunities for students to engage in authentic practice using print concepts in the context of student books.
Materials contain some periodic cumulative review opportunities during which the teacher reminds students about previously learned grade-level print concepts, letter identification, and letter formation.
In Countdown Online Unit 7, Lesson 1, Part 3, students view a soundbank of previously taught lower case letters (h, c, or t) to choose from to fill in the missing beginning sound of the word hat. Teachers reinforce that the beginning letter is the one missing. Students are not viewing the word hat in the context of a sentence or being explicitly taught the difference between a letter, word, or sentence.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 2, Unit 15, Lesson 2, Part 1, page 246, Letter-Sound Review, the teacher and students review all lowercase letters’ names and sounds.
Materials include students’ practice of previously learned print concepts, letter identification, and letter formation.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 3, Unit 18, Lesson 5, Part 1, pages 52-54, Spell It!, students spell CVC words by segment words orally, then write the letter corresponding to teacher sound in order.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 3, Unit 21, Lesson 1, Part 1, pages 113-114, Letter- Sound Look, Think, Say!, students review six lowercase letter names and sounds.
Criterion 1.2: Phonological Awareness
Materials emphasize explicit, systematic instruction of research-based and/or evidence-based phonological awareness.
The Really Great Reading materials, Countdown, provide various multimodal/multisensory activities for students to practice phonological and phonemic awareness. The materials contain explicit instruction in phonological and phonemic awareness. While the materials provide ample opportunities to practice phonological and phonemic awareness, the materials do not have practice for counting syllables in spoken words.
Indicator 1c
Materials have frequent opportunities for students to engage in phonological awareness activities during Kindergarten and early Grade 1.
The materials reviewed for Kindergarten meet the criteria for 1c.
The Countdown materials provide students daily and ongoing learning activities with frequent practice opportunities to engage in multisensory phonological awareness activities throughout all 28 units of the program. The Countdown program contains a variety of multisensory phonological activities, including Stretch Those Sounds, where students use finger stretching for segmenting and blending words, and Syllable Stomp for segmenting and blending syllables in words. Students have frequent opportunities to engage in and practice phonological awareness skills daily in Kindergarten activities.
Materials include a variety of activities for phonological awareness.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 1, Unit 2, Lesson 1, Part 1, page 81, Activity 15, Peel that Sound, students receive instruction, modeling, and repeated practice with phonological awareness. During the first round of the activity, the teacher pronounces the word, starting with the isolated beginning sound and students repeat. During the second round, the teacher pronounces the isolated beginning sound the students give the full word. During the third round, the teacher names the picture and students give the isolated beginning sound.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 2, Unit 11, Lesson 3, Part 1, page 149, Stretch Those Sounds, students practice segmenting words using finger stretching beginning with their thumbs to segment each phoneme in a word.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 3, Unit 28, Lesson 2, Part 2, page 311, Blending Words with Multiple Syllables, the teacher introduces a word from their Mystery Bag. Students use Syllable Stomp to stomp out syllables and then blend the syllables to create words.
There are frequent opportunities for students to practice phonological awareness.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 1, Unit 1, Lesson 4, Part 3, pages 23-25, Hear that Rhyme, students look at projected images to create words that rhyme with each image.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 1, Unit 2, Lesson 1, Part 2, page 35, Sound Stories, students listen to an alliterative story and choose words that start with the sound(s).
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 2, Unit 7, Lesson 5, Part 1, page 52, Stretch Those Sounds, students finger stretch words where they segment each phoneme in a word beginning with their thumb. They pull their fingers back into a fist as they say each phoneme and repeat the word.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 2, Unit 16, Lesson 2, Part 1, pages 268-269, Sound Swap, students turn words into new words by segmenting onset and rime and changing the first sound of the words. For example, students change the word can to pan.
Indicator 1d
Materials provide explicit instruction in phonological awareness through systematic modeling across the K-1 grade band.
The materials reviewed for Kindergarten meet the criteria for 1d.
The Countdown Kindergarten materials provide teachers with explicit instruction in phonological awareness through systematic modeling throughout all 28 units. All phonological awareness lessons provide scripting for teacher use and explicit teacher modeling for actions and gestures needed to deliver each lesson. The materials provide the teacher with detailed examples for each activity within lessons and practice sets for students. There is explicit and systematic modeling for instruction in syllables, sounds, and spoken words.
Materials provide the teacher with systematic, explicit modeling for instruction in syllables, sounds (phonemes), and spoken words.
Recognize and produce rhyming words.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 1, Unit 1, Lesson 4, Part 3, pages 23-25, Hear that Rhyme, the teacher models rhyming word pairs and for each word pair. Students say rhyming words. The teacher says, “When two words rhyme, the middles and ends of the words sound the same. Only the first sound changes.” The teacher models rhyming word pairs with the following words: jet, net, fox, box, key, bee. The teacher repeats rhyming words with images and then gives students time to remember rhyming words before showing students photos of matching rhyming words.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 1, Unit 2, Lesson 2, Part 3, pages 48-49, Which Words Rhyme?, the teacher displays three images and reminds students they are listening for the two words in which the middle and the end of the words stay the same and only the beginning of the word changes.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 1, Unit 3, Lesson 2, Part 3, pages 85-86, Creating Rhymes, the teacher tells students they will try to come up with rhyming words of their own that they do not have to be real words. “Remember, words rhyme when their middles and ends sound the same. Only the first sound changes, so all of the words we come up with have to end with /ig/, just like wig.” Possible answers are provided for the teacher and include the following words: lig, hig, zig, twig.
Count, pronounce, blend, and segment syllables in spoken words.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 1, Appendix, Environmental Activities, Segmenting Activities, page 197, Stomp It Out!, the teacher says a complete sentence, phrase, or word and stomps it out in a way to demonstrate how to say it segmented. The example provided for word segmenting is kindergarten as kin-der-gar-ten. All Aboard! is another activity provided under Segmenting Activities where the teacher lines students up one for each spoken segment either for words, syllables, or sounds. The example given for syllables is watermelon segmented-wa-ter-me-lon.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 1, Unit 2, Lesson 1, Part 3, pages 39-41, Mystery Bag: Blending Compound Words, students blend syllables in compound words to produce whole words. The teacher tells students they will hold up a fist for each part of a word and then push their fists together to say the entire word. “Listen carefully to my words and repeat after me-book (hold up one fist in front of your body) - (Pause) - shelf (hold up a second fist in front of your body).” The teacher asks the students what word is made when their two fists are put together. The teacher continues to model with rain-bow. There are 28 word samples for practice. In Differentiated Options Extension Activities, the teacher clicks through the compound word images and asks students to segment compound words asking students to say the two syllables without saying the whole word. The teacher guesses the compound word.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 3, Unit 27, Lesson 2, Part 1, pages 284-285, Launch, the teacher talks about how some words are smaller, like eye, and some are longer, like jellybean. The teacher explains how to break longer words in pieces or chunks. Students say jellybean with the teacher. “I could hear three beats in the word, and I could feel my mouth open three times.” The students do the same. The teacher says, “We have a special name for these word chunks. They are called syllables. Let’s say the word syllable and see if we feel our voices turn on as we say it in chunks. syl-a-ble. The lesson continues, and the students practice stomping the syllables in the following words: elbow, juice, sandwich, strawberry, thunder, zucchini, icicle, caveman, rocket, overalls.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 3, Unit 28, Lesson 2, Part 2, pages 311-312, Blending Words with Multiple Syllables, the teacher uses the Mystery Bag Syllable Stomp to review blending syllables to make a word. The teacher models the word candles. Students practice with the following words: volcano, yogurt, footprints, dinosaur, leaf, hamburger, eraser, inside, mountain, sunglasses, toothbrush, thunderstorm, upstairs,
Blend and segment onsets and rimes of single-syllable spoken words.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 1, Unit 2, Lesson 5, Part 3, pages 69-70, Mystery Bag: Blending Onset and Rime, the teacher tells students they will put two parts of a word together to create a whole word. The teacher tells students they will hold up their fists as they say each part then put them together when they say the whole word. The teacher models holding their fists in front of their body as they say each part of the word. The teacher models with mug holding up a fist for /m/ and /ug/ and asks students what word it makes as they put their fists together. The teacher repeats the procedure for the word rat.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 2, Unit 16, Lesson 3, Part 1, pages 273-274, Sound Swap, the teacher tells students they will turn words into new words by changing the first sound of the words. The teacher states, “What is the first sound in pig? [/p/]. What is the rest of the word? [/ig/].” The teacher asks students to segment the onset and rime of log and prepare to change log into dog. The same segmenting of onset and rime procedure is used for the 18 practice words provided in the activity.
Isolate and pronounce the initial, medial vowel, and final sounds (phonemes) in three-phoneme (consonant-vowel-consonant, or CVC) words. (This does not include CVCs ending with /l/, /r/, or /x/.)
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 1, Unit 4, Lesson 3, Part 3, pages 129-130, What's That Word?, students blend phonemes in CVC words. The teacher says, “I’m going to say three sounds, and then we will blend them together to make a whole word.” The teacher asks students to listen as they say the sounds in one of two pictures projected. The teacher holds up their thumb for /p/, index finger for /i/, and middle finger for /g/ and asks students which word was said van or pig.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 2, Unit 6, Lesson 3, Part 3, pages 17-18, Stretch Those Sounds, the teacher tells students they will separate all of the sounds of some words and begin to model with the word nap. The teacher holds a closed fist against their chest and extends their thumb for /n/, extends their pointer finger for /a/, and extends their middle finger for /p/. The teacher tells students they stretched out each sound in the word as they stretched out a finger for each sound. The teacher uses the finger stretching method to segment the word mug.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 3, Unit 17, Lesson 4, Part 1, pages 18-19, Review Stretching Sounds in Words, the teacher models isolating and pronouncing the initial, medial vowel, and final consonants in CVC words, including cat, bat, sick, and fish. The teacher extends a finger for each sound in the word and clicks the display for each sound so that a color tile will be shown.
Add or substitute individual sounds (phonemes) in simple, one-syllable words to make new words.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 2, Unit 13, Lesson 2, Part 1, pages 194-195, Add That Sound, the teacher lets students know they will be adding sounds to the end of some words. The teacher uses finger stretching for the word she and adds a new sound /p/ to the end of the word to create the word sheep. The teacher models with the word lay, finger stretching the word. The teacher adds /k/ to the end of the word to create the word lake. The teacher uses finger stretching as they stretch out all of the sounds in words and uses three fingers for each sound in lake then closes their fist when they say the word lake.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 2, Unit 16, Lesson 2, Part 1, pages 268-269, Sound Swap, the teacher tells students they will turn words into new words by changing the first sound of the words. The teacher asks students for the onset and rime for the word can. The teacher says, “Right /k/ /an/, can. Now let’s change the first sound to /p/. What word do we get?”[pan]. The teacher models changing the word mix to six using the same procedures.
In Countdown Teacher Guide 2, Unit 16, Lesson 4, Part 1, pages 278-279, Sound Swap, the teacher says, “We are turning some words into new words by changing the first sound. Let’s start with the word mitt.” The teacher models changing mitt to sit by asking what the first sound in mitt is and what the rest of the sounds are, then by saying that they will change the first sound of mitt to /s/. The teacher continues modeling with the additional words cod to pod, rose to nose, hot to pot, jet to net by telling students the first sound to change.
Materials provide the teacher with examples for instruction in syllables, sounds (phonemes), and spoken words called for in grade level standards.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 2, Unit 7, Lesson 5, Part 1, page 52, Stretch Those Sounds, the teacher models stretching the word fox. The teacher tells students they will be separating all sounds in words and to listen as they say the sounds in the word fox. The teacher says fox and holds their fist at their chest then, “/f/ (extend thumb), /o/ (extend pointer finger), /ks/ (extend middle finger)”. The teacher pulls their fingers back into a fist as they say the word. There are additional words provided for finger stretching words practice.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 3, Unit 28, Lesson 2, Part 2, page 311, Blending Words with Multiple Syllables, the teacher models blending words with multiple syllables using the word popcorn. The teacher tells students to listen carefully as they have syllables in their Mystery Bag: “pop-(PAUSE)-corn (Stomp your fist on a table or board from left to right for each syllable.)”.
Indicator 1e
Materials provide practice of each newly taught sound (phoneme) and sound pattern across the K-1 band.
The materials reviewed for Kindergarten partially meet the criteria for 1e.
The Kindergarten Countdown materials provide ample initial, ongoing, and review opportunities for students to practice newly taught sounds and sound patterns daily in phonemic awareness lessons taught throughout all 28 units of the program. The materials include various multimodal/multisensory activities for student practice of phonological awareness through body movements in activities such as finger-stretching and Syllable Stomp. However, there are missed opportunities for counting syllables in spoken words in the Kindergarten Countdown materials.
Materials provide ample opportunities for students to practice each new sound and sound pattern.
Recognize and produce rhyming words.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 1, Unit 2, Lesson 2, Part 3, pages 48-49, Which Words Rhyme?, students practice listening to three words in 18 other sets and identifying the two rhyming words within each group.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 1, Unit 2, Lesson 3, Part 3, pages 85-86, Creating Rhymes, students generate rhyming words.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 1, Unit 2, Lesson 4, Part 3, pages 62-63, Which Words Rhyme, students practice recognizing rhyming word pairs from a set of three images. There are 18 word sets for practice. Word sets include toy/boy/hug and sock/bell/clock.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 1, Unit 3, Lesson 4, Part 3, page 101, students create rhyming words, including nonsense words for the images of can, mug, and goat.
Count, pronounce, blend, and segment syllables in spoken words.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 1, Unit 2, Lesson 1, Part 3, pages 39-41, Mystery Bag: Blending Compound Words, students blend syllables to produce compound words.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 1, Unit 2, Lesson 3, Part 3, pages 55-56, Mystery Bag: Blending Compound Words, students blend compound words from a list of 28 words. Words include eye-ball, lady-bug, and back-pack.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 3 Unit 25, Lesson 2, pages 254-255, 2-Sound Consonant Blends, students segment phonemes in single-syllable words, including consonant blends. Using the finger stretch routine, students listen to sounds, identify the number of sounds in a word, blend the sounds and identify the single-syllable words. Words include tent, jump, bump, fast. Last, bend, send, bulb, and milk.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 3, Unit 27, Lesson 2, Part 2, pages 287-288, Optional Extension Activity: Syllable Swap, students segment words into syllables before changing the first syllable to create a new word. There are 10 practice words.
Blend and segment onsets and rimes of single-syllable spoken words.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 1, Unit 2, Lesson 5, Part 3, pages 69-70, Mystery Bag: Blending Onset and Rime, students practice blending onsets and rimes to create new words. Practice words provided include map, shirt, jar, and pig.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 1, Unit 3, Lesson 5, Part 3, pages 107-108, What’s That Word, students blend the onsets and rimes in one-syllable words and say the whole word.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 2, Unit 16, Lesson 2, Part 1, pages 268-269, Sound Swap, students turn words into new words using onset and rime to segment words. Practice words include bug /b/ /ug/ change first sound to /r/ to create rug. There are 18 practice words.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 2, Unit 16, Lesson 3, Part 1, pages 273-274, Sound Swap, students turn words into new words by changing the first sound. The same segmenting of onset and rime procedure is used for the 18 words provided.
Isolate and pronounce the initial, medial vowel, and final sounds (phonemes) in three-phoneme (consonant-vowel-consonant, or CVC) words. (This does not include CVCs ending with /l/, /r/, or /x/.)
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 1, Unit 2, Lesson 5, Part 1, pages 64-65, Peel and Say, students isolate, identify, and produce initial sounds.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 2, Unit 6, Lesson 2, Part 3, pages 34-35, Stretch those Sounds, students isolate, identify, and produce initial, medial vowel, and final sounds.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 2, Unit 11, Lesson 3, Part 1, page 149, Stretch Those Sounds, students practice segmenting words using finger stretching where they use their fingers beginning with their thumbs to segment each phoneme in a word.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 2, Unit 7, Lesson 5, Part 1, page 52, Stretch Those Sounds, students finger stretch words where they segment each phoneme in a word with their fingers beginning with their thumb, then they pull their fingers back into a fist as they say each phoneme and repeat the word.
Add or substitute individual sounds (phonemes) in simple, one-syllable words to make new words.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 2, Unit 13, Lesson 2, Part 1, pages 194-195, Add That Sound, students add sounds to the end of words. Practice words include bee-been, may-made, and zoo-zoom.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 2, Unit 14, Lesson 3, Part 1, pages 249-250, Add that Sound, students add a sound to the beginning of a word to form a new word.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 2, Unit 16, Lesson 2, Part 1, pages 268-269, Sound Swap, students turn words into new words by segmenting onset and rime and changing the first sound. For example, students change the word can to pan.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 2, Unit 16, Lesson 2, Part 2, pages 291-292, Sound Swap, an image appears on the screen and students swap the beginning sound with a different beginning sound to create a new word. Students practice with the following words: chin-win, bug-rug, goal-boat, house-mouse, fox-box, log-dog, ship-lip, toes-nose, pan-man, cut-nut, hot-pot, thumb-gum, mat-hat, hug-mug, jam-ham, mitt-sit, chop-hop, phone-bone.
Materials include a variety of multimodal/multisensory activities for student practice of phonological awareness.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 1, Unit 1, Lesson 4, Part 3, pages 23-25, Hear that Rhyme, students look at projected images to create words that rhyme with each image.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 1, Unit 2, Lesson 5, Part 3, pages 69-70, Mystery Bag: Blending Onset-Rime, students blend the onsets and rimes in one-syllable words and say the whole word. The teacher uses the digital online resource for this activity. Additionally, the teacher says the onsets and rimes, students repeat the onsets and rimes, and students use hand motions to blend the onset and rimes to form one-syllable words.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 3, Unit 28, Lesson 2, Part 2, page 311, Blending Words with Multiple Syllables, the teacher introduces a word from their Mystery Bag. Students use Syllable Stomp to stomp out syllables and then blend the syllables to create words. In Syllable Stomp, students use their fists on their desks to stomp out words.
Criterion 1.3: Phonics
This criterion is non-negotiable. Materials must achieve a specified minimum score in this criterion to advance to the next gateway.
Materials emphasize explicit, systematic instruction of research-based and/or evidence-based phonics.
The Really Great Reading materials, Countdown, provide explicit, systematic instruction for most phonics standards. There are missed opportunities for distinguishing between similarly spelled words by identifying the sounds of the graphemes that differ. The materials contain frequent opportunities to decode phonics patterns in isolation and connected text. The materials contain explicit instruction and student practice opportunities for encoding sound-spelling patterns in isolation and connected text.
Indicator 1f
Materials emphasize explicit phonics instruction through systematic and repeated modeling.
The materials reviewed for Kindergarten partially meet the criteria for 1f.
The Countdown Kindergarten materials contain explicit, systematic phonics instruction. There is teacher scripting and repeated teacher modeling of all grade-level phonics standards in Units 6 through 28. There is explicit modeling for teacher tasks with the projections of the lesson materials. Countdown Phonics lessons provide the teacher with systematic and repeated instruction for students to hear, say, encode, and read most newly taught grade-level phonics patterns. There are missed opportunities for explicit instruction of distinguishing between similarly spelled words by identifying the sounds of the letters that differ.
Materials contain explicit instructions for systematic and repeated teacher modeling of most grade level phonics standards.
Demonstrate basic knowledge of one-to-one letter-sound correspondences by producing the primary sound or many of the most frequent sounds for each consonant.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 1, Introduction, page ix, the Countdown Scope and Sequence is in Countdown Books 1 and 2. Consonant letter sounds in clusters are listed by units: Unit 6, Cluster 1: m, t, p; Unit 7, Cluster 2: s, h, c; Unit 8, Cluster 3: d, f, r; Unit 10, Cluster 4: g, l, n; Unit 11, Cluster 5: b, k, v; Unit 13 Cluster, 6: j, w, z; and Unit 14, Cluster 7: qu, x, y. Units 9, 12, 15, and 16 contain cluster reviews.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 2, Unit 6, Lesson 2, Part 2, pages 4-6, Name that Sound Using, the teacher shows a picture of a monkey and asks, “What is the first sound in monkey?” The teacher explains that monkey begins with /m/, shows the letter M and tells students the letter’s name is M, like the beginning of /m/ monkey. The teacher tells the students that the M is called “capital M.” The teacher continues by introducing T, P, and A.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 2, Unit 8, Lesson 1, Part 2, pages 58-59, Name that Sound, the teacher says, “Now we are going to see what some new sounds look like when they are written down.” The teacher displays the image of a duck and asks students what the first sound in duck is, then shows the upper and lowercase tiles Dd as they say, “Right duck begins with /d/, and these letters say the sound, or spell, /d/.” The procedure is repeated for consonant letters f and r with fish and rabbit images.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 2, Unit 14, Lesson 1, Part 2, pages 216-217, Name that Sound, the teacher says, “Now we are going to see what our sounds look like when they are written down.” The teacher displays the image of a queen and asks what the picture is and what the beginning sound of the word is and displays the upper and lowercase tiles for Qq as they say, “Right queen begins with /kw/, and these letters say the sound, or spell, /kw/.” The teacher tells students that q is always followed by the letter u. The teacher points to the upper and lowercase Qq in the Qu qu letter tiles and tells students they are called the letter q. The teacher introduces sounds and letters x with the word mix and y with yes, along with displayed images.
Associate the long and short sounds with the common spellings (graphemes) for the five major vowels.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 3, Introduction, page xvi, there is the Countdown Scope and Sequence in Countdown Teacher Guide Books 1, 2, and 3. The Scope and Sequence contains the order phonics patterns for short and long vowels are introduced in Units 1-28. Vowels sounds are listed by units: Unit 6, Cluster 1: short a; Unit 7, Cluster 2: short i; Unit 8, Cluster 3: short o; Unit 10, Cluster 4: short u; Unit 11, Cluster 5: short e; Units 12 and 17: Review short vowel; Unit 18: Long vowel sounds; Unit 19: Short a vs. Long a; Unit 20: Short i vs. Long i; Unit 21: Short u vs. Long u; Unit 22: Short o vs. Long o; Unit 23: Short e vs. Long e; Unit 24: Review all short and long vowels.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 2, Unit 8, Lesson 5, Part 3, pages 81-82, Touch and Say, the teacher says “We are going to read some words by ‘sounding them out’.” The teacher clicks to underline one letter tile at a time while saying its sound, “/h//o//p/.” The teacher also models with the word pad /p//a//d/. The teacher continues with this procedure as students say the letter sounds of each word. The CVC words are rim, dip, mad, ram, hot, and cop.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 3, Unit 18, Lesson 2, Part 1-2, pages 33-36, Introduction to Long Vowel Phonemes, the teacher reviews the short vowel sounds with students, using the Short Vowels Poster. The teacher introduces students to the long vowel sounds using the Long Vowel Poster. Students listen for the long vowel sounds in spoken words and use the poster to help determine if the vowel sound is long or short.
Distinguish between similarly spelled words by identifying the sounds of the letters that differ.
No evidence.
Lessons provide teachers with systematic and repeated instruction for students to hear, say, encode, and read each newly taught grade level phonics pattern.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 3, Unit 18, Lesson 3, Part 2, pages 42-43, Vowel-Consonant Pattern, the teacher tells students they will learn to read words that have a special pattern called Vowel-Consonant pattern: “The pattern we are going to look for is one vowel letter, with one or more consonant letters after the vowel. It’s called a Vowel-Consonant pattern.” The teacher presents the word bat and asks students if there is a vowel, asking for the vowel's name. The teacher asks if there is a consonant after the vowel, asking for the /t/ sound. The teacher points to each letter saying its sound and then says bat. In Part 3, Build Real Words with Vowel-Consonant Pattern, the teacher shows the image of nap and has students stretch the sounds displaying a color tile for each sound. The teacher displays a letter tile under each color tile while saying the sound. Finally, the teacher uses Touch and Say to read the word.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 3, Unit 26, Lessons 3, Part 2, page 267 Build Real Words with Two-Sound Blends, the teacher displays the image for swim. The teacher stretches the sounds in swim with finger stretching and shows a color tile for each sound as they say the sounds /s//w//i//m/. The teacher prompts students with questions about what sound they hear and what letter spells each sound in swim and displays letter tiles for each sound. The teacher asks students if they see a two-sound blend, they are to respond “yes sw.” The teacher uses Say and Touch to read the word swim.
Indicator 1g
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.
The materials reviewed for Kindergarten meet the criteria for 1g.
The Countdown Kindergarten materials provide students with frequent opportunities to decode phonetically spelled words. The Countdown materials provide students with frequent opportunities to read complete words by saying the entire word as a unit using newly taught phonics skills. The materials allow students to review previously learned grade-level phonics in various methods, including Phrase Reading and Word Sorts.
Lessons provide students with frequent opportunities to decode (phonemes, onset and rime, and/or syllables) phonetically spelled words.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 1, Unit 2, Lesson 5, Part 3, pages 69-70, Mystery Bag: Blending Onset-Rime, the students blend the onset and rime in a one-syllable word and say the word in a variety of activities, including the use of Mystery Bag and the finger stretching routine to read the following words: map, bug, lick, thumb, nail, leg, jar, hose, pig, whale, check, sheep, box, sun, toes, rug, neck, tape, hair, fox, girl, lime, worn, shirt, leaf, fish, chin.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 2, Unit 8, Lesson 5, Part 3, pages 81-82, Touch and Say, students decode words by sounding out each projected underlined letter tile one at a time. Students say the sound and blend the words. Students use this procedure to practice words that contain short /a/, /i/ and /o/ with the teacher. CVC words include rim, dip, mad, ram, hot, and cop.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 2, Unit 16, Lesson 4, Part 1, pages 278-279, Sound Swap, students swap initial sounds of words after segmenting the words using onset and rime to create new words. Student practice words include cod to pod, corn to thorn, and goat to boat.
Lessons provide students with frequent opportunities to read complete words by saying the entire word as a unit using newly taught phonics skills.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 2 Unit 13, Lesson 4, Part 1, pages 205-208, Touch and Say, students practice saying an entire word by decoding words by pronouncing one sound at a time and blending them. The teacher first models. The students practice the following words: web, zig, job, win, bag, tub, wet, Jen, zap, jam, pet, wag, bug, and met.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 3, Unit 18, Lesson 4, Part 1, pages 49-50, Word Sort, students sort words by the vowel sound in each word then read the words by finger-stretching the words and deciding which vowel sound is used in words. Words in the activity include rug, sit, jet, and sun.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 3, Unit 25, Lesson 4, in Parts 1-2, pages 217-218, Detective Work: Mark It!, students read words on workbook page 28. In Part 1, students look closely at words and mark them by underlining letters and saying the sounds they make. Students blend the sounds to create whole words. In Part 2, Detective Work: Read It!, the teacher calls on students to read a row of words aloud to the group. Practice words in both parts of the lesson include digraphs and all word chunks. Student practice words: Part 1 chip, sock tall, call; Part 2 Thad, rush, chip, sock, all, tall.
Materials contain opportunities for students to review previously learned grade-level phonics.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 1, Introduction, page ix, there is Countdown Scope and Sequence for Countdown Books 1, 2, and 3. In Countdown Book 2, the teacher introduces students to letters by clusters.
Unit 6, Cluster 1: m, t, p, a
Unit 7, Cluster 2: s, h, c, i
Unit 8, Cluster 3: d, f, r, o
Unit 9, students review Letter Clusters 1-3. Review activities include: Stretch Those Sounds, Build a Word, and Touch and Say.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 1, Appendix, page 194, All Instances of Countdown Activities by Strand, students practice Phrase Reading in units and lessons in Countdown Books 1 and 2: 10,5; 11,5; 12,5; 13,5; 14,5; 15,3; 15,5; and 16,3.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 2, Unit 15, Lesson 3, Part 3, pages 252-253, Phrase Reading, students practice reading decodable words in three-word phrases. Phrases included in the activity are dog will run and rub my leg.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 3, Introduction, pages xiii-xiv (18-19 of 381 online PDF), PDF Resources, the materials indicate that the teacher may choose to download and print decodables and other resources to provide extra practice for encoding and decoding.
Materials contain a variety of methods to promote students’ practice of previously taught grade level phonics.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 2, Unit 12, Lesson 5, Part 3, pages 185-186, Phrase Reading, students read words and phrases projected. Students read words together with the teacher by sounding out black words using Touch and Say, where they touch/point to the letters, sound them out, then blend the sounds to say the complete word. Phrases include hid the mop, be like him and beg for ham.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 3, Unit 19, Lesson 4, Part 1, pages 76-77, Word Sort: Real vs. Silly Nonsense, students finger-stretch words, then say the entire word, and decide if the word is a real word or silly word. Student practice words include fit, zob, leg, and luf.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 3, Unit 25, lesson 5, Parts 1 and 2, pages 221- 224, Wrap Up and Show What You Know, students participate in a variety of activities to practice previously taught grade-level phonics skills, including Sentences to Read when students read a series of sentences from their workbook. In Spell It!, students use the finger stretch routine to determine the number of sounds in a word and then write the letters for the sounds that they hear.
Indicator 1h
Materials provide frequent opportunities for students to practice decoding phonetically regular words in a sentence.
The materials reviewed for Kindergarten meet the criteria for 1h.
The Countdown Kindergarten materials provide opportunities for students to practice decoding phonetically regular words during Phrases to Read, Sentences to Read, and Decodable Passages. There are opportunities for explicit, systematic practice for decoding phonetically regular words in a sentence when students read complete Sentences to Read during weekly Lessons 3, 4, and 5.
Materials provide explicit, systematic practice for decoding phonetically regular words in a sentence.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 3, Unit 19, Lesson 5, Part 1, pages 80-81, Phrases and Sentences to Read, the teacher tells students they will read phrases and sentences in their workbooks. The teacher has individual students read the phrases and sentences and has the remainder of the students be checkers, giving the reader a thumbs up if they read the words correctly or placing their thumbs to the side if the reader misreads a word. The teacher follows the Positive Error Correction instructions if a student misreads any word. The teacher tells the students the number of words read correctly and prompts a checker to identify the incorrect word by position without saying the word to the reader. The teacher prompts the reader to use Touch and Say to reread the word. Once the reader rereads the word correctly, they reread the entire sentence and are congratulated if they reread the sentence correctly. If they still misread a word, the checkers use Touch and Say to read the word chorally; then, the reader independently uses Touch and Say to read the word, then read the sentence correctly.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 3, Unit 23, Lesson 5, Part 1, page 191, Sentences to Read, students read sentences from the workbook on page 22. The sentences provide students with practice decoding words based on the phonics concepts taught within the unit, words containing digraphs sh, th, ch, and wh. Practice sentences include: It had a big mesh top.; Which chip do you like?; That man was rich.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 3, Unit 26, Lesson 5, Part 1, page 273, Activity Sentences to Read, students take turns reading a sentence aloud from the student workbook. Sentences contain decodable words and previously-taught heart words marked with a heart. While one student reads aloud, the other students read silently as checkers and give non-verbal feedback on accuracy.
Lessons provide students with opportunities to decode words in a sentence.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 3, Unit 19, Lesson 5, Part 1, page 78, Wrap Up and Show What You Know, the materials indicate that Units 19-28 contain a weekly wrap-up activity that asks students to decode words in phrases and/or sentences.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 3, Unit 27, Lesson 5, Part 1, pages 301-302, Sentences to Read, students read sentences from the workbook on page 38. The sentences provide students with practice decoding words based on the phonics concepts taught within the unit, words containing two-syllable words with closed syllables. Practice sentences include: The mascot was a dentist.; The milkman will hiccup nonstop.; Delvin said we can chit-chat at the contest.
In Countdown Online, Supplemental Resources, and Countdown Passages, students read “Tim and Ted”. This text connects to Unit 18 and contains short vowels. Sentences include: They like to run, jog, and hop.; The dog will run to his bed to nap.; Tim and Ted like to play and have fun!
Indicator 1i
Materials include frequent practice opportunities for students to build/manipulate/spell and encode grade-level phonics, including common and newly-taught sound and sound patterns.
The materials reviewed for Kindergarten meet the criteria for 1i.
The Countdown Kindergarten materials contain lessons for students to build, manipulate, spell, and encode words using common and newly taught phonics sounds and spelling patterns. The Countdown lessons provide students with frequent opportunities to build/manipulate/spell and encode words using letter tiles and activities such as Build a Word and Say and Say and Touch to practice common and newly-taught sound and spelling phonics patterns.
The materials contain teacher-level instruction/modeling for building/manipulating/spelling and encoding words using common and newly-taught sound and spelling patterns of phonics.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 2, Unit 6, Lesson 3, Part 2, pages 15-17, This Letter or That?, the teacher utilizes the online resources to display pictures starting with m, t, p, and a by asking what the first sound of the picture is and then reminding students what letter spells that sound. The teacher writes the letter and word on the board and invites the students to say the sound and read the word.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book Book 3, Unit 20, Lesson 3, Part 1, pages 100-101, Teach Digraph sh, the teacher explains, “The letters sh are called a digraph. A digraph is two letters that work together to spell just one sound.” In I Do: Build Real Words with Digraph sh, the teacher explicitly models how to build and read the word rash by first saying the word, next by stretching the sounds, saying the sound in rash very slowly. The teacher displays the corresponding letter tiles, one tile at a time, and tells the sound. The teacher models reading the word.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 3, Unit 24, Lessons 3, Part 3, page 214, Build Real Words with Digraph ck, the teacher displays the image of a duck. The teacher stretches the sounds in duck with finger stretching and shows a color tile for each sound as they say the three sounds /d//u//k/. The teacher clicks to display a letter phoneme for each color tile. The teacher uses Touch and Say to read the word duck. The teacher points to ck and says, "I see digraph ck in this word. I know digraph ck has two letters working together to spell one sound, /k/. Digraph ck always comes at the end of a word."
Lessons provide students with frequent opportunities to build/manipulate/spell and encode words using common and newly-taught sound and spelling patterns of phonics.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 2, Unit 20, Lesson 4, Part 3, pages 130-131, Unscramble This, students look at the letters o, t, p, and the image of a pot and must sound out and manipulate the letters to form the word pot.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 3, Unit 26, Lessons 2, Part 1, pages 257-258, Finger Stretch Words with Sound Buddies, students finger-stretch words. The word lash is changed to the word flash by adding f.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 3, Unit 26, Lessons 3, Part 2, page 267, Build Real Words with Two-Sound Blends, students use color tiles to sound out each phoneme of a word. They use letter tiles to match a letter to each phoneme to build words to review two-sound phonemes. Students use Touch and Say to read the word.
Indicator 1j
Materials provide application and encoding of phonics in activities and tasks. (mid K-Grade 2)
The materials reviewed for Kindergarten meet the criteria for 1j. (mid K-Grade 2)
In the Countdown Kindergarten materials, there are opportunities for the teacher to explicitly and systematically teach how to use phonics to encode sounds to letters and words in writing tasks. Countdown Kindergarten materials student application for encoding words in phrases and sentences based on common and newly taught phonics patterns through activities and tasks. There are three Countdown Dictation Sentences for Units 19-28 within the Supplemental Resources.
Materials include explicit, systematic teacher-level instruction of teacher modeling that demonstrates the use of phonics to encode sounds to letters and words in writing tasks.
In Countdown Online, Supplemental Resources, Countdown Writing Activity, the teacher models sentence writing. “The teacher creates an oral sentence about their drawing, using the written label words…Once again, the teacher asks the students to help spell out their sentence, and then the teacher models conventional spelling. Once the sentence is written, the teacher models left to right tracking by moving their finger across the writing left to right, emphasizing the sounds.
Lessons provide students with frequent activities and tasks to promote the application of phonics as they encode words in sentences or in phrases based on common and newly taught phonics patterns.
In Countdown Online, Supplemental Resources, PDF Resources, Additional Practice Activities and Spelling Lists, Countdown Dictation Sentences can be found. There are three dictation sentences provided for Units 19-28. In Unit 19, students encode, I hug the pup.; Zip up the top.; Sam ran with Tom.
In Countdown Online, Supplemental Resources, PDF Resources, Additional Practice Activities and Spelling Lists, Countdown Dictation Sentences, Unit 24, students encode, Pack the red mug.; Jog up to the dock.; Thad will lock the shed.
In Countdown Online, Supplemental Resources, PDF Resources, Additional Practice Activities and Spelling Lists, Countdown Dictation Sentences, Unit 28, students encode, The fresh pumpkin got stuck.; Do not unzip the fabric tent.’ Check my backpack for the napkin.
Criterion 1.4: Word Recognition and Word Analysis
Materials and instruction support students in learning and practicing regularly and irregularly spelled high-frequency words.
The Really Great Reading materials, Countdown, provide explicit and systematic instruction in high-frequency words. While the materials allow students to read and write high-frequency words in isolation and connected text, there is no explicit instruction or practice in using student-friendly reference materials and resources. The materials have word analysis instruction and student practice.
Indicator 1k
Materials include systematic instruction of high-frequency words and opportunities to practice reading of high-frequency words to develop automaticity.
The materials reviewed for Kindergarten meet the criteria for 1k.
The Kindergarten Countdown materials contain systematic and explicit instruction of high-frequency words through Heart Word videos. The materials include teacher modeling of spelling and reading high-frequency words in isolation. Students practice reading and identifying high-frequency words in isolation with activities such as Where’s That Heart Word and Heart Word Pop-Up. There are 60 high-frequency words that are explicitly introduced throughout Units 8-16 and 18-28.
Materials include systematic and explicit instruction of high-frequency words.
Read common high-frequency words by sight (e.g., the, of, to, you, she, my, is, are, do, does).
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 2, Unit 8, Lesson 3, Part 1, pages 69-70, Where’s That Heart Word?, the teacher models how to read the “Heart Words” in isolation: the, in, my. Teachers ask students to identify the word that is first, next, last, after, before, at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end of the list of words. Alternative options suggest that the teacher read the words as they are pointed to and have the students read them in random order.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 2, Unit 10, Lesson 1, Part 3, page 115, in Look, Think, Say; Pop-Up; 3-Up, the teacher tells students they will learn to read new Heart Words. There is teacher scripting and modeling for the teacher to explain the process. They display the word I, one red dot, and two empty dots. The teacher tells students when they see the red dot they are to stop and listen to the word, “This word is I, as in ‘I will go to the doctor if I feel sick.’” The yellow dot is remembering to think about the word and remember it. The green dot is to say the word out loud. “Say the word with me, I.”
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 3, Unit 19, Lesson 1, Part 5, page 58, in Heart Word Look, Think, Say!, the teacher says, “Now we are going to learn to read new Heart Words.” The teacher points to the projected red dot reminding students it means to stop and listen to the word, “This word is say, as in, “We say the Pledge of Allegiance every morning.” The teacher projects the yellow dot telling students it means to think about the word. The teacher projects the green dot telling students, “Say the word with me, say.”
Materials include frequent opportunities for the teacher to model the spelling and reading of high-frequency words in isolation.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 2, Unit 9, Lesson 1, Part 2, page 87, in Look, Think, Say, the teacher models reading the Heart Words a, is, and for displaying the red dot for Look, yellow dot for Think and green dot for students to Say the words.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 2, Unit 15, Lesson 1, Part 2, page 242, in Look, Think, Say, Pop-Up, 3-up, the teacher displays and reads the word did, and uses did in a sentence. The teacher tells students that they know the sounds in did and points to each letter while saying the sound, but says it would be easier to remember the word. The teacher guides students through the Look, Think, Say process. The teacher repeats with the words too and will, saying the sounds and pointing to each letter in the word will.
In Countdown Online, Unit 27, Lesson 1, Heart Word Magic video, the teacher in the video sounds out the high-frequency word make using a color tile for each sound in the word. Three color tiles are placed under the word, then letters m a k are added under each color to write out the word. The video explains the long /a/ is spelled using two letters (a & e). The teacher in the video spells out the letters m a k e and says the word make.
Students practice identifying and reading high-frequency words in isolation.
Materials include a sufficient quantity of grade-appropriate high-frequency words for students to make reading progress.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 1, Introduction, page xxxi, in WYNTK: Sight (High Frequency) Words, it states that Heart Words are taken from the Dolch 220 word list. As of Unit 8, students learn to read three sight words per unit, Units 8-16 and 18-28.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 3, Introduction, pages v-vi, in Sight Words/High-Frequency Words (Heart Words), the following 60 high-frequency words are listed by units: Unit 8: the, in, my; Unit 9: a, is, for; Unit 10: I, am, here; Unit 11: and, at, go; Unit 12: it, like, be; Unit 13: to, not, can; Unit 14: you, are, do; Unit 15: did, too, will; Unit 16: with, all, me; Unit 18: was, no, so; Unit 19: say, now, have; Unit 20: said, come, down; Unit 21: they, that, this; Unit 22: ate, our, who; Unit 23: where, what, must; Unit 24: we, he, she; Unit 25: but, want, there; Unit 26: saw, own, please; Unit 27: make, good, new; Unit 28: out, one, two. It also states in the back of the Student Workbook contains all 220 Dolch list words to give teachers the flexibility to focus on words from the entire list.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 2, Unit 9, Lesson 3, Part 2, page 119, Where’s That Heart Word?, the teacher uses the online module to display four different sets of three heart words arranged in different orders, including a total of six different Heart Words. The teacher reads the words left to right. Then students identify the words in response to position prompts like, “Which word is in the middle of the row?”
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 3, Unit 25, Lesson 1, Part 2, page 252, Heart Word Read a Row, students read a row of Heart Words aloud, and the other students read the words silently to monitor accuracy. The students use a thumbs up or thumbs to the side to provide feedback on accuracy.
Indicator 1l
Materials provide frequent practice opportunities to read and write high-frequency words in context (sentences).
The materials reviewed for Kindergarten partially meet the criteria for 1l.
The Kindergarten Countdown materials provide students with frequent opportunities to read grade-level high-frequency words (Heart Words) in sentences. Students have opportunities for writing grade-level high-frequency words. However, there is no repeated, explicit instruction in using student-friendly reference materials and resources. Dictation sentences with grade-level high-frequency words (Heart Words) are in the Supplemental Resources.
Lessons provide students with frequent opportunities to read grade-level high-frequency words in a sentence.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 2, Unit 10, Lesson 5, Part 3, pages 134-135, Phrase Reading, students read phrases that contain Heart Words and other decodable words. There are nine phrases. Three of the nine phrases are sentences: Here I am; I am sad; Tom is mad.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 2, Unit 16, Lesson 3, Part 3, Page 276, Phrase Reading, the teacher uses the online module to display the Heart Words did and my and the decodable word job one at a time. Students read each word, then the teacher shows the three words together, and students read them as a phrase. Students repeat the phrase at least three times. Students continue the process with the following phrases: let him go, all had fun, will hug me, did get ham, my dog too, men do not, fix the mop, ran like us, a big web.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 3, Unit 22, Lesson 5, Part 2, page 164, Sentences to Read, students use workbook page 18 to read high-frequency words in sentences. Practice sentences include Shut the read lid.; Who shut the red pot?; and I get the thin rod if I win.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 3, Unit 28, Lesson 5, Part 1, page 323, Sentences to Read, students use sentences in workbook page 42 to practice reading high-frequency words in sentences. Practice sentences include She said we can chitchat in the attic. Beth will panic and smash the insect with a dishpan.
Lessons provide students with frequent opportunities to write grade-level high-frequency words in tasks (such as sentences) in order to promote automaticity in writing grade-appropriate high-frequency words.
In Countdown Online, Supplemental Resources, PDF Resources, Additional Practice Activities and Spelling Lists, in Countdown Dictation Sentences, three dictation sentences are provided for Units 19-28. Sentences in Unit 20 include Shut the red tin. Sam ran with Tom.
In Countdown Online, Supplemental Resources, PDF Resources, Additional Practice Activities and Spelling Lists, in Countdown Dictation Sentences, three dictation sentences are provided for Units 19-28. Sentences in Unit 22 include Did Dad have cash? Do not rub that rash.
In Countdown Online, Supplemental Resources, PDF Resources, Additional Practice Activities and Spelling Lists, in Countdown Dictation Sentences, three dictation sentences are provided for Units 19-28. Sentences in Unit 25 include Jack will kick the ball there. The shack is a mud hut.
Materials do not provide repeated, explicit instruction in how to use student-friendly reference materials and resources and reading high-frequency words (e.g., word cards, word lists, word ladders, student dictionaries).
No evidence.
Indicator 1m
Materials explicitly teach word analysis strategies (e.g., phoneme/grapheme recognition, syllabication, morpheme analysis) based on the requirements of the standards and provide students with frequent practice opportunities to apply word analysis strategies.
The materials reviewed for Kindergarten meet the criteria for 1m.
The Countdown Kindergarten materials provide lessons that explicitly teach word analysis strategies, including teacher scripting and modeling. The materials have student practice opportunities for word analysis in the unit lessons. The Countdown materials provide multiple and varied opportunities over the course of the year for students to learn, practice, and apply word analysis strategies through Countdown Online video animations and teacher modeling in I Do, You Do, and We Do lesson formats along with student activities such as Touch & Say, Detective Work, Word Sorts, Nonsense Words, and Phrase Reading.
Materials contain frequent explicit instruction of word analysis strategies (e.g., phoneme/grapheme recognition, syllabication, morpheme analysis).
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 2, Unit 6, Lesson 5, Part 2, page 26, Touch and Say, the teacher displays the letter tiles m, a, t and says, “We are going to read some words by ‘sounding them out’, which means saying them one at a time. Let’s get started with this word. Watch how I sound it out.” The teacher clicks underlining one letter at a time as they sound out each letter /m//a//t/. The teacher clicks to slide an arrow from left to right under the word as they say mat.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 3, Unit 25, Lesson 4, Part 2, page 244, Detective Work, the teacher guides students to be “letter and sound detectives,” paying attention to each letter in a word, then reading the word. The teacher models the Mark It activity, underlining letters in a word and saying each letter's sounds. The teacher reminds students to keep digraphs and the word part all together. The teacher models marking the word shut, then reading the word shut, and students repeat in their workbooks. The teacher and students repeat with the following words: fall, rich, sock, whiz, pal, Thad, call, pick, tall, chip, rush.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 3, Unit 27, Lesson 3, Part 2, pages 291-292, Teach Reading Two Syllable Words, the teacher presents students with the word cabin. The teacher tells students, “This word is different from all the words we have read so far because it has two vowels, not just one. It has an a and an i.” The teacher explains, “Since the word has two vowels and the vowel letters are not next to each other, I know this word has two syllables.” The teacher uses Syllaboards and writes a vowel on each Syllaboard, then adds consonants, explaining that both syllables in cab/in are closed syllables.
Materials contain frequent explicit instruction of word solving strategies to decode unfamiliar words.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 3, Unit 19, Lesson 3, page 95, Activity Nonsense Words, the teacher tells students they will read silly words. The teacher displays the nonsense word cac and models decoding it using knowledge of CVC patterns. The teacher repeats with the words com, tus, and ic using the Touch & Say routine to guide students to decode each nonsense word. The teacher rearranges the nonsense words to form the words cactus and comic. The teacher tells students that many big words are made up of smaller nonsense words and that reading small silly words can help them read bigger words. The teacher models reading cactus and comic syllable by syllable.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 3, Unit 21, Lesson 4, Part 1, page 134, Detective Work: Mark It!, the teacher models reading the word math in the student workbook on page 12. The teacher tells students they will underline the letters and make the sounds the letters make, then blend the sounds to make a word. The teacher reminds students when they see the digraph th, they are to underline both letters with one line because together they spell one sound /th/. The teacher clicks three times underlining each phoneme and says each sound /m//a//th/ then says math. The teacher uses the same procedure for the other words on the student workbook page.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 3, Unit 23, Lesson 3, Part 2, page 181, Teach Digraph ch, the teacher projects the image of a chin and displays the digraph tile ch. The teacher says, “When we see c and h together, they work together like a team to say one sound. They don’t say /k/ or /h/ like they do when they are by themselves. They say a brand new sound.” The teacher introduces the sound /ch/ as they tap their chin repeatedly while repeating /ch/ as they tap.
Multiple and varied opportunities are provided over the course of the year for students to learn, practice, and apply word analysis strategies.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 2, Unit 15, Lesson 3, Part 2, page 252, Activity Phrase Reading, the teacher displays three-word phrases that contain both Heart Words and decodable words. The teacher tells students that Heart Words are red and decodable words are black. The teacher guides students to read the phrase, the hot tub, using the Touch & Say routine to decode the words hot and tub sound by sound. The teacher and students repeat with the following phrases: Jen did hum, the fox too, dog will run, you can win, are not wax, rub my leg, a pig pen, is so fun, zig and zag.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 3, Unit 21, Lesson 4, Part 3, page 135, Activity Word Sort, the teacher tells students that in this sort, they will identify the vowel sound in words and determine whether each word contains the digraph th. The teacher models with the first word, thud, as students follow along. The teacher reads and finger stretches the word thud, and students identify the middle vowel sound and the letter that makes the vowel sound. The teacher and students circle the image for up, which matches the vowel sound in thud. The teacher guides students to identify and circle the digraph th in the word. Students complete the word sort independently, reading each word, identifying the vowel sound and circling the corresponding image, and circling instances of the digraph th.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 3, Unit 28, Lessons 3, Part 2, pages 314-316, Reading Two-Syllable Words, in the We Do portion of the lesson, the teacher and students work together to read the word finish using the same procedure as the teacher modeling; looking for vowels and breaking the word into syllables using Syllaboards. Words for practice include tennis, pigpen, suntan, and uphill.
Criterion 1.5: Decoding Accuracy, Decoding Automaticity and Fluency
This criterion is non-negotiable. Materials must achieve a specified minimum score in this criterion to advance to the next gateway.
Materials provide systematic and explicit instruction and practice in fluency by focusing on accuracy and automaticity in decoding in K and 1, and rate, expression, and accuracy in mid-to-late 1st and 2nd grade. Materials for 2nd grade fluency practice should vary (decodables and grade-level texts).
The Really Great Reading materials, Countdown, provide systematic, explicit instruction and practice in decoding accuracy and automaticity. While the materials have Countdown Passages for students to practice reading with purpose and understanding, the materials do not have explicit instruction or think-alouds to model how to engage with a text with understanding.
Indicator 1n
Materials provide opportunities for students to engage in decoding practice focused on accuracy and automaticity in K and Grade 1.
The materials reviewed for Kindergarten meet the criteria for 1n. (K-1)
The Countdown Kindergarten materials provide systematic and explicit instruction and practice with fluency by focusing on accuracy with Phrases and Sentences to Read using the Positive Error Correction instructions. The materials contain systematic and explicit instruction for automaticity in decoding at the word level and sentence level. The materials provide students with opportunities to engage in decoding practice focused on accuracy at the word and sentence levels with Detective Word: Read It! and Sentences to Read activities. The materials provide additional decodable passages with instructions for fluency practice.
Materials provide systematic and explicit instruction and practice in fluency by focusing on accuracy and automaticity in decoding.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 3, Unit 22, Lesson 5, Part 1, Page 164, Activity Sentences to Read, the teacher tells students to take turns reading a sentence out loud. The other students read the sentence silently, giving nonverbal feedback on accuracy. The teacher provides positive error corrections if the reader misreads a word. The instructions for the activity state that the goal is for students to read each sentence accurately the first time.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 3, Unit 23, Lesson 5, page 163, Description, teacher instructions state, “In Sentences to Read, students read short sentences out loud to the class. Their goal is to read each sentence accurately the first time.” In Lesson 5, Part 1, page 164, in Sentences to Read, the teacher tells students they will call on a student to read a sentence. When that student is a Reader, the other students are to be Checkers touching words as the Reader reads aloud, giving the Reader a thumbs up if they read their sentence correctly or a thumb to the side if it is incorrect. The teacher is to follow Positive Error Correction instructions.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 3, Appendix A, page 341, Positive Error Correction for Phrases and Sentences to Read, the teacher tells the students the total number of words read correctly and prompts a Checker to identify the incorrect word by position without saying the word for the Reader. The teacher encourages the Reader to use Touch & Say to reread the word. Touch & Say is where the Reader touches each letter while saying its sound, then students blend the sounds into a word. Once the Reader rereads the word correctly, they reread the entire sentence and are congratulated if they reread the sentence correctly. If they still misread a word, the Checkers chorally use Touch & Say to read the word. The Reader independently uses Touch & Say to read the word and then read the sentence correctly.
Materials provide opportunities for students in Kindergarten and Grade 1 to engage in decoding practice focused on accuracy and automaticity.
In Countdown Teacher Guide Book 3, Unit 23, Lesson 4, Part 2, pages 187-188, Detective Work: Read It!, the teacher calls on students one at a time to read a row of words aloud to their classmates. The teacher selects a student to be a Reader, and the other students are Checkers, putting a thumb up if the Reader reads the row of words correctly or sideways if a word is misread and they need to try again. Students practice reading words with blends ch and wh.
In Countdown Online, Supplemental Resources, PDF Resources, Countdown Passages, “As students develop mastery and automaticity with the skills taught in Countdown, the Countdown Passages can be used to reinforce these skills, to provide opportunities for practice, and, ideally, to build fluency.”
Indicator 1q
Materials provide teacher guidance to support students as they confirm or self-correct errors (Grades 1-2) and emphasize reading for purpose and understanding.
The materials reviewed for Kindergarten partially meet the criteria for 1q.
There are opportunities in the Countdown Kindergarten materials for students to read emergent-reader texts for purpose and understanding. Students read decodable passages, and there are comprehension questions with each passage. There are missed opportunities for explicit directions of think-alouds where teachers model how to engage with a text, emphasizing reading for purpose and understanding.
Multiple opportunities are provided over the course of the year for students to read emergent-reader texts (K) for purpose and understanding.
Read emergent-reader texts with purpose and understanding.
In Countdown Online, Supplemental Resources, PDF Resources, Countdown Passages, students read “Max and Sam”. There are comprehension questions to check students’ understanding. In Unit 17, questions include, What hit Max in the rib? Why do you think Max was sad?
In Countdown Online, Supplemental Resources, PDF Resources, Countdown Passages, students read “A Hen and a Pig”. There are comprehension questions to check students’ understanding. In Unit 23, questions include, Where is the hen’s shed? Why do you think the pig begs for a fig and a yam?
In Countdown Online, Supplemental Resources, PDF Resources, Countdown Passages, students read “The Potluck”. There are comprehension questions to check students’ understanding. In Unit 27, questions include, When will the class have a potluck? Why do you think they will need to rest at the top?
Materials do not contain explicit directions and/or think-alouds for the teacher to model how to engage with a text to emphasize reading for purpose and understanding.
No evidence.