Learning and Teaching

UFLI Foundations

This year, our Prep, and  Year 1/2 Learning Communities will be using the UFLI Foundations program for reading and spelling instruction. Your child will be learning new concepts (sounds and letter patterns) to build their skills in reading and spelling words. As this is a new phonics program, I would like to provide you with information about the UFLI Foundations Program.

What is UFLI Foundations?  

UFLI Foundations is an explicit and systematic program created by the team at the University of Florida Literacy Institute (UFLI—pronounced “you fly”). The program introduces students to the foundational reading skills necessary for proficient reading. It follows a carefully developed scope and sequence designed to ensure that students systematically acquire each skill needed and learn to apply each skill with automaticity and confidence. The program is designed to be used for core instruction in the primary grades or for intervention with struggling students in any grade.

How does it work?  

UFLI Foundations provides teachers with detailed but easy to follow lesson plans that follow this 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. Connected Text  

Steps 1 through 4 serve as a warm-up and review of previously taught concepts.  Step 5 is an explicit introduction to a new concept, including guided practice reading and spelling words. Steps 6 through 8 are opportunities to apply concepts through reading and writing activities at the word and text level.

What specific skills are targeted in the program?   

UFLI Foundations targets the following foundational reading skills:  

• Phoneme blending and segmentation practice   

• Accuracy and automaticity of grapheme-phoneme correspondences  

• Decoding automaticity of words with previously learned concepts  

• Explicit introduction of new concepts  

• Decoding and encoding practice   

• Reading and spelling irregular words   

• Reading and spelling connected text  

Our teachers in the Prep, Year 1 and 2 Learning Communities, as well as myself, have all attended professional learning in the UFLI Foundations program. We will continue to improve our skills as the year continues. Please see your child's teacher or me if you have any questions about the UFLI Foundations program. 

Deborah Courtney

(Director of Learning and Teaching)