2nd Grade - Gateway 1

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 clearly 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 Second Grade is as follows: 

  • Lesson 38: Short A, I, O Review 

  • Lesson 41: Short Vowels Review (all) 

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

  • Lesson 43: -all, -oll, -ull

  • Lesson 49: Digraphs Review 1

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

  • Lesson 57: VCe Review 1, e_e /ē/

  • Lesson 59: VCe Review 2 (all)

  • Lesson 62: VCe Review 3, VCe Exceptions 

  • Lesson 63: -es

  • Lesson 64: -ed

  • Lesson 65: -ing

  • Lesson 66: Closed & Open Syllables 

  • Lesson 67: Closed/Closed

  • Lesson 68: Open/Closed 

  • Lesson 71: tch /ch/, dge /j/ Review

  • Lesson 72: Long VCC (-ild, -old, -ind, -olt, -ost)

  • Lesson 76: Ending Patterns Review 

  • Lesson 79: ar /ar/ & or, ore /or/ Review

  • Lesson 82: Spelling /er/: er, ir, ur, w + or

  • Lesson 83: R-Controlled Vowels Review 

  • Lesson 84: ai, ay /ā/

  • Lesson 85: ee, ea, ey /ē/

  • Lesson 86: oa, ow, oe /ō/

  • Lesson 87: ie, igh /ī/ 

  • Lesson 88: Vowel Teams Review 1

  • Lesson 89: oo, u /oo/ 

  • Lesson 90: oo/ū/ 

  • Lesson 91: ew, ui, ue /ū/

  • Lesson 92: Vowel Teams Review 2

  • Lesson 93: au, aw, augh /aw/

  • Lesson 94: ea /ĕ/, a /ŏ/

  • Lesson 95: oi, oy /oi/

  • Lesson 96: ou, ow /ow/ 

  • Lesson 97: Vowel Teams & Diphthongs Review 

  • Lesson 98: kn /n/, wr /r/, mb /m/

  • Lesson 99: -s/-es

  • Lesson 100: -er/-est 

  • Lesson 101:-ly

  • Lesson 102: -less, -ful

  • Lesson 103: -un

  • Lesson 104: pre-, re-

  • Lesson 105: dis-

  • Lesson 106: Affixes Review 1

  • Lesson 107: Doubling Rule -ed, -ing 

  • Lesson 108: Doubling Rule -er, -est

  • Lesson 109: Drop -e Rule

  • Lesson 110: -y to i Rule

  • Lesson 111: -ar, -or /er/ 

  • Lesson 112: air, are, ear /air/

  • Lesson 113: ear /ear/

  • Lesson 114: Alternate /ā/ (ei, ey, eigh, aigh, ea)

  • Lesson 115: Alternate Long U (ew, eu, ue, /yū/; ou /ū/) 

  • Lesson 116: ough /aw/, /ō/

  • Lesson 117: Signal Vowels (c /s/, g /j/)

  • Lesson 118: ch /sh/, /k/; gn /n/, gh /g/; silent t

  • Lesson 119: -sion, -tion 

  • Lesson 120: -ture 

  • Lesson 121: -er, -or, -ist

  • Lesson 122: -ish

  • Lesson 123: -y

  • Lesson 124: -ness 

  • Lesson 125: -ment

  • Lesson 126: -able, -ible

  • Lesson 127: uni-, bi-, tri

  • Lesson 128: Affixes Review 2 

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

• In the Scope and Sequence, the materials show that the program is organized using high utility patterns and specific phonics generalizations. Lessons 38 and 41 review the alphabet and longer words with various syllable patterns, including CVC, CCVC, CVCC, CCVCC, and CCCVC. Lessons 42-43, 49, and 53 review digraphs. Lessons 57, 59, and 62 review VCe. Lessons 63-68 review reading longer words, including adding the suffixes -s, -ed, -ing, along with multisyllabic words containing open and closed syllables. Lessons 71-72 and 76 review ending spelling patterns. Lessons 79 and 82-83 review r-controlled vowels. Lessons 84-88 review long vowel teams. Lessons 89-94 review other vowel teams. Lessons 95-97 review diphthongs. Lesson 98 reviews silent letters. Lessons 99-106 review suffixes and prefixes. Lessons 107-108 review suffix spelling changes, and Lessons 109-110 introduce new suffix spelling changes. Lessons 111-118 introduce low-frequency spellings. Lessons 119-128 introduce additional affixes.  

• In Instructional Materials, Lesson 84, Step 5: New Concept, the teacher says, “The vowel team ai spells /ā/. Ai usually comes in the middle of a word, like in bait and mail.  Ai sometimes comes at the beginning of a word, like in aim and aid. The vowel team ay also spells /ā/.  Ay always comes at the end of a word, like in may and say.”  

• In Instructional Materials, Lesson 125, Step 5: New Concept, the teacher says, “Suffixes are added to the end of a word to change the word’s meaning. Today, we will learn a new suffix: -ment. The suffix -ment is usually pronounced /ment/ with the e making a schwa sound, as in payment. The suffix -ment means the result, state, or act of.”

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 Resources, Detailed Scope and Sequence, the phonics skills pacing focuses on spelling patterns and reviews previous skills before introducing new skills. An example of the pacing is as follows: 

  • In Lessons 89-94, students are taught Other Vowel Teams. These include /oo/ spelled oo, u,/ū/ spelled oo, /ū/ spelled ew, ui, ue, /aw/ spelled au, aw, augh, /ĕ/spelled ea, /ŏ/spelled a.

  • In Lesson 98, students are first introduced to the Silent Letters kn, wr, and mb.

  • In Lessons 111-118 students are taught some Low Frequency Spellings, which include /er/ spelled -ar and -or, /air/ spelled aire, are, ear, /ear/ spelled ear, alternate /ā/ spelled ei, ey, eigh, aigh, ea, alternate /ū/ spelled ew, eu, ue, ou, /aw/ and /ō/ spelled ough, signal vowels /s/ spelled c and /j/ spelled g, and /sh/and /k/ spelled ch, /n/ spelled gn, /g/ spelled gh, silent t. 

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 89, 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, and 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: wood, good, hood, hook, look, cook, took, nook, rook, book, brook, crook. During Step 8: Connected Text, the students practice reading one or more of the following sentences: He put a hook on the door. They stood on the clean floor. Did you cook a full meal for these people? Then they will spell one or more of the following sentences: It is good to push! The baby fox hid in the bush. I put a stack of books on the floor. 

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 100, 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. Then, the teacher provides the word and asks the students to spell it, alternating between decoding and encoding. The materials state, “As you work, orally generate sentences that use each of the words in context, emphasizing how the -ER and -EST endings change the word meanings.” For this lesson, the students build the words in the following sequence: loud, louder, loudest; slow, slower, slowest; small, smaller, smallest. During Step 8: Connected Text, the students practice reading one or more of the following sentences: My bunny has the softest fur! At this rate, we could walk there faster! Jayden is taller than Josh but Eve is the tallest. Then they will spell one or more of the following sentences: Who got the higher score? He talks louder than he should. This was the longest walk ever!

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 115, 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, and the teacher provides the word and asks the students to spell it, alternating between decoding and encoding. The materials state, “Read and sort the following words by vowel sound: /ū/ or /yū/. See online lesson slide deck for graphic organizer.” For this lesson, the students build the words in the following sequence: threw, few, due, hue, phew, drew, cue, clue, pew, blue, spew, glue, skew, feud, true, sue, pouf, group, you. During Step 8: Connected Text, the students practice reading one or more of the following sentences: My nephew has the best rescue dog on earth! We learned the true value of hard work early. We need a few more people in this group. Then they will spell one or more of the following sentences: Shane threw me the blue ball. My sister thinks her curfew is too early. How on earth did you spill all the glue? 

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 89, Step 5: New Concept, students are introduced to /oo/ spelled oo. Lesson 90 reviews /oo/ spelled oo and introduces /u/ spelled oo. Lesson 91 reviews /oo/ spelled oo and /u/ spelled oo and introduces /u/ spelled ew. This pattern continues until ui, ue, au, aw, augh, /ĕ/ spelled ea, and /ŏ/spelled a are introduced and reviewed 

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 111, Step 5: New Concept, students are introduced to /er/ spelled ar. In Lesson 112, /er/ spelled ar is reviewed, and /air/ spelled air, are, and ear is introduced. In Lesson 113, /er/ spelled ar and /er/ spelled ar are reviewed, and /ear/ spelled ear is introduced. This pattern continues until ear and ough are introduced and reviewed.

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.2.3a Distinguish long and short vowels when reading regularly spelled one-syllable words.  

  • In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 41a, Step 5: New Concept, the teacher discusses the difference between Long and Short vowel sounds by stating, “Our mouth muscles are looser, or more relaxed when we make Short vowel sounds: /ă/, /ĭ/, /ŏ/, /ŭ/, /ě/.”

  • In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 57, Step 5: New Concept, the teacher discusses the difference between long and short vowel sounds by stating, “vowels make their long sound, or say their name, when there is a silent E at the end of a word.” The teacher models each Long vowel sound (e.g., /ā/ in acorn, /ī/ as in ice cream), and provides examples of silent E words such as make, bike, and joke.

  • In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 87, Step 5: New Concept, the teacher introduces the Long i patterns: ie, igh. The teacher says, “The Long I sound is /i/ as in ice cream. Today, we will learn new ways to spell the long I sound.” The teacher explains that this long I sound can be “stretched out” while using the continuous hand motion to model the “stretched out” sound. The teacher tells students to “turn your voice on” and then models with the words tie, sight, pie, and might.

• RF.2.3b Know spelling-sound correspondences for additional common vowel teams.  

  • In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 84, Step 5: New Concept, the teacher says, “The long A sounds is /ā/ as in acorn. Today we will learn new ways to spell the long A sound. We have already learned that A spells /ā/ in silent E words like cake. We have also learned that A spells /ā/ in open syllables like /bā/ in baby. Vowel teams are two or more letters that work together to make one vowel sound. The vowel team AI spells /ā/. AI usually comes in the middle of a word, like in bait and mail. AI sometimes comes at the beginning of a word, like in aim and aid.”

  • In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 87, Step 5: New Concept, the teacher says, “ie /ī/: The vowel team IE can spell /ī/. IE comes at the end of a word like pie and tie. The vowel team IGH spells /ī/. IGH usually comes in the middle of a word like light and might. IGH also comes at the end of a word like in high and sigh.”

  • In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 96, Step 5: New Concept, the teacher says, “Today we are going to learn a new sound /ow/. This is another diphthong. This is a kind of vowel sound that glides, which means our mouths move a little bit as we make the sound. The letters ou together spell the /ow/ sound. OU can come in the middle of a word, like in loud and sound.”

• RF.2.3c Decode regularly spelled two-syllable words with long vowels.  

  • In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 68, Step 6: Word Work, the teacher guides students in reading each syllable and blending them together to form a word while using the UFLI slide deck for visual aids. The teacher follows the previously taught steps for the words ra + ven, si + lent, da + ta, mu + sic, to + ken, pro + gram, cu + bic, pre + fix, se + cret, si + nus. 

  • In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 111, the teacher completes Step 6: Word Work (with writing) by providing the spelling for a given word (factor) and then asks the student to remove the F to reveal the new word (actor). This is repeated for the following words: pact, fact, factor, actor, act, tact, tract, tractor, tractors.

  • In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 120, Step 5: New Concept, the teacher explains that “-TURE is pronounced/cher/ with T making the /ch/ sound as in picture and nature.” The teacher tells the students, “We can break big words apart into syllables to help us read and spell (display the word nature). To read this word, I can break it into syllables na-ture, then blend the syllables together: nature. As we read and spell, we can break words into syllables and then blend them together.” 

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 (/do/). 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 68, Step 5: New Concept, the teacher models blending and segmenting the words basic, frozen, and began.

  • In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 85, Step 5: New Concept, the teacher models blending and segmenting the words keep, heat, monkey, green, cheap, and turkey. 

  • In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 115, Step 5: New Concept, the teacher models reading the words curfew, venue, you, nephew, rescue, and coupon. 

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

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 87, Step 8: Connected Text, Phoneme Level: Intro Lesson, the lesson focus is ie, eigh /i/. The teacher dictates the words pie, might, lie, tight, flight, and bright. Students write the sentences: They were up almost all night., He always tries with all his might!, and It is dark because the light is off.

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 93, Step 8: Connected Text, the lesson focus is graphemes au, aw, and augh spell /aw/. The teacher dictates the following sentences: I will mow the lawn in a minute., My cat will paw and claw at my door., and The baby likes to crawl on the lawn. 

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 99, Step 8: Connected Text, the lesson focus is how suffixes -s and -es make nouns plural and change a verb’s tense. The teacher dictates the following sentences: Sal fixes broken toys., He signs and jumps and spins to the song., and The boys made their own lunches. 

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 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 68, Step 5: New Concept, students decode the following words: open, even, unit, virus, robot, begin, secret, humid, moment.

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 97, Step 5: New Concept, students decode the following words: August, noisy, daughter, breakfast, ready, weather, pointed, around, enjoyed, annoy, outside.

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 111, Step 5: New Concept, students decode the following words: nectar, collar, lizard, factor, flavor, tutor, author, visitor, similar.

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 111, Step 5: New Concept, students encode the following words: actor, popular, favor, dollar.

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 118, Step 5: New Concept, students encode the following words: chef, school, gnome, ghost, listen, often, hustle.

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 125, Step 5: New Concept, students encode the following words: payment, placement, pavement, treatment.

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 Foundations Toolbox, Lesson 71, the materials provide Roll and Read for independent practice with tch, dge. Students read the following words: catch, badge, crutch, patch, bridge, hutch, edge, sketch, dodge, judge, clutch, grudge, stitch, batch, itch, fudge, pledge, fetch, ledge, fridge, lodge, hatch, budge, ridge, hitch, trudge, snatch, hedge, match, nudge, wedge, latch, smudge, ditch, sludge, notch.

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 106, Step 8: Word Work Chains follow the Connected Text and are included in the lesson for additional practice. The following chain for practicing decoding words with affixes is provided: speaks, peaks, leaks, leaps, leap, loop, loops, laps, lap, lack, pack, pass, passes.

• In UFLI Foundations Toolbox, Lesson 126, the materials provide Roll and Read for independent practice with the suffixes -able, -ible. Students read the following words: bendable, uncontrollable, unquestionable, disposable, unbreakable, lovable, unrecognizable, comfortable, recyclable, workable, dependable, understandable, respectable, collapsible, uncomfortable, impressionable, accessible, distractible, collectible, questionable, convertible, controllable, digestible, recognizable, fixable, washable, teachable, flexible, indestructible, reversible.

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 119, Step 8: Word Lists appear after the Connected Text and are included for additional practice decoding words with the suffix -sion: collision, confusion, conversion, decision, dimension, diversion, erosion, exclusion, explosion, extension, illusion, inclusion, invasion, mission, obsession, occasion, passion, permission, provision, revision, session, submission, television, version, vision. 

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 63, Step 4: Blending Drill is intended to build accuracy and automaticity. Students read the words huge, hug, hung, rung, rang, range, rage, race, rice, ride, hide, hid, did, dim, dime, dice, ice, ace, age.

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 89, Step 4: Blending Drill is intended to build accuracy and automaticity. Students decode the following words: toe, tie, pie,  pay, way, woe, we, wet, west,  waist, wait, wit, lit, light, flight, float, bloat, blot, bleat, blurt.

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 95, Step 4: Blending Drill is intended to build accuracy and automaticity. Students read the following words: bread, tread, read, red, rest, best, bet, set, suit, soot, foot, food, flood, fled, fledge, ledge, lodge.

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 63, the Scope and Sequence indicates a phonics focus on the suffix -es. Students spell words with -es, including the words boxes, inches, taxes, and classes.

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 93, the Scope and Sequence indicates a phonics focus on the graphemes au, aw, augh/aw. Students spell words with au, aw, and augh, including the following words pawn, thaw, haunt, and caught. 

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 125, the Scope and Sequence indicates a phonics focus on the suffix -ment. Students spell words with -ment, including payment, placement, pavement, and treatment. 

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 82, Step 5: New Concept, the teacher says, “We have been learning when we the /r/ sound after a vowel, it completely changes the way the vowel sounds. It makes what we call an ‘r-controlled’ vowel.” 

  • “er: The /er/ sound is an r-controlled vowel sound. ER is the most common spelling of the /er/ sound. ER can come in the middle of a word, such as the words verb and fern. ER can also come at the end of a word, such as the words her and per. 

  • ir: There are two other graphemes that can also spell the /er/ sound. IR can be used to spell the /er/ sound. IR can come in the middle of a word, such as the words girl and bird. IR can also come at the end of a word, such as the words sir and stir.  

  • ur: UR can also be used to spell the /er/ sound. UR can come in the middle of a word, such as the words turn and hurt. UR can come at the beginning of a word, such as the words urn and urge. UR can also come at the end of a word, such as the words fur and blur. 

  • or: We know the grapheme OR. Usually, OR spells /or/. Sometimes, OR can spell the /er/ sound just like ER, IR, and UR spell /er/. OR spells /er/ in words that start with W. The OR /er/ sound can come in the middle of a word, such as the words work and word. When we see OR after W, we say /er/. When we hear /er/ after W, we spell it OR.” 

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 108, Step 5: New Concept, the teacher says, “We learned that when we add the suffixes -ED and -ING to words with one vowel and one final consonant, we need to double the final consonant before we add the ending.”

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

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 62, Step 6: Word Work, students practice spelling VCe and VCe exceptions. Words spelled include give, live, love, dove, done, and none. 

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 96, Step 6: Word Work, students practice spelling ou, ow /ow/. Students spell the words spout, pout, pound, found, round, frown, drown, crown, clown, and cow. 

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 118, Step 6: Work, students practicespelling with ch /sh/, /k/; gn /n/; gh /g/, and silent t. Words spelled include bustle, hustle, rustle, rust, fast, fasten, fist, list, listen, and glisten. 

The materials provide weekly spelling assessments aligned to the scope and sequence that measure phonics skills through grapheme-phoneme correspondences, multisyllabic word encoding, irregular word spelling, and sentence dictation. Assessment tasks reflect increasing phonics complexity across the year, including vowel teams, diphthongs, and r-Controlled vowels. Assessment results provide concept-specific data on student performance, including point values and skill-type breakdowns. Teachers are supported with grouping templates, differentiated time recommendations, and lesson-aligned resources such as word chains and word lists to plan small-group instruction based on assessment outcomes. 

Materials regularly and systematically provide a variety of assessment opportunities over the course of the year to demonstrate students’ progress toward mastery and independence in phonics. Assessments are aligned to the program’s scope and sequence and include multiple task types. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• 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 Resources, Progress Monitoring: Spelling Assessment, Lesson 67, the students are assessed on the following skills:

  • Concepts- closed/closed

  • Grapheme-phoneme correspondences- until, contest, submit

  • Sentences- I made seven of these baskets.

  • New Concept Points- 5

  • Total Points- 9

• In Resources, Progress Monitoring: Spelling Assessment, Lesson 84, the students are assessed on the following skills:

  • Concepts- ai, ay /ā/

  • Grapheme-phoneme correspondences- day, play, rain

  • Irregular words- today, very

  • Sentences- We walk on the dark trail.

  • New Concept Points- 4

  • Total Points- 11

• In Resources, Progress Monitoring: Spelling Assessment, Lesson 112, the students are assessed on the following skills:

  • Concepts- air, are, ear /air/

  • Grapheme-phoneme correspondences- hair, care, bear

  • Irregular words- whose

  • Sentences- I want another chair for this table. 

  • New Concept Points- 4

  • Total Points- 11

Assessment materials provide teachers with concept-specific information about students’ phonics skills. Scoring structures help determine which students have mastered the concept and which need additional support. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

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

  • Students A-D, with the lowest score, are recommended to receive 10-12 minutes of small group instruction daily. 

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

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

  • Students R-U, who demonstrate proficiency, 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 84, Step 7: Irregular Words, the teacher introduces the new words, today and very. 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 119, Step 7: Irregular Words, the teacher introduces the new words, tough and rough. 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 89, Step 7: Irregular Words, according to Implementation Guidance, the teacher asks the students to say the sounds in the word together with them, 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 writes the word while saying the sounds two to four times by writing it big, small, fast, or slow to make it engaging. The words for this lesson are floor, poor, and door.

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 99, Step 7: Irregular Words, according to Implementation Guidance, the teacher asks the students to say the sounds in the word together with them, 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 writes the word while saying the sounds two to four times by writing it big, small, fast, or slow to make it engaging. The word for this lesson is the answer.

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 119, Step 7: Irregular Words, according to Implementation Guidance, the teacher asks the students to say the sounds in the word together with them, 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 writes the word while saying the sounds two to four times by writing it big, small, fast, or slow to make it engaging. The words for this lesson are enough, tough, and rough.

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 155 high-frequency words for Grade 2. High-frequency word instruction takes place in lessons 42-43, 57, 62-65, 67-68, 72, 82, 84-87, 89-91, 93-94, 96, 98, 103, and 110, 114, 116. The materials designate lessons 38a-b, 41a-c, 49, 53, 59, 62, 66, 71, 76, 79, 83, 88, 92, 95, 97, 99-109, 111-113, 115, 117-128 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 49, Step 7: Irregular Words, students begin with a quick review of previously taught irregular words. The students read and write the words goes, says, she, we, they, their, were, walk, talk.

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 83, Step 7: Irregular Words, students begin with a quick review of previously taught irregular words. The students read and write the words other, another, mother, brother.

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 99, Step 7: Irregular Words, students begin with a quick review of previously taught irregular words. The students read and write the word about.

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 77, students read the decodable text “The Garden.” This text includes the high-frequency words the, one, pretty, what, they, look, them.

• In the UFLI Foundations Toolbox, Lesson 91, students read the decodable text “Cruise Ship Trip.” This text includes the high-frequency words were, there, they, been, came, pretty, the, some, we, off, come, will, was, eat.

• In the UFLI Foundations Toolbox, Lesson 109, students read the decodable text “The Baker.” This text includes the high-frequency words is, a, world, been, you, can around, their, about, how, mean, like, said, would, from, start.

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 86, Step 8: Connected Text, students use the grapheme-phoneme correspondences (ee, ea, ey/ē/, ai, ay/ā/, ir, er, ur, /er/, or, ore/or/, /ar/, dge/j/, g/g//j/, tch, ch/ch/, /a/, / ā/, /ī//ĭ/, /ŏ//ō/, /ē//ĕ/, /ū//ŭ/), the irregular words (again), and high-frequency words (again, against) learned to write complete sentences. The teacher dictates the sentences: Throw me the ball Coach!, The boat floats in the water., and There is a toad on the railroad track again. 

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 96, Step 8: Connected Text, students use the grapheme-phoneme correspondences (oi,oy/oi/, ea, ee/ē/, a/ā//ă//ŏ/, aw, au/aw/, ew/ū/, ui/ū/, oo/oo//ū/, u/ŭ//ū//yū//oo/, igh/ī/, oa/ō/, oa/ō/, ir, er, ur, /er/), the irregular words (eye) and high-frequency words (loud, out) learned to write complete sentences. The teacher dictates the sentences: That sound is far too loud!, The king gave his son a crown., and I will keep my eye out for the mouse.

In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 116, Step 8: Connected Text, students use the grapheme-phoneme correspondences (ew/ū//yū/, eu/ū//yū/, ue/ū//yū/, ou/ow//ū/, ei, eigh, ey, aigh/ā/, air,are,ear/air/, ar/ar//er/, -ed/t//d//ed/, y/y//ē//ī/, e/ē//ĕ/, oi,oy/oi/, ea/ē//ĕ//ā/), the irregular words (thought, buy), and high-frequency words (buy) learned to write complete sentences. The teacher dictates the sentences: I will buy a doughnut at lunch., The pizza guy thought his dough was the best., and Although the brothers fought, they were still close.

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 frequent 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 72, Step 5: New Concept, the teacher says, “There are some tricky word endings that change the sound of the vowel in words. ILD spells /īld/ with a Long I sound like in the word wild. IND often spells /īnd/ with a long I sound like in the word mind. OLD spells /ōld/ with a Long O sound like in the word told. OLT spells /ōlt/ with a long O sound like in the word bolt. OST often spells /ōst/ with a long O sound like in the word host. Remember, like all vowels, /ī/ and /ō/ are continuous sounds that can be stretched out. Be sure your voice is on for these sounds.” The teacher models decoding the word mild and encoding the word most. 

• In Instructional Materials, Lesson 88, Step 5: New Concept, the teacher says, “Vowel teams are two or more letters that work together to make one vowel sound. The long A sound /ā/can be spelled AI or AY. AI can come in the middle of a word like in bait and mail or at the beginning of a word like in aim and aid. AY always comes at the end of a word like in may and say. The long E sound /ē/can be spelled EE, EA, or EY. EE comes in the middle of a word like in need and feet or at the end of a word like in see and tree. EA comes in the middle of a word like in mean and team, at the beginning of a word like in eat and each, or at the end of a word like in tea and flea. EY only comes at the end of a two-syllable word like in kidney and turkey.” After going through each vowel team, the teacher models decoding the words stray and oatmeal and encoding the words blow and crossroad. 

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 92, Step 5: New Concept, the teacher says, “We have been learning about vowel teams. When we read and spell words with vowel teams we need to be flexible because the vowel sounds we hear can be spelled different ways and the vowel teams we see can represent different sounds. When we read and spell big words with vowel teams, we can break them into syllables to help us decode. The teacher models decoding the words sunlight and grapefruit and encoding the word mushroom. 

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 102, Step 5: New Concept, the teacher says, “We have been learning about morphemes. Remember, a morpheme is a word part that changes a word’s meaning. A suffix is a morpheme that comes at the end of a word. We know the suffixes -S, -ES, -ER, -EST, and -LY. Today we will learn two new suffixes: -LESS, and -FUL. The suffix -LESS is pronounced /lǝs/ with the E making a schwa sound, like in the word sleepless. Sleepless means without sleep. If you are anxious or excited you may have a sleepless night because you cannot fall asleep. The suffix -FUL is pronounced /fǝl/ with the U making a schwa sound, like in the word helpful. -FUL means full of. Helpful means full of help. If a person is being helpful they are giving a lot of help to you.” 

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 126, Step 5: New Concept, the teacher says, “Suffixes are added to the end of the word to change the word’s meaning. Today we will learn two new suffixes: -ABLE and -IBLE. The suffixes -ABLE and -IBLE are both pronounced /eble/ with the A or I making a schwa sound as in enjoyable and flexible. -ABLE and -IBLE mean able or can do. If you enjoy something it means you like it, enjoyable means something is able to be enjoyed or liked. Flex means move or bend, flexible means able to move or bend.”

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 128, Step 5: New Concept, the teacher says, “Morphemes are word parts that change what a word means. Suffixes and prefixes are types of morphemes. Let’s review the suffixes and prefixes we have been learning. 

  • -er, -or, -ist: -ER, -OR, -IST mean ‘one that’ as in the words teacher, sailor, and artist.

  •  -ish: -ISH means ‘somewhat like’ as in sluggish.

  • -y: -Y means ‘full of or described as.’ -Y changes nouns to adjectives as in the word cloudy.

  • -ness: -NESS means ‘state of.’ -NESS changes adjectives to nouns as in the word kindness.

  •  -ment: -MENT means ‘result, act, or state of.’ -MENT changes verbs to nouns as in the word entertainment.

  • -able, ible: -ABLE and -IBLE mean ‘able to.’ They make words adjectives as in the word breakable.

  • uni-: UNI- means one as in uniform: BI- means two as in bicycle; TRI- means three as in tricycle.” 

Multiple and varied opportunities are provided over the course of the year for students to learn, practice, and apply word analysis strategies. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 98, Step 8: Connected Text, the students read words with the KN and WR spelling in the following sentences: Grandma knits for about twenty minutes each night., Please clean up your crumbs after you eat., I know how to wrap gifts very well. The students spell the following sentences: Will you knock and then turn the knob?, I wrote a story about a brave knight., My thumbs went numb in the cold. 

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 111, Step 8: Connected Text, the students read words with the /er/ spelled OR in the following sentences: Who will the doctor help next? To whom should I give this dollar?, The actor played the role of a powerful wizard. The students spell the following sentences: Who has a dollar?, This book is signed by the author., The doctor made sure the treatment was painless. 

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 79, Step 8: Connected Text, the students read words with a r-controlled vowel in single and multisyllabic words. The students read the following sentences: There was nothing left in the card., The pretty stars twinkle in the dark sky., The people wore shorts to the party.  

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 123, Step 8: Connected Text, the students read the suffix -y in the following sentences: The sea looks extra shiny on this sunny day., When I play in the yard., I always get muddy and sweaty., I need an umbrella because it is cloudy and rainy today. 

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 125, Step 8: Connected Text, the students read the suffix -MENT in the following sentences: The director of the school wrote a long statement., My grandma is enjoying her retirement. My sister and I had a disagreement about how to play the game. The students spell the following sentences: The store takes cash or card payments., The pavement outside is very hot., The watch the fireworks with amazement.

The materials include weekly spelling assessments aligned to the scope and sequence that measure word recognition and analysis through regular words, irregular words, and sentence dictation. Additional assessments, such as decodable fluency passages aligned to lesson sets, provide further opportunities to observe students’ automaticity with taught word patterns. 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 a variety of 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 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 the UFLI Foundations Toolbox, the UFLI Foundations Fluency Checks explains, "A dedicated fluency assessment passage is provided for each unit in the first and second-grade scope and sequence to measure text-level automaticity. The fluency check passages are designed to measure oral reading fluency (ORF) using decodable passages that include concepts the student has learned so far. These can be used to track student progress and plan small group support.”

• In the UFLI Foundations Toolbox, a fluency check is to be completed after Lesson 88. This fluency check is for Lessons 84-88. The fluency check includes a passage called The Green Monster. The passage is decodable and assesses the student’s fluency on words with long vowel teams.  

• In the UFLI Foundations Toolbox, a fluency check is to be completed after Lesson 106. This fluency check is for Lessons 99-106. The fluency check includes a passage called The Best of Friends. The passage is decodable and assesses the student’s fluency with words containing prefixes and suffixes. 

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 Resources, Progress Monitoring: Spelling Assessment, Lesson 86, the students are assessed on the following skills: 

  • Concepts- oa, ow, oe /ō/

  • Grapheme-phoneme correspondences- road, slow, doe

  • Irregular words- again, against

  • Sentences- Could you show me the way?

• In Resources, Progress Monitoring: Spelling Assessment, Lesson 100, the students are assessed on the following skills: 

  • Concepts- er/est

  • Grapheme-phoneme correspondences- louder, newer, fastest

  • Irregular words- 

  • Sentences- Who is the tallest one in line?

• In Resources, Progress Monitoring: Spelling Assessment, Lesson 118, the students are assessed on the following skills: 

  • Concepts- ch/sh/, /k/; gn/n/, gh/g/; silent t

  • Grapheme-phoneme correspondences- chef, school, ghost

  • Irregular words- young, touch

  • Sentences- Their dog likes to gnaw on large bones.

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 105, there is a word work chain that works on the morpheme level and adds the prefix -dis.  There is also a word list of 20 words containing the prefix -dis. 

• In Resources, 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 Resources, 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.

The materials provide opportunities for students to hear fluent reading modeled through choral, echo, and partner reading. There is evidence of explicit and systematic instruction as outlined in the Sample Dialogue for Developing Choral Reading Skills. The dialogue includes accuracy and prosody practice opportunities for oral reading fluency of words, sentences, and decodable passages. Oral Reading Fluency is found throughout the lesson steps leading up to Step 8, Connected Text. Modeling and practicing of oral reading fluency skills are completed at the sentence and text level.  

Materials include frequent opportunities for explicit, systematic instruction in automaticity, accuracy, and prosody using grade-level decodable connected text (e.g. decodable texts, poetry, readers’ theater, paired reading). Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the Implementation Guidance, the materials state, “During the final portion of each UFLI Foundations lesson, the student will read a decodable book or passage for the purpose of developing fluency and comprehension. This component emphasizes the development of word-level and text-level automaticity, and it can be an opportunity to introduce basic comprehension strategies.” 

• In the Implementation Guidance, the materials states, “To allow for a gradual release of responsibility, you can use a range of strategies for reading the decodable text. These strategies are arranged from most to least supportive: 

  • Echo reading employs an ‘I read, then you read’ sequence. You model accurate and prosodic reading (read a line of text while pointing), and then the students ‘echo’ your model (i.e., read the same text while pointing).

  • In partner reading, two students are paired to read the same text aloud, and the readers take turns reading. If you pair a more capable reader with a less capable reader; the more capable reader provides a model and offers support and feedback. 

  • During choral reading, groups of children read the same text aloud. This approach maximizes the amount of reading each child accomplishes in a lesson. Struggling readers have the support of stronger readers, which can build confidence in struggling readers.” 

• In the Implementation Guidance, teachers use the Decodable Text Guide on the UFLI website to find appropriate book(s) and/or passages for each lesson. The teachers model reading or allow for students to partner read. The materials indicate that as an option, students can use the same books or passages repeatedly at school or at home for additional practice. The focus of this portion of this step is to develop the student’s word-level automaticity, text-level automaticity, and prosody, while maintaining a high degree of accuracy.

Materials provide opportunities for students to hear fluent reading of grade-level text by a model reader.   Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 66, Step 8: Connected Text, Decodable Text, the decodable text “Jo’s Friend Russ,” which focuses on open and closed syllables and the irregular word friend, provides students with opportunities to hear fluent reading. The teacher can have students engage in echo reading, partner reading, and choral reading. 

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 96, Step 8: Connected Text, Decodable Text, the decodable text, “Summer at the Farmhouse,” which focuses on /ow/ and the irregular words Wednesday and Monday, provides students with opportunities to hear fluent reading. The teacher can have students engage in echo reading, partner reading, and choral reading. 

Materials include a variety of resources for explicit instruction in oral reading fluency. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the Instructional Materials, Step 8: Connected Text, of the lesson plan, students will practice reading one or more sentences that contain regularly and irregularly spelled words they have learned to read. Next, they will read a decodable book or passage.

Materials contain varied, frequent opportunities over the year to gain automaticity and prosody. The materials contain daily instruction in decoding, focusing on automaticity by working at the grapheme, word, sentence, and text level for each new skill taught. The materials provide practice opportunities for word reading fluency in various settings as outlined in the Implementation Guidance section of the teacher manual which is expected to be applied in each lesson during Step 8: Connected Text practice at sentence level and Decodable Passage reading. Students read words in isolation, sentences, and passages to develop automaticity and prosody with decodable words and familiar spelling patterns. The materials provide practice opportunities for word reading fluency in various settings. Materials provide guidance for teacher-led corrective feedback, including modeling and rereading when students make errors while reading connected text. 

Varied, frequent opportunities are provided over the course of the year for students to gain automaticity and prosody.   Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 76, Step 8: Connected Text, students practice oral reading fluency at the text level by reading “A Trip to the Jungle” after practicing decoding and encoding at the grapheme, word, and sentence level with Word Endings taught to this point in the scope and sequence including  –ild, -old, -ost, -nd, -y (long /e/ and long /i/), -le. Words included are handle, hand, handy, candy, can, fan, fin, find, mind, my, by.  Sentences include Many people like candy apples. Does the little pony have a bridle? The lady holds the baby while walking. 

• In the Instructional Materials, Lesson 91, Step 8: Connected Text, students practice oral reading fluency at the text level by reading “Cruise Ship Trip” after practicing decoding and encoding at the grapheme, word, and sentence level with Other vowel teams taught to this point in the scope and sequence including ew, ui, oo, and ue. Words addressed include Drew, cruise, blue, suitcase, pool, cool, fruit, chewed, crew, Tuesday, and true.  Sentences include Sue made stew for the whole crew. What month will we go on the cruise? Sue threw on her new suit to go to the pool. 

Materials provide practice opportunities for oral reading fluency in a variety of settings (e.g., repeated readings, diad or partner reading, continuous reading).   Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

•  In the UFLI Foundations Toolbox, Fluency Support Guide, the materials state, “During independent work time, students can practice fluency with peers. Teachers can pair students up to read passages together. Student pairs can take turns reading and listening. Teachers can pair a more proficient reader with a less proficient reader so that the more proficient reader can provide a model and offer support and feedback. However, avoid pairing children who are too far apart in their reading fluency. A wide gap in proficiency can lead to frustration for both partners. Instead, pair up students who have slight differences in text-level automaticity… Three to four repetitions per text would be sufficient practice. Reader’s Theater is another opportunity for repeated reading practice that some students may find more engaging. In Reader’s Theater, students read scripts together and act them out”. 

• In the UFLI Foundations Toolbox, the Fluency Support Guide states, “When students are in the earliest stages of reading development and know very few grapheme-phoneme correspondences, it is helpful to have ample opportunities to independently read highly controlled text. This means the text only includes concepts that students have already learned. This allows students to build an initial understanding of the alphabetic code or the systematic relationship between graphemes and phonemes. Decodable passages are an example of highly controlled text.” 

• In the Implementation Guidance, the materials contain a sample dialogue to illustrate how to scaffold students through the choral reading of sentences, reading one portion of the sentence at a time and then rereading what has been read so far. The text states that “this process builds the habit of reconstructing the sentence after stopping to decode, which is helpful for maintaining meaning.” The Sample Dialogue for Developing Choral Reading Skills models how teachers explicitly teach accuracy and prosody by pointing underneath each word while reading. Teachers should start by reading one word at a time and then go back and read those words as a phrase (The…dog…. The dog.) This is continued until the entire sentence has been read. 

Materials include guidance and corrective feedback suggestions to the teacher for supporting students’ gains in oral reading fluency. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the Implementation Guidance, the materials contain teacher directions for providing corrective feedback for when students make an error at the word level. The manual has teachers follow the I do, We do, You do approach. During “I do” the teacher models the correct response while pointing to each letter and swiping underneath the word to read the word as a whole. During the “We do,” teachers guide all the students in saying the correct response by having the class/student say the word with the teacher by blending the sounds as modeled during the “I do” phase. During the “You do,” the teacher asks the students for a choral response without teacher support where students blend the sounds together to then read the whole word.

• In the Implementation Guidance, the materials outline a range of strategies for reading decodable text, ordered from most to least supportive, to allow for a gradual release of responsibility. These include:

  • Echo reading: The teacher reads a line while modeling accurate and prosodic reading and pointing to the words; students then echo the same text.

  • Partner reading: Students are paired to take turns reading; more capable readers can provide a model and support for less fluent peers.

  • Choral reading: Groups of children read the same text aloud together. This maximizes practice opportunities and allows struggling readers to build fluency alongside stronger peers.

• In the Implementation Guidance,the materials provide a corrective feedback procedure for reading connected text: “If students make errors while reading, provide a model of correct reading and have them reread.”

The materials provide regular and systematic assessment opportunities for students to demonstrate progress toward mastery of oral reading fluency with information about current level of understanding and materials to support the teacher with instructional adjustments. Assessments include Fluency Checks, and the Hasbrouck and Tindal ORF Norms are used to determine students’ progress toward grade-level fluency.

Multiple assessment opportunities are provided regularly and systematically over the course of the year for students to demonstrate progress toward mastery and independence of oral reading fluency.   Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the UFLI Foundations Toolbox, Unit Assessments: Fluency Checks, the materials state, “Fluency checks are intended to be used as a one-minute timing of student oral reading. They are administered individually. Each fluency check includes a teacher form and a student form.” For example:

  • In the UFLI Foundations Fluency Check, Long Vowel Teams Unit, Lessons 84-88, the text is “The Green Monster.” Teachers administer the assessment, and the materials recommend they use the Hasbrouck and Tindal (2017) ORF norms for second grade. 

  • In the UFLI Foundations Fluency Check, Diphthongs and Silent Letters Unit Lessons 95-98, the text is “The Bounce House.” Teachers administer the assessment, and the materials recommend they use the Hasbrouck and Tindal (2017) ORF norms for second grade. 

Assessment materials provide the teacher and students with information about students’ current skills/level of understanding of oral reading fluency. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the Resources, Other Vowel Teams Unit Resources (Lessons 89-94), the End of Unit Fluency Check guides teachers to “calculate how many words the student read correctly in the one-minute timing.” The materials also state, “Until we have had the opportunity to develop our own criteria, we recommend using the Hasbrouck and Tindal (2017) ORF norms for first and second grade.”

• In the UFLI Foundations Toolbox, Foundations Fluency Check, Using Fluency Data states, “We recommend using fluency data to inform instructional decisions. We do not recommend using fluency scores as grades, and for this reason, we do not provide benchmark or mastery criteria.

Materials support the teacher with instructional adjustments to help students make progress toward mastery in oral reading fluency. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the UFLI Foundations Toolbox, the Supporting the Development of Reading Fluency document states, “When students struggle with fluency, it is important to identify the root cause of that struggle. If students have not yet achieved word-level accuracy and automaticity, they first need support with these skills. Development of these skills will support fluency (Metasala & David, 2022).” 

• In the UFLI Decodable Text Guide, there are links to many resources for decodable texts. It states that some students may benefit from supplemental opportunities for fluency practice during small-group instruction.

• In the UFLI Foundations Toolbox, the  Supporting the Development of Reading Fluency document states, “During independent work time, students can practice fluency with peers. Teachers can pair students up to read passages together. Student pairs can take turns reading and listening. Teachers can pair a more proficient reader with a less proficient reader so that the more proficient reader can provide a model and offer support and feedback. However, avoid pairing children who are too far apart in their reading fluency. A wide gap in proficiency can lead to frustration for both partners. Instead, pair up students who have slight differences in text-level automaticity.”