Savvas Essentials®: Foundational Reading for Grades K-2

Savvas Essentials® : Foundational Reading is a supplemental K-2 literacy program that targets all foundational reading skills: print concepts, phonological awareness, phonics and high-frequency words, and fluency.

  • Aligned with the Science of Reading
  • Rated “All Green” by EdReports
  • Explicit, systematic, multisensory instruction
  • Blended print and digital practice
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Give Every Student a Strong Start in Literacy

Savvas Essentials: Foundational Reading is built on proven reading science and designed to help all students learn to read.

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Aligned with the Science of Reading

Foundational Reading explicitly targets the early literacy skills identified by the Science of Reading as critical for successful reading outcomes: print concepts, phonological awareness, phonics and the teaching of high-frequency words, and fluency.

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“All Green” on EdReports


EdReports recently reviewed Savvas Essentials: Foundational Reading for foundational skills. The program earned green ratings in all areas for all grades, kindergarten through second grade. Read more on EdReports.org.

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Flexible Teaching Pathways

Foundational Reading offers two flexible pathways to support reading instruction: Use to teach all foundational reading skills, or choose to pull content from specific strands as needed to support and enhance core literacy instruction.

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Easy to Use


A simple, 3-step lesson design makes it easy for teachers to deliver systematic, explicit, multisensory instruction. Ample print and digital practice options give students fun, engaging ways to learn and practice new skills.

Interactive Tour

Explicit Instruction and Engaging Practice Aligned to the Science of Reading

  • 3-Step Instructional Design
  • Provide Just-Right Practice
  • Monitor Skills Development

3-Step Instructional Design

  • Tried-and-True Model
    Foundational Reading uses a tried-and-true “I do, we do, you do” model that gives K-2 teachers everything they need to implement direct instruction and practice that is aligned to the Science of Reading.
  • Step 1: Minilesson
    Minilessons provide teachers with direct, multisensory instruction to teach foundational reading skills. Minilessons also include systematic modeling of the skill and help teachers guide practice of the skill.
  • Step 2: More
    More offers additional practice resources purposefully designed for the foundational reading skill(s) that students are learning. Teachers can choose from a variety of print and digital practice options to best address students’ learning needs.
  • Step 3: Assess
    Assess provides a pre-built Exit Ticket for each minilesson. These provide a quick and immediate point-of-use snapshot of students’ understanding of the day’s lesson.
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Provide Just-Right Practice

  • Print Foundational Skills Practice
    Every Foundational Reading lesson includes two unique print practice options that specifically focus on skills best supported by print practice: decoding, encoding, and sight word reading.
  • Digital Foundational Skills Practice
    Every Foundational Reading lesson includes two unique digital practice options focused on skills best supported by digital practice: phonics and high-frequency words.
  • Multisensory Practice Options
    Foundational Reading lesson plans include support for auditory, visual, tactile, and kinesthetic learning—all provided right at point of use.
  • Differentiated Instruction
    Lesson plans include suggestions for differentiating instruction, including support for multilingual learners, right at point of use.
  • Custom Worksheet Builder
    With the Savvas Practice Generator, teachers can quickly generate customized worksheets from pre-built templates. Give your students as much additional practice as they need with a specific skill, customized for individual learner needs!
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Monitor Skills Development

  • Assess Lesson Understanding
    Foundational Reading provides formative assessments at the end of every minilesson to help teachers monitor skills development. These include Oral Reading Fluency checks, tips for Corrective Feedback, and pre-made Exit Tickets.
  • Review for Every Module
    Every fifth lesson in Foundational Reading is a Review lesson that refreshes students’ focus on skills while providing additional practice for those who need it. Review lessons include fluency instruction.
  • Module Skills Mastery & Oral Reading Fluency Check
    After every five lessons, a Blackline Master is provided in the Teacher’s Guide to help assess student mastery of skills taught in the most recent module. A fresh decodable passage is also provided to help assess oral reading fluency.
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Take a Closer Look at Foundational Reading

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Program Overview

Get a quick overview of the program’s components

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Digital Lesson Walkthrough

Explore a lesson, from instruction and practice to assessment

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Sequential Learning Pathway

Teach all foundational reading skills in order

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Differentiated Learning Pathway

Teach by strand to enhance core literacy instruction

View the Program Brochure

Teach Foundational Reading Skills with Interactive Digital Resources

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Watch Video

The digital components of Savvas Essentials: Foundational Reading are all hosted on the award-winning Savvas Realize® digital platform, so you can access everything you need with one login!

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Access the Digital Edition

Digital components include See and Sing Animations, Articulation Videos, Spin and Say Games, Interactive Letter Tiles, and more! Sign up for a free trial to explore the full digital edition.

Foundational Reading Resources for Educators

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  • Research Base
  • Scope and Sequence
  • Free Phonics Activities
  • Science of Reading Checklist

Grounded in the Science of Reading

Savvas Essentials: Foundational Reading leverages the research base of the Science of Reading for the source of its instructional practices, both in terms of incorporating those practices necessary for successful reading outcomes and excluding those practices that deter from reading success.

Read the Program Research Base
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Scope and Sequence for Grades K-2

This document provides an overview of the key foundational reading skills taught in each grade, spanning kindergarten, first grade, and second grade. 

View the Scope and Sequence
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50 Fun Phonics Activities

Phonics instruction is essential to helping students learn how to read and write. Get your students excited about practicing phonics with this free guide filled with fun ideas for practicing letter recognition, decoding, encoding, syllable patterns, and more!



Get Free Phonic Activities
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Science of Reading Classroom Observation Checklist

Does the curriculum and instruction in your school align with the Science of Reading? Download your free Checklist to help you understand if the key elements of the Science of Reading are visible in your classrooms.



Get the Observation Checklist
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Independent Review

Savvas Essentials: Foundational Reading earned an “All Green” rating from EdReports for Foundational Skills.

Read the EdReports Review