Fundations® Pre-K Activity Set
Begin to establish the alphabetic principle and written language skills.
Fundations Pre-K for Administrators
Click on this link to view a video and learn how the Fundations Pre-K Activity Set introduces the skills necessary for success in kindergarten.
Click here for Frequently Asked Questions about our Fundations Pre-K Activity Set.
Overview
The Fundations® Pre-K Activity Set provides an introduction, or “pre-dose”, to the letter sound and writing skills that are taught to mastery in the Fundations Level K program. This activity set supports students’ emerging understanding of the alphabetic principles of letter-sound associations and alphabetical order and the written language skill of manuscript letter formation. It is not intended to provide a full pre-K literacy curriculum.
Our Pre-K Activity Set follows the same principles of instruction as all of our other programs: explicit, systematic, interactive, and multisensory. Activities offer ample opportunities for students to practice and receive feedback.
Alignment to Standards
The Fundations® Pre-K Activity set aligns with the NAEYC Early Learning Program Accreditation Standards and Assessment Items, Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework/Preschooler Domain of Literacy, and the skills identified by the National Early Literacy Panel as strong predictors for later literacy development.
The NAEYC Early Learning Program Accreditation Standards and Assessment Items recognizes the development of the alphabetic principle as a goal for the preschool years. Standard 2.E—Early Literacy recommends “program plans and materials for supporting early literacy through reading, learning letters and sounds, writing, and immersion in a print-rich environment” (NAEYC, p.23). Fundations® Pre-K Activity Set accomplishes these goals by:
- Directly teaching children that letters are associated with individual sounds within the spoken English language.
- Introducing students to the letter name and sound association with the help of a “keyword” picture.
- Explicitly and systematically teaching all 26 letters of the alphabet in the first 13 weeks of instruction and practiced daily throughout the year-long curriculum.
- Providing a daily letter-sound drill that helps students to gain automaticity with letter names to be able to name letters rapidly.
- Offering direct instruction in letter formation for both lowercase and uppercase letters.
Likewise, the Pre-K Activity Set strongly supports the following goals within the Preschooler Domain of Literacy in the Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework:
- Goal P-LIT 1: Child demonstrates awareness that spoken language is composed of smaller segments of sound.
- Phonemic awareness in the Fundations® Pre-K Activity Set is fostered by directly teaching children that letters are associated with individual sounds within spoken English. By doing so, the program directly teaches children an important piece of metacognitive knowledge that specifically supports phonological awareness and phonemic awareness.
- Goal P-LIT 3: Child identifies letters of the alphabet and produces correct sounds associated with letters.
- In the Fundations® Pre-K Activity Set, students are introduced to letter names and sound association with the help of a keyword picture. All 26 letters of the alphabet are explicitly and systematically taught in the first 13 weeks of instruction; they are then practiced daily throughout the year-long curriculum. The ability to name letters rapidly depends upon a student’s automaticity with letter names. A daily letter-sound drill helps students to gain that automaticity.
- In addition, the Fundations® Pre-K Activity Set provides direct instruction in letter formation for both lower and uppercase letters. Letter formation is closely linked to sound-symbol recognition and is explicitly taught using gross motor sky writing activities, finger tracing, and copying and forming letters from memory.
The skills taught in the Fundations® Pre-K Activity set align with those that the Report of the National Early Literacy Panel (2008) identified as strong and consistent predictors for the later development of literacy skills:
- Knowledge of the names and sounds associated with printed letters
- Ability to manipulate the sounds of spoken language
- Ability to rapidly name a sequence of letters, numbers, objects, or colors
- Ability to write isolated letters or one’s own name
- Ability to remember the content of spoken information for a short time
Implementation
Explicit and direct instruction is conducted in a whole-class setting in the first semester and a combination of whole-class and small-group settings in the second semester.
First Semester
The focus during the first semester will be on teaching the alphabetic principle of letter-sound correspondence with the whole class. Students will practice:
- Recognition of the alphabetical order of letters a-z
- Letter name, keyword, and sound for the 26 letters of the alphabet (letter-sound correspondence)
- Visual connection between the letter name, its sound, and its grapheme (or written representation)
Second Semester
Further development of letter-sound correspondence (alphabetic principle) will continue with the whole class, and letter formation skills will be introduced in small groups. Students will practice:
- Letter formation for lowercase letters
- Letter formation for uppercase letters
- Association of a sound with a letter that is written
The amount of time for daily activities will vary, depending on where the class is in the school year and the number of students in small groups. Once students have learned many of the letters, more time will be needed for the activities, but it should not take any longer than 10-15 minutes for the whole-group instruction and 5-10 minutes for each small-group instruction (added in the second semester).
Learn More
To learn more about the importance of early literacy skills and how Fundations Pre-K activities support their development, download the Pre-K At a Glance handout.
To learn more about the Fundations Pre-K activities and materials, download the Fundations Pre-K Activity Set brochure. Details about Fundations Pre-K Activity Set materials are available on our Online Store.
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.
