Strong Foundations: Building Skilled Readers Across K–5 

Strong readers are built over time. In this four-part series, we explore how foundational skills develop across grades K–5 and why they remain essential as texts become more complex.

See how Great Minds® new Arts & Letters®: Reading Foundations structures explicit foundational skills instruction through purposeful practice and streamlined routines. When paired with Arts & Letters®: Language Arts knowledge-rich content, the two strands help students become confident, capable readers.

Beyond the Early Grades: How Foundational Skills Grow Across K–5 (Part One) 

Tuesday, October 20, 2026 | 2:00 P.M. ET

Learning to read doesn’t stop once students master basic phonics. As texts get harder, students need stronger word-reading skills to read fluently, spell accurately, and make meaning from what they read. In this session, we introduce Arts & Letters: Reading Foundations, a K–5 program that pairs with Arts & Letters: Language Arts for a coherent literacy experience.

Speakers: Kate Foley, Emily Gula, Melissa Loftus

Building Blocks of Reading: Explicit, Foundational Skills Instruction in K–2 (Part Two)

Tuesday, October 27, 2026 | 2:00 P.M. ET

Early readers need more than exposure to phonics. They need real chances to learn, practice, and apply those skills until reading becomes more automatic. Grounded in the Science of Reading, K–2 lessons in Reading Foundations deliver explicit, systematic instruction that unlocks the code of written English.

Speakers: Karen Carpenter, LeighAnne Cheeseman, Lori Sappington

Bridging the Gap: Decoding to Comprehension in Grades 3–5 (Part Three)

Thursday, November 5, 2026 | 2:00 P.M. ET

By grade 3, students need to access more complex texts. But they still need strong decoding skills to make meaning of those texts. Reading Foundations extends foundational skills instruction into grades 3–5, bridging word recognition and comprehension so students can access grade-level materials.

Speakers: Lauren Reed, Jennifer Ruppel, Lori Sappington

More Than Decoding: Building Knowledge as Students Learn to Read (Part Four) 

Tuesday, November 17, 2026 | 2:00 P.M. ET

What if foundational skills practice could help students build knowledge as they learn to read the words on a page? Reading Foundations takes a different approach. Knowledge strands from Language Arts are woven into every lesson, grounding foundational skills instruction in rich topics rather than isolation.

Speakers: Lorraine Griffith, Rachel Hylton, Melissa Loftus

You’ll have a chance to ask questions during the live Q&A with the Great Minds Literacy team.

Can’t attend a session? Register anyway, and we’ll send you the recording.