Fundations

This year your child’s classroom will be using The Fundations® Pre-K Activity Set to support students’ emerging understanding of the alphabetic principles of letter-sound associations and alphabetical order, and the written language skill of manuscript letter formation. The Activity Set provides an introduction, or “pre-dose,” to the letter-sound and writing skills that will be taught to mastery in the Fundations program used in Kindergarten.

This Pre-K Activity Set is explicit and systematic; interactive, incorporating multisensory instruction and motor memory learning; and offers ample opportunities for practice and feedback. 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.

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)

During the 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 program is designed as a formal introduction. Mastery is not expected until Kindergarten. Letters will be introduced alphabetically (a-z).