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Foundations C
Reading for content. For students ages 5-8 who have completed Foundations B.
Students continue to develop the tools needed to read and spell words such as airplane, school, and confusion while developing vocabulary and comprehension skills by reading engaging fiction and nonfiction texts.
Skills Taught in Foundations C
- Read and spell two-syllable words.
- Read and spell all 75 basic phonograms.
- Read and spell 8 common affixes such as UN-, -ED, and -ING.
- Apply 24 spelling rules, including six reasons for a silent final E.
- Read and spell words with a silent L such as walk and talk.
- Master 348 high-frequency words and read thousands of additional words.
- Write developmentally appropriate original texts.
- Read with increasing speed and accuracy.
- Use comprehension strategies such as finding the main idea and identifying key words.
Foundations C, Lessons 81-120, builds on the concepts taught in Foundations Lessons 41-80. An additional 8 Miles and Jax Lessons and 8 assessment/review lessons are also included.
Children typically spend about five to nine months on Foundations C, depending on the age and prior knowledge of the student. The lessons in C are longer and more challenging than those in B, so you may find you need to decrease your pace as you begin this level.
Lesson 81
Read and comprehend a phonics-controlled, nonfiction text about a familiar topic.
Phonemic Awareness
In preparation for reading compound words, students review blending them verbally from an auditory prompt.
Phonemic Awareness Skills
- Listen to two spoken words and blend them into one compound word.
Systematic Phonics
Students continue to expand their knowledge of phonograms. When they complete Foundations C they will have been introduced to all 75 Basic Phonograms.
Systematic Phonics Skills
- Read the sound of the multi-letter phonogram ir.
- Decode words with the multi-letter phonogram ir.
- Decode two one-syllable words using phonograms and spelling rules previously taught, then combine the words and decode the compound word.
Spelling Analysis
Spelling analysis teaches the reasons why each word is spelled the way it is, enabling students to make sense of spelling and to master these words and many others like them.
Spelling Skills
- Encode words that use previously taught spelling skills.
- Encode words with the multi-letter phonogram ir.
- Words taught: girl, bird, slow, long, though
Vocabulary
In Foundations C students begin to learn skills to expand their vocabulary, starting with combining words to make compound words.
Vocabulary Skills
- Demonstrate an understanding of how the meaning changes when two words are combined to form a compound word.
Comprehension
As soon as students learn new tools to decode increasingly complex words, they begin to use these concepts in word-level fluency and comprehension practice through engaging games and activities.
Comprehension Skills
- Follow written directions to perform a task.
Composition
As students gain more and more tools for spelling and begin to build confidence in applying them, they begin to use their encoding skills to work on independent composition.
Composition Skills
- Create a chart to compare and contrast.
Miles and Jax D
Every fifth lesson, students read a chapter from Miles and Jax, a phonics-controlled early chapter book.
Spelling
Before reading the chapter, students play a spelling game, using words they have learned about in previous lessons that will appear in the text. Practicing spelling words supports reading fluency and builds encoding skills.
Spelling Skills
- Encode words that use previously taught spelling skills.
Comprehension and Fluency
In Miles and Jax lessons, students encounter fun characters and stories as they deepen their comprehension and fluency skills.
Comprehension Skills
- Locate and use the table of contents.
- Recall facts.
- Use the illustrations to further comprehension.
- Retell a text.
- Relate the text to the reader’s personal experience.
- Identify how a character feels.
- Analyze the author’s purpose for writing a text. (To inform, to entertain...)
- Form and express an opinion.
- Provide supporting reasons from the text to support an opinion.
Composition
In Miles and Jax lessons, students do composition activities related to the chapter they have read, like designing a treehouse, writing a recipe, and creating an informational booklet. In Lesson D, students write a packing list for a camping trip.
Composition Skill
- Write a packing list.
Lesson 112
Read and comprehend a phonics-controlled, nonfiction text about an unfamiliar topic.
Systematic Phonics
Students continue to learn new phonograms and spelling rules. Once each new concept has been taught, students begin to encounter it in Spelling Analysis words, high-frequency word games, and reading comprehension texts.
Systematic Phonics Skills
- Read the sound of the multi-letter phonogram aw.
- Decode words with the multi-letter phonogram aw.
Spelling Analysis
Students apply tools they are learning as they analyze the spelling of new words, preparing them to read these words with greater fluency.
Spelling Skills
- Encode words that use previously taught spelling skills.
- Encode words with the multi-letter phonogram aw.
- Words taught: missed, saw, draw, person, followed
Vocabulary
By learning the meaning of suffixes, such as -ed, and how to add them to form new words, students are expanding their vocabulary.
Vocabulary Skills
- Demonstrate an understanding of how the meaning of a word changes when the suffix -ed is added.
Comprehension
Through creatively written nonfiction readers such as Ha Long Bay, students learn vital comprehension skills needed to read academic texts with success.
Comprehension Skills
- Identify the title.
- Recall facts.
- Use context to identify the meaning of an unknown vocabulary word.
- Identify non-English words in a text.
- Form and express an opinion.
- Retell a text.
Handwriting
Students learned how to write the lowercase letters in Foundations A and the uppercase letters in Foundations B. Students now begin to practice reading texts in a standard type font and translating them into the handwriting style they have learned. Foundations C, therefore, has only one workbook style.
Handwriting Skills
- Copywork: Translate type into handwriting.
Students should NOT be asked to copy words or sentences until they have been taught how to write each letter AND until they can read the words or sentences. If students are asked to copy text visually without these foundational skills, the exercise is artwork, rather than a valuable language arts practice activity.
Lesson 119
Continue to develop the ability to read and comprehend academic texts.
Systematic Phonics
Learning the three Latin spellings of /sh/ - ti, si, and ci - explains tens of thousands of multi-syllable words.
Systematic Phonics Skills
- Read the sounds, in order of frequency, of the multi-letter phonogram si.
- Decode words with the multi-letter phonogram si.
- Decode four-syllable words.
Spelling Analysis
Students continue to learn why words are read and spelled in a particular way through Spelling Analysis.
Spelling Skills
- Encode words that use previously taught spelling skills.
- Encode words with the multi-letter phonogram si.
- Words taught: most, confusion, party, might, window
Vocabulary
Morphemes - the roots, prefixes, and suffixes that make up words - are powerful clues to the meaning of unknown words. Being able to identify individual morphemes equips students to efficiently develop a large vocabulary.
Vocabulary Skills
- Count the number of morphemes in a word.
Comprehension
In addition the nonfiction readers and Miles and Jax stories, Foundations C students also build comprehension skills through articles, stories, and reading activities in the Foundations C Workbook. The rich variety of texts helps increase student engagement and interest in addition to building fluency and confidence.
Comprehension Skills
- Use context to identify the meaning of an unknown vocabulary word.
- Recall facts.
- Relate the text to the reader’s personal experience.
Composition
Writing keyword lists is an excellent comprehension activity AND a great way to teach beginning notetaking skills.
Composition Skills
- Write a list of keywords.
- Use descriptive words.
Foundations C Readers
Foundations C Readers
Introduce students to nonfiction texts with eight readers that explore a variety of STEM and multicultural topics. Multi-syllable words, longer sentences, and fascinating, informative nonfiction... you'll never guess they are phonics controlled!
Miles and Jax
As students read about the high-energy adventures of Miles and his pal, Jax, they will fall in love with reading! Each of the eight chapters falls at a different point in Foundations C, providing reading practice with newly learned concepts.
Assessment G
Each assessment includes worksheet activities that allow the teacher to assess the progress of each student. A chart in the Teacher's Manual lists the skills that have been taught recently and which skills should be mastered by this point. A variety of practice activities are included to help you customize review activities to the needs of the students.
Teacher Items
Foundations C requires the continued use of several teacher reusable core materials from the Teacher Items included in the Foundations A and B Sets.
Student Items
Foundations C requires the continued use of the student reusable core materials included in the Foundations A and B Sets.
Suggested Supplements
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