Kindergarten - Gateway 1

The materials include explicit instruction in lowercase and uppercase letter recognition for all 26 letters. The first 34 lessons in the materials contain lessons that introduce all letter names and their most common sounds. Every lesson includes a section called Visual Drill. In the Visual Drill, students have the opportunity to practice letter recognition and produce the sound the grapheme represents. 

There is a defined sequence for letter recognition instruction to be completed in a reasonable time frame over the school year. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the Instructional Materials, Lessons C-1, the materials include a defined sequence for capital letters. The sequence is as follows:

  • Lesson C: L, F, E

  • Lesson D: H, T, I

  • Lesson E: O, Q, C, G

  • Lesson F: U, J, S

  • Lesson G: D, P, B, R

  • Lesson H: K, M, N

  • Lesson I: V, W, X

  • Lesson J: Y, Z

  • Lesson 1: A

• In the Scope and Sequence At-a-Glance: All Concepts (K-2), all lowercase letters and single consonants and Short vowels are introduced by Lesson 34 in the following sequence:

  • Lesson 1: a /ă/

  • Lesson 2: m /m/

  • Lesson 3: s /s/

  • Lesson 4: t /t/

  • Lesson 6: p /p/

  • Lesson 7: f /f/

  • Lesson 8: i /ĭ/

  • Lesson 9: n /n/

  • Lesson 11: Nasalized A (am, an)

  • Lesson 12: o /ŏ/

  • Lesson 13: d /d/

  • Lesson 14: c /k/

  • Lesson 15: u /ŭ/

  • Lesson 16: g /g/

  • Lesson 17: b /b/

  • Lesson 18: e /ĕ/

  • Lesson 20: -s /s/

  • Lesson 21: -s /z/

  • Lesson 22: k /k/

  • Lesson 23: h /h/

  • Lesson 24: r /r/

  • Lesson 26: l /l/

  • Lesson 28: w /w/

  • Lesson 29: j /j/

  • Lesson 30: y /y/

  • Lesson 31: x /ks/

  • Lesson 32: qu /kw/

  • Lesson 33: v /v/

  • Lesson 34: z /z/

Materials contain isolated, systematic, and explicit instruction for students to recognize all 26 lowercase and uppercase letters. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following: 

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 6, Step 5: New Concept, the teacher states, “This is the letter P. P is a consonant. P spells /p/ like in the beginning of the word pig. The letter P can come at the beginning of the word, such as the words pot and pig. The letter P can also come at the end of a word, such as the words hop and nap. To make the /p/ sound, put your lips together, and make your lips pop like this…(model). Be sure to turn your voice off. It’s just a quiet pop of air. Can you feel the air with your hand? The /p/ sound is a stop sound that can’t be stretched out. Watch me /p/. You try /p/.” 

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 24, Step 5: New Concept,the teacher states, “This is the letter R. R is a consonant. R spells /r/ like in the beginning of the word red. The letter R can come at the beginning of a word, such as the words rat and run. The /r/ sound is a super tricky sound to make. It can be made in different ways. Your tongue might be rounded up or it might be rounded down. Your voice should be on. Either way is okay if it sounds right. Let’s say it by using it in a word. Say ‘read.’ Now I’m going to say it again, but I’m going to hold out the first sound. Listen /rrrrread/. The /r/ sound is a continuous sound that can be stretched out (use continuous hand motion). You try /rrrread/. Great, now just say /rrr/.”

​​The materials include sufficient practice opportunities for students to recognize all 26 lowercase and capital letters accurately and automatically through Step 5: New Concept. The capital letters are taught and reviewed during the first half of the school year, and then students review lowercase letters through Step 2: Visual Drills. The materials suggest that students continue practicing capital and lowercase letters if there is an observed need.

Materials include sufficient practice opportunities for students to recognize all 26 lowercase and uppercase letters accurately and automatically. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following: 

• In Instructional Materials, Lesson 7, Step 5: New Concept, Letter Formation, students use dry-erase boards and markers, pencils and paper, fingers on the table/carpet, or skywriting to review the capital letter Ff. Students also practice recognizing the lowercase and uppercase letters Ff.

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 9, Step 2: Visual Drill, the following letters are reviewed: i, f, p, t, s, m, and a. The teacher displays the grapheme card during the Visual Drill, and students say the letter name and sound.  

• In Instructional Materials, Lesson 16, Step 5: New Concept, students use dry-erase boards and markers, pencils and paper, fingers on the table/carpet, or skywriting to review the capital letter Gg. Students also practice recognizing the lowercase and uppercase letters Gg.

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 24, Step 2: Visual Drill, students practice saying the letter name and phoneme of the following letters: h, k, s, e, b, g, u, c, d, o, n, i, f, p, t, m, and a. The teacher displays the grapheme card during the Visual Drill, and students say the letter name and sound.  

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 34, Step 2: Visual Drill, students practice saying the letter name and phoneme of the letters v, qu, x, y, j, w, l, r, h, k, s, z, e, b, g, u, c, d, o, n, and i.  

Materials incorporate a variety of activities and resources for students to develop, practice, and reinforce (through cumulative review) alphabet knowledge. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following: 

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 27, Step 2: Visual Drill, students say the letter names and sounds of the following letters: l, r, h, k, s, e, b, g, u, c, d, o, n, i, f, p, t, m, and a.

• In the UFLI Foundations Toolbox, Lessons 1-34, Alphabet, each lesson contains a PowerPoint and Google Slides to use with the lesson from the Teacher’s Manual. Each lesson includes a Visual Drill with one lowercase letter on a slide. The students say the letter name and the sound it represents, and then the teacher progresses to the next slide with a new lowercase letter.

The materials include explicit instruction in letter formation for all 26 uppercase and lowercase letters. Letter formation instruction is aligned with the letter recognition sequence, and lessons include consistent, clear verbal pathway scripts. Materials provide guidance for modeling correct letter formation and offer teacher-facing support for providing corrective feedback when students form letters incorrectly. Students engage in varied practice opportunities such as skywriting, finger tracing, and writing with pencils or markers. 

There is a defined sequence for letter formation, aligned to the scope and sequence of letter recognition, to be completed in a reasonable time frame over the school year. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following: 

• In the Instructional Materials, Lessons C-1, materials include practice opportunities for students to recognize and form 26 uppercase letters. The sequence is as follows:

  • Lesson C: L, F, E

  • Lesson D: H, T, I

  • Lesson E: O, Q, C, G

  • Lesson F: U, J, S

  • Lesson G: D, P, B, R

  • Lesson H: K, M, N

  • Lesson I: V, W, X

  • Lesson J: Y, Z

  • Lesson 1: A

• In the Scope and Sequence At-a-Glance: All Concepts (K-2), all single consonants and Short vowels are introduced by Lesson 34. During the lesson, students are introduced to the phoneme and grapheme, and there is a letter formation review of the uppercase letter and an introduction of the letter formation of lowercase letters. The sequence is as follows:

  • Lesson 1: a /ă/

  • Lesson 2: m /m/

  • Lesson 3: s /s/

  • Lesson 4: t /t/

  • Lesson 6: p /p/

  • Lesson 7: f /f/

  • Lesson 8: i /ĭ/

  • Lesson 9: n /n/

  • Lesson 11: Nasalized A (am, an)

  • Lesson 12: o/ŏ/

  • Lesson 13: d /d/

  • Lesson 14: c /k/

  • Lesson 15: u /ŭ/

  • Lesson 16: g /g/

  • Lesson 17: b /b/

  • Lesson 18: e /ĕ/

  • Lesson 20: -s /s/

  • Lesson 21: -s /z/

  • Lesson 22: k /k/

  • Lesson 23: h /h/

  • Lesson 24: r /r/

  • Lesson 26: l /l/

  • Lesson 28: w /w/

  • Lesson 29: j /j/

  • Lesson 30: y /y/

  • Lesson 31: x /ks/

  • Lesson 32: qu/kw/

  • Lesson 33: v /v/

  • Lesson 34: z /z/

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 1, Step 5: New Concept, the grapheme A is introduced, including the sound /a/ and the letter formation for Aa. The teacher models the letter formation using the following verbiage for uppercase A: “Start at the top. Slant down to the bottom (right to left). Hop back to the top. Slant down to the bottom the other way (left to right). Hop to the middle. The straight line across the middle.” 

Materials include clear directions for the teacher concerning how to explain and model how to correctly form each of the 26 letters (uppercase and lowercase). Examples include, but are not limited to, the following: 

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 13, Step 5: New Concept, Letter Formation, Review ‘D’, the teacher states, “Start at the top. Straight line down to the bottom. Hop back to the top. Big curve all the way to the bottom. (Introduce ‘d’) Begin at the middle line. Curve all the way around. Straight line up to the top. Straight back down to the bottom.”

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 28, Step 5: New Concept, Letter Formation,  Review ‘W,’ the teacher states, “Start at the top. Slant line down to the bottom. Slant line up to the tip. Slant line down to the bottom again. Slant line up to the top. (Introduce w) “Begin at the middle line. Start at the top. Slant line down to the bottom. Slant line up to the top. Slant line down to the bottom again. Slant line up to the top.”

• In the UFLI Foundations Toolbox, Lessons A-J, the Google Slides include a model of the letter formation and another slide for the teacher and students to practice forming the letters together. The students skywrite, finger trace, and use pencils or markers to practice letter formation. 

Materials include teacher guidance for corrective feedback when needed for students. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following: 

• In the Implementation Guidance, materials recommend that the teacher monitor students’ strokes as they practice the formation. The Teacher Manual states, “Practicing correct letter formation reinforces the students’ knowledge of the letter shape and contributes to improvements in handwriting fluency.” 

• In the Implementation Guidance, the Teacher Manual recommends that “if a student’s letter formation is incorrect, model the correct formation, emphasizing where to begin, which direction to move, and where to finish the letter.

The materials include practice opportunities in letter formation for all 26 uppercase and lowercase letters. The lessons include kinesthetic and written letter formation practice. Lessons include a review of previously taught letter formation.

Materials include frequent opportunities for students to practice forming all of the 26 uppercase and lowercase letters. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the Implementation Guidance, materials state that the letter formation practice portion of the lesson is critical to ensure mastery. The guidance recommends practicing several times. Students can practice letter formation with dry-erase boards and markers, pencil/paper, fingers on the table or carpet, or skywriting.  

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 23, Step 5: New Concept, Letter Formation, students practice forming a lowercase h. 

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 29, Step 5: New Concept, Letter Formation, students practice forming uppercase and lowercase Jj during letter formation and spelling of connected text. 

Materials include a cumulative review of previously learned letter formation. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 24, Step 5: New Concept, Letter Formation,  students review the formation of the uppercase R, which was initially introduced in Getting Ready Lesson G.

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 25, Step 5: New Concept, Letter Formation, materials include a letter formation review for lowercase r.

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 31, Step 5: New Concept, Letter Formation, students review the formation for uppercase X, which was initially introduced in Getting Ready Lesson I.

The materials include  informal assessment opportunities in letter recognition and letter formation. Progress monitoring of grapheme-phoneme correspondences is suggested through regular words, irregular words, and sentence dictation. Materials include teacher guidance on using the data to determine whether small groups or other supplemental support is needed. Supplemental resources from the lesson plans for the assessed concepts help plan for the content of the small-group lessons if needed. In addition, the UFLI Assessment Portal provides structured and systematic assessment tools aligned to the program’s scope and sequence. The portal offers regular opportunities to track student progress and includes explicit protocols for interpreting results and planning targeted instruction based on student needs. 

Materials regularly and systematically provide a variety of assessment opportunities over the course of the year to demonstrate students’ progress toward mastery and independence of letter recognition and letter formation. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the Implementation Guidance, Letter Formation Section, teachers are directed to informally monitor students’ letter formation during Step 5: New Concepts of each lesson. The manual states, “The letter formation practice portion of this step is critical to ensure mastery. Begin by reviewing the letter’s formation, including where to begin, which direction to move, and where to end. Next, have the students practice letter formation. Depending on the age and fine motor skills of your students, you may want to practice several times. Monitoring the strokes students use as they practice the formation. Correct letter formation reinforces the student’s knowledge of the letter shape and improves handwriting fluency.”

• The UFLI Assessment Portal formalizes the assessment process by providing a structured and recurring system to monitor student progress in letter recognition and letter formation. Assessment tasks are aligned to the program’s scope and sequence and include weekly opportunities to evaluate grapheme-phoneme correspondences, regular and irregular word reading, and sentence dictation. 

Assessment materials provide teachers and students with information concerning students’ current skills/level of understanding of letter recognition and letter formation. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• The UFLI Assessment Portal collects and displays actionable student performance data by concept, allowing teachers to identify which students require additional support, minimal support, or have achieved mastery. 

  This evidence demonstrates that the materials regularly and systematically offer assessment opportunities to measure student progress toward mastery of letter recognition and letter formation. 

Materials support teachers with instructional suggestions for assessment-based steps to help students to progress toward mastery in letter recognition and letter formation. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Resources, Progress Monitoring, Spelling Assessment, the assessment opportunities contain grapheme-phoneme correspondences (GPCs), regular words, irregular words, and sentence dictation. The data is used to determine small groups or other supplemental support needed. 

  • An example of how to use data to plan small group support is provided, including the amount of time needed based on a student’s demonstration of understanding for a particular concept. 

  • The materials state, “Weekly assessment provides data that you can use to base your decisions about the next week’s small-group supplemental support. Use data from assessment of each concept to identify which children still need substantial support, who needs minimal support, and who has already mastered the concept. Based on this information, you can decide who will receive small-group support the following week and how much support they will need. Use the supplemental resources (e.g., word chains and word lists) from the lesson plans for the assessed concepts to plan for the content of your small-group lessons.”

• The UFLI Assessment Portal includes explicit teacher guidance for using assessment data to inform instruction. The Progress Monitoring section outlines protocols for grouping students based on performance levels and planning targeted small-group lessons. Teachers are directed to use supplemental resources from the core lessons, such as word chains and word lists, that align with assessed concepts.

The materials contain a clear, evidence-based explanation for the expected sequence for teaching phonemic awareness skills that is aligned with phonics instruction. The materials have a cohesive sequence of phonemic awareness instruction based on the expected hierarchy to build toward students’ application of the skills. 

Materials contain a clear, evidence-based explanation for the expected sequence for teaching phonemic awareness skills. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Background, materials state, “An important element of phonemic awareness instruction is that, in addition to breaking down the sounds of spoken language, attention should be focused on mapping individual sounds to printed letters (Foorman et al., 2016).”

• In Background, the materials state, “Although phonemic awareness instruction can be accomplished without print, it tends to be more effective for both developing phonemic awareness and transferring to decoding and encoding skills when it includes letters (Hoh & Ehri, 1983; NRP, 2000).” 

Materials have a cohesive sequence of phonemic awareness instruction based on the expected hierarchy to build toward students’ immediate application of the skills. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:  

• In the Scope & Sequence At-A-Glance: All Concepts (K-2), the sequence for phonemic awareness instruction includes:

  • Lesson 1: a /ă/

  • Lesson 2: m /m/ 

  • Lesson 3: s /s/ 

  • Lesson 4: t /t/ 

  • Lesson 5: VC & CVC Words 

  • Lesson 6: p /p/ 

  • Lesson 7: f /f/ 

  • Lesson 8: i /ĭ/ 

  • Lesson 9: n /n/

  • Lesson 10: CVC Practice (a, i) 

  • Lesson 11: Nasalized A (am, an) 

  • Lesson 12: o /ŏ/

  • Lesson 13: d /d/ 

  • Lesson 14: c /k/ 

  • Lesson 15: u /ŭ/ 

  • Lesson 16: g /g/ 

  • Lesson 17: b /b/ 

  • Lesson 18: e /ĕ/ 

  • Lesson 19: VC & CVC Practice (all)

  • Lesson 20: -s /s/

  • Lesson 21: -s /z/ 

  • Lesson 22: k /k/ 

  • Lesson 23: h /h/ 

  • Lesson 24: r /r/ Part 1 

  • Lesson 25: r /r/ Part 2 

  • Lesson 26: l /l/ Part 1

  • Lesson 27: l /l/ Part 2, al 

  • Lesson 28: w /w/ 

  • Lesson 29: j /j/ 

  • Lesson 30: y /y/

  • Lesson 31: x /ks/

  • Lesson 32: qu /kw/

  • Lesson 33: v /v/

  • Lesson 34: z /z/

  • Lesson 35: Short A Review (incl. Nasalized A)

  • Lesson 36: Short I Review 

  • Lesson 37: Short O Review 

  • Lesson 39: Short U Review 

  • Lesson 40: Short E Review 

  • Lesson 43: -all, -oll, -ull

  • Lesson 44: ck /k/ 

  • Lesson 45: sh /sh 

  • Lesson 46: Voiced th /th/

  • Lesson 47: Unvoiced th /th/ 

  • Lesson 48: ch /ch/ 

  • Lesson 50: wh /w/, ph /f/ 

  • Lesson 51: ng /ŋ/

  • Lesson 52: n /ŋ/ (as in nk) 

  • Lesson 54: a_e /a/

  • Lesson 55: i_e /i/ 

  • Lesson 56: o_e /o/

  • Lesson 58: u_e /u/, /yu/

Materials attend to developing phonemic awareness skills and avoid spending excess time on phonological sensitivity tasks. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the Instructional Materials, the lesson plans begin immediately with phonemic awareness tasks. For example, in Background, the materials state, “In UFLI Foundations lessons, we include activities to build phonemic awareness, rather than phonological awareness. Phonological awareness is an umbrella term that includes awareness of phonemes but also the capacity to attend to and manipulate larger units of sound, including skills such as rhyming and segmenting syllables. Although these skills typically develop before phoneme-level skills, research demonstrates that they are not essential for word reading and spelling (e.g., Ukrainetz et al., 2011; Yeh & Connell, 2008).”

• In Background, the materials state there are many skills associated with phonemic awareness; only blending and segmentation are essential for reading and spelling words.

Materials contain a phonemic awareness sequence of instruction and practice aligned to the phonics scope and sequence. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Instructional Materials, Lesson 28, Step 1: Phonological Awareness is blending /w/ /ĭ/ /n/ (win), /w/ /ǎ/ /g/ (wag), /w/ /ě/ /n/ /t/ (went), /t/ /w/ /ĭ/ /g/ (twig) and segmenting wet (/w/ /ě/ /t/), twin (/t/ /w/ /ĭ/ /n/), west (/w/ /ĕ/ /s/ /t/), and swim (/s/ /w/ /ǐ/ /m/). Step 2: Visual Drill Graphemes and Step 3: Auditory Drill Phonemes uses the following graphemes-phonemes: l(/l/), r(/r/), h(/h/), k(/k/), s(/s/, /z/), e(/ĕ/), /ĕ/ (e), /b/(b), /g/(g), and /ŭ/(u).  The blending drill includes the following words: lid, slid, sled, fled, pled, bled, led, red, bed, bet, belt, felt, felp, help, held

• In Instructional Materials, Lesson 63, Step 1: Phonemic Awareness is blending /a/, /sh/ (ash), /l/, /ŭ/, /n/, /ch/ (lunch), /b/, /ĕ/, /n/, /c/, /h/ (bench) and segmenting tax (/t/ /ă/ /k/ /s/), lash (/l/ /ă/ /sh/), and bunch (/b/ /ŭ/ /n/ /ch/). Step 2: Visual Drill Graphemes and Step 3: Auditory Drill Phonemes uses the following graphemes-phonemes: g(/g/, /j/), c (/k/, /s/), a (/ă/, /ā/), e(/ĕ/, /ē/), i(/ĭ/, /ī/), o(/ŏ/, /ō/), u(/ŭ/, /ū/, /yū/), nk(/ŋk/), ng(/ŋ/), wh(/w/), ph(/f/), ch(/ch/), (th/, /th/), sh(/sh/), ck(/k/), s(/s/, /z/). The blending drill is the following words: huge, hug, hung, rung, rang, range, rage, race, rice, hide, hid, did, dim, dime, dice, ice, ace,

The materials include systematic and explicit instruction in phonemic awareness with repeated teacher modeling. Instruction begins with oral blending and segmentation in Step 1 and continues across multiple steps, where phonemic awareness is integrated with decoding and encoding using letters. Lessons include frequent practice in blending, segmenting, and manipulating phonemes, and students isolate initial, medial, and final sounds in the context of word chaining and word building. Materials also include structured corrective feedback procedures, such as the I Do, We Do, You Do sequence, to support student understanding and accuracy when errors occur. 

Materials provide the teacher with systematic, explicit instruction in sounds (phonemes). Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Isolate and pronounce the initial, medial vowel, and final sounds (phonemes) in three-phoneme (consonant-vowel-consonant, or CVC) words

  • In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 5, Step 1: Phonemic Awareness, students engage in oral phoneme blending and segmentation without letters. The teacher models blending individual phonemes such as /ă/ /t/ (at), /m/ /ă/ /t/ (mat), and /s/ /ă/ /p/ (sap). The teacher also models segmenting whole words into individual phonemes, such as pat -> /p/ /ă/ /t/ and sat -> /s/ /ă/ /t/. This instruction provides systematic, explicit modeling of phoneme-level skills. 

  • In the Instructional Materials, Implementation Guidance, Step 6: Word Work, students engage in phoneme manipulation using manipulative letters. For example, students change shin -> ship -> shop -> shot -> shock, isolating and substituting individual phonemes in initial, medial, and final positions. 

• Blend and segment words with two and three phonemes. 

  • In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 2, Step 1: Phonemic Awareness, the teacher models articulating the phonemes /ă/, /t/, and /m/. Next, the teacher provides a word that the class chorally segments into individual phonemes, using fingers to count the sounds as they are said to support segmentation. The words used in this lesson are at and mat. 

  • In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 24, Step 1: Phonemic Awareness, the teacher models articulating segmenting words by saying /r//ŭ//n/ (run), /r//ŏ//d/ (rod), /r//ă//g//z/ (rags), /r//ŭ//s//t/ (rust). Next, the teacher provides a word that the class chorally segments into individual phonemes, using fingers to count the sounds as they are said to support segmentation. The words used in this lesson are rat, red, rugs, and rest. 

• Add or substitute individual sounds (phonemes) in simple, one-syllable words to make new words. 

  • In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 16, Step 4: Blending Drill, the teacher prepares three sets of graphemes that the students have learned well enough to blend. The three sets represent initial, medial, and final sounds in words. The teacher spells the first word and has the students decode it. The teacher points to the first grapheme, and the students say each sound holding it out until starting the next sound (e.g., /sssssssaat/). The teacher changes one sound at a time to form new words, including occasional nonsense words. For this lesson, the words include up, cup, pup, pun, pin, pan, can, con, cod, mod, mud, dud, sud, sun, un, and um. 

  • In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 21, Step 4: Blending Drill, the teacher prepares three sets of graphemes that the students have learned well enough to blend. The three sets represent initial, medial, and final sounds in words. The teacher spells the first word and has the students decode it. Then, the teacher changes one sound at a time to form new words, including occasional nonsense words. For this lesson, the words include bet, bets, nets, pets, sets, set, sat, bat, bats, bots, tots, pots, pops, pups, and pup.

  • In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 25, Step 4: Blending Drill, the teacher prepares three sets of graphemes that the students have learned well enough to blend. The three sets represent initial, medial, and final sounds in words. The teacher spells the first word and has the students decode it. Then, the teacher changes one sound at a time to form new words, including occasional nonsense words. For this lesson, the words include rut, runt, rent,  rant, ran, can, scan, span, spam, Sam, ram ramp, rap, rasp, rap, and raps.

Materials provide the teacher with examples for instruction in sounds (phonemes). Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 18, Step : New Concept, Articulatory Gesture, the teacher says: “To make the short e /ĕ/ sound open your mouth just a little, stretch the corners of your mouth a little. Drop your chin like this (model). Be sure your voice is on. Like all vowels /ĕ/ is a continuous sound that can be stretched out. Watch me /ĕ/. You try /ĕ/.”

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 29, Step 5: New Concept, Articulatory Gesture, the teacher says: “To make the /j/ sound, put your teeth together and round your lips like this (teacher model). Pull your tongue back toward the back of your mouth with the tip touching behind your teeth. Be sure your voice is on.”

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 45, Step 5: New Concept, the teacher says, “A consonant digraph is when two consonants come together to make one sound. You have already learned about a consonant digraph. We have talked about ‘ck.’ When ‘c’ and ‘k’ are together at the end of a word, they make a sound, /k/. The two consonants ‘s’ and ‘h’ have their own sounds, /s/ and /h/. But when these consonants come together in words, they make one new sound, /sh/, like at the beginning of the word sheep… To make the /sh/ sound, put your teeth together and round your lips like this…(model). Pull your tongue back toward the back of your mouth. Be sure your voice is off because this is a quiet sound (model finger in front of mouth in ‘shh’ fashion). The /sh/ sound is a continuous sound that can be stretched out (use continuous hand motion). Watch me /sh/. You try /sh/.” 

Materials include teacher guidance for corrective feedback when needed for students. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the Instructional Materials, Implementation Guidance, the materials state, “If any students respond incorrectly, conduct the correction procedure in the table above with the whole group.” The table contains an I do, We do, You do procedure to follow with any errors. 

  • For example, the correction procedure for Step 2, Visual Drill is as follows: 

    • Step I Do- Model the correct response- A spells /ă/.

    • Step We Do- Guide all the students in saying the correct response- Say it with me: A spells /ă/. (A spells /ă/)

    • Step You Do- Ask students for a choral response without teacher support- Your turn. (A spells /ă/)

The materials include opportunities for students to practice phonemic awareness daily. Each daily lesson begins with two phonemic awareness activities that consistently correlate with the phonics focus for the day. The materials include specific directions to the teacher for demonstrating how to articulate and pronounce each phoneme. In addition to scripted articulation practice, the materials provide teachers with mouth formation pictures, which are included on each phoneme card.

Daily phonemic awareness instruction correlates to the phonics portion of the lesson (phoneme-grapheme correspondence). Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the Implementation Guidance, the materials state that the purpose of Steps 1-4 is to “serve as a warm-up and review of previously taught concepts. Students begin by practicing blending phonemes into words and segmenting words into phonemes (Step 1). Next, they build automaticity with grapheme-phoneme correspondences (Steps 2-3). Finally, they connect these phonemic awareness skills with their grapheme-phoneme knowledge to practice decoding words and building decoding automaticity (Step 4).” 

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 4, the focus for this lesson is t /t/. In Step 1: Phonemic Awareness, the students blend the words mat, sat, and map. The students segment the words at, tap, and tack.  

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 32, the focus for this lesson is qu /kw/. In Step 1: Phonemic Awareness, the students blend the words quit, quick, quilt, and squid. The students segment the words queen, quit, quest, and squid. 

Materials include opportunities for students to practice connecting sounds to letters. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 4, Step 3: Auditory Drill, the teacher says the phoneme, and the students echo it and connect it to the grapheme that the phoneme represents. For example, the teacher says the sound, and students repeat it along with the grapheme. For example, the students echo /s/ (s), /m/ (m), /ă/ (a).

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 18, Step 3: Auditory Drill, the teacher says the phoneme, and the students echo the phoneme and connect the grapheme that the phoneme represents. The teacher says the phoneme, and students repeat the phoneme and say the corresponding grapheme. For example, students echo /b/(b), /g/(g), /ŭ/(u), /k/(c), /d/(d), /o/(ŏ), /n/(n), /ǐ/(i), /f/(f), /p/(p). 

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 42, Step 3: Auditory Drill, the teacher says the phoneme, and the students echo the phoneme and connect the grapheme that the phoneme represents. For example, the teacher says /ŭ/, and students echo /ŭ/ is u. Additional practice includes /ĕ/(e), /ĭ/(i), /ŏ/(o), /ă/(a), /g/(g), /l/(l), /w/(w), /y/(y), /z/(s, z). 

Materials include directions to the teacher for demonstrating how to pronounce each phoneme (articulation/mouth formation). Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the Instructional Materials, Getting Ready Lesson C, the teacher introduces the stop sounds /p/ and /b/. The guidance states: “When you make the /p/ sound, like at the beginning of the word pig, you put your lips together, and make your lips pop like this (model). Your voice is turned off when you say /p/. Watch me /p/. You try /p/. When you make the /b/ sound, like at the beginning of the word bee, you make it in the same way as /p/ except your voice is turned on. Watch me /b/. You try /b/. When we make /p/ or /b/, our lips look like this.” 

• In the Instructional Materials, Getting Ready Lesson E, the teacher introduces the glide sound /y/. The materials state, “When you make the /y/ sound, you round your lips, you pull back your tongue like this (model and show picture card). Your voice is turned on when you say /y/ like at the beginning of the word yes, and the sound glides into the next sound.”  

• In the Instructional Materials, Getting Ready Lesson H, the teacher introduces the Short vowel sound /ŏ/. The teacher explains that this vowel sound is made with the tongue low and the mouth open wide and round.

The materials include weekly spelling assessments aligned to the scope and sequence that measure phonemic awareness through grapheme-phoneme correspondences, regular word spelling, irregular word spelling, and sentence dictation. The assessments provide regular opportunities to monitor students’ phoneme-level knowledge and application. The materials include guidance to help teachers interpret results and identify which students need substantial, minimal, or no additional support. Instructional suggestions, including grouping recommendations and supplemental word lists, are provided to support student progress based on assessment outcomes. 

Materials provide a variety of assessment opportunities throughout the year (e.g., at least three times per year or aligned to key instructional benchmarks) to monitor student progress in phonemic awareness. Assessment types may include oral tasks, encoding assessments, decoding activities requiring phoneme manipulation, and teacher observations.

• In Resources, Progress Monitoring: Spelling Assessment, materials steps, “monitoring students’ growth is an essential part of skill development. Effective progress monitoring allows you to see exactly which students need extra support on which skills and when they need it.” 

  • The materials recommend administering spelling assessments weekly as an ongoing progress monitoring tool aligned to the UFLI Foundations scope and sequence. 

  • Assessment types include: 

    • Grapheme-phoneme correspondences (GPCs): Teachers pronounce phoneme, and students write the associated grapheme. 

    • Regular words: Students spell decodable words based on taught grapheme-phoneme correspondences. 

    • Irregular words: Students spell high-frequency words learned using the “heart word” method. 

    • Sentence dictation: Students apply newly learned sound-symbol relationships and irregular words in connected text. 

Assessment materials provide teachers-and, when appropriate, caregivers-with clear information about students’ current skill levels in phonemic awareness. 

• In Resources, Progress Monitoring: Spelling Assessment, weekly assessments provide concept-specific performance data. 

  • The manual explains how each type of item (GPCs, regular words, irregular words, and sentences) maps onto specific skills. 

  • Teachers are instructed to assess which students need substantial, minimal, or no additional support. 

Materials support teachers with instructional suggestions or next steps based on assessment results to support student progress toward mastery. 

• In Resources, Progress Monitoring: Spelling Assessment, a sample “Data Planning for Small Group Support” chart outlines how to group students based on assessment results. 

  • Grouping recommendations include: which concept to reteach, how many minutes per day, and how many days per week. For example, students may be grouped based on mastery of a concept, with recommended small-group time allocations ranging from 4-12 minutes daily across 1-5 days per week. 

  • Teachers are directed to use word chains and word lists from the core lesson resources for targeted support.

The materials include a clear, research-based scope and sequence that delineates a sequence in which phonics skills are taught. Phonics skills in the scope and sequence move from simple to complex, including high-utility phonics patterns and generalizations.

Materials have a clear research-based explanation for the order of the phonics sequence. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Background, the materials state, “The sequence of instruction in grapheme-phoneme correspondences should be systematic. It makes sense for early instruction to include higher-frequency letters (A, M, S, T) before lower-frequency letters (Q, W). Graphemes with more regular phoneme correspondence (M, T, SH) are more appropriate for early instruction than those with less regular correspondences (C, G, EA). However, including common multi-letter graphemes (e.g., digraphs) in early instruction may enhance learning, even in kindergarten (Vadasy & Sanders, 2021).”

• In Background, the materials state that “a carefully designed scope and sequence of skills is essential for systematic phonics instruction (Earle & Sayeski, 2017). The consistency and frequency of grapheme-phoneme correspondences are important considerations, as are concepts’ relative complexity. The following guidelines were used in the development of the UFLI Foundations Scope and Sequence:

  • “High-frequency graphemes (e.g., S, M, A, SH) should be taught before lesson common graphemes (e.g., Q, Z, AUGH).

  • The most common phoneme associated with a grapheme should be taught before less common sounds.

  • Visually similar letters should be separated to lessen confusion.

  • Continuous sounds are easier to blend than stop sounds, so they should be taught early.

  • Consonants tend to be easier to learn because most consonant letters represent only one sound, so they should be taught early.

  • Short vowel sounds are more consistent, so they should be taught before long vowel sounds.

  • Begin with simple combinations of consonants and vowels (VC, CVC) and move to more complex combinations (CCVC, CVCC, CCVCC).”

Materials delineate a scope and sequence with a cohesive, intentional sequence of phonics instruction, from simpler to more complex skills, and practice to build toward the application of skills. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• The UFLI Foundations Scope and Sequence is organized to ensure that (a) students build all the necessary skills for proficient reading, (b) the skills build on one another, and (c) sufficient practice is provided to build mastery. The sequence for Kindergarten is as follows: 

  • Lesson 1: a /ă/

  • Lesson 2: m /m/ 

  • Lesson 3: s /s/ 

  • Lesson 4: t /t/ 

  • Lesson 5: VC & CVC Words 

  • Lesson 6: p /p/ 

  • Lesson 7: f /f/ 

  • Lesson 8: i /ĭ/ 

  • Lesson 9: n /n/

  • Lesson 10: CVC Practice (a, i) 

  • Lesson 11: Nasalized A (am, an) 

  • Lesson 12: o /ŏ/

  • Lesson 13: d /d/ 

  • Lesson 14: c /k/ 

  • Lesson 15: u /ŭ/ 

  • Lesson 16: g /g/ 

  • Lesson 17: b /b/ 

  • Lesson 18: e /ĕ/ 

  • Lesson 19: VC & CVC Practice (all)

  • Lesson 20: -s /s/

  • Lesson 21: -s /z/ 

  • Lesson 22: k /k/ 

  • Lesson 23: h /h/ 

  • Lesson 24: r /r/ Part 1 

  • Lesson 25: r /r/ Part 2 

  • Lesson 26: l /l/ Part 1

  • Lesson 27: l /l/ Part 2, al 

  • Lesson 28: w /w/ 

  • Lesson 29: j /j/ 

  • Lesson 30: y /y/

  • Lesson 31: x /ks/

  • Lesson 32: qu /kw/

  • Lesson 33: v /v/

  • Lesson 34: z /z/

  • Lesson 35: Short A Review (incl. Nasalized A)

  • Lesson 36: Short I Review 

  • Lesson 37: Short O Review 

  • Lesson 39: Short U Review 

  • Lesson 40: Short E Review 

  • Lesson 41: Short Vowels Review (all) 

  • Lesson 42: FLSZ Spelling Rule (ff, ll, ss, zz)

  • Lesson 43: -all, -oll, -ull

  • Lesson 44: ck /k/ 

  • Lesson 45: sh /sh 

  • Lesson 46: Voiced th /th/

  • Lesson 47: Unvoiced th /th/ 

  • Lesson 48: ch /ch/ 

  • Lesson 49: Digraphs Review 1

  • Lesson 50: wh /w/, ph /f/ 

  • Lesson 51: ng /ŋ/

  • Lesson 52: n /ŋ/ (as in nk) 

  • Lesson 53: Digraphs Review 2 (incl. CCCVC) 

  • Lesson 54: a_e /ā/

  • Lesson 55: i_e /ī/ 

  • Lesson 56: o_e /ō/

  • Lesson 57: VCe Review 1, e_e /ē/

  • Lesson 58: u_e /ū/, /yū/

  • Lesson 59: VCe Review 2 (all)

  • Lesson 63: -es

  • Lesson 64: -ed

  • Lesson 65: -ing

  • Lesson 66: Closed & Open Syllables 

  • Lesson 67: Closed/Closed

  • Lesson 68: Open/Closed 

Phonics instruction is based on high utility patterns and/or specific phonics generalizations. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Resources, Grapheme-Phoneme Correspondences, /s/ is spelled S in Lesson 3, spelled ss in Lesson 42, and spelled _ce in Lesson 60. 

• In Resources, Grapheme-Phoneme Correspondences, /f/ is spelled f in Lesson 7, spelled ff in Lesson 42, and spelled ph in Lesson 50. 

• In the Implementation Guidance, the materials state that students learn common grapheme-phoneme correspondences while learning the alphabet. Phonemes are then attached to digraphs and trigraphs and other spelling variations, such as /ā/ spelled a, a_e, ai, and ay. 

• In the Implementation Guidance, Scope and Sequence, the materials state, “The UFLI Foundations scope and sequence is organized to ensure that (a) students build all the necessary skills for proficient practice is provided to build mastery. The scope includes 128 lessons that address more than 100 different grapheme-phoneme correspondences, as well as many initial morphemes and spelling patterns. For core instruction, we recommend the concepts be taught across the primary grades: kindergarten through second grade.”

• In the Implementation Guidance, Scope and Sequence, the materials show that the program is organized using high utility patterns and specific phonics generalizations. Lessons 1-34 introduce the alphabet and VC and CVC words. Lessons 35-37 and 39-41 review all short vowels. Lessons 42-53 introduce digraphs. Lessons 54-59 introduce VCe. Lessons 63-68 introduce reading longer words, including adding the suffixes -s, -ed, -ing, along with multisyllabic words containing open and closed syllables. 

The materials do not contain lessons or resources that include the three-cueing system.

Materials do not contain elements of instruction that are based on the three-cueing system for teaching decoding.

• Materials do not contain elements of instruction that are based on the three-cueing system.

The materials, questions, and tasks provide reasonable pacing where phonics skills are taught one at a time and allot time where phonics skills are practiced to automaticity, with cumulative review. The materials provide ample practice and review opportunities in a reasonably paced manner. Each lesson spans two days and provides opportunities for students to practice the most recently learned skill and other previously taught skills embedded in the lesson to ensure mastery. 

Materials include reasonable pacing of newly taught phonics skills. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the Resources, Detailed Scope and Sequence, the phonics skills pacing focuses on spelling patterns. Lessons review previous skills, and then introduce new skills. An example of the pacing is as follows: 

  • In Lessons 1-34, students are introduced to all single consonants and short vowels. They begin reading and spelling VC and CVC words. 

  • In Lessons 35-41, students review what they learned in Lessons 1 - 34 and apply it to longer words to read CVC, CCVC, CVCC, CCVCC, and CCCVC word patterns. 

  • In Lessons 42-53, students are introduced to digraphs ff/ll/ss/zz, all, oll, ull, ck, sh, th, ch, wh, ph, and ng.

  • In Lessons 54-62, students are first introduced to the VCe syllable type 

  • In Lessons 63-68, students are taught how to read and spell longer words with suffixes -es, -ed, and -ing. 

The lesson plan design allots time to include sufficient student practice to work towards automaticity. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 12, Step 6: Word Work, students use a Word Work Mat or magnetic letters to manipulate graphemes to spell the first word and then make subsequent onset-rime and phoneme level changes at the teacher’s direction. The teacher directs the students to decode a new word. The teacher provides the word and asks the students to spell it, alternating between decoding and encoding. The teacher says, “Begin with mat. Change mat to sat. Change S to an F. Now tell me what word you have? Change fat to fit. Change F to an S. What word is that? What letter do you need to change to change sit to lit? Now add S to the beginning of lit. What word do you get?” For this lesson, the sequence is as follows: mop, top, tap, map, mat, fat, sat, pat, pot, not, nop. During Step 8: Connected Text, the students practice reading one or more of the following sentences: Is the fan on? Mom and Pop sat. The mop is not on the mat. Then they will spell one or more of the following sentences: I tap the pot. I am at the top. The fan is not on.

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 35b, Step 6: Word Work, students use a Word Work Mat or magnetic letters to manipulate graphemes to spell the first word and then make subsequent onset-rime and phoneme level changes at the teacher’s direction. The teacher directs the students to decode a new word. The teacher provides the word and asks the students to spell it, alternating between decoding and encoding. For this lesson, the sequence is as follows: an, fan, man, pan, Pam, am, yam, ham, jam, Jan, tan, can, ran, ram, Sam. During Step 8: Connected Text, the students practice reading one or more of the following sentences: I am Sam. The man has jam. Dan and I ran a lap. Then they will spell one or more of the following sentences: I am Jan. The man ran. Pam and I can nap. 

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 43, Step 6: Word Work, students use a Word Work Mat or magnetic letters to manipulate graphemes to spell the first word and then make subsequent onset-rime and phoneme level changes at the teacher’s direction. The teacher directs the students to decode a new word. The teacher provides the word and asks the students to spell it, alternating between decoding and encoding. For this lesson, the sequence is as follows: all, ball, bull, full, pull, poll, roll, troll, toll, tall, fall, call, mall, small. During Step 8: Connected Text, the students practice reading one or more of the following sentences: No, do not pull on the net. The small ball rolls off the tall wall. So, did your dad want to go to the mall? Then they will spell one or more of the following sentences: No, the bin is not full. I want to go to the mall. Can you go get the ball?                      

Materials contain distributed, cumulative, and interleaved opportunities for students to practice and review all previously learned grade-level phonics. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 6, Step 5: New Concept, the letter P and its sound /p/ are introduced. It is then reviewed in lessons 7, 8, 9, and 10. 

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 20, Step 5: New Concept, the letter S and the sound /s/ are introduced. It is reviewed in every subsequent lesson that week while additional sounds are taught.

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 42, several consonants and vowels are viewed such as p, t, d, and Short o. In addition, students also review consonant clusters such as gl, pl, st, and mp. In this lesson, students learn to double f, l, s, and z after a Short vowel in single-syllable words. Students review doubling f, l, s, and z in Lesson 44.

The materials contain explicit instructions for systematic and repeated teacher modeling of newly taught phonics patterns with blending and segmenting of words and sentences. The lesson structure includes teacher scripts for explicit instruction with consistent routines for teacher modeling for all grade-level phonics standards. The materials include clear, research-based guidance for providing corrective feedback when students respond incorrectly. This includes modeling the correct response, choral practice routines, and sample language to support student accuracy and reinforce phonics learning. 

Materials contain explicit instructions for systematic and repeated teacher modeling of newly-taught phonics patterns. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• RF.K.3a Demonstrate basic knowledge of one-to-one letter-sound correspondences by producing the primary sound or many of the most frequent sounds for each consonant. 

  • In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 4, Step 5: New Concept, the teacher says, “This is the letter T. T is a consonant, T spells /t/ like at the beginning of the word tiger. The letter T can come at the end of a word, such as the words at and sat. The letter T can also come at the beginning of a word, such as the words tap and top. To make the /t/ sound, tap your tongue right behind your top, front teeth like this...(model). Keep your voice off when you make the /t/ sound. The /t/ sound is a stop sound that can’t be stretched out (use stop hand motion). Watch me /t/. You try /t/.”

  • In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 17, Step 5: New Concept, the teacher says, “This is the letter B. B is a consonant. B spells /b/ like in the beginning of the word ball. The letter B can come at the beginning of a word, such as bat and big. The letter B can also come at the end of a word, such as the words cab and tub.” The teacher also says, “to make the /b/ sound, put your lips together, and make your lips pop like this…(model). Be sure to turn your voice on. The /b/ sound is a stop sound that can’t be stretched out (use stop hand motion). Watch me /b/. You try /b/. Be sure students do not add a schwa sound (i.e., /b/ not /buh/).”

  • In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 36b, Step 5: New Concept,  the teacher says, “The short vowel i spells /ĭ/ like in the beginning of the word itch. The letter i can come in the middle of a word, such as the words sit and big. The letter Ii can also come at the beginning of a word, such as the words in and is. To read longer words with the short vowel /ĭ/, we still say each sound. Watch me: /s/ /ĭ/ /p/ /s/, sips. Watch me again: /l/ /ĭ/ /s//t/, list.  Watch me again: /s/ /l/ /ĭ/ /d/, slid. To make the short i /ĭ/ sound, it is helpful to scrunch up your nose like this…(model). Be sure your voice is on. Like the other vowels we have learned about, /ĭ/ is a continuous sound that can be stretched out (make a continuous hand motion.) Watch me. You try.” 

• RF.K.3b Associate the long and short sounds with the common spellings (graphemes) for the five major vowels.  

  • In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 12, the teacher explains that the letter name for O is the sound that Long o makes. The Short vowel O spells /ŏ/ at the beginning of words, like in the word octopus, and in the middle of words like top and mop. 

  • In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 55, Step 5: New Concept, the teacher says, “We have learned that I spells /ĭ/ as in itch. /ĭ/ is a Short vowel sound. I also has a Long vowel sound: /ī/ as in ice cream. The Long vowel sound is the same as the vowel’s name I, /ī/. I spells /ī/ when there is a silent E at the end of a word, like in the words bike and side. The silent E makes vowels say their names or long vowel sounds. (You can use the terms ‘magic E’ or ‘bossy E’ to describe the silent E.) It is important to notice when there is an E at the end of a word because it will tell us to say the long vowel sound like in the words five, ride, and kite. Remember, the E does not make a sound, it is silent. (Display the word bit) This is bit /b/ /ĭ/ /t/, bit. The I is making a short sound, /ĭ/. Watch what happens when I add silent E. (Display the word bite) Bit becomes bite /b/ /ī/ /t/, bite. The silent E made the I say its name. (Repeat this modeling with fin-fine; hid-hide.)” 

• RF.K.3d Distinguish between similarly spelled words by identifying the sounds of the letters that differ. 

  • In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 10, Step 4: Blending Drill, the teacher models blending letters to make a word. The teacher then models adding or changing a letter to make a new word. The word chain includes if → in → fin → tin → pin → pit → it → sit → it → at → mat → map → sap → tap.

  • In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 44, Step 4: Blending Drill, the teacher models blending letters to make a word. The teacher then models adding or changing a letter to make a new word. The word chain includes pack → sack → snack → slack → black → block → lock → lick → pick → sick → stick → stuck → tuck → truck → trick → tick.

Lessons include blending and segmenting practice using structured, consistent blending routines with teacher modeling. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the Implementation Guidance, Read and Spell Words, the materials state, “For this activity, you will model reading a word with the grapheme (I do) and then have your students practice reading several more together (we do) and independently (you do). Modeling is particularly important to promote correct practice. Here is an example of teacher modeling from a lesson on a new grapheme (sh). ‘I see SH /sh/ in this word. I am going to say each sound and then blend the sounds together: /sh/ /e/ /d/, shed.’ Here is an example of teacher modeling from a lesson on reading multisyllabic words: ‘When reading words with more than one syllable, first we read the first syllable (/dō/). Then, we read the second syllable (/nut/). Last, we blend the two syllables together to read the word (donut).’ After modeling, guide your students in reading each word.” For example:

  • In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 10, Step 1: Phonemic Awareness the teacher models blending and segmenting the words tap and nap. 

  • In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 34, Step 1: Phonemic Awareness, the teacher models blending and segmenting the words zap and quiz.   

  • In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 48, Step 1: Phonemic Awareness, the teacher models blending and segmenting the words chip, such, and chat.

Lessons include dictation of words and sentences using the newly taught phonics pattern(s). Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 20, Step 5: New Concept, the lesson focus is suffix -s. The teacher dictates the sentences: The caps fit., Sam pats the cats., and Mom said to get the pots and cups.

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 48, Step 5: New Concept,  the lesson focus is digraph ch /ch/. The teacher dictates the sentences I munch on the chips. Did they walk on the path? Chad walks to the bench.

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 58, Step 5: New Concept, the lesson focus is the u-e vowel pattern. The teacher dictates the words cube, mute, and flute. The students also write the following sentences: That cat is so cute! The phone is on mute. Would you sing a tune?

Materials include teacher guidance for corrective feedback when needed for students. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the Implementation Guidance, the materials provide the guidance for Step 4: Blending Drill. This includes modeling and additional practice when students make a mistake such as modeling the correct response, “That word is /kwwwiiik/ ‘quick,’” guiding all the students in saying the correct response, “Say it with me: /kwwwiiik/ ‘quick,’” and asking the students for a choral response without teacher support - “Your turn.”

• In the Implementation Guidance, there are general guidelines to support errors. This includes modeling the correct response, guiding all the students in saying the correct response and asking the students for a choral response without teacher support.

• In Background, the manual states: “To ensure that students understand which responses are correct and which are incorrect, it is important for the teacher to provide behavior-specific praise after correct responses (Royer et al., 2019) and immediate corrective feedback after incorrect responses (Archer & Hughes, 2011; Black & Wiliam, 1998).” The materials explain that corrective feedback should be “quick, routine, matter-of-fact, non-judgmental, and worded in a way that elicits practice of the correct response,” such as “That sound is /ŏ/. What sound?” The guidance emphasizes modeling and immediate response correction to support student accuracy.

The materials include consistent instructional routines that allow students to practice decoding and encoding words using common and newly taught sound and spelling patterns. The materials indicate that different parts of the lesson focus on decoding and encoding instruction at the I Do, We Do, and You Do levels. Online materials provide independent practice for word-level decoding towards accuracy and automaticity.

Lessons provide students with frequent opportunities to decode words with taught phonics patterns. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 11, Step 5: New Concept, students decode the following words: am, Sam, Pam, an, man, fan, pan, tan.

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 39b, Step 5: New Concept, students decode the following words: us, but, sun, cut, hugs, runs, plug, must, jump, hunt.

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 52, Step 5: New Concept, students decode the following words: sank, pink, stink, think, drink, frank, trunk, prank.

Lessons provide students with frequent opportunities to encode words with taught phonics patterns. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 24, Step 5: New Concept, students encode the following words: rat, red, runs, rest. 

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 38, Step 5: New Concept, students encode the following words: sad, sat, sit, lit, lot, not, nod, rod, rid, mid, mix, fix, fax, fan, man, can.  

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 49, Step 5: New Concept, students encode the following words: this, chest, shift, moths.

Student-guided practice and independent practice of blending sounds using the sound-spelling pattern(s) is varied and frequent. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In UFLI Foundational Toolbox, Lesson 13, the materials provide Roll and Read for independent practice with d /d/. Students roll a die and then read a word from the column under the picture of the number rolled. The following words are used for independent practice: ad, dam, nod, dot, mad, sod, dip, dim, pad, dad, fad, sad, mod, pod, tad, did, mid.  

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 36a, Step 8: Connected Text, Word Work Chains follow the Connected Text and are available after the lesson for additional practice with short i words. One of the word chains provided is rid, lid, kid, hid, bid. 

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 44, Step 8: Connected Text, Word Lists appear after the Connected Text and are included for additional practice with the digraph ck. A word list containing the rime -ack is provided: back, black, clack, crack, hack, lack, pack, quack, rack, sack, slack, smack, snack, stack, tack, track. 

• In UFLI Foundations Toolbox, Lesson 51, the materials provide Roll and Read for independent practice with ng /ŋ/. The following words are used for independent practice: clang, cling, zing, clung, fang, sting, sling, bang, ding, gong, swung, flung, bring, long, gang, swing, fling, hung, thing, wing, king, lung, hang, rung, sing, pang, sang, ping, slung, rang, song, ring, stung, slang, sung.  

Materials provide opportunities for students to engage in word-level decoding practice focused on accuracy and automaticity. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 12, Step 4: Blending Drill, students blend the following words to build decoding automaticity: am, Sam, fam, Pam, pat, pit, pin, pan, an, fan, man, Nan, tan.

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 24, Step 4: Blending Drill, students blend the following words to build decoding automaticity: hit, hint, hunt, hut, hub, sub, stub, snub, snug, smug, mug, hug, hum, hem, ham, him, Kim.

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 36, Step 4: Blending Drill, students blend the following words to build decoding automaticity: mad, sad,  sat, at, am, an, fan, ran, tan, tap, nap, snap, slap, lap, laps, maps.

The materials teach spelling rules and generalizations at a reasonable pace. The materials contain spelling rules and generalizations that align with the phonics scope and sequence. Explanations for spelling specific words or spelling rules are included throughout the program, and the instructional teacher’s notes and lesson plans explain the rules in detail. Students practice the new skill throughout multiple steps of the lesson plan sequence. 

Spelling rules and generalizations are aligned to the phonics scope and sequence. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 6, the Scope and Sequence indicates a phonics focus on the grapheme p. Students spell words with p, including the words map, sap, pat, and tap.   

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 25, the Scope and Sequence indicates a phonics focus on the grapheme r. Students spell words with r, including the words drum, grip, frog, and trot.  

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 56, the Scope and Sequence indicates a phonics focus on the pattern o_e. Students spell words with o_e, including the words note, rode, pole, and stone. 

Materials include explanations for spelling of specific words or spelling rules. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 14, Step 5: New Concept, the teacher says, “This is the letter C. C is a consonant. C spells /k/ like in the beginning of the word cat. The letter C can come at the beginning of a word, such as the words can and cat.” 

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 31, Step 5: New Concept, the teacher says, “This is the letter X. X is a consonant. The letter X represents two sounds blended together: /k/ and /s/, like at the end of the word fox. X usually comes at the end of a word, such as the words box and wax. We sometimes see the letter X before the letter T. This happens at the end of words like in the words next and text.”

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 56, Step 5: New Concept, the teacher says, “We have learned that O spells /ŏ/ as in octopus. /ŏ/ is a Short vowel sound. O also has a long vowel sound: /ō/ as in open. The long vowel sound is the same as the vowel’s name, O, /ō/. O spells /ō/ when there is a silent E at the end of a word, like in the words home and bone. The silent E makes vowels say their names, or Long vowel sounds.” 

Students have sufficient opportunities to practice spelling rules and generalizations. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 8, Step 6: Word Work, students use manipulative letters to practice decoding and encoding Short i words such as fit, sit, sip, tip, Tim, pim, pit, it, if. 

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 18, Step 6: Word Work, students use manipulative letters to practice decoding and encoding Short e words such as men, ten, pen, pet, met, set, get, bet, beg, peg.

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 46, Step 6: Word Work, students use manipulative letters to decode and encode words with digraphs th, including then, ten, tan, than, then, them, hem, hum, um, us, thus, and this. Students also engage in Word Chaining with that, than, then, them as part of this activity.

The materials include weekly spelling assessments aligned to the scope and sequence that measure phonics skills through a variety of task types, including grapheme-phoneme correspondences, regular word encoding, irregular word spelling, and sentence dictation. Assessment results provide concept-specific data on student performance. Teachers are supported with grouping guidance, recommended time allocations, and targeted instructional resources such as word chains and word lists to plan small-group based on assessment outcomes. 

Materials regularly and systematically provide a variety of assessment opportunities over the course of the year to monitor students’ progress toward mastery in phonics. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• The UFLI spelling assessments are administered weekly and aligned to the program’s phonics scope and sequence. Each assessment includes a variety of task types, such as grapheme-phoneme correspondences, regular word encoding, irregular word spelling, and sentence dictation that applies newly taught phonics patterns. 

• In the Implementation Guidance, Progress Monitoring, the materials state, “Frequent progress monitoring can help you track the individual needs of your students. To make progress monitoring data collection quick and easy, UFLI Foundations includes spelling assessment items for each concept. Encoding skills are an excellent indicator of decoding skills, and spelling assessments are easy to administer to an entire class at once. Children who can spell a word can almost always read the word, but the opposite is not necessarily true.” For each concept in the scope and sequence, a set of words and sentences is provided in the Resources section to be used as the spelling assessment. 

• In Progress Monitoring: Spelling Assessment, Lesson 9, the students are assessed on the following skills:

  • Concepts- n/n/

  • Grapheme-phoneme correspondences- n, in, fin

  • Irregular words- is

  • Sentences- A pin fit.

  • New Concept Points- 4

  • Total Points- 7

• In Progress Monitoring: Spelling Assessment, Lesson 25, the students are assessed on the following skills: 

• Concepts- r/r/ part 2

• Grapheme-phoneme correspondences- frog, brag, grin

• Irregular words- from

• Sentences- Do not drop it.

• New Concept Points- 4

• Total Points- 8

• In Progress Monitoring: Spelling Assessment, Lesson 64, the students are assessed on the following skills: 

  • Concepts- -ed

  • Grapheme-phoneme correspondences- called, mixed, acted

  • Irregular words- many, any

  • Sentences- My mom fixed the tall gate.

  • New Concept Points- 4

  • Total Points- 11

Assessment materials provide teachers with concept-specific information concerning students’ understanding of phonics. Performance data by skill type and total points help inform instructional decisions. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the Teacher’s Manual, Implementation Guidance, Progress Monitoring, the materials state, “Use data from assessment of each concept to identify which children still need substantial support, who needs minimal support, and who has already mastered the concept. Based on this information, you can decide who will receive small-group support the following week and how much support they will need. Use the supplemental resources (e.g., word chains and word lists) from the lesson plans for the assessed concepts to plan the content of your small-group lessons.” 

Materials support teachers with instructional suggestions for assessment-based steps to help students to progress toward mastery in phonics.  Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Progress Monitoring, a chart titled “Data-Based Planning for Small Group Support” outlines how to allocate small group time based on student scores for Concept 1. Students with the lowest scores receive the most instructional time: 

  • Students A-D, who received the lowest scores on Concept 1, are recommended to receive 10-12 minutes of small group support daily. 

  • Students E-K, with mid-range scores, are recommended to receive 5-8 minutes of support, 2-3 days per week. 

  • Students L-Q, with higher scores, are recommended to receive 4-5 minutes of support, 1-2 days per week. 

  • Students R-U, who demonstrated mastery, are not recommended for additional small-group instruction. 

• In the Implementation Guidance, Differentiation, during small group instruction, the materials state, “Even when the teacher provides differentiated support during the whole-class lesson, in most classrooms, there will be some students who still need more support. For these students, supplemental small-group lessons may meet their needs. We recommend you use a flexible grouping plan based on your progress monitoring assessment to plan the content and time for your small-group sessions. Each lesson plan includes additional resources beyond the lesson steps. These word chains and word lists are ideal for small-group lessons. In addition, you can use any sentences you were unable to include in the whole-class lesson or you can reuse lesson content during small-group sessions.” 

• In the Implementation Guidance, there is a chart titled, “Sample Planning for Small-Group Supplemental Support,” which outlines a weekly plan with sample students, skills needed, and activities. Instructional guidance is provided in a flexible format that applies across concepts, rather than being repeated for each individual lesson.

The materials include systematic and explicit instruction of high-frequency words through an explicit and consistent instructional routine with teacher modeling that includes connecting phoneme-grapheme correspondences and a sufficient quantity of high-frequency words for students to make reading progress. 

Materials include systematic and explicit instruction of high-frequency words with an explicit and consistent instructional routine. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 9, Step 7: Irregular Words, the teacher introduces the new word, is. The teacher presents the word initially with just symbols (i.e., box and hearts) covered up. The teacher begins by showing the students the word and saying the word aloud. The students read the word, and then the teacher and the students find the irregular part together by matching the phoneme in the word with the grapheme and identifying the irregular grapheme-phoneme correspondence. 

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 25, Step 7: Irregular Words, the teacher introduces the new word, from. The teacher presents each word initially with just symbols (i.e., heart and boxes) covered up. The teacher begins by showing the students the word and saying the word aloud. The students read the word, and then the teacher and the students find the irregular part together by matching the phoneme in the word with the grapheme and identifying the irregular grapheme-phoneme correspondence. 

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 33, Step 7: Irregular Words, the teacher introduces the new word, what. The teacher presents each word initially with just symbols (i.e., heart and boxes) covered up. The teacher begins by showing the students the word and saying the word aloud. The students read the word, and then the teacher and the students find the irregular part together by matching the phoneme in the word with the grapheme and identifying the irregular grapheme-phoneme correspondence. 

Materials include teacher modeling of the spelling and reading of high-frequency words that includes connecting the phonemes to the graphemes. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 11, Step 7: Irregular Words, the teacher asks the students to say the sounds in the word as, including the sound that is represented by an irregular grapheme, and then blend the sounds together to form the word. The students write the word while saying each sound. The teacher models writing the word while saying the sounds two to four times by writing it big, small, fast, or slow to make it engaging.

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 42, Step 7: Irregular Words, according to Implementation Guidance, the teacher asks the students to say the sounds in the word want, including the sound that is represented by an irregular grapheme, and then blend the sounds together to form the word. The students write the word while saying each sound. The teacher models writing the word while saying the sounds two to four times by writing it big, small, fast, or slow to make it engaging. 

Materials include a sufficient quantity of high-frequency words for students to make reading progress. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the Implementation Guidance, Detailed Scope and Sequence: All Concepts, the materials include 136 high-frequency words for Kindergarten. High-frequency word instruction takes place in lessons 1-34, 42-52, 54-58, 63-68. The materials designate lessons 35a-c, 36a-b, 37a-b, 38a-b, 39a-b, 40a-b, 41a-c and 53 as review weeks.

The materials provide students with frequent opportunities to decode high-frequency words in isolation. Throughout the materials, students have the opportunity to decode high-frequency words in context in decodable texts. In addition, students have frequent opportunities to encode high-frequency words in sentences, to promote the automaticity of high-frequency words.

Students practice decoding high-frequency words in isolation. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following: 

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 22, Step 7: Irregular Words, students begin the lesson with a quick review of previously taught irregular words. The students read and write the words said, to, do, see.

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 44, Step 7: Irregular Words, students begin with a quick review of previously taught irregular words. The students read and write the words your, want, go, no, so.

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 66, Step 7: Irregular Words, students begin with a quick review of previously taught irregular words. The students read and write the words two, does, many, any, been, into.

Lessons provide students with frequent opportunities to decode high-frequency words in context. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following: 

• In the UFLI Foundations Toolbox, Lesson 13, students read the decodable text “Sid and Dad.” This text includes the high-frequency words is, the, in.

• In the UFLI Foundations Toolbox, Lesson 19, students read the decodable text “I See.” This text includes the high-frequency words I, see, the, on.

• In the UFLI Foundations Toolbox, Lesson 33, students read the decodable text “What is a Vet.” This text includes the high-frequency words what, have, a, the, can.

Lessons provide students with frequent opportunities to encode high-frequency words in tasks, such as sentences, in order to promote automaticity of high-frequency words. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following: 

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 18, Step 8: Connected Text, students use the grapheme-phoneme correspondences (/b/,/g/, /ŭ/, /k/, /d/, /ŏ/, /n/, /ĭ/, /f/, /p/, /t/, /s/, /m/, /ă/), irregular words (a), and high-frequency words (get, ten, men, set) learned to write complete sentences. The teacher dictates the sentences: I met him at ten., Meg can set it up., and Deb, get a pen!

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 27, Step 8: Connected Text, students use the grapheme-phoneme correspondences (/l/, /r/, /h/, /k/, /s/, /z/, /ĕ/, /b/, /g/, /ŭ/, /k/, /d/, /ŏ/, /n/, /ĭ/, /f/, /p/, /t/, /m/, /ă/), and irregular words (I, said) and high-frequency words (went) learned to write complete sentences. The teacher dictates the sentences: The web got wet., The wind lifts it up., Glen said he can win!

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 32, Step 8: Connected Text, students use the grapheme-phoneme correspondences (/ks/, /y/, /i/, /w/, /l/, /r/, /h/, /k/, /s/, /z/, /ĕ/, /b/, /g/, /ŭ/, /d/, /ŏ/, /n/, /ĭ/, /f/, /p/), irregular words (the, you), and high-frequency words (see) learned to write complete sentences. The teacher dictates the sentences: He quit the quest., Can you see the squid?, and The quilt is in the den.

The materials contain explicit instruction of syllable types, routines for syllable division, and morpheme analysis that promote decoding and encoding of words. Multiple and varied opportunities are provided over the course of the year for students to learn, practice, and apply word analysis strategies.

Materials contain explicit instruction of syllable types and routines for syllable division that promote decoding and encoding of words. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 66, Step 5: New Concept, the teacher says, “A closed syllable has only one vowel, and one or more consonants follow the vowel. In a closed syllable, the vowel sound is short. Remember, the Short vowel sounds are /ă/, /ĕ/, /ĭ/, /ŏ/, /ŭ/. Hop, kick, and fast are all examples of closed syllables. They have one vowel followed by at least one consonant, and the vowel makes a short sound. An open syllable has only one vowel, and the vowel is the last letter in the syllable. In an open syllable, the vowel sound is long. Remember, the Long vowel sounds are /ā/, /ē/, /ī/, /ō/, /ū/. Hi, go, and she are examples of open syllables. They have one vowel at the end, and the vowel makes a long sound.” The teacher models reading the words be and met and models spelling the words hi and tip. 

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 67a, Step 5: New Concept, the teacher says, “We can combine two closed syllables to make longer words. When these longer words are made up of two smaller words, we can call them compound words. Let’s practice reading compound words.

  • 1. The first part of this word is sun. 

  • 2. The next part of this word is set. 

  • 3. If you put them together, you get the compound word sunset. What is the word? 

  • 4. The compound word sunset has two smaller words with closed syllables: sun and set. 

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 68, Step 5: New Concept, the teacher says, “We can combine open and closed syllables to make longer words.” The teacher models reading the words basic, frozen and spelling the word began. 

Materials contain frequent explicit instruction in morpheme analysis to decode unfamiliar words. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 20, Step 5: New Concept, the teacher says, “This is the letter S. We know S spells /s/ like at the beginning of the word sun. We can add -s to the end of words, too. We know the word cat. Cat has 3 letters C-A-T and 3 sounds:/k/ /a/ /t/. If we add -S, I now have 4 letters C-A-T-S and 4 sounds /k/ /a/ /t/ /s/. The word is tap; If I add -S, the word becomes taps. Today, we will practice reading and spelling words with -S at the end.”

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 63, Step 5: New Concept, the teacher says, “The -S ending is used to make nouns plural. Plural means more than one: one cat, and three cats. The -S ending can also change the tense of verbs: I run, he runs. If a word ends with CH, SH, S, X, or Z, we add -ES instead of just -S, like in the words bunches, dishes, glasses, boxes, and foxes.”

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 64, Step 5: New Concept, the teacher says, “A verb is an action word, or word that tells what someone or something is doing. Jump and yell are examples of verbs. We use past tense verbs when we talk about actions that already happened. We can add the ending -ED to verbs to make them past tense:” I jump, I jumped. I yell. I yelled.”

There are limited opportunities for students to learn, practice, and apply word analysis strategies. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 20 focuses on the suffix -s /s/, Lesson 21 focuses on the suffix -s /z/, Lesson 63 focuses on the suffix -es, Lesson 64 focuses on the suffix -ed, and Lesson 65 focuses on the suffix -ing.

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 66 focuses on open and closed syllables, Lesson 67a focuses on compound words with two closed syllables, Lesson 67b focuses on reading and spelling words with two closed syllables, and Lesson 68 focuses on reading and spelling words with open and closed syllables. For example, in Lesson 68, Step 6, students read each syllable then blend together to form a word: ra + ven, si + lent, da + ta, mu + sic, to + ken, pro + gram, cu + bic, pre + fix, se + cret, si + nus.

The materials include weekly spelling assessments aligned to the scope and sequence that measure word recognition and analysis through regular decodable words, irregular (heart) words, and sentence dictation. Assessment results provide teachers with concept-specific data on student progress. The materials support data-driven small-group instruction with grouping templates and targeted resources such as word chains and word lists aligned to assessed concepts. 

Materials regularly and systematically provide assessment opportunities over the course of the year to demonstrate students’ progress toward mastery and independence of word recognition and analysis. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the Implementation Guidance, the pacing of UFLI after two concepts have been reviewed and introduced, it is suggested to assess the students using the spelling assessment. The text explains how progress monitoring is used within UFLI Foundations by stating that “frequent progress monitoring can help you track the individual needs of your students. To make progress monitoring data collection quickly and easy, UFLI Foundations includes spelling assessment items for each concept. Encoding skills are an excellent indicator of decoding skills, and spelling assessments are easy to administer to an entire class at once. Children who can spell a word can almost always read the word, but the opposite is not necessarily true.” 

• In Progress Monitoring, Lesson 11: Spelling Assessment, students are assessed on nasalized A in words such as am, an, and man, as well as on the irregular word as. 

Assessment materials provide the teacher and students with information concerning students’ current skills/level of understanding of word recognition and word analysis.   Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Progress Monitoring: Spelling Assessment, Lesson 13 d /d/, students complete the following encoding tasks to assess their understanding of word recognition and word analysis skills through a spelling assessment where students can earn up to a total of 8 points:

  • Grapheme-Phoneme-Correspondence: d, did, dot

  • Irregular Words: said

  • Sentence Dictation: Dad and I sit. 

• In Progress Monitoring: Spelling Assessment, Lesson 33 V /v/, students complete the following encoding tasks to assess their understanding of word recognition and word analysis skills through a spelling assessment where students can earn up to a total of 10 points:

  • Grapheme-Phoneme-Correspondence: v, van, vet

  • Irregular Words: what, have

  • Sentence Dictation: Do you see the vest?

• In Progress Monitoring: Spelling Assessment, Lesson 49, Digraphs Review 1, students complete the following encoding tasks to assess their understanding of word recognition and word analysis skills through a spelling assessment where students can earn up to a total of 10 points:

  • Grapheme-Phoneme-Correspondence: than, flash, cloth

  • Irregular Words: she, they

  • Sentence Dictation: Can you check your clock?

Materials support the teacher with instructional suggestions for assessment-based steps to help students to progress toward mastery in word recognition and word analysis. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the Implementation Guidance, the manual provides differentiation and small-group instruction planning tips by stating, “We recommend you use a flexible grouping plan based on your progress monitoring assessment to plan the content and time for your small-group sessions. Each lesson plan includes additional resources beyond the lesson steps. These word chains and word lists are ideal for small-group lessons. In addition, you can use any sentences you were unable to include in the whole-group lesson, or you can reuse lesson content during small-group sessions. Small-group sessions can follow a standard lesson format, but we recommend tailoring the activities to the group’s specific needs.”  For example in Lesson 26, the focus of the lesson is l /l/.  The lesson contains two word work chains plus a CVC word list containing 13 words and a CVCC word list containing  11 words.  All 24 words have the grapheme l in the word. 

• In Progress Monitoring: Spelling Assessment, it states, “We recommend that you administer spelling assessments weekly. Weekly assessments provide data that you can use to base your decisions about the next week’s small-group supplemental support. Use data from the assessment of each concept to identify which children need substantial support, who needs minimal support, and who has already mastered the concept. Based on this information, you can decide who will receive small-group support the following week and how much support they will need. Use the supplement resources (e.g., word chains and word lists) from the lesson plans for the assessed concept to plan the content of your small-group lesson.” 

• In Progress Monitoring: Spelling Assessment, a “Data-Based Planning for Small Group Support” chart is shared to support the educator in small group instruction planning. The chart has the educator list the students’ names, Concepts missed, and the allotted time each group will take to complete their small-group sessions. The more intense the need, the more time should be devoted to that small group. According to the chart, some students may need no additional support if they have scored a perfect score on the weekly progress monitoring assessment.