Aligning Fundations (or Another Phonics Curriculum) with the Reading and Writing Units of Study in Ways that Support Your Kids’ Overall Literacy Development

Date: Thursday, August 29, 2024

Time: 11:00 AM - 3:00 PM ET

Location: Online, via Zoom

Who Should Attend: Grades K-2 teachers and coaches

Cost: $150 per person

A number of schools use Fundations or UFLI Foundations, to support phonics development, and we are delighted to partner with these schools. We recognize, however, that ensuring the seamless alignment between some of these phonics programs and Units of Study can pose challenges  For example, if your phonics program teaches long vowels at the end of first grade, and meanwhile your Jump Rope Readers and Reading Units of Study expect kids to be working with long vowels long before then, what are your possible avenues moving forward?

This day can’t promise an easy fix. The truth is, these are not simple issues. They require rigorous thinking within your own communities of practice. Still, we have some suggestions and we know it can help to hear what other schools are doing. This day will give you the tools to help you integrate curricula, and it will help you learn about potential solutions from schools other than your own. 

Across this day, expect to: 

• Gain an overview of Fundations and a few other popular phonics programs so that you learn about the choices represented in those varied curricula. Learn the research behind the programs and the ways in which the programs are similar and different.  

• Learn about ways teams of thoughtful educators in other districts have invented bridges, crosswalks, and adaptations, and begin considering the process your district might go through in order to make similar decisions. 

• Learn about adjustments that can be made to the Phonic Decoding Assessment to match Fundations. Hear ways you and your colleagues might make similar adaptations to align Units of Study to your phonics programs.

• Hear about innovative practices that promote phonics transfer to both reading and spelling. Learn how to encourage students to draw on their phonics knowledge as they read and write by using a variety of texts, including decodable texts, dictations, coaching prompts, and more.

• Learn (or re-learn!) about orthographic mapping, which is sometimes not supported in popular phonics approaches. You’ll take time to consider this research and then examine your approach to teaching high-frequency words. If your approach does not teach to specifically promote orthographic mapping, you’ll have an opportunity to study curriculum-neutral ways to support students in building a bank of sight words.

• Brainstorm ways to teach phonics with enough scope that all your students receive the support they deserve. Some children come to school knowing their alphabet; some have trouble with early phonemic awareness—and your phonics instruction needs to be timed to support the majority of your kids, while also providing differentiated help. Learn effective ways to teach responsively through conferences and small groups.