10 Tips for Using the Fundations Phonics Curriculum

Hey everyone!  Today's post is to share a few tips and tricks that I've implemented while using the Fundations Phonics program over the past 7 years.  While I LOVE the program, its components and materials can be very overwhelming for someone just starting it.  I hope this post is helpful.  

TIP #1: Dry Erase Bags

Your students will be using dry erase markers and erasers almost daily.  You'll want to think about where they will store those items.  I decided on these zipper bags a few years ago and I'll never go back.  I used number labels from Just a Primary Girl.  I laminated the numbers, hole punched them, and attached them with small binder rings.  Inside the bags are these erasers and one EXPO marker.  The erasers, bags, and markers are all numbered.  I'm not a huge fan of numbers, but for times sake, numbering these materials was much faster than names.  Find a marker on the floor?  Who is number ___?  Find a pouch on the floor?  Who is number ___? 

In addition to daily practice for Fundations, we also use our dry erase materials for our Math curriculum, Illustrative Math.  Having the pouches makes carrying these supplies around the room a breeze!

TIP #2: COOKIE SHEET MAGNET BOARDS

Fundations takes a multi-sensory approach to teaching Phonics.  Magnet boards are a big component of this.  Our TITLE I dept. created these cookie sheet magnet boards vs. purchasing the Fundations mats.  This is a good thing, I've heard, because the mats that come with the program don't hold up.  You want to get cookie sheets large enough to fit all of magnets, as well as ones that provide a little space for building a word).  Storage for these cookie sheets is simple: stack them in a central location in your classroom.

TIP #3: MAGNET TILE STORAGE

If you're familiar with Fundations, you know that there are one million magnet tiles!  Hahaha!  Seriously, there are a lot of magnets.  Distributing and collecting them can be daunting.  Grab a box like this one and sort your magnets.  This makes the process so much smoother.  

TIP #4: ALLOW SPACE FOR AN INTERACTIVE WORD WALL AND/OR SOUND WALL 

You'll want to find space for an interactive word wall and/or sound wall.  Both of these walls are huge and take up a lot of space, so it may be a challenge.  These walls are not decorative; you should be referring to them and your students should be using them daily.

My mom evenly spaced this beautiful trick words wall for me 7 years ago, and you best believe its never coming down!  Haha!  Wall space is very limited in my classroom, so this huge bulletin board serves as my word wall.  I start the year with all of the Level 1 trick words up.  As I introduce them, they are flagged with a colored sticky tab.  I use different colors to help students find the words (This is an old picture from the first year, and I used all green for some reason).  

TIP #5: FIND SPACE FOR POSTERS/VISUALS

In addition to the word/sound wall, you'll need space for supplemental posters.  Fundations provides posters but they are GIGANTIC.  HUGE.  If you have enough wall space to display these posters, you get a round of applause!  As mentioned above, I don't have much wall space (praise to all the cabinets), so I created a few smaller versions of the posters to display.  

I will say that when I'm first introducing a new concept, I do get out the giant poster and keep it up for a few days, but there is no possible way it can stay out all year long.

TIP #6: SUPPLEMENT AS NEEDED

Fundations is a fantastic program, but it can be a bit dry.  I absolutely love supplementing with products that align to the skills I'm teaching.  Check out my favorite supplemental activities HERE.

TIP #7: PROVIDE TIME FOR STUDENTS TO PRATICE SKILLS YOU'VE TAUGHT

Fundations introduces new skills throughout the entire year.  While each skills is taught explicitly and systematically, cumulatively, it can be a lot for beginning readers.  

Providing a "center" or "work station" time for students to practice skills that have been taught helps them retain the information.  Students LOVE working in small groups with their peers!  During this time, I pull a group to my table to work on orthographic mapping and beginning Phonics/Phonemic Awareness skills.

To check out my top-selling, Level 1 Fundations game and activity pack, click the cover below.

TIP #8: CREATE FLUENCY FOLDERS

Within most units of Fundaitons, there is a "story" included.  The stories contain previously taught trick words and word patterns.  They are supposed to be used to practice decoding and fluency.  To me, reading the story once or twice throughout the unit wasn't enough, so I created fluency folders.

To make the folders, grab a class set of 3-prong folders.  Place sheet protectors inside of each (one per story).  As a story is introduced, students mark it up and put it inside a sleeve.  As the year progresses, students add more and more stories.  

We love going back and practicing fluency with old stories.  We also love partner practicing our stories!  I use the stories as a quick check for oral reading and take notes of how each child does with each story as they are introduced.

TIP #9: PROVIDE STUDENTS WITH COPIES OF PERSONAL TRICK WORD WALLS

As mentioned above, the trick word wall should be interactive and you and your students should be referring to it daily.  One way I like to do this is by giving kids their own copies of the word wall.

Inside the fluency folders, I place one extra sheet protector.  I place an individual copy of our trick word wall in it.  As a new trick word is introduced, we color it with a yellow crayon.  Students use their folder/personal word wall daily, during dry erase practice and during assessments.  

TIP #10: PICK ONE OR TWO THINGS TO IMPLEMENT

This post may have overwhelmed you, so my final tip is to choose one or two things to implement for the upcoming school year!  Personally, I gradually incorporated the above tips throughout my seven years teaching the program.  Problems arose and I came up with solutions.

I hope this post was helpful!  Feel free to email me at meganwheeler44@yahoo.com with any additional Fundations questions!

xo

Megan 

Sign Language Decoding

Hi, friends and happy summer!  It's been a great summer so far over in my neck of the woods...relaxation, traveling, and seeing family and friends.  I love the slow pace of summer.  I've spent some of my days working on products (which is something very common for me!).  One product I've created is "Sign Language Words."  This was actually created in 2020, but I never blogged about it or shared it much.  My kids have had so much fun with this during literacy centers the past two years, I decided I needed to spread the word!  

The skills I have the sign language activities for are: cvc words, digraph words, and silent e words. More will most likely be added in the future.

Each set has 20 cards ANDDDDDDDD TWO DIFFERENT ACTIVITIES, for a total of 40 cards/words.  You get two centers in one!  To prep the activity, print a few copies of the sign language alphabet chart.  Print and laminate the set of cards you want.  Print the recording sheet.  Throw all materials in a center tub and wait for the fun!  This center keeps kids engaged and they love "decoding" the sign language to figure out the words!  

Buy and prep now, thank yourself during the upcoming school year!  

xo

Megan 

Word Building Cards

Hi and Happy Valentine's Day!  Today's post is a quick one about a few new (and one old) products.  I've had my CVC Word Building Cards in my shop for a while, and I recently added more Phonics concepts.  These mats are amazing for a no-prep center when you're in a pinch!  They are also great to send home for kids to work on with their families.

To use these mats, place them into sheet protectors.  Add a dry erase marker and you have instant and reusable centers for your students.  Another option for us is to laminate and cut the cards apart.  Add letter tiles and have students build the words.  

I added a few new sets of Word Building Cards to my TPT shop.  I added a word family set that dedicates each page of mats to one or two word families.  The mats are labeled at the top so you can quickly identify which ones you'd like to use.  In addition, I added Silent e and Digraph mats.  

Each set is available for individual purchase, however, I've bundled these 4 sets to save you some money AND give you the opportunity to get all future sets added to the bundle absolutely FREE!  I'll be working on a new set this week, so snag the bundle quickly, before the price increases!

xo

Megan 

Sunday 6 October 20

I created two new products, "Digraph Blending Cards" and "Nonsense Words Blending Cards,"  recently.  These are great for a quick review and/or assessment!  Click the cover below to grab them.

Literacy centers have been underway for quite a while now.  The kids are doing amazing with them!  During this time, I use my Fundations Phonics centers mixed with some of my other Phonics and holiday-themed center activities.  While the kids are at centers, I don't meet with anyone for reading groups/decodables.  I simply spend my time floating.  Sometimes I pull kids for make-up work during this time, because it's the only time I have to pull anyone for that sort of thing.  You can check out the centers I use and how I manage them by clicking HERE and reading through some old blog posts.

Mr. Wheeler and I took a hike last weekend.  We saw lots of trees driving to our hike location and also in the park where we hiked.  Fall is so beautiful!

 I got a new headband just in time for Halloween!  It's from Happy Headband Co.  Isn't it so cute? 

We have been working on addition in Math.  The kids loved playing "Ninja Bump" by Sunny in Second.  They also had fun playing a doubles addition review game by First Grade ala Carte.

I got two new beauty products recently and love them both!  The first is a pumpkin mask.  I hate pumpkin flavored things but this mask is awesome!!  Smells so fall-ish and does wonders for my skin.  

The next product I found is seriously a game-changer.  It takes my makeup off in two seconds.  I wear a lot of eye makeup and with one cotton ball soaked in this stuff, it disappears!  You must try it!

Have a great week!!
xo
Megan