UFLI Foundations is a wonderful program. We used it for reading intervention and ESL. For the younger students, we folded the page in half and glued the decodables into the notebooks so they could read, re-read, and interact with the page.
This gave us extra space to write on and adapted a few techniques for the students that needed extra support and practice.
1. Comprehension = Who & What
The goal of reading intervention is for the student to learn to read. However, the testing was showing the students had little or no comprehension and could not advance to the next level. So, we adapted a few things. Before the student could illustrate the story, they needed to list the who and the what topics in the story.
For this story, the who was Dad, Kip, and the pup. The what was the disk, mud, and the tub. After the student has read the story, they need to write the keyword on the line. Then they can draw what was in the story.
We needed to make these changes because some students wanted to draw rainbows and princesses for every story. Labeling first gave us a chance to write the words that were in the story and reflect on who and what the story was about.
2. Print Awareness Drop Down Letters
Some students struggle with tall, small, and fall letters.
Some of the students struggle to see the visual difference between d, b, & p. This print awareness skill is more than just randomly circling the letter p like a Savonjour hunt. This technique teaches the student to start at the beginning of the sentence and trace under the letters to find the letter that drops below the line. Then loop around to circle them without lifting the pencil. This is called eye-tracking. The student is visually scanning the text line the same way they would read it. This builds the left-to-right habit that is needed for decoding and encoding.
The continuous line mimics how the finger would follow under the words as the student reads and how eye tracking should follow the letters and not jump around on the page.
For this lesson #22, letter K was our focus letter, but not the letter used for the print awareness drill. Lowercase letter /p/ was the letter that the students needed to practice based on the struggles they had with reading and decoding. Teaching is flexible practice. Small adjustments can be made tailored to the students’ needs in the moment.
Fold the Page & Glue Only Half Down
Notebooks start to get full quickly. The printed decodable stories are great for reading and more. Folding the page before it is added to the notebook helps save space for more writing.
Folding creates space on the page and on the back of the folded area as well.
This routine of folding the page saved us a lot of space in our notebooks. Instead of using two pages for every lesson, we were able to use only one page per lesson.
Under this flap can be spelling words, sentences, irregular words or handwriting practice.
Get the UFLI decodable for the Toolbox. From the Resources Menu
Or the Printable Resources – for compiled lessons & Supplemental Decodable Passages
I taught reading intervention for many years. I found that the things that I used daily needed to be within reach and organized. Teachers often ask about supplies and must-haves for using the UFLI Foundations on Facebook posts. So, I have put together a few of my ideas. I hope that they are helpful to you.
How to keep your UFLI supplies organized
Whether you are just starting with UFLI or you have been doing this for a while, we all can learn from each other.
Must-haves to help the teacher with UFLI
When you’re teaching a lesson and you have the attention of your students, every moment counts. You do not want to be caught unprepared or, worse, need to get up and search for something that is lost.
I taught reading intervention for many years. I found that the things that I used daily needed to be within reach and organized. Teachers often ask about supplies and must-haves for using the UFLI Foundations on Facebook posts. So, I have put together a few of my ideas. I hope that they are helpful to you.
Large coil binders were a great way for me to print out all my decodable stories and the roll and reads. The binding keeps them in order and easy to locate quickly. This also made them reusable. For the loose copies, I use the large display books. I can fit 10 or more in each pocket. It keeps them in order and handy near my reading table. Magazine holder turned sideways on my shelf. They are great for holding our blending boards.
The blending boards are metal whiteboards. We have 4 different sets; each set has more letters, progressing up to my highest readers. This picture is set 2 for my students that are on lesson 12. We have 5 to a set, 4 student boards, and one teacher board.
Having the boards pre-loaded and ready is helpful. It took a lot of time to set up with printing, cutting, and magnets, but it paid off. After we use them, the students return the letters to the top and put the clear plastic L pocket cover over the boards. The L pocket keeps the magnets on the board and allows me to store the boards upright. Extra magnet letters are in the smaller box to the side, for when we need to add another letter. Or when one letter temporarily goes missing.
In the ULFI toolbox the printable blending boards are called Word Work Mat. Or you can use the digital word work mat. We used customized mats in the picture above. The TPT link is below.
Vowel Importance
If your taking the time to print them on paper. My suggest is make the vowels a special color. My student were struggling with the vowel sound and understanding the importance of vowels in the words. My custom blending board for word work was a way to reach them on a visual level and highlighting the difference between vowels and consonants.
We love our roll and reads. We use them in a lot of different ways. This is a two-player game. Competitive 4-in-a-row reading. Each player reads a word and places the colored chip down. If the player misreads the word, the other player gets to put down their chip instead.
Printable Resources
The UFLI Toolbox is full of great stuff. There is a lot of free stuff in the printable Resources. Check there first. A lot of the same stuff is on TPT with a bit more flash and customized stuff. I made my own blending boards to fit with the decodables books we were using for ESL. Regular and with picture-embedded tiles for the language learners that match my handwriting letter sheets.
Blending board options
I found a whiteboard that stands up. Instead of using the flat whiteboards. From Kmart.
It was nice for a hands-free option. The extra heart tile was added to practice the heart words. We put the heart over the letter that is tricky. ♥️ The girls loved that. One boy wanted a star instead. ⭐
Tabs are helpful
♥️ Love the UFLI Manual. I’m trying to keep it in good shape. I applied a clear cover of contact paper to the front and back. I also made large tabs for my book and files. They were printed on 11×17 ledger-size paper, laminated, and cut.
These were printed on standard size paper 8.5×11 . There keep my phonogram cards organized.
This is what they look like printed on colored paper. Carefully cut, you get to cards out of one sheet of paper. They can be used for heart words or anything else that you need to be sorted. They are on TPT UFLI Tabs with lesson #’s
Small group items organized. The small containers for colored clips with lids that are attached. They came from a take-out restaurant. Sauce cups or something. The dice are in a small container and taped shut. To keep the dice from getting lost. Kids just shake it and read the number. No more chasing the dice all over the table and floor.
The white electrical tape and thin black marker are for fast labeling of games and books.
The picture on the right is a lot of my personal designs for visual phonics and word lists. We call them spelling cheat sheets. The colorful mnemonics help the students make sound connections to the letters embedded in the shapes of the letters. Vowel teams, digraphs, trigraphs, and suffixes. I have put spelling rules and word lists on the back. They are grouped by the UFLI scope & sequence plus some extra spelling bonuses that are not covered by UFLI. The kids love them. I like convenience and visuals.
They are on TPT. I have them printed as Large displays for my lessons and smaller for groups.
Many people have asked for handwriting practice. That aligns to ULFI.
I have made these worksheets to match the lesson numbers, articulation images, handwriting, heart words, and the decodable words. Includes lowercase and capital letter matching.
These sheets have a little bit of each lesson plus the handwriting and the sound articulation altogether in one place.
ULFI does have free heart words on their site. I love the toolbox. They are on the printable resources page. Many people have asked for the lesson numbers on the cards. I agree; it does make it a little bit easier. So I made some for myself and indicated if it was an irregular word or a temporary irregular decodable word on the card.
The lesson numbers and notes help me to stay organized and quickly explain to students that this true heart word or a temporary irregular word because we have not covered that lesson yet. Great for Orthographic Mapping.
For more sight words and orthographic mapping by sounds and spelling rules, I created a book to help keep me organized.
Comprehension using comic boxes gets the student willing to re-read the text repeatedly and draw it out. This also breaks up the text into smaller chunks of reading. Some students look at a text-only page and push it away, saying, “That is too many words”. However, that same text put into boxes is easier to take on.
Kids can learn letter formation visually from a storybook
These story-based picture books help children learn how to form lowercase letters the right way—through engaging characters and visual storytelling, not repetitive worksheets. Young learners can visually see the similarities in the letters. Each book guides young learners step-by-step, showing how letters are shaped and why, so children naturally understand proper formation as part of the story.
Designed for preschool and early primary years, this series builds strong handwriting foundations while keeping learning enjoyable and meaningful. It’s a gentle, effective way to support early writing skills—perfect for parents, teachers, and anyone looking to help children develop confident, correct handwriting from the very beginning.
Why This Approach Works Better Than Traditional Handwriting Books
Grouping letters by similar shapes helps children build both muscle memory and visual recognition more effectively. When letters are introduced in carefully chosen groups, learners begin to notice patterns in how letters are formed, making it easier to remember and reproduce them correctly. This structured approach supports consistent, confident handwriting from the very beginning.
By practising letters with related shapes, children strengthen fine motor skills through repeated, meaningful movements rather than isolated drills. Over time, this reduces common issues like letter reversals and confusion, as children develop a clear and reliable understanding of how each lowercase letter is formed.
The Four-Book Set is available together in one complete book
Phonics blending activities help struggling readers master blending CVC words, overcome letter name interference, and build confidence. Using hands-on phoneme sound switching cards, children can transform reading frustration into success.
Why Some Children Know the Alphabet… But Still Can’t Read (And What Actually Helps)
If you’ve ever worked with an early reader who can confidently recite the alphabet but freezes when asked to read a simple word, you’re not alone—and you’re not doing anything wrong.
This is one of the most common and frustrating challenges for parents, tutors, and educators.
A child knows their letters… They recognize them on sight… But when it’s time to read, everything seems to fall apart.
So what’s going on?
The Hidden Problem: Letter Name Interference
Many early readers rely on letter names instead of sounds when they try to decode words.
For example, when they see the word fox, instead of hearing: /f/ /o/ /x/
They might think: “ef–oh–ex”
And that simply doesn’t blend into a recognizable word.
This is especially tricky for letters like:
h, w, y, x (where the name doesn’t match the sound)
c and g (which can have multiple sounds)
For these learners, traditional blending strategies—like sounding out each phoneme—can feel confusing, slow, and discouraging.
Why Blending Feels So Hard for Some Students
We often teach reading as:
“Sound it out and blend it together.”
And while that works for many students, others struggle with:
Holding multiple sounds in working memory
Sequencing sounds smoothly
Ignoring letter names and focusing only on sounds
So even simple CVC words can feel overwhelming.
A Simpler Way: Change Just One Sound
What if instead of asking students to build a word from scratch…
We let them transform a word they already know?
This is where phoneme switching becomes incredibly powerful.
For example:
Start with box
Remove b
Replace it with /f/
Now you have fox
Only one sound changes.
That’s it.
This small shift reduces cognitive load (mental effort) and helps students:
Focus on one sound at a time
See how sounds map to words
Build confidence through success
Why This Approach Works So Well
When students use phoneme switching:
They don’t have to juggle multiple sounds at once
They can visually and physically manipulate words
They immediately see and hear the result of a sound change
Even better…
They can check their own work instantly.
Built-In Confidence: The Power of Self-Checking
Each card includes:
A simple CVC word
A visual image on the back
So when a student transforms: box into fox, they flip the card and immediately see a picture of a fox.
No guessing. No waiting for correction. No uncertainty.
Just instant confirmation with a visual image:
“I got it right.”
That feeling of success is everything for struggling readers.
Who This Is Perfect For
This approach is especially effective for:
Early emergent readers
Students who are struggling with blending
Learners experiencing letter name interference (sound/name mix-up)
Children who need visual and hands-on support
Of course, some students can blend sounds easily—and that’s great!
But for those who can’t, this method provides a missing bridge.
A Must-Have Tool for Your Reading Toolkit
If you’ve been trying to figure out why a child “knows their letters” but still can’t read…
This is likely the piece that’s been missing.
Your phoneme sound switching card game turns reading into:
A clear process
A hands-on experience
A confidence-building success loop
And most importantly—it works.
Ready to Help Your Students Finally “Get It”?
If you’re a parent, tutor, or educator looking for a practical, effective way to support struggling readers, this resource can make an immediate difference.
👉 Get your phoneme sound switching card game today on Teachers Pay Teachers and start turning confusion into confidence—one sound at a time.
Additional this game-style learning also includes a bit of vocabulary introduced. Some students may not know the difference between a fox and a cat. They may not know what a cub is. Often, students second-guess their reading because the completely decodable word is new to them, and they do not trust the sounds.
For more flip-chute cards and homophones, go to my store on TPT.
Educational games do more than entertain—they train the brain. When students play spelling games that sort words by vowel teams or consonant blends, or adapt to changing rules in card games like Crazy Eights and UNO, they’re developing cognitive flexibility. This skill helps them switch between tasks, adjust to new information, and think creatively—making them more adaptable learners both in and out of the classroom.
How Educational Games Foster Cognitive Flexibility in Students
In today’s dynamic learning environments, educational games are proving to be more than just fun—they’re essential tools for cognitive development. One critical skill they nurture is cognitive flexibility, the mental ability to switch between thinking about two different concepts or to think about multiple concepts simultaneously. This skill is crucial not only for academic success but also for navigating everyday challenges.
Spelling games, for instance, offer powerful cognitive training. When students sort words by multiple attributes—like beginning sounds, syllable count, or spelling patterns—they’re engaging in flexible thinking. A game might challenge them to group words by vowel teams in one round, and then by consonant blends in the next. This kind of task-switching encourages students to adapt their mental strategies, boosting their ability to pivot between rules and patterns.
Color-coded phonics games also can enhance cognitive agility. Matching games that combine vowel teams (like “ea” in “bread” or “ee” in “tree”) or consonant blends (like “tr” or “bl”) with colorful cues help students create flexible associations. They learn to recognize that one sound can appear in different letter combinations and that the same visual cue may apply to multiple sounds depending on context.
CVC Uno-style game. Build cognitive flexibility with the foundational short vowel sounds.
Even classic card games adapted for the classroom, such as Crazy Eights or UNO, can be educationally potent. These games require players to respond quickly to changing rules. Like changing suit, color, or numbers, Which mirrors the kind of flexible thinking needed in learning environments. When teachers modify these games to include vocabulary, math facts, or grammar prompts. Students can seamlessly blend content learning with cognitive skill-building.
Incorporating such games into the curriculum provides students with playful, engaging opportunities to practice adapting, shifting, and applying knowledge in real-time. The result? Stronger minds, sharper problem-solvers, and learners who can think on their feet. This Uno-style CVC game is a simple tool for practicing the basic
How to teach the heart words just got easier with this mapping manual for teachers. Decoding and encoding by the spelling patterns. Sound articulations and spelling rules all organized in one place.
Detailed sight word mapping by sounds, with articulation support.
Help is at your fingertips with these colorful tabs on the teacher’s manual. Low Prep organized Teacher’s Guide. Support your students by explicitly teaching heart word mapping sorted by sounds. Differentiated levels, cumulative instruction, phonics, and spelling patterns. Student worksheets. Articulation images with detailed explanations. Great for reading intervention!
Heart words grouped by the sounds make it easier for students to practice and retain the information.
Unique Heart Word Decoding Elkonin Boxes
Full Red Heart – Focused heart sound skill
Heart Outlines– Previously learned pattern
Green line – Decodable sound
Green line with a Dark outline – Long vowel that says its name
White line with X – silent letter
Articulation Instruction
Mouth image with airflow lines
Voiced and unvoiced marking under bottom lip ~
Detailed descriptions of lip and mouth movements
Helpful descriptions of sound: bursts, vibrates, air pushes
Spelling Patterns – Tabs
Vowel Sounds, Schwa, 2 Long u sounds, Digraphs, R-Controlled, R-Trigraph, consonants, th/th voiced and unvoiced, wh
Consonants – Begin c, k, ending ck, ending k, ke, ic, soft & hard g, dge, ending l, ll, le
more
s = z sound
The suffix – ed has 3 sounds
contractions
tricky Y
more
How will this help you?
Well-organized resource. Easy to grab and teach with No-prep work.
Heart Words are orthographicly mapped for you. Explicit phonics.
Code-based spelling instruction.
Color-coded decodable sounds are green or darker outlines for long vowels.
Heart Words and decodable words are grouped together by similar sounds, which makes teaching them easy and sound-focused.
Sound checks on the back cover.
Vowel articulation on the last page.
Detailed sound articulation directions are at your fingertips.
Student worksheets are versatile to use. Follow the link to see the video.
Cumulative Instruction
Heart Words and High-frequency words grouped by sounds are presented in a sequential and cumulative format.
Starting with the simplest words first and then progressing to more advanced words.
Example – short a
at,
an,
and,
am,
as * ( this one is the heart sound, s = z) The other words were decodable.
This is an easy no-prep whiteboard game that we did the other day. We simply used some words from the UFLI lesson 107 suffix spelling changes roll and read. They had to remember to erase the double consonants and the suffix.
Students are challenged to find the hidden root words.
Added suffixes seem to come very naturally when we are speaking, but it grows more challenging when we need to spell or read these longer words.
Students are often intimidated by the length of a word. They often say “I don’t know” or “I can’t.” too quickly. Plural words and past tense words may be some of the first words they will encounter. I have made fun games for both of those skills.
This is an easy no-prep whiteboard game that we did the other day. I simply used some words from the UFLI lesson 107 suffix spelling changes. I wrote the words on the board and then the four students took turns trying to find the main root word. All the words that I chose had the double consonant pattern.
I used simple words like bag, pop, slip, win, and more…
The girls enjoyed it so much that we had to adapt the game and play it again the next day.
There are a lot of spelling skills that you can teach with just the suffix -ed.
th, wh, w Heart Words. By focusing on a target skill, teaching these sight words can be easier for some students. Instead of choosing random sight words that may span over many new skills and spelling patterns. Choosing similar words will help them focus on what they are learning and help them escape the guessing game. I have found this very helpful strategy during reading intervention, especially with dyslexic students.
There are some tricky sight words that may leave many students guessing. Without lots of heart word practice, they may be relying on predictive reading strategies.
What is a heart word? Simply put and heart word is very much like a Sight Word, or a High-Frequency Word with one expectation. The heart word has at least one part of the word that needs to be memorized by heart.
The word they.
The word (they) may be decodable for more advanced students who know that the /th/ is a digraph and sometimes the letters /ey/ can make the long /a/ sound as in the word obey. For other students, the word (they) could be overwhelming as they try to decode four letters that are not making their normal letter sounds.
Grouping th, wh, and w, Words Together
By focusing on a target skill, teaching these sight words can be easier for some students. Instead of choosing random sight words that may span over many new skills and spelling patterns. Choosing similar words will help them focus on what they are learning and help them escape the guessing game. I have found this very helpful strategy during reading intervention, especially with dyslexic students.
th wh w uno targeted heart words. Pure Joy Teaching
Wh, and w – usually make the same /w/ sound. Except for words like: who, whom, whose, and whole. In the game, these words are wild cards, because the /wh/ is now making the tricky /h/ sound. This may be hard for ESL students to understand when they read these words in isolation or come across them in text. That is why this game is so helpful. It gives them advanced practice with these spelling patterns. Notice that they all have the letter /o/ after the /wh/.
Do you need help understanding how to teach the SCHWA Spelling pattern?
Surprise! There are a few tricks to this spelling pattern that can make it easier to teach and fun for students to learn.
Do you need help understanding how to teach the SCHWA Spelling pattern?
Surprise! There are a few tricks to this schwa spelling pattern that can make it easier to teach and fun for students to learn.
Kids love to play games. This Schwa UNO-style game has a very predictable sound pattern. All the words have at least one short /u/ sound. It is not just the final letter /a/ that can make the schwa sound as in: pizza, tuna, and comma.
The truth is any of the vowels can make the schwa sound. So be on the lookout and listen for all the vowel patterns in this game. Vowels: a, e, i, & o, might be making the short /u/ sound.
Letter a – Schwa sound
was
what
grandma
about
The vowel /a/may produce the schwa sound; it can occur in any position within a word. It may depend on your country, region, or dialect of English. It is often called the lazy /a/ sound. The open-mouth schwa sound is easier to say.
Letter e – Schwa sound
The
the
The vowel /e/ may be the first schwa sound word that trips up the young student decoder. Letters /th/ are a digraph that they might know, but then the letter /e/ changes and is now making the schwa sound. In the game, there are both capital and lowercase cards for /the/.
Letter o – Schwa sound
love
other
done
some
of
The vowel /o/ makes the schwa sound more often than you might think. There is a very predictable spelling pattern for some of the words. When the vowel letter /o/ is followed by: v, m, n, or th, it might make the schwa sound.
v, m, n, th
Examples are these words: oven, love, glove, and shovel.
