Fundations® Curriculum

Each Fundations learning activity aligns to the science of reading. Click here to learn how.

Foundational Literacy Skills for K-5

Informed by an extensive research base and designed to achieve success with a wide variety of learners, Fundations® is a multisensory structured literacy program that presents all skills in a systematic and sequential manner in four Levels: K, 1, 2, and 3, 4, and 5. A Pre-K Activity Set is also available.

Each Level provides a yearlong curriculum. For an integrated, comprehensive approach to reading and spelling, teachers should implement Fundations alongside a core or literature-based language arts program that includes a wide variety of text experiences and exposure to poetry, narrative and informational text.

Instruction in Critical Reading and Writing Skills

Skill Areas

Print concepts and the alphabetic principle
- Phonological awareness and phonemic awareness skills
- Print awareness skills
- Phonics and decoding
- Word attack
Phonological and phonemic awareness
Phonics: word recognition and spelling
Automaticity and fluency
Vocabulary
Morphology
Syntax and sentence structure
Conventions of English
Transcription: handwriting and composition

Together, these skills provide a strong foundation for the development of reading comprehension and written composition. For more specific information about skill coverage by Fundations level, click here.

Instructional Design

Fundations’ unique, integrated approach supports student mastery of foundational skills. The Fundations^® curriculum:

Builds confident readers with explicit, systematic, and scaffolded instruction
Actively engages students in learning through the use of multisensory techniques
Provides multiple opportunities for skills practice and application to build mastery.
Monitors student learning through formative assessment tools built into the program.
Empowers educators to maximize instructional impact with streamlined planning tools, step-by-step lesson guidance, and real-time supports
Supports teachers at any level of experience with practical tools to successfully implement Structured Literacy in their classrooms

Each Fundations learning activity aligns to the science of reading. Click here to learn how.

For Multilingual Learners

Fundations helps helps multilingual learners (MLLs) by teaching the skills and strategies they need to be successful in learning to read and write in English. As a comprehensive word study program addressing reading, spelling, and writing skills, Fundations prepares English language learners to meet grade-level standards for college- and career-readiness, readying them for success in subsequent grades. To ensure success, Fundations equips educators to seamlessly support MLLs with research-based strategies, best practices, and differentiation built sirectly into daily instruction.

Curriculum Framework

Each level of the Fundations program builds on previously taught skills and concepts.

For Pre-K Students

The Level Pre-K Activity Set follows the same educational principles as all our other programs to improve students’ emerging understanding of the alphabet, letter-sound associations, and letter formation.

Learn more about the curriculum on our Level Pre-K Activity Set page.

Grades K-3

Level K, Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3 typically correspond to a student’s grade level. Each program builds on previously learned skills and concepts and dives into more complex reading skills, such as word structure identification, syllable segmentation, and sentence building. They are appropriate for all students in the classroom, with a Tier 2 implementation for at-risk students.

Learn more about each Level’s curriculum on the following pages:

Grades 4-5

Levels 4 and 5 reinforce foundational skills while introducing advanced literacy concepts with developmentally appropriate instruction. Instruction focuses on building fluency, vocabulary, morphology, spelling, and sentence-level comprehension to equip students to comprehend complex texts. Learn more about each Level’s curriculum on the following pages: