Level 3
Level 3 of Fundations® builds on the basic skills that were learned in Fundations Levels K-2 and progresses further into the study of word structure, focusing on advanced spelling rules and morphology. It is important to note that Fundations Level 2 is a prerequisite for Fundations Level 3 due to the advanced nature of the Level 3 curriculum. Teachers should combine Fundations with a wide variety of text experiences, and expose students to poetry, narrative and informational text.
By the end of Level 3, students will be able to:
- Identify parts of words (syllables, basewords, suffixes)
- Identify word structures such as vowels, consonants, blends, digraphs, digraph blends, trigraphs (tch, dge)
- Identify all six syllable types: closed, vowel-consonant-e, open, r-controlled, vowel digraph/diphthong, consonant-le
- Identify the “exceptions” to these six syllable types
- Read and spell words with these unexpected vowel sounds (exceptions)
- Segment syllables into sounds (phonemes) and divide multisyllabic words
- Read and spell words with short and long vowel sounds
- Read and spell words with r-controlled vowels (ar, er, ir, or, ur)
- Read and spell words with vowel teams (ai, ay, ee, ey, ea, ei, eigh, ie, igh, oi, oy, oa, ow, oe, ou, oo, ue, ew, au, aw)
- Identify schwa
- Read and spell words with the unexpected vowel sound of schwa in unaccented syllables
- Read and spell phonetically regular words
- Read words with sound options for the grapheme representation
- Spell words with options for the grapheme representation for sounds with use of a spell checker or dictionary
- Read and spell words with additional sounds of a and ch, the suffix -ed, and the soft sounds of c and g
- Read and spell words with ph, nge, nce, tion, sion, ture, tu, ti, ci
- Read and spell words with silent letters (wr, rh, gn, kn, mn, mb, gh)
- Read and spell words with suffixes, including most common Latin suffixes (-s, -ed, -ing, -est, -ish, -able, -ive, -y, -ful, -ment, -less, -ness, -ly, -ty, -er, -en, -es, -ous, -al, -ent, -an, -ward, -or)
- Identify and know the meaning of most common Latin suffixes
- Read and spell words with suffixes added to unchanging basewords (strongest)
- Form and use regular and irregular plural nouns
- Apply spelling rules for adding suffixes to basewords that change (sliding)
- Read and spell contractions, reduce two words into a contraction, and identify the words from which a contraction was made
- Read and spell trick words or targeted high frequency words
- Read and know meaning of sound-alike words (homophones)
- Determine and clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple meaning words (patient)
- Use a known root word as a clue to the meaning of an unknown word with the same root
- Construct simple, compound and complex sentences using vocabulary words using proper capitalization, punctuation, and incorporating coordinating and subordinating conjunctions
- Apply correct punctuation and capitalization rules for beginning of sentences and names of people
- Know meaning of targeted vocabulary words (Word of the Day) and different inflected forms of words when a known affix is added (confuse, confusing)
- Form and use comparative and superlative adjectives, adverbs, and regular verbs
- Acquire and use accurately grade-level conversational and general academic words
- Identify real-life connections between words and their use
- Use sentence-level context as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase (Home Support Packet)
- Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing and reading
- Apply dictionary skills and consult reference material to check and correct spelling and to determine and/or clarify precise meaning
- Use correct writing position and pencil grip
- Write clear, legible cursive at an appropriate rate