Post about reviews of instructional materials aligned to the Texas standards
Does your district have students who need to work at their own pace in English? Take a look at Learning List’s reviews of Edmentum’s Texas English I.
Edmentum’s Texas English I is a fully digital, comprehensive program for English I. The material provides a variety of activities to support students’ development of reading and writing skills. The goal of the program is to provide rigorous, relevant curriculum through interactive, media-rich content.
Are your teachers ready for new ELA materials for high school? Take a look at Learning List’s reviews of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s Into Literature.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s Into Literature is a comprehensive literacy program that supports English language arts instruction for grades 9 through 12. Content is available in print and digital formats. Instruction develops students’ reading, writing, listening, speaking, and thinking skills with learning activities that provide numerous opportunities and structures for effective group and partner work.
Into Literature integrates reading and writing instruction. The program provides an abundance of high-quality, thought provoking reading selections. Text sets for each unit correlate to numerous themes and topics. Formal writing instruction occurs at the end of units and generally serves as a culminating task.
Do you need a product to support student mastery of TEKS? Take a look at Learning List’s reviews of Mentoring Minds ThinkUp! ELAR.
Learning List recently reviewed Mentoring Minds ThinkUp! ELAR which supports instruction in grades K through 8. Content is available in print with an online pre-assessment. This product is designed to develop literacy skills through the integration of the seven strands of the 2017 TEKS for ELAR. ThinkUp! also supports instruction in the 9 traits of critical thinking as defined by Mentoring Minds. Materials are available in English and Spanish.
A guiding question, such as “What is the relationship between hypotheses, theories, and laws?” forms the basis of each lesson. A variety of teachers provide instruction in short video lectures, supported by notes, demonstrations, guided practice, and brief checks for understanding. Some lessons include activities such as using Gizmos to explore Mystery Powder Analysis. Each lesson concludes with a teacher-led review, practice activities, and a short quiz. Each unit ends with a multiple-choice test. [Read more. . . ]
Learning List recently reviewed BrainPOP’s Algebra I, U.S. History, and Biology resources for high school. BrainPOP is a supplemental program that supports instruction in the core content areas as well as technology, fine arts, and health. Resources are available online and include some printable materials. Instruction uses videos and interactive concept maps to address content.
BrainPOP organizes content in “Topics” that address a range of subject-area concepts (e.g., historical figures, cells, polynomials). Topics include a short movie in which animated characters explore a topic-related question, provide background information, explore and illustrate key concepts, and introduce and define new vocabulary. [Read more. . . ]
Is your district looking for a new comprehensive math program to support blended learning? Take a look at Learning List’s curriculum review of McGraw Hill’s Reveal Math for middle school mathematics, Algebra I, Geometry, and Algebra 2
McGraw Hill’s Reveal Math is a set of comprehensive materials for middle school mathematics, Algebra I, Geometry, and Algebra 2 available in print and online. The material is designed with a focus on rigor, productive struggle and facilitating discussions about math. Lessons focus on exploration, conversation and reflection.
Reveal Math distinct tools and design support learning in blended environments. Interactive presentations, point of use videos, animations, and a varied set of online math modeling tools partner with the interactive student edition to provide a unique classroom environment and personalize learning. Videos support teachers’ development of content knowledge and pedagogy, and digital teacher tools facilitate lesson and grade management, monitoring student progress, and assessment. [Read more...]
Learning List recently reviewed MPO Solutions’ Freedom Run® which is a supplemental product designed to help Texas students in grade 8 prepare for the social studies STAAR test. This digital product includes two online game-style student apps. Teacher resources are available online with downloadable components.
Freedom Run organizes content in five units that address facts about U.S. history from the establishment of the first colonies (e.g., 1492) through reconstruction (e.g., 1877). Units consist of three or four chapters. Each chapter contains a set of short, topically organized lessons that feature a summary statement followed by a list of historical facts. At the end of each lesson in the student edition, icons direct students to the practices, videos, and additional activities the apps.
To support ELL students, the product is available in English and Spanish. The videos are narrated in both languages, without closed-captioning. Both versions of the student app allow students to select English or Spanish. [Read more…]
Learning List has reviewed Heinemann’s Units of Study for Teaching Reading, which is a supplemental reading product for students in grades K-5. The program is primarily a curriculum framework for teachers and is made up of a set of print and online teaching resources. Reading instruction is provided using a workshop model that focuses on creating avid readers who are able to access and understand increasingly complex texts. Teaching Reading dovetails with Heinemann’s Units of Study in Opinion, Information, and Narrative Writing for grades K-5. Learning List has reviewed the Units of Study writing program.
Based on the work of Lucy Calkins and the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project at Teachers College, Columbia University, Units of Study incorporates a workshop approach to teaching reading skills. At each grade level, content is organized in four units that last between four and five weeks. Grades K-2 include a foundational unit as well as three units that address reading fictional and informational texts. Instruction at grades 3-5 is organized in two reading fiction units and two reading informational texts units.
. [Read more…]
Sirius Education Solutions provides supplemental test-preparation products that help Texas middle school and high school students prepare for STAAR exams. Content is available in print format. Learning List recently reviewed the following Sirius products:
Learning List has reviewed Savvas’s Stats in Your World, which is a comprehensive product that supports instruction in high school statistics courses. Content is available in print and eBook formats and includes a variety of resources housed in Savvas’s “MyStatLab™” online platform. Instruction emphasizes the use of real-world data to introduce statistical concepts, develop statistical analysis skills, and enable students to “think statistically.”
Stats in Your World’s examples focus on real-world problems and applications of statistics that will be familiar to college-bound students (e.g., random assignment of students to dorms) and each chapter contains a discussion of common errors made in analyzing statistical data and interpreting results. [Read more…]
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