States’ rigorous college- and career-readiness standards for English Language Arts (ELA) and Literacy for grades K–5 specify what students should understand and be able to do by the end of each grade.
Fundations® addresses these rigorous standards across all levels K-5. In particular, Fundations offers specific, measurable learning objectives that are developmentally appropriate and aligned to states’ standards.
Fundations and Standards in Foundational Skills
Fundations® provides explicit, systematic instruction on the foundational skills outlined in states’ college- and career-readiness standards. The program strongly supports the reading, writing, and language standards, providing mastery-oriented instruction for many goals within each of these areas. Through direct teaching and cumulative practice, students learn the following:
- Fundamentals of reading, including phonological awareness, phonics, and word structure
- Rules and patterns of the English language, including the six syllable types, digraphs, blends, vowel teams, and increasingly complex spelling generalizations
- Word structure and morphology and the analysis of multisyllabic words (with expanded emphasis in Levels 4 and 5)
- Recognition and spelling of words that do not follow predictable patterns, including high-frequency and irregular words.
- Decoding and encoding mastery through engaging, multisensory activities that emphasize application of skills to support accuracy, automaticity, and reading fluency for comprehension
Fundations and States’ ELA Language Standards
Fundations provides direct and systematic instruction in:
- Uppercase and lowercase letter formation, explicitly linked to letter–sound relationships for reading and spelling
- Conventions of standard English spelling, including common and advanced spelling patterns appropriate to grade level
- Spelling of irregular and frequently confused words (e.g., their, there, they’re)
- Conventions of standard English capitalization and punctuation
- Reference skills, including application of skills through extensive dictionary work.
- Vocabulary development, including multiple-meaning words and affixes, with an increased emphasis on morphology in upper grades.
- Production and expansion of complete sentences of varied types in response to prompts, supporting clarity, structure, and written expression.
Fundations Meets the Quality Standards for Instructional Materials
Significant features include the following:
- Each Level (K–5) includes a comprehensive Teacher’s Manual with a detailed, year-long scope and sequence for all Units
- Daily lessons that provide clear routines, lesson objectives, materials lists, and at-a-glance guidance
- Classroom-ready lesson slides with teacher notes, annotation tools, and interactive features to support explicit instruction and student engagement
- An online platform that provides digital practice activities, data dashboards for instructional planning, and built-in professional learning with instructional modeling videos
- Home Support Packets that provide letters to families and related materials for each Unit in every Level, strengthening home–school connections
- Differentiated instruction is embedded throughout the program for advanced learners, multilingual learners (MLLs), and students with language-based learning differences
- Ongoing assessment of student mastery including Unit Tests
State Standards Alignment
Available below are correlations between Fundations and the following Foundational Skills standards:
