UFLI & Daily Schedule

Hi Cole Families, 

Cole implemented a new phonics program last year in grades K-2 called UFLI. It's phenomenal! There is research that shows that memorizing spelling words isn't effective for learning to spell or read. Our goal is to teach the students to decode (read) and encode (spell) words, and have a strong phonemic awareness. This will make them great spellers, readers, and writers!  

• THIS article delves into some research and reasoning if you're interested.

• THIS is an example of a home practice sheet.  Families can expect their children to learn two concepts a week. 

• THIS is a guide for how to use UFLI Home Practice Sheets

The New Concept and Sample Words section includes words that use the skills taught in that lesson. These words are an example of the kind of word the student may see on the assessment. 

Review and New Irregular Words, also called heart words, once called sight words: Instead of expecting a student to read a word just by looking at it and memorizing it, they will be taught to decode the sounds they know and memorize pieces of it by heart. We will use the language "heart words" and a heart will be under the sounds that either don’t follow normal phonetic patterns or that the students haven’t yet been taught. Click here to print your own heart words for home use.  

The goal for the Friday UFLI assessments is not that the student achieves mastery. It's to provide targeted instruction the following week. The lessons spiral to return to formerly learned words, so it is much more effective than a concept a week that's rarely revisited, and mastery will be achieved by the end of the program.

Enjoy this journey with me and help model a growth mindset for your child's young mind. It's going to be a great year! As always, reach out if I may help you with anything.

A UFLI assessment can range between 15-25 total points depending on grade level and lessons taught.  What is included in a UFLI end of the week assessment? 

You can expect the following: 

• Spelling up to 6 words that follow the two phonics patterns taught that week

• Spelling approximately 2-3 irregular words 

• Dictating a sentence that includes a combination of decodable and irregular words