2024
Really Great Reading

Kindergarten - Gateway 2

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Gateway Ratings Summary

Usability

Gateway 2 - Meets Expectations
100%
Criterion 2.1: Guidance for Implementation
14 / 14
Criterion 2.2: Student Supports
4 / 4
Criterion 2.3: Intentional Design
Narrative Only

The materials provide a well-defined teacher resource for content presentation, including a Table of Contents sectioned by Unit, Lesson, and Appendix. There are three teacher guides provided for the Countdown materials. The online materials in the Supply Room contain additional resources and instructional materials for teachers to utilize. The Countdown materials provide detailed examples of the foundational skill concepts for the teacher within the Teacher Guide lesson plans, Appendices, and Supply Room resources. The materials include a research-based lesson plan design that provides whole group and small group instructional minutes that support practice to mastery. Lesson pacing is designed to be completed within a year. The materials provide an alignment document for formative and summative assessments and an extensive alignment document for all foundational skills tasks. 

The materials provide support for multilingual learners through instructional videos, an alternative scope and sequence, crosslinguistic lessons, and recommendations and tips for using, accommodating, and delivering curriculum components. General statements regarding MLL learners and instructional strategies or supports can be found in the Unit Planners and the Introduction and Appendices of the Teacher Guides; however, resources are limited to Spanish-speaking students. There are missed opportunities for MLL resources in other languages. The materials provide guidance to the teacher for scaffolding and adapting lessons found in the Supply Room and in the Teacher Guides, with supports embedded within the lessons or in the margins. The Teacher Guide contains a Differentiation Option that includes information for scaffolding and adapting lessons to support students who read, write, speak, or listen below grade level.

The materials include twenty-eight decodable passages, which are utilized throughout the units. Several characters are animals; however, there is more reference to male animals or characters than females. There are some non-discrepant animals that do not reference gender or use pronouns. With the exception of reference to male or female pronouns, references to characters’ gender, culture, ethnicity, linguistic background, or other distinct characteristics are absent. The materials include a Spanish Supports Scope and Sequence, which provides cross-linguistic referencing between English and Spanish. A Cross-linguistic Alphabet Letter Cards User Guide is also provided, which contains cognates that list shared and unshared graphemes and phonemes between English and Spanish; however, additional guidance on how to draw upon students’ home language other than Spanish is absent from the program. In addition, the materials do not include resources for students who speak a dialect different than Standard classroom English. It is important to note that the English Language Teacher Supports Guide states, “We will be periodically adding more languages throughout the school year.” 

The materials integrate technology with interactive tools. Materials include presentation tools for daily lessons. Materials also include digital resources for students to review articulation and phoneme motions. Materials include a tool called the Letter-Sound Generator that can be customized to meet the needs of specific students. The materials also contain digital technology and interactive tools such as data collection tools, which can be found online through the Supply Room, Grouping Matrix, and Reading Playground. Students can use interactive resources on the Reading Playground or through daily lessons presented by the teacher. The materials contain clear and consistent formats that do not distract focus from the intended objective or concept. The predictable layout of teacher materials occurs within lessons and across each unit. Each book contains an overview, scope and sequence, unit planners, and appendices. The organization of each unit and lesson supports student understanding of topics, text, and/or concepts. The teacher presentation slides are colorful and relay information supporting students’ skill practice. The materials include a Supply Room with teacher guidance for the use of embedded technology.

Criterion 2.1: Guidance for Implementation

14 / 14

Materials are accompanied by information that provides the teacher with guidance for implementation of daily lessons and information to enhance teacher knowledge of foundational skills.

The materials provide a well-defined teacher resource for content presentation, including a Table of Contents sectioned by Unit, Lesson, and Appendix. There are three teacher guides provided for the Countdown materials. The online materials in the Supply Room contain additional resources and instructional materials for teachers to utilize. The Countdown materials provide detailed examples of the foundational skill concepts for the teacher within the Teacher Guide lesson plans, Appendices, and Supply Room resources. The materials include a research-based lesson plan design that provides whole group and small group instructional minutes that support practice to mastery. Lesson pacing is designed to be completed within a year. The lesson plan design consistently follows an I Do, We Do, You Do lesson structure. The planner for each unit follows a structured weekly routine and indicates the amount of time for explicit instruction, practice to mastery, small group instruction, and independent practice. The materials provide an alignment document for formative and summative assessments and an extensive alignment document for all foundational skills tasks.

Narrative Only

Indicator 2a

4 / 4

Materials provide teacher guidance with useful annotations and suggestions for how to enact the student materials and ancillary materials to support students' literacy development.

The materials provide a well-defined teacher resource for content presentation, including a Table of Contents sectioned by Unit, Lesson, and Appendix. There are three teacher guides provided for the Countdown materials. The Introductory and Appendix sections are well organized to display the content for easy navigation. In addition, each unit begins with a Unit Planner that outlines the parts of the lesson, time limits, instructional resources, and more. The Introduction, Appendix, and Lesson materials provide detailed information and instructional routines that help teachers implement all foundational skills content effectively. The online materials in the Supply Room contain additional resources and instructional materials for teachers to utilize. 

Materials provide a well-defined, teacher resource for content presentation. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Each Countdown Teacher Guide includes a table of contents that displays information by unit and lesson and a location for the Introduction and Appendix. The manual also provides tabs for each Unit and the Appendix for easy transition to the parts of the manual that are needed.

  • In the Countdown Teacher Guide, Book 1, the Unit 1 Planner provides a weekly overview of the concepts that will be taught that week in Direct Instruction, Practice to Mastery, Small Group Instruction, and Independent Practice. Instruction is outlined for each day of the week and includes the lesson to be taught, the page numbers, the handwriting skills to cover in direct instruction, resources for ELs, and descriptions of activities. This occurs in each book and each unit. 

  • In the Countdown Teacher Guide, Countdown Planner, Unit 4, there is a five-day lesson plan with time frames for lessons. It is outlined with each component of the unit for each day, including which skill is being taught.

  • In Countdown Online, Heart Word Magic, the Countdown Heart Words by Unit resource outlines the Heart Words (high-frequency words) in the Countdown Program. 

The teacher resource contains detailed information and instructional routines that help the teacher to effectively implement all foundational skills content (i.e., alphabetic knowledge, phonemic awareness, phonics, irregularly spelled words, word analysis). Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • In the Countdown Teacher Guide, Book 1, Unit 2, Lesson 1, the activity Peel that Sound contains a description for the teacher. The description states, “This activity consists of three rounds. During the first round, the teacher pronounces the imaged word, starting with the isolated beginning sound, and the students repeat. During the second round, the teacher pronounces just the isolated beginning sound of each word, and the students give the name of the image. During the third round, the teacher names the image, and students say the isolated beginning sound.” This activity is found throughout the program.

  • In the Countdown Teacher Guide, Book 2, Unit 9, Lesson 2, in the activity Stretch Those Sounds, the teacher is provided with clear, step-by-step directions on how to guide the students in segmenting the phonemes in three-phoneme words using finger-stretching. The teacher is provided instructions in modeling how to segment the word duck by making a fist while saying duck, extending the thumb while saying /d/, extending the pointer finger while saying /ŭ/, and extending the middle finger while saying /k/.

  • In the Countdown Teacher Guide, Book 3, Unit 21, Lesson 3, in the activity Phonics Concept: Digraph th, What You Need to Know, the materials state, “The digraph th is a consonant digraph phoneme that is produced by placing the end of your tongue between your teeth and blowing air across the top of your tongue. Some students confuse this phoneme with the /f/ phoneme, saying ‘teef,’ instead of ‘teeth.’ The digraph th has an unvoiced phoneme (the vocal chords [sic] are not used), as in thumb, and a voiced phoneme (the vocal chords [sic] are used), as in that.

Indicator 2b

4 / 4

Materials contain full, adult-level explanations and examples of the foundational skills concepts included in the program so teachers can improve their own knowledge of the subject, as necessary.

The materials contain detailed, adult-level explanations of foundational skills concepts. The Countdown materials provide detailed examples of the foundational skill concepts for the teacher within the Teacher Guide lesson plans, Appendices, and Supply Room resources. 

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

  • In Countdown Online, Resources, Research, the RGR Foundational Reading Skills Instruction for Beginning Readers White Paper contains complete, detailed explanations of the key skills necessary for proficient pre-decoding and decoding, phonemic awareness, alphabetic principle, phonics, and sight words. 

  • In the Countdown Teacher Guide, Book 1, the Appendix includes an explanation that encoding allows students to understand that a word can be segmented into its component sounds and that students must understand letter-sound relationships. It further explains that encoding is meant to show how print and sounds map onto each other. 

  • In the Countdown Teacher Guide, Book 1, Introduction, WYNTK Phonemic Awareness, there is an explanation of phonemic awareness and the connection to research. Countdown focuses on four essential phonemic awareness skills: Phoneme isolation, Phoneme blending, Phoneme segmentation, and Phoneme manipulation. Each of the four essential areas contain a detailed explanation of that skill and examples to know what practice or instruction in that skill would include. 

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

  • In the Countdown Teacher Guide, Appendix, Guidewords, Movements, and Proper Articulation of Sounds, there is a chart that lists the short vowel sounds, consonant sounds, long vowel sounds, and digraph sounds. For each sound, there is a corresponding letter, a symbol for the sound, a guide word to illustrate what the sound is, a movement to teach students to help them learn the sound, and teaching or articulation tips to use when teaching students about the sound. 

  • In the Countdown Teacher Guide, Book 1, Introduction, WYNTK: Phonemic Awareness, WYNTK: Beginning Sound Isolation (BSI), there is a description that beginning sound isolation is a technique where the students are taught to pronounce the first phoneme in a word and then say the whole word. The examples are provided for the teacher: /b/ bear, /a/ apple, /ch/ chin

  • In the Countdown Teacher Guide, Book 1, Unit 2, Lesson 1, Sound Stories provides detailed notes in the margin of the lesson plan. One note says, “the alliterative sound stories feature the repeated use of words that begin with the same sound, as in Michael is a monkey from Minneapolis, Minnesota.” Another note in the margin says, “Be careful not to add a vowel sound after the consonant; e.g., /muh/. If students call out the letter m, say, That could be a letter we see that shows this sound. Right now, let’s talk about the sound we hear and feel.”

Indicator 2c

4 / 4

Foundational skills lessons are well-designed and take into account effective lesson structure and pacing. Content can reasonably be completed within a regular school year, and the pacing allows for maximum student understanding.

The materials include a research-based lesson plan design that provides whole group and small group instructional minutes that support practice to mastery. Lesson pacing is designed to be completed within a year. The lesson plan design consistently follows an I Do, We Do, You Do lesson structure. The planner for each unit follows a structured weekly routine and indicates the amount of time for explicit instruction, practice to mastery, small group instruction, and independent practice.

Lesson plans utilize effective, research-based lesson plan design for early literacy instruction. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following: 

  • In Blast Online, Supply Room, the “Really Great Reading Instructional Block” document states that it is based on a 90-minute reading block that was influenced by research with the National Research Council (1998). 

  • In Countdown Online, Supply Room, the “Really Great Reading Instructional Block” document states that the instructional block should integrate principles from Gough and Tunmer’s Simple View of Reading model (1986) and Scarborough’s Reading Rope (2001) while also incorporating National Reading Panel (2000).

  • In Countdown Online, Supply Room, Blast Scope and Sequence, each unit outlines the lesson progression that builds on letter-sound fluency and phonemic awareness, and ends with phonics instruction and practice of decoding and encoding.

  • In the Countdown Teacher Guide, Book 1, pg. xx Lesson Design, eight components are outlined that include a concept overview, a list of student and teacher materials, background knowledge for the teacher, an online lesson introduction that is teacher-led through Blast Online, teacher sidebar notes, student workbooks to practice skills, lessons that follow I Do, We Do, You Do and unit planner guidance with additional resources that include visuals, notes, and next steps for practice to master, small group, and independent practice. 

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

  • In Countdown Online, Teacher Guide, there is both whole group and small group instruction daily. For example:

    • In the Countdown Teacher Guide, Book 2, Unit 13, Lesson 3, the planner states the whole group instruction is for 20-30 minutes, and small group instruction of Unit 13 decodable passage, “The Pet Bat,” should be 20-30 minutes daily. 

    • The Countdown Teacher Guide, Book 3, Unit 18, Lesson 3 includes 20-30 minutes of whole-group explicit instruction and 10-20 minutes of small-group instruction focused on a cold read of a decodable passage and spelling words. 

    • In the Countdown Teacher Guide, Book 3, Unit 25, Lesson 4 includes 20-30 minutes of whole group explicit instruction and 15-25 minutes of small group instruction focusing on a practice read of a decodable passage and spelling.

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

  • In the Countdown Teacher Guide, Book 1, Unit 2, Lessons 1-5 structure includes:

    • 20 - 30 minutes daily for explicit instruction

    • 5 - 10 minutes of Practice to Mastery

    • 20 - 30 minutes of small group instruction 

    • 30 - 40 minutes weekly of independent practice

  • In the Countdown Teacher Guide, Book 2, Unit 10, Lesson 5 includes 20-30 minutes of explicit instruction, five-10 minutes of whole group practice to mastery, 11-16 minutes of small group instruction, and 20 minutes of independent practice.

  • In the Countdown Teacher Guide, Book 3, Unit 21, Lesson 5 includes 20-30 minutes of explicit whole-group instruction, five-10 minutes of practice to mastery, 15-20 minutes of small-group instruction, and 20 minutes of independent practice. The Unit 21 Planner indicates specific times in bold print.

The suggested amount of time and expectations for maximum student understanding of all foundational skills content can reasonably be completed in one school year and should not require modifications. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • The Countdown materials include 28 Units with five lessons in each unit equalling 140 lessons. An alternative scope and sequence provides an additional three beginning units, or 15 days, equalling 155 lessons. 

  • In the Countdown Teacher Guide, Book 1, Introduction, it states that in the first half of the units, Units 1-16, students work on building familiarity, and there are five days of lessons. Then, Units 17-28 contain explicit instruction with guided and independent practice built in. 

  • In the Countdown Teacher Guide, Book 2, Introduction, Countdown Activities Units 1-16 indicate that the first two books develop pre-decoding and decoding skills in 44 units. A table lists foundational skill strands and the first instructional lesson for the skill, which includes phonological awareness, encoding, and sight words.

  • In the Countdown Teacher Guide, Book 3, Introduction, Shift in Focus, page iv indicates students begin to practice skills and provides a progression in Units 6-28 of phonics from decoding single-syllable to two-syllable words. 

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

  • The materials include 140 days of instruction, with an option to add 15 additional lessons.

Indicator 2d

2 / 2

Materials include publisher-produced alignment documentation of the standards addressed by specific questions, tasks, and assessments and assessment materials clearly denote which standards are being emphasized.

The materials provide an alignment document for formative and summative assessments and an extensive alignment document for all foundational skills tasks. The Reading Playground Countdown Formative Assessment Guide notes the foundational skills being assessed and the standards to which they are aligned. The Program Assessment Document for the Beginning, Middle, and End of the Year denotes each skill that is being assessed and the standards to which they are aligned. The Program Assessment notes routines and lessons and the standards to which they are aligned. 

Materials include denotations of the foundational skills standards being assessed in the formative assessments. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • In Countdown Online, Supply Room, Reading Playground Countdown Formative Assessment Guide Unit 1, Game 1 assesses standards RF.K.2 and RF.K.2.a. Students are assessed on beginning, middle, and end sounds.

  • In Countdown Online, Supply Room, Reading Playground Countdown Formative Assessment Guide Unit 4, Game 2 assesses standard RF.K.2.d and RF.K.3. Students are assessed on blending sounds.

  • In Countdown Online, Supply Room, Formative Assessment, Countdown Formative Assessment Guide, Unit 23, Game 1 assesses vowel sounds, including short e vs. long e, and aligns to standards RF.K.3 and RF.K.3.b. 

Materials include denotations of foundational skills standards being assessed in the summative assessments. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • In Countdown Online, Supply Room, Reading Playground, Program Assessments in the Countdown Reading Playground Unit 10 assesses standards RF.K.1.d, which is letter identification.

  • In the Countdown Online, Supply Room, Beginning, Middle, and End of Year Program Assessments, Summative Assessment Content and Standards Alignment, the materials indicate Game 9 assesses digraphs, which aligns with RF.K.3.a according to program documentation. 

  • In Countdown Online, Supply Room, Beginning, Middle, and End assessments, Game 10, the summative assessment in phonics assesses short vowels, digraphs, and two-sound blends. There are five items, and the standard alignment is RF.K.3.

Alignment documentation is provided for all tasks, questions, and assessment items. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Materials include various alignment documentation for all tasks, questions, and assessment items. For example: 

    • The Program Assessments in the Countdown Reading Playground, the materials provide alignment to questions and tasks. In Unit 7, Lesson 2, Part 3, students practice blending sounds with the Mystery Bag routine. The document states it is aligned with standards RF.K.2 and RF.K.3.

    • The Countdown Formative Assessment Guide provides alignment information for Unit 23, Game 1. It states it assesses vowel sound short e vs. long e and aligns to standards  RF.K.3, RF.K.3.b.

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

  • In Countdown Online, Supply Closet, Countdown Benchmark Scores, Unit 4, Lesson 3, Lesson 1, and Lesson 2, materials include documentation that the lessons are aligned to standards RF.K.2, RF.K.2.d, RF.K.2.d, RF.K.3 RF.K.2, and RF.K.2.d.

  • In Countdown Online, Supply Closet, Countdown Benchmark Scores, Unit 2, materials include documentation that the lesson is aligned to standards RF.K.2, RF.K.2.d, RF.K.2, RF.K.2a, RF.K.2, and RF.K.2.c.

  • In Countdown Online, Supply Room, Reading Playground, Game Mapping for Countdown, Unit 5, materials include documentation that Game 7 is aligned with standards RF.K.2 and RF.K.2.d.

  • In Countdown Online, Supply Room, Reading Playground, Game Mapping for Countdown, Unit 7, materials include documentation that Game 5 is aligned with standards RF.K.2 and RF.K.2.d.

Indicator 2e

Narrative Only

Materials contain strategies for informing all stakeholders, including students, parents, or caregivers about the foundational skills program and suggestions for how they can help support student progress and achievement.

The materials include resources to inform all stakeholders about foundational skills included in the program, including explanations of educational terminology used in the program. Resources include Home Connection letters, videos presented by a teacher, letters including pictures of activities, and a link to a website for additional support. The resources provide stakeholders with strategies and activities for practicing print concepts, phonemic awareness, phonics, word recognition, and fluency at home.

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

  • In Countdown Online, Supply Room, Home Connection, there are Parent/Guardian letters. The first letter includes information about the program, including the different program components and their purpose. 

  • In Countdown Online, Supply Room, Home Connection, there are links to the Introduction to Really Great Reading video explaining terms and additional program components for use in the home. 

  • In Countdown Online, Supply Room, Home Connection, the Dear Parents, Guardians, and Special Caregivers letter provides information on the main components of the program, including instructional vocabulary, sounds in words, print concepts, and the alphabetic principle. 

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

  • In Countdown Online, Supply Room, CD Parent Letter, and Home Activities, there is information for families that includes descriptions of the skills that students will learn at school, such as instructional vocabulary, sounds in words (phonological and phonemic awareness), print concepts, and letters and their sounds (alphabetic principle). In addition, this resource includes Early Literacy Home Activities that families can use at home to support their children in literacy.

  • In Countdown Online, Supply Room, Home Connection, there are links for parents to use at home to support their children in literacy. Some links include using letter tiles for spelling, Heart Word magic, and a glossary of terms. 

  • In Countdown Online, Supply Room, Home Connection, there is a letter to parents that has activities they can do at home, such as reading out loud to students or asking them questions. 

  • In Countdown Online, Supply Room, Beginning Sound Isolation, there is a recommendation for parents to play I Spy and Sound Hunt with their students for beginning sound isolation activities.

Criterion 2.2: Student Supports

4 / 4

The program includes materials designed for each child’s regular and active participation in grade-level/grade-band/series content.

The materials provide support for multilingual learners through instructional videos, an alternative scope and sequence, crosslinguistic lessons, and recommendations and tips for using, accommodating, and delivering curriculum components. General statements regarding MLL learners and instructional strategies or supports can be found in the Unit Planners and the Introduction and Appendices of the Teacher Guides; however, resources are limited to Spanish-speaking students. There are missed opportunities for MLL resources in other languages. The materials provide opportunities for small group instruction daily in a 25-30 minute small group block. The materials provide guidance to the teacher for scaffolding and adapting lessons found in the Supply Room and in the Teacher Guides, with supports embedded within the lessons or in the margins. The Teacher Guide contains a Differentiation Option that includes information for scaffolding and adapting lessons to support students who read, write, speak, or listen below grade level.

The materials include twenty-eight decodable passages, which are utilized throughout the units. Several characters are animals; however, there is more reference to male animals or characters than females. There are some non-discrepant animals that do not reference gender or use pronouns. With the exception of reference to male or female pronouns, references to characters’ gender, culture, ethnicity, linguistic background, or other distinct characteristics are absent. The materials include a Spanish Supports Scope and Sequence, which provides cross-linguistic referencing between English and Spanish. A Cross-linguistic Alphabet Letter Cards User Guide is also provided, which contains cognates that list shared and unshared graphemes and phonemes between English and Spanish; however, additional guidance on how to draw upon students’ home language other than Spanish is absent from the program. In addition, the materials do not include resources for students who speak a dialect different than Standard classroom English. It is important to note that the English Language Teacher Supports Guide states, “We will be periodically adding more languages throughout the school year.”

Narrative Only
Narrative Only
Narrative Only

Indicator 2f

Narrative Only

Materials provide strategies and supports for students who read, write, and/or speak in a language other than English to meet or exceed grade-level standards to regularly participate in learning English language arts and literacy.

The materials provide support for multilingual learners through instructional videos, an alternative scope and sequence, crosslinguistic lessons, and recommendations and tips for using, accommodating, and delivering curriculum components. General statements regarding MLL learners and instructional strategies or supports can be found in the Unit Planners and the Introduction and Appendices of the Teacher Guides; however, resources are limited to Spanish-speaking students. There are missed opportunities for MLL resources in other languages.

Materials provide support, such as embedded language and content scaffolds, for multilingual learner (MLL) students. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • In Countdown Online, Supply Room, EL Resources, Teacher Resources, there are instructional supports for teachers to use within the classroom. Some of these supports include a Countdown Spanish Supports Scope and Sequence, a resource called Leveraging the Reading Playgrounds for English Language Learners, and a Free EL Best Practices & RGR con Español Virtual Implementation Trainings (VITC).

  • In Countdown Online, Supply Room, EL Resources, Student Resources, there are several instructional resources for students, including an EL Strategies Anchor Chart in English, an EL Strategies Anchor Chart in Español, a Crosslinguistic Alphabet Cards User Guide, Crosslinguistic Alphabet Cards, and English Picture Vocabulary Cards.

  • In Countdown Online, Supply Room, EL Resources, Spanish Articulation Videos, there are several instructional videos in Spanish on different consonant, vowel, and digraph sounds.

  • In Countdown Online, Supply Room, EL Resources, there are Spanish Instructional Animations that provide sound stories in Spanish, short stories in Spanish, Short Vowel Movement videos, and long vowel movements in Spanish. 

General statements about multilingual learner (MLL) students or strategies are noted at the beginning of a unit or at one place in the teacher edition. Teacher guidance is also provided for implementation of MLL instruction throughout the lessons. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • In the Countdown Teacher Guide, Book 1, Unit 3, Lesson 1, the teacher is prompted with the following supports: “Use phoneme /r/ articulation video and the Basic English Pictorial cards. Use phoneme /r/ articulation in Español video.”

  • In the Countdown Teacher Guide, Book 1, Unit 4, Unit Planner, Resources for ELs provides an Articulation video for /d/, /t/, /k/, /b/, /w/, and Basic English Pictorial Vocabulary Cards and Reading Playground Unit 3 Visual Supports.

  • In the Countdown Teacher Guide, Book 2, Unit 14, Unit Planner, there is a section called Resources for ELs. The following resources are found in this section: 

    • Day 1 - /kw/ and /ks/ Articulation videos 

    • Day 2 - /y/ Articulation videos 

    • Day 3 - /kw/, /ks/, and /y/ Articulation videos 

    • Day 4 - /kw/, /ks/, and /y/ Articulation videos 

    • Day 5 -/kw/, /ks/, and /y/ Articulation videos 

Indicator 2g

4 / 4

Materials provide strategies and supports for students in special populations to work with grade-level content and to meet or exceed grade-level standards that will support their regular and active participation in learning English language arts and literacy.

The materials provide opportunities for small group instruction daily in a 25-30 minute small group block. The materials provide guidance to the teacher for scaffolding and adapting lessons found in the Supply Room and in the Teacher Guides, with supports embedded within the lessons or in the margins. The Teacher Guide contains a Differentiation Option that includes information for scaffolding and adapting lessons to support students who read, write, speak, or listen below grade level.

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

  • In the Countdown Teacher Guide, Book 1, Unit 8, Unit Planner, the following guidance is found in the small group instruction area on the Unit Planner:

    • Day 1 - Additional high-frequency word practice as necessary using Heart Word Magic activities 

    • Day 2 - Use additional examples from the Teacher Guide and/or Countdown Additional Activities packet as needed (in the Supply Room)

    • Day 3 - Unit 8 decodable passage “Tom’s Cat” cold read, Unit 8 Spelling Words practice using the Spell It! Template

    • Day 4 - Additional practice with Unit 8 decodable passage, Unit 8 spelling words, additional multisensory practice 

    • Day 5 - Heart Word practice with Heart Word Magic templates, Unit 8 spelling words, additional multisensory practice

  • In the Countdown Teacher Guide, Book 1, Unit 14, the following guidance is found in the small group instruction area on the Unit Planner: 

    • Day 1 - Additonal high-frequency word practice as necessary using Heart Word Magic activities

    • Day 2 - Use additional examples from the Teacher Guide with your small group

    • Day 3 - Unit 14 decodable passage “The Red Van” cold read, Unit 14 Spelling Words practice using the Spell It! Template

    • Day 4 - Unit 14 decodable passage “The Red Van” practice read, Unit 14 spelling words practice, Unit 14 challenge words practice using the Spell It! template

    • Day 5 - Unit 14 decodable passage “The Red Van” warm read, Unit 14 spelling words additional multisensory practice, additional practice with Unit 14 dictation phrases with color and letter tile support.

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

  • In the Countdown Teacher Guide, Book 1, Unit 2, Lesson 3, in the “Differentiation Option” on page 15, the guidance states, “Isolate the beginning sound of each on the right side of the screen before asking students to determine the matching beginning sound: Point to each image and say /m/, match; /g/, goat.” 

  • In the Countdown Teacher Guide, Book 2, Unit 7, Lesson 1, there is a differentiation option box that states that educators can simplify the learning by isolating the beginning sound of the given words before asking students to identify the first sound: say “/h/, hat.” It also states teachers can point to each of the three letter tile options and provide the sound for that letter or compare each to the first sound in the target word. 

  • In the Countdown Teacher Guide, Book 3, Unit 18, Lesson 5, in the “Differentiation Option” on page 54, the guidance states, “If you want to have students Build a Word with letter tiles and color tiles prior to putting pencil to paper, it may increase their understanding of the spelling concept.”

  • In Countdown Online, Supply Room, Differentiation Resources, there are resources that support students who read, write, speak, and listen below grade level. The following resources are available: 

    • Really Great Reading for Students with Dyslexia

    • Countdown for Students with Special Needs

    • Really Great Reading for English Language Learners

    • Phonics Suite Small Group Instruction

Indicator 2h

Narrative Only

Materials provide a balance of images or information about people, representing various demographic and physical characteristics.

The materials include twenty-eight decodable passages, which are utilized throughout the units. Several characters are animals; however, there is more reference to male animals or characters than females. There are some non-discrepant animals that do not reference gender or use pronouns. With the exception of reference to male or female pronouns, references to characters’ gender, culture, ethnicity, linguistic background, or other distinct characteristics are absent. 

Decodable and connected texts depict individuals with different or varying cultures, genders, races, ethnicities, linguistic backgrounds, abilities, and other characteristics. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • In Countdown Online, Supply Room, Countdown Decodable Passages, 28 decodable passages are provided. There are 22 references to male characters and three references to dads. There are six female characters and four references to moms. 

  • In Countdown Online, Supply Room, Countdown Decodable Passages, nine of the 28 decodable passages contain animal characters, including a hen, pig, dog, cat, and bat.

  • In Countdown Online, Supply Room, Countdown Decodable Passages, there is one picture of a girl with darker skin and curly hair. 

Decodable and connected texts balance positive portrayals of different or varying characteristics. Materials avoid stereotypes or language that might be offensive to a particular group. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • The decodable texts avoid stereotypes or language that might be offensive to a particular group. Passages with images are mostly of objects related to the story or animals, and little depiction of various demographic and physical characteristics exists.

Indicator 2i

Narrative Only

Materials provide guidance to encourage teachers to draw upon student home language to facilitate learning.

The materials include a Spanish Supports Scope and Sequence, which provides cross-linguistic referencing between English and Spanish. A Cross-linguistic Alphabet Letter Cards User Guide is also provided, which contains cognates that list shared and unshared graphemes and phonemes between English and Spanish; however, additional guidance on how to draw upon students’ home language other than Spanish is absent from the program. In addition, the materials do not include resources for students who speak a dialect different than Standard classroom English. It is important to note that the English Language Teacher Supports Guide states, “We will be periodically adding more languages throughout the school year.” 

Materials include a contrastive analysis document establishing cognates in more than one language (e.g., Spanish, French, Mandarin, German). Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • The program only includes a contrastive analysis document in Spanish. The resources in the program include:

    • A language reference column in each unit that highlights the differences and similarities between English and Spanish that are useful to be aware of when teaching emerging bilingual students. Shared traits between the two languages are emphasized through cross-linguistic referencing. 

    • The Cross-linguistic Alphabet Letter Cards User Guide explains shared letters and cognates and lists shared and unshared graphemes and phonemes between English and Spanish. 

Materials include a contrastive analysis document with a description of morphemes based in more than one language. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • No evidence was found.

Materials provide support for speakers of English language varieties. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • No evidence was found.

General statements about speakers of English language varieties or strategies are noted at the beginning of a unit or at one place in the teacher edition are then implemented by the materials throughout the lessons. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following: 

  • No evidence was found.

Criterion 2.3: Intentional Design

Narrative Only

The program includes a visual design that is engaging and references or integrates digital technology, when applicable, with guidance for teachers.

The materials integrate technology with interactive tools. Materials include presentation tools for daily lessons. Materials also include digital resources for students to review articulation and phoneme motions. Materials include a tool called the Letter-Sound Generator that can be customized to meet the needs of specific students. The materials also contain digital technology and interactive tools such as data collection tools, which can be found online through the Supply Room, Grouping Matrix, and Reading Playground. Students can use interactive resources on the Reading Playground or through daily lessons presented by the teacher. The materials contain clear and consistent formats that do not distract focus from the intended objective or concept. The predictable layout of teacher materials occurs within lessons and across each unit. Each book contains an overview, scope and sequence, unit planners, and appendices. The organization of each unit and lesson supports student understanding of topics, text, and/or concepts. The teacher presentation slides are colorful and relay information supporting students’ skill practice. The materials include a Supply Room with teacher guidance for the use of embedded technology.

Narrative Only
Narrative Only
Narrative Only

Indicator 2j

Narrative Only

Materials integrate technology such as interactive tools, virtual manipulatives/objects, and/or dynamic software in ways that engage students in the grade-level/series standards, when applicable.

The materials integrate technology with interactive tools. Materials include presentation tools for daily lessons. Materials also include digital resources for students to review articulation and phoneme motions. Materials include a tool called the Letter-Sound Generator that can be customized to meet the needs of specific students. The materials also contain digital technology and interactive tools such as data collection tools, which can be found online through the Supply Room, Grouping Matrix, and Reading Playground. Students can use interactive resources on the Reading Playground or through daily lessons presented by the teacher. 

  

Digital technology and interactive tools, such as data collection tools, simulations, and/or modeling tools are available to students. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • In Countdown Online, Supply Room, Assessments and Grouping, the Grouping Matrix is a student data management system that groups students according to the type and depth of their decoding strengths and weaknesses.

  • In Countdown Online, Supply Room, Assessments and Grouping, the ePanels resource allows the teacher to choose the grade for the assessment. The teacher chooses the assessment to administer and the form that the teacher will use. This resource displays each part of the assessment digitally instead of printing a student copy of the assessment. 

  • In Countdown Online, Supply Room, Interactive Resources, Letter-Tile Freeplay allows the user to use computerized tiles with letters, consonant blends, prefixes, suffixes, and chunks to build words.

  • In Countdown Online, Supply Room, Interactive Resources, the Sound-Spelling resource has a basic vowel valley, basic consonant canyon, advanced vowel valley, and advanced consonant canyon. This resource displays sound spelling cards that represent a phoneme. When the teacher clicks on the card, an articulation picture is displayed with a mouth articulating how to pronounce the sound and sound-spelling examples. 

Digital tools support student engagement in foundational skills. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • In Countdown Online, Supply Room, Instructional Videos, there are videos for all of the long and short vowels. The videos are under one minute and emphasize the phonemes, the movement of the sound, and instructional resources for determining whether the vowel is short or long. 

  • In Countdown Online, Supply Room, the Sound Story Videos provide students with video support to further solidify letter sound knowledge. 

  • In Countdown Online, Supply Room, Interactive Resources, Letter Tile Freeplay includes digital technology that allows students to engage in foundational skills and phonics concepts. Students can build words each week that align with the phonics skill or make Heart Words and build words with previously learned skills. 

  • In Countdown Online, the Reading Playground resource contains interactive games for the students to play. The games provide students with instructions on how to play. When the students are playing the games, they are told if they have made errors, provided with modeling, and allowed to try again.

Digital materials can be customized for local use (i.e., student and/or community interests). Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • In Countdown Online, Reading Playground, in the diagnostic and assessment programs, teachers can input their students’ names in the assessments and administer assessments to students to ascertain their reading level and mastery of skills.

  • In Countdown Online, Supply Room, Instructional Resources, Interactive Resources, the Letter-Sound Generator allows teachers to choose which three-letter sounds to practice and teach. 

  • In Countdown Online, Supply Room, Instructional Resources, Interactive Resources, the Heart Word Generator includes digital technology that allows teachers to customize the Heart Words students are learning. Teachers can customize by choosing five-10 words that specific students are working on and use the customized lesson with specific groups of students.

Indicator 2k

Narrative Only

The visual design (whether in print or digital) is not distracting or chaotic, but supports students in engaging thoughtfully with the subject.

The materials contain clear and consistent formats that do not distract focus from the intended objective or concept. The predictable layout of teacher materials occurs within lessons and across each unit. Each book contains an overview, scope and sequence, unit planners, and appendices. The organization of each unit and lesson supports student understanding of topics, text, and/or concepts. The teacher presentation slides are colorful and relay information supporting students’ skill practice. 

Images, graphics, and models support student learning and engagement without being visually distracting. Images, graphics, and models clearly communicate information or support student understanding of topics, texts, or concepts. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • In Countdown Online, Teacher Presentation Tool, Unit 2, Lesson 2, Part 1, at the top of the page, there is a picture of a monkey on one side of a t-chart and a picture of a hammer on the other. Pictures appear at the bottom of the screen to sort by beginning sound and include monster, mittens, house, horse.

  • In Countdown Online, Reading Playground, Unit 4, Game 9 Touch the Beginning Sound, three colorful images are shown. Students click a speaker and click on the picture with the same beginning sound. 

  • In Countdown Online, Unit 8, Lesson 2, Part 1, there are pictures representing words for students to practice stretching the sounds to identify the first sound in words that name each picture. Examples include rat, pan, sheep. 

Teacher and student materials are consistent in layout and structure across lessons/modules/units. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • In the Countdown Student Workbook, each page has consistent fonts, pictures, and unit information.

  • In the Countdown Student Workbook, each page contains a heading with the activity purpose, the activity title, and the corresponding unit number.

  • In Countdown Online, each unit is clearly labeled with five lessons and three parts per lesson. A drop-down menu navigates the user between units. 

Organizational features (Table of Contents, glossary, index, internal references, table headers, captions, etc.) in the materials are clear, accurate, and error-free. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • In the Countdown Teacher Guide, each unit, lesson, and activity are labeled at the top of each page.

  • In the Countdown Teacher Guide, Books 1-3 contain a scope and sequence that is color-coded to align with the strands around which Countdown is built.

  • In the Countdown Teacher Guide, Book 2, weekly lesson formats are clearly labeled with headings, and a lesson design graphic is numbered to show the location of each detail. 

Indicator 2l

Narrative Only

Materials provide teacher guidance for the use of embedded technology to support and enhance student learning, when applicable.

The materials include a Supply Room with teacher guidance for the use of embedded technology. The digital technology provides opportunities for the teacher and students to collaborate through various instructional videos, animations, and other guiding resources. The resources ensure that both teacher and student participate and engage in the instructional learning and tasks.

Teacher guidance is provided for the use of embedded technology to support and enhance student learning, when applicable.

  • In Countdown Online, Supply Room, Instructional Resources, Letter Tile Freeplay, guidance for use of the interactive tool is included. The guidance provides teachers with the ability to choose to control this tool with touch, trackpad, or a mouse. The user can build words with letter tiles and digraphs. There are options to mark on the tiles and change the vowel color.  

  • In Countdown Online, Supply Room, Reading Playground, Whole Class Activities, Reading Playgrounds Build a Word Online, guidance for the use of this resource includes the steps for the teacher to start a live Build a Word Online (BAWO) activity session with the class in the Reading Playground. The teacher will model how to build a word with interactive letter tiles, and then the students participate with the teacher to build a word with the tiles online.