This post is for a series called “Quick Guide to Benchmark Advance,” which helps teachers with the basics.
Disclaimer: Materials may vary based on what your district purchased.
The materials are consistent in K-1 and then change once the students get to second grade. Then, they are consistent for grades 2-6. There are a ton of components included in the program! I recommend approaching this list slowly and little by little.
Kindergarten and First Grade
- WHOLE GROUP
– TRS: Teacher Resource System
– Foundational Skills Lessons Presentations (Slides)
– Additional Materials: This is where you’ll find graphic organizers, checklists, etc. that appear in your lessons
– Read-Aloud Handbook
– Shared Reading and Poetry (Big Books)
– Mentor Read Alouds (Week 1)
– Extended Reads (Weeks 2-3)
– My Reading and Writing Student Consumables - SMALL GROUP
– Leveled Readers: Small, knowledge-building books used during guided reading time with students who share similar reading levels. Teacher guides are included in the bags of books and are online.
– Reader’s Theatre Books: texts that are great for fluency practice. These have leveled roles, so groups of heterogeneous readers can use them together. Teacher guides are found in the Reader’s Theatre Teacher Handbook. - PHONICS AND WORD STUDY
– Sound Spelling Cards, Frieze Cards, Picture Word Cards, HFW Cards, Alphabet Chart, and Letter Cards
– Foundational Skills Lessons Presentations (Slides)
– Phonological Awareness Resources: Routines and Activities Book, Assessment Book
– Decodable Texts: Small readers for practicing specific phonics patterns
– Articulation Videos
– ePocket Chart: An online tool for customizing phonics lessons
– Letter/Phonics Songs
– High-Frequency Words Videos
– Interactive Learning Games: Online games that you can assign to students to play independently - ADDITIONAL SUPPORTS
– Click on the “Practice” tab on Benchmark Universe
– Vocabulary Practice Texts and Activities
– Grammar and Spelling Activity Book
– Phonics and High-Frequency Words Activity Book
– Handwriting Practice Pages - INTERVENTION
– Fluency
– Phonics and Word Recognition
– Phonological Awareness
– Language
– Print Concepts
– Foundational Skills Screeners
Grades 2-6
- WHOLE GROUP
– TRS: Teacher Resource System
– Additional Materials: This is where you’ll find graphic organizers, checklists, etc. that appear in your lessons
– Texts for Close Reading: Student consumable for close reading, annotating, and word study
– Research and Inquiry Projects Teacher Guides
– Read-Aloud Handbook: For your daily read-alouds where you model metacognition - SMALL GROUP
– Leveled Readers: Small, knowledge-building books in sets of 6 used during guided reading time with students who share similar reading levels. Teacher guides are included in the bags of books and are online.
– Reader’s Theatre Books: texts that are great for fluency practice. These have leveled roles, so groups of heterogeneous readers can use them together. Teacher guides are found in the Reader’s Theatre Teacher Handbook.
– Novel Study Books - PHONICS AND WORD STUDY
– Phonological Awareness Resources: Routines and Activities Book, Assessment Book
– Articulation Videos
– Word Study Book and Practice Texts
– ePocket Chart
– Cards for HFW, frieze, and letter cards (Second Grade)
– Phonics Songs (Second Grade)
– Interactive Learning Games (Second Grade)
– Foundational Skills Slides (Second Grade) - ADDITIONAL SUPPORTS
– Click on the “Practice” tab on Benchmark Universe
– Grammar, Spelling & Vocabulary Activity Book
– Vocabulary Practice Texts
– Keyboard Practice - INTERVENTION
– Fluency
– Phonics and Word Recognition
– Phonological Awareness
– Language
– Print Concepts
– Foundational Skills Screeners
Click on the links below to read the other
blog posts included in this “Quick Guide” Series.
A MESSAGE BEFORE YOU BEGIN: This is a good message to keep in mind as you get started
SUPPLY LIST: A short list of items you may want to purchase for your students
WHOLE VS. SMALL GROUP INSTRUCTION: What everyone is doing and using in whole and small group time
PLANNING: Tips for planning a unit and week effectively
TEACHER TIPS: Advice from teachers who are already using the program
