The Fundations® Curriculum
Lay the groundwork for reading, spelling, and handwriting success through structured literacy.
Foundational Skills for Young Learners
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. 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.
Each Fundations learning activity aligns to the science of reading.
Click here to learn how.
Instruction in Critical Reading and Writing Skills
- Reading/beginning reading skills and strategies
- Phonological awareness and phonemic awareness skills
- Print awareness skills
- Phonics and decoding
- Word attack
- Vocabulary development
- Introduction of new words
- Word-learning strategies
- Academic vocabulary
- Fluency
- Accurate, fluent reading
- Appropriate phrasing and expression
- Rate
- Comprehension (listening and written) strategies
- Analyzing text and drawing conclusions/making inferences
- Connecting text to personal experience and other text
- Writing skills and conventions
- Spelling skills and conventions (rules and patterns)
- Use of writing conventions such as use of capital and lowercase letters
- Grammatical conventions in the use of tense (present tense, past tense, etc.)
- Use of punctuation at the end of sentences
What you teach is as important as how you teach it. Fundations’ unique, integrated approach supports student mastery of foundational skills. The Fundations® curriculum:
- Is sequential, systematic, and cumulative.
- Integrates skill instruction so that a daily lesson teaches and then reinforces corresponding skills.
- Scaffolds learning while teaching all skills explicitly, sequentially, and systematically.
- Actively engages students in learning through the use of multisensory techniques, such as when teaching students sounds, their representative letters, and words with spelling options.
- Provides multiple opportunities for skills practice and application to build mastery.
- Monitors student learning through formative assessment tools built into the program.
- Includes comprehensive and teacher-friendly materials to facilitate teachers’ use of the program and promote student motivation.
- Guides teachers on how to meet individual student needs by differentiating instruction.
- Supports teachers through the online level-specific, Fundations Learning Community and FUN HUB®, offering clear demonstrations of each teaching activity type used in the program and additional tools, guidance, and resources.
- Helps teachers achieve many of the requirements of state, local, and professional standards.
- Encourages parental involvement through the use of the Fundations Home Support Packet.
Thorough Instruction in Foundational Skills Standards
Fundations goes beyond other programs by comprehensively providing instruction on concepts and skills that are key to the acquisition of foundational skills. Fundations teaches the underlying structure of the English language and utilizes an efficient, effective approach that teaches decoding and spelling concurrently.
For English Language Learners
Fundations helps English language learners (ELLs) 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.
Learning Strategies for Success
Modeling and scaffolded instruction ensures that students understand the skills being taught, learn the procedures, and are able to use the skills and procedures on their own. Teachers build students’ metacognitive skills by having them think about the learning tools they have acquired and consider which they should draw on if they need help. They also connect current learning to previous skills taught and explain how the new skills will help them achieve future goals. By having an integrated assessment component, teachers are able to assess students’ areas of strength and weakness and can differentiate instruction as appropriate.
Curriculum Framework
Each level of the Fundations program builds on previously taught skills and concepts.
Our Level Pre-K Activity Set follows the same educational principles as all our other programs: explicit, systematic, interactive, and multisensory learning. Fundations® lessons encourage and 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.
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:
Ongoing Teacher Support
Our comprehensive professional learning opportunities ensure teachers are prepared to effectively use Fundations within their school’s Multi-tiered System of Supports (MTSS) or Response to Intervention (RTI) framework. Individual teachers are supported through Level-specific workshops, Virtual Implementation Support, and the Fundations Learning Community.
We also partner directly with schools and districts to build local capacity to use, support, and sustain the Fundations program. Through customized plans, we can help you develop Facilitators and or/Presenters to cultivate teacher-leaders and build sustainability.
Extra Support for Students Advancing to Fundations Levels 1 and 2
Fundations students who have had disrupted learning or need extra support before taking on the next grade’s curriculum may benefit from the Fundations Ready to Rise® program, which can be implemented over the summer or at the beginning of the school year. It’s available for rising Level 1 and Level 2 students. Learn more on the Fundations Ready to Rise® page.
Learn About Professional Learning Opportunities
We provide educators with the training needed to enhance instruction and support implementation of our programs with fidelity to achieve student success. Whether you need individual teacher support or school and district implementation plans, WLT is here to help.
