Every Child Ready - Criterion 3.2
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Criterion 3.2: Intentional Teaching
Curriculum materials build on and advance learning by providing engaging, developmentally-appropriate, multi-modal experiences in diverse instructional settings.
Indicator 3.2a
Curriculum materials intentionally leverage a mixture of direct instruction, open-ended, experiential, and play-based learning experiences.
Every Child Ready materials meet expectations for leveraging a mixture of direct instruction, open-ended learning, experiential tasks, and play-based learning (3.2a).
Core components such as Small Groups, Flexible Small Groups, and Learning Lab follow a consistent Introduce–Model–Practice structure that gives teachers clear steps for lesson delivery. The Say–Show–Check routine and multimodal response options (gestures, movement, and verbal choices) offer additional scaffolding to support student understanding. The program also includes meaningful experiential opportunities, particularly during Centers and Learning Lab, where children engage with materials, explore concepts, and test ideas.
The materials follow a three-part routine of Introduce, Model, and Practice (Flexible Small Groups Guide, p. 39; Components Guide, p. 51), with scripts that outline teacher language, actions, and modeling steps. Instruction incorporates the “Say–Show–Check” routine, providing verbal, visual, tactile, and kinesthetic entry points for learning, while Morning Meetings allow for multiple response modes such as gestures, thumbs up, and verbal responses. Learning Lab supports hands-on scientific inquiry through Observe, Explore, Construct, and Experiment components (Components Guide, pp. 69–71), with teachers prompting predictions, reasoning, and investigation during play-based exploration. Centers occur twice daily (60–90 minutes) and offer hands-on experiences with rotating materials (Program Guide, p. 77), supported by Centers Facilitation Cards that include open-ended questions to extend learning. Across components such as morning meeting, read-aloud, small groups, centers, and gross motor, children engage in a variety of teacher-led, child-led, and independent experiences. Many activities include clearly defined purposes, and open-ended questioning is included within lessons.
Overall, Every Child Ready materials incorporate a balance of direct instruction, open-ended learning, experiential tasks, and play-based experiences. Lessons include clear structures with explicit modeling and guided practice, along with guidance for teachers to facilitate and observe learning. Children engage in exploration, discussion, problem-solving, and hands-on activities, with opportunities to experiment, create, and participate in both guided and independent play.
Indicator 3.2b
Curriculum materials include a range of engaging and developmentally-appropriate experiences that build on and advance student learning.
Every Child Ready materials partially meet expectations for supporting experiences that build on and advance student learning (3.2b).
The materials include a variety of instructional settings such as whole-group, small-group, and centers, with opportunities for hands-on learning, collaboration, and interaction with content revisited across units. Instructional routines such as Introduce, Model, Practice (Flexible Small Groups Guide, p. 39; Components Guide, p. 51), the” Lesson Internalization Protocol” (Components Guide, pp. 19–21), and the Say–Show–Check approach provide structure and support for consistent implementation. For example, in a Flexible Small Group lesson on narrative skills, teachers model identifying story elements using an organizer, and in morning meeting routines, children respond using gestures, verbal responses, or visual cues. Visual supports such as picture-word cards, posters, and labeled charts are included across lessons and centers, and open-ended questions in Centers Facilitation Cards (e.g., Unit 3, Week 3 Art Easel) support discussion and engagement. Centers also provide some opportunities for social interaction and collaboration, such as building structures in construction or coordinating roles in dramatic play. These interactions offer some opportunities for agentic learning, with instances in which children initiate their learning.
There are moderate opportunities for students to activate or share their prior knowledge. In the Unit Overview Booklets, there is information stating, “children participate in lessons that build on the previous week.” The materials include access to unit-overview courses on their online platform. This guidance offers moderate opportunities for students to connect their existing knowledge to new content. Thematic centers provide opportunities for children to make connections. For example, in Unit 7, children explore animals, habitats, and life cycles. The unit includes essential questions such as What are the needs of animals? and How do animals use adaptations? Children have opportunities to engage in a range of activities that support different learning modalities, such as building a forest with blocks, creating butterfly art, and exploring animal habitats.
Overall, Every Child Ready materials include a range of instructional settings that support hands-on learning, collaboration, and engagement with content across units. Structured routines and protocols provide consistency in implementation, while visual supports and open-ended questions encourage interaction and discussion. Centers offer opportunities for collaboration and some agentic learning, and thematic units support connections to prior knowledge through recurring concepts and activities across multiple modalities. The materials would be strengthened by more robust activities, clearer teacher guidance to support children in activating and sharing prior knowledge, and more opportunities for children to extend and take ownership of their own learning.
Indicator 3.2c
Curriculum materials include opportunities for diverse instructional settings and structures.
Every Child Ready materials partially meet expectations for providing diverse instructional settings and structures (Indicator 3.2c).
The materials include a range of whole-group, small-group, and individualized instructional opportunities embedded across daily routines. Whole-group components, such as morning meeting (p. 11), centers meeting (p. 20), read-aloud (p. 61), learning lab, and gross motor, provide interactive and engaging experiences that bring the class together through shared greetings, songs, movement, comprehension activities, and hands-on STEM exploration using Observe, Explore, Construct, and Experiment cycles.
Small-group and flexible small-group instruction occur regularly and support targeted learning through teacher guidance and peer interaction, such as responding to rhyming words using pictures and verbal responses, and practicing skills independently in centers (Program Guide, p. 72; Flexible Small Groups Guide, pp. 5–6). Individualized supports are supported through tools such as the Gradebook and the flexible small groups cycle (Analyze–Group–Plan–Teach–Monitor), along with opportunities for differentiation within lesson templates and individual conferencing during journaling.
Across settings, predictable routines, including center check-ins, turn-taking systems, and transition strategies (Implementation Guide, pp. 33–35, 47, 54–57), support consistency, stability, and growing independence. Transitions are structured to be efficient and incorporate opportunities for continued learning and engagement, with guidance such as using songs, chants, and the Say–Show–Check routine to model expectations (Implementation Guide, p. 57).
Overall, Every Child Ready materials provide a range of whole-group, small-group, and individualized instructional opportunities supported by structured routines and clear guidance. Instructional settings promote interaction, targeted learning, and opportunities for adjustment based on student needs. Predictable routines and well-structured transitions support consistency, independence, and ongoing engagement throughout the day.