Literacy Foundations

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  See the Guided Lesson Plan

The Literacy Foundations Kit is a three-step Montessori system for ages 3–7 that builds both components identified in the Simple View of Reading: language comprehension and word recognition (Gough & Tunmer, 1986) as identified in the Science of Reading. Step 1 develops vocabulary and verbal reasoning, two beginning strands of Scarborough's Reading Rope (Scarborough, 2001). Steps 2 and 3 build letter-sound knowledge and phonetic decoding — the word recognition side of the rope that lead to skilled reading. Comes with a clear, easy-to-use lesson plan booklet explaining how to use everything in the kit.

Step 1: Vocabulary (Language Comprehension strand)

The first step to literacy is helping children develop strong vocabularies. Vocabulary, sorting, and matching cards are hands-on, playful ways of building student vocabularies. 

• Vocabulary Cards: Teach them the words they are interested in. We like:
  • Farm Animals (Adults & Juvenile)
  • Pets
    
  • Sports Equipment
  • Transportation

• Sorting Cards: Let children practice sorting the words they know into groups. Start with these four titles:
  • • Living/Non-living
    • Plant/Animal
    • Vertebrate/Invertebrate
    • Vertebrate Classes/5
• Matching Cards: Practice using new vocabulary in classic matching games. Use these first for vocabulary building and then for matching and sorting.
  • Fruit
  • Vegetables
  • Around Town
  • Dogs

We recommend having one or two topics out at a time. The vocabulary and matching cards have 12 subjects each so you may wish to divide these into 6 subjects that you put out at any one time. Then, swap out for different subjects or packets every week or two to keep the same type of material interesting and alive throughout the year.

Add-on cloth pouches to beautifully display these cards so they are easy to use and keep organized:

• Two medium one-pocket pouches for vocabulary and sorting cards (lemon and orange)
• One two-pocket pouch for matching cards (chartreuse)

Step 2: Letter-Sound Knowledge/Encoding (Word Recognition strand — Phonological Awareness)

Before they can read, children need to be able to understand that letters make sounds. Here are effective, creative, and fun ways to help children crack the alphabetic code.

• Letter-Sound Charts
• 3-Part Letter-Sound Cards
• Traditional Movable Alphabet plus pocket chart
• Phonetic Picture Cards (CVC and Consonant Blends)

Add-on cloth pouches to beautifully display these cards so they are easy to use and keep organized:

• One chart-sized one-pocket pouch for letter-sound charts (cerulean blue)
• One chart-sized 3-pocket pouch for 3-part letter-sound cards (berry)
• Two small cloth pouches for phonetic picture cards (pink berry and light blue)

Step 3: Phonetic Reading (Word Recognition strand — Decoding)

Once they know their letter-sounds, children are ready to start decoding those sounds into words: reading! Use these self-correcting, phonetic 3-part cards to get them started and build reading confidence.

• Level 1: CVC Words (5 packets)
• Level 2: Consonant Blends (5 packets)
• Phonetic Activity Cards (play phonetic charades!)
• Phonetic Word Cards

Add-on cloth pouches to beautifully display these cards so they are easy to use and keep organized:

• Two 3-pocket pouches for phonetic 3-part cards (pink and light blue)
• One small pouch for phonetic activity cards (red)
• One long pouch for phonetic word cards (berry)

Add-On Geography & Fine Art Cards to Build Background Knowledge

Knowledge about the world significantly contributes to future literacy. Help children develop a broader understanding of life around the world and give them opportunities to verbally express their ideas with these materials.

• Geography Cards Series 1: These are really essential to get children engaged with ideas of life around the world. This series includes one packet for each of the seven continents with matching themes in each packet (e.g., children at school, people in a parade, people fishing, etc.). 
• Fine Art Display Cards: This set of five series of our fine art cards is perfect for your art enrichment activities. Use these to inspire conversation and art creation.
  

Add-on cloth pouches to beautifully display these cards so they are easy to use and keep organized:

• One x-large one-pocket pouch for fine art cards (teal)
• One set/7 x-large one-pocket cloth pouches for geography cards (use this instead of the blue folders)

Add-On Emergent Reading Materials

Extend past basic phonetic reading into reading phonetic words with digraphs (two letters put together to make a whole new sound like sh). Agin, these are self-correcting phonetic 3-part cards to build reading ability and confidence.

• Level 3, Group 1: Traditional Digraphs (11 packets)
• Level 3, Group 2: Other Common Digraphs (10 packets)
• Digraph Alphabet plus Pocket Chart