Wonders

Name: Wonders
Brand: McGraw-Hill Education

by McGraw-Hill Education

ElaGrades K–6

About This Curriculum

<cite index="1-5">An evidence-based K–5 ELA program that empowers students to take an active role in learning and exploration.</cite> <cite index="1-6">Best-in-class differentiation and ELL resources support strong outcomes for all learners, and meaningful, authentic literature invites students to explore our world and learn more about themselves and each other in the process.</cite>

What makes it unique: <cite index="1-3">Wonders brings the best in blended learning to your classroom.</cite> <cite index="1-15,1-16">Drawing upon decades of literacy research, we built Wonders to deliver high-quality instruction backed by the Science of Reading. Our program is underpinned by the findings of preeminent reading researchers.</cite>

Wonders: Comprehensive K-6 ELA Program with Mixed Research Support

Wonders is McGraw-Hill's comprehensive K-6 ELA program that combines foundational skills instruction with authentic literature and differentiated support for diverse learners. The curriculum includes digital and print components with extensive teacher resources, though reviewers note it can be overwhelming in scope.

Best for

Schools seeking a comprehensive, standards-aligned ELA program with strong differentiation supports, particularly suitable for novice teachers in tech-enabled environments, though requires careful adaptation and experienced teacher guidance.

Evaluation Criteria

2 strengths · 1 concern · 4 neutral · 2 insufficient evidence

Text ComplexityStrength

The program uses grade-appropriate complex texts and provides differentiated passages at multiple complexity levels.

EdReports gave 'Meets Expectations' for text quality and complexity alignment, and The Reading League noted 'differentiated genre passages at multiple complexity levels'

Vocabulary BuildingStrength

Strong vocabulary instruction with explicit teaching of Tier 2 and 3 words using visual vocabulary cards and student-friendly definitions.

The Reading League found vocabulary instruction 'met expectations' with 'explicit vocabulary instruction for both Tier 2 and 3 words present throughout' and 'Visual Vocabulary Cards guide instruction'

Direct InstructionConcern

The program includes explicit instruction components but has been criticized for not providing sufficient pedagogical direction to teachers.

Student Achievement Partners noted the program 'doesn't provide sufficient pedagogical direction, functioning more like a set of tools in the hands of a carpenter that relies heavily on teacher expertise'

Knowledge RichNeutral

The program includes weekly social studies and science content but is organized thematically rather than systematically building domain knowledge.

Student Achievement Partners found 'social studies and science content appears weekly' but noted the curriculum is 'organized around themes rather than designed to systematically build content knowledge'

Teacher TrainingNeutral

Extensive digital resources and teacher materials are provided, though the abundance can be overwhelming and requires significant teacher learning time.

The Reading League praised 'extensive online portal' but noted it 'can be cumbersome due to material abundance,' and SAP reported 'one teacher needed two years to become comfortable with the program'

Retrieval PracticeNeutral

The curriculum spirals to return to skills repeatedly with growing rigor, suggesting some form of spaced review.

SLJ noted the program 'spirals to return to skills repeatedly with growing rigor' similar to other McGraw-Hill programs

Systematic PhonicsNeutral

The program includes explicit phonics instruction but has some implementation concerns regarding phonogram introduction and practice opportunities.

The Reading League found 'explicit instruction in phonemic awareness, phonics' but noted 'insufficient explicit instruction with multiple phonograms introduced simultaneously'

Writing InstructionInsufficient Evidence

Writing instruction is included as part of the comprehensive program but specific details about systematic writing instruction are not provided in reviews.

Reviews mention comprehensive ELA components but provide limited specific detail about writing instruction structure or approach

Whole Books Vs ExcerptsInsufficient Evidence

The curriculum appears to use a mix of complete texts and excerpts, with authentic literature emphasized but specific whole book focus unclear from reviews.

SLJ notes 'meaningful, authentic literature' and various reviews mention complex texts and genre passages, but no specific mention of sustained whole book reading

Sources: edreports.org, slj.com