Websites for Literacy - UFLI Foundations Toolbox
Written by: Brianna Guild, MHSc SLP
Date: September 16, 2023
Have you heard about the UFLI Foundations Toolbox? Many schools in Ontario, Canada have started using the UFLI Foundations program, an explicit and systematic program that teaches students foundational literacy skills. Even if you or your school aren’t implementing the UFLI Foundations program, you still need to check out all the amazing resources they have made available for free on their website!
1. Scope & Sequence
- UFLI Foundations Toolbox provides detailed, but easy to follow lesson slides that progress from initial alphabet instruction progress through all 6 syllable types, and affix (prefix and suffix) instruction.
- Lessons follow a consistent eight-step routine: 1) Phonemic Awareness, 2) Visual Drill, 3) Auditory Drill, 4) Blending Drill, 5) New Concept, 6) Word Work, 7) Irregular Words, 8) Reading Connected Text.
- Note: all materials on the website are available for free, but you need to purchase the UFLI Foundations Manual to access the detailed lesson plan instructions and implement the program with fidelity.
2. Companion Resources
- In addition to lesson slides, the toolbox also includes decodable passages, home practice activities, and additional activities (e.g., read & roll games) for each lesson! I love using these extra resources to supplement my literacy lessons. They are excellent for extra phonics practice, and building word to passage level reading fluency. Additionally, I use these resources with articulation clients to work on the articulation of sounds (e.g., “th" sound).
- UFLI Apps: this section of the toolbox includes additional digital resources to support implementation of lessons, such as a virtual blending board and virtual word work mats.
- UFLI Printable Resources: this section includes more helpful resources you can print, such as “heart word” cards, sound wall cards, grapheme cards, and word work mats.
3. Foundational Focus
- UFLI Foundations is a research and evidence-based program that has been proven to support gains in phonemic awareness, decoding and oral reading fluency. You may also choose to extend the lessons to work on vocabulary (e.g., define new vocabulary words, identify parts of speech, discuss morphology) and reading comprehension (e.g., make predictions and inferences while reading connected text, working on story structure when retelling stories).
- UFLI Foundations targets the following foundational skills: phoneme blending & segmentation practice, accuracy & automaticity of grapheme-phoneme correspondences, decoding automaticity of words with previously learned concepts, explicit introduction of new concepts, decoding & encoding practice, reading & spelling irregular words, reading & spelling connected text.
4. Irregular Words or “Heart Words”
- UFLI Foundations lessons include introduction and review of irregular words using the “heart word” approach. In this approach, the focus is on teaching students to connect the letters in the word to the sounds they represent, even if the correspondence is an unusual one, rather than memorizing irregular words.
- There are also printable “heart word” cards provided for all “heart words” covered in the program!
Interested in learning more about the UFLI Foundations program? Download UFLI Foundations Overview.
You can also listen to Dr. Holly Lane, professor and researcher at the University of Florida, and creator of the UFLI Foundations program on the Reading Road Trip Podcast S1 E3: Foundational Literacy Skills with Dr. Holly Lane.
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