Fundations

  • Fundations

    “Fundations” is an intensive phonics based program that teaches kids the spelling rules so they can figure out words when reading or how to spell them. Below you will find some useful information that could help your child. Let me know if you have any questions.

    Helpful Links

    What does a Fundations lesson look like?

    • Drill Sounds
    • Word of the Day
    • Word Talk
    • Trick Words
    • Echo/Find Letters and Words
    • Make It Fun
    • Dictation (Dry Erase)
    • Storytime

    Program Highlights

    • Emphasis on systematic phonics and study of word structure
    • Skills taught explicitly and systematically
    • Instruction is cumulative and scaffolds presented skills
    • Motor-memory learning-fundations connects gross motor memory to learning
      • More memorable than fine motor memory
      • Examples include: sky-writing, tracing, and tapping
    • Teacher model with "Echo" the owl puppet directing students to repeat sounds, words, and sentences
    • Assessments monitor student learning and skill mastery throughout the program
    • Extensive practice provides multiple opportunities for skills application

    Skill Development in Fundations

    • Letter Formation
    • Phonological and Phonemic Awareness
    • Sound Mastery
    • Phonics
    • Vocabulary
    • Irregular (trick) Word Instruction
    • Fluency
    • Comprehension Written Composition

     Fundations Basic Keywords

    Fundations


    Scope and Sequence

    Unit 1 

    • Letter-keyword-sound for consonants and vowels 
    • Concept of consonant digraphs 
    • Letter-keyword-sound for digraphs 
    • Concept of consonant blends 
    • Concept of digraph blends 
    • 3 spellings for /k/ sound (c, k, ck) 
    • Closed syllable type 
    • Sample words: quilt, elf, shred, kick, crush 

    Unit 2 

    • Bonus letter spelling rule: ff, ll, ss, and sometimes zz 
    • Glued (welded) sounds: all, am, an, ang, ing, ong, ung, ank, ink, onk, unk 
    • Blending and reading words with glued sounds 
    • Segmenting and spelling words with bonus letters and glued sounds 
    • Prosody 
    • Story retelling 
    • Vowel teams: ai, ay, ee, ea, ey 
    • Sample words: spill, string, stand, toss 

    Unit 3 

    • Concept of closed syllable exceptions 
    • Glued sounds: ild, ind, old, olt, ost 
    • Story retelling 
    • Fluent passage reading 
    • Vowel teams: oi, oy 
    • Sample words: wild, find, cold, colt, post 

    Unit 4 

    • Review suffixes: s, es, ed, ing 
    • Comparison suffixes: er, est 
    • Additional sounds of –ed /d/ and /t/ 
    • Spelling procedure for words with suffixes 
    • Forming plurals 
    • Forming present and past tense 
    • Categorizing vowel and consonant suffixes 
    • Fluent passage reading 
    • Making judgements and predictions form given facts 
    • Vowel teams: oa, oe, ow, ou, oo, ue, ew 
    • Sample words: stronger, tallest, spilled, passed 

    Unit 5 

    • Reading and spelling two-syllable words
    • Review syllable concept in multisyllabic words
    • Compound words
    • Syllable division rules for dividing between closed syllables
    • Spelling of ic at the end of multisyllabic words
    • New suffixes: ful, ment, ness, less, able, en, ish, au and aw
    • Sample words: catnip, habit, tonic, mascot, hundred, freshen, boldness

    Unit 6 

    • Review vowel-consonant-e syllables 
    • s - /s/and /z/ 
    • Spelling option procedure 
    • Two syllable words with closed and vowel-consonant-e syllables 
    • Compound words 
    • Vowel-consonant-e exception (-ive) 
    • Suffix – ive 
    • Sample words: hope, confuse, reptile, olive, inventive 

    Unit 7 

    • Open syllable type
    • Y as a vowel
    • Combining open syllables with closed and vowel-consonant-e syllables
    • Additional syllable division rules
    • y, ly, ty suffixes
    • Sample words: no, music, relate, cry, baby, chilly

    Unit 8 

    • R-contolled syllable
    • Sounds of ar and or
    • Combining r-controlled syllables with other syllable types
    • Sample words: fort, part, orbit, party

    Unit 9 

    • Sound of er, ir, and ur
    • Spelling option procedure for /er/ sound
    • Combining r-contolled syllables with er, ir, and ur with other syllable types
    • Dictionary skills
    • Sample words: burst, termite, dirty 

    Unit 10 

    • Double vowel syllable type
    • Sounds of ai, and ay
    • Use of spelling option procedure for /a/ sound
    • Combining all types of syllables
    • Homophones
    • Sample words: paint, display

    Unit 11 

    • Sounds of ee, ea, ey
    • Use of spelling option procedure for /e/ sound
    • Sample words: cheap, keep, chimney

    Unit 12 

    • Sounds of oi and oy 
    • Spelling generalizations of /oi/ sound 
    • Sample words: moist, toys, paperboy 

    Unit 13 

    • The long o sound of oa, oe, and ow 
    • Use of spelling option procedure for /o/ sound 
    • Review of suffix endings 
    • Sample words: road, doe, grown 

    Unit 14 

    • The /ou/ sound of ou and ow 
    • Flexibility in sound choices for reading 
    • Spelling generalizations of /ou/ sound 
    • Sample words: sample, drown, plow 

    Unit 15 

    • The /ü/ sound of oo, ou, ue, and ew
    • The /u/ sound of ue
    • Use of spelling option procedure for /ü/ and /u/ sounds
    • Sample words: spoon, soup, overdue, blew, argue

    Unit 16 

    • Sounds of au and aw
    • Spelling generalizations for the /o/ sound 
    • Sample words: claw, aunt 

    Unit 17 

    • Consonant-le syllable type
    • Spelling consonant-le words
    • Review of all 6 syllable types
    • Favorite, sugar, trouble, couple, young
    • Sample words: gobble, tumble, noble