PAth to Literacy
Curriculum name
PAth to Literacy
Purpose
Builds children’s phonological awareness and alphabet skills, including how to blend and segment words, identify first parts of words, identify first sounds of words, learn letter names, and master letter–sound correspondence
Age range
4–6 years
Used by
Early childhood educators, special educators, literacy specialists, literacy coaches, speech-language pathologists, paraprofessionals, teacher aides
Time commitment
Each lesson takes approximately 10–15 minutes to complete. You’ll conduct 2–3 lessons per week for 12 weeks, for a total of 36 lessons.
A Phonological Awareness Intervention for Young Children
When young children struggle with phonological awareness and alphabet knowledge, how can you intervene early and prevent later reading difficulties? Get kids on the PAth to Literacy with this highly effective Tier 2 intervention. Developed for children ages 4 to 6 who need help with key early literacy skills, this supplemental curriculum builds phonological awareness and alphabet skills through fun activities that keep children engaged as they learn.
Deliver PAth to Literacy right in your classroom to small groups of students who struggle with phonological awareness and alphabet skills. In just 10 to 15 minutes a day, you’ll give students:
- Scripted instruction. Using the included scripts and the word and picture cards, you’ll play fun word games with your students. Children listen and respond to your prompts.
- Explicit teaching and modeling. You’ll show your students word and picture cards with target words and sounds. Then you’ll model key skills for them by sounding out words and dissecting them through physical gestures.
- Multiple opportunities for practice. Each engaging, multisensory lesson encourages active participation and provides multiple chances for students to repeat sounds, observe actions, and answer questions.
All children in the group participate in 2 lessons each week; children needing additional support participate in a third lesson. The full curriculum consists of 36 lessons that take approximately 24-36 instructional days to complete.
Benefits
- Addresses key predictors of later reading success: phonological awareness and alphabet skills
- Promotes kindergarten readiness by helping children develop the skills they need to succeed
- Includes fully scripted lessons that are easy to administer by a teacher or a classroom aide
- Answers the call for proven, research-based interventions—PAth to Literacy was developed by leading early childhood researchers from the federally funded Center for Response to Intervention in Early Childhood (CRTIEC)
- Engages young children with fun multisensory activities that encourage participation
- Fits easily into your schedule—takes just 10 to 15 minutes a day
- Requires no special training—just follow the simple implementation guidelines in the Teacher Guide.
Developer
What You'll Need
Includes
Teacher’s manual
More than 450 4-color instructional cards and word sheets
Storage box with dividers
Printable lesson data sheets and assessments (available online)
Free resources
PAth to Literacy program overview
Read the Program Overview about PAth to Literacy, a literacy intervention focused on improving phonological awareness skills for preschool and kindergarten children. Learn about the program components, key elements, and…
PAth to Literacy program at a glance
Read the PAth to Literacy Program at a Glance. PAth to Literacy is a literacy intervention focused on improving phonological awareness skills for preschool and kindergarten children. In this excerpt,…
The Research Behind PAth to Literacy
Read about the research evidence and pilot studies behind Path to Literacy, a literacy intervention focused on improving phonological awareness skills for preschool and kindergarten children.
PAth to Literacy sample lesson
View a sample lesson from PAth to Literacy, a literacy intervention focused on improving phonological awareness skills for preschool and kindergarten children.
PAth to Literacy sample instructional cards
View sample lesson cards from PAth to Literacy, a literacy intervention focused on improving phonological awareness skills for preschool and kindergarten children.
PAth to Literacy sample assessment
View a sample assessment from PAth to Literacy, a literacy intervention focused on improving phonological awareness skills for preschool and kindergarten children.
Training and free webinars
Strategies for encouraging reading readiness in young children
Do you have children in your program that struggle with oral language skills? The developers of the Story Friends and PAth to Literacy intervention programs present how to help improve…