Is the Science of Reading the same as phonics?

The Science of Reading has identified five foundational reading skills that are considered crucial for early reading development. One of those skills is phonics. In other words, the Science of Reading has established that phonics are crucial, but the Science of Reading is not the same as phonics. Phonics instruction helps students learn how to sound out and blend letters to read words accurately. As we know from the Simple View of Reading, two fundamental skills are required for reading with comprehension: Decoding—the ability to recognize written words (via phonics) Language comprehension—understanding what words mean And the Science of Reading also reminds us that students do not have to learn phonics or decoding before knowledge comes into the equation. “The background knowledge that children bring to a text is also a contributor to language comprehension,” says Sonia Cabell, Ph.D., associate professor at Florida State University’s School of Teacher Education, on Science of Reading: The Podcast.

What Amplify programs utilize the Science of Reading?

Actually, we have a full literacy suite built on the Science of Reading! It includes: mCLASS® assessment, powered by DIBELS® 8th Edition, a gold-standard universal and dyslexia screener, plus a progress monitoring tool, all in one. Amplify Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA), which provides explicit, systematic foundational skills instruction combined with intentional knowledge building. Boost Reading, a highly adaptive personalized reading program that reinforces the core curriculum and supports enrichment, remediation, and intervention for each student in your classroom. mCLASS Intervention, a staff-led intervention program targeted to Tiers 2 and 3, made easy with automatic data-driven grouping and sequenced explicit, systematic skills lesson plans to support at-risk students.

What program supports are available for ELL students and struggling readers?

For younger students Students propel the storyline in Boost Reading forward as they take on quests in Bookerton. This narrative is available in both English and Spanish. Students can toggle between the two languages through their settings menu. In-Game Supports In addition to the overall narrative, many of the games have features that support ELL students and struggling readers: Many of the games have read-aloud text or are picture-based so that students can work independently, whatever their level of language proficiency. Supports such as cognates are provided for vocabulary words in Boost Reading interactive Reader. Boost Reading has games that cover phonics and phonological awareness, including at the syllable level, to support pre-readers who need robust instruction in these areas. Boost Reading has games that provide explicit language instruction, for example connectives and anaphora, as well as strategy instruction in comprehension monitoring and morphology. Boost Reading’s instructional methods (e.g., providing clear models, multiple opportunities to practice skills, feedback, cumulative review) and the skills and strategies taught in phonics, morphology, and language leverage techniques proven to help ELs learn how to read in English. Coupled with progressing Spanish-language support, Boost Reading ensures that all students can succeed, no matter what their first language is. Read more here.

Making reading comprehension connections

A smiling girl in a green shirt sits at a desk with an open book, holding a pencil, highlighting the importance of literacy benchmarks. A yellow background with a book icon is shown behind her.

Comprehension isn’t just a process, or just a product—it’s both. And connecting reading and understanding is what most teachers are working on every day.

That fundamental connection was the focus of our recent Science of Reading Webinar Week: Comprehension Connections—Building the Bridge Between Reading and Understanding, a five-day, expert-filled series that unpacked what really drives comprehension, from early decoding to middle school mastery.

Here’s a quick look at what you’ll learn when you watch—and a few ideas you can use right away.

Day 1: What Is Reading Comprehension, Anyway?

Speaker: Susan Lambert, Ed.D., Chief Academic Officer, Literacy, Amplify; Host of Science of Reading: The Podcast

“Reading comprehension is more than just language comprehension. It’s language comprehension on the page, which makes it much more complex.” — Susan Lambert, Ed.D.

If you ask ten teachers to define comprehension, you might get twelve answers. Lambert opened the week by grounding everyone in the Science of Reading, including the Simple View of Reading and the Reading Rope. Skilled reading, she reminded viewers, is the result of multiple strands—decoding, language comprehension, and knowledge—woven together over time.

The takeaway? The most effective approaches don’t teach comprehension strategies—such as “find the main idea”—in isolation. Rather, they connect word recognition to meaning through rich texts, conversation, and writing. Whether you’re teaching second-grade reading comprehension or sixth-grade reading comprehension, students need the same thing: a clear path from sounding out words to making sense of ideas.

Day 2: Comprehension and Knowledge Building: A Two-Way Street

Speakers: Sonia Cabell, Ph.D., Sigmon Endowed Professor of Reading Education, Florida State University

HyeJin Hwang, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Educational Psychology, University of Minnesota Twin Cities

“Better background knowledge leads to improved reading comprehension, which in turn enables readers to learn more from text, thereby building additional knowledge.” —HyeJin Hwang, Ph.D.

In their session, Sonia Cabell and HyeJin Hwang explored one of the clearest findings in reading research: Comprehension and knowledge develop together. Cabell began by explaining how comprehension (including oral language, background knowledge, vocabulary, syntax, and verbal reasoning) forms one of the essential strands of the Reading Rope.

Students can’t activate knowledge they don’t yet have. Teachers need to help them build it early, and intentionally. Cabell’s research found that integrating literacy and content instruction produced gains in vocabulary and content knowledge.

Likewise, Hwang’s two large-scale longitudinal studies showed that better knowledge instruction leads to better reading, which leads to even more knowledge. These findings held true across languages and grade levels, underscoring the universal value of content-rich instruction.

Classroom takeaways:

Plan literacy units around connected science or social studies topics to build coherent knowledge.
Use content-rich interactive read-alouds with discussion before, during, and after reading.
Ask inferential comprehension questions (“Why?” “How?”) that require students to connect ideas using their own words.
Encourage quick writing or drawing tasks that help students show what they’ve learned.

Day 3: Where and How to Measure Comprehension to Drive Improvement

Speakers: Danielle Damico, Ph.D., Executive Director of Learning Science, Amplify

Gina Biancarosa, Ed.D., Ann Swindells Chair in Education, University of Oregon

“Reading comprehension is both a process and a product.” —Danielle Damico, Ph.D.

Too often, comprehension is measured only as a finished product—how well students answer questions after reading—without revealing how they built understanding along the way. This session explored what comprehension actually involves: reading words accurately, understanding their meaning, applying background knowledge, and making inferences. As researcher Sharon Vaughn, Ph.D., has described, these interconnected skills all work together as students learn to read.

Biancarosa showed how looking at comprehension as a complex process helps teachers see student thinking in action. She described the major types of inferences—lexical, bridging, gap-filling, and causal—and the importance of understanding how students connect ideas and construct meaning.

Try this:

Treat comprehension as ongoing thinking, not a one-time test score.
Use brief think-alouds or class discussions to get a look at how students connect ideas.
Match assessments to the precise question you’re trying to answer.
Let assessment guide instruction—data should lead directly to next steps.

Day 4: Comprehension in Middle School: More Important Than Ever

Speaker: Deb Sabin, Chief Academic Officer, Amplify ELA

“Writing done right encodes knowledge. And discourse done right gets into the realm of higher-order thinking.” —Deb Sabin

By the time you’re teaching fourth-grade reading comprehension through sixth-grade reading comprehension, decoding should be automatic. At this stage, the upper strands of the Reading Rope—vocabulary, background knowledge, and syntax—move to the forefront. In this session, Deb Sabin highlighted how comprehension in middle school relies on academic knowledge, disciplinary vocabulary, and structured discourse—and how it truly blossoms when reading, writing, and speaking reinforce one another.

Classroom moves that help:

Pair writing with reading: Even short, text-based responses consolidate knowledge in long-term memory.
Use structured discussion (“accountable talk”), where students cite text evidence and build on one another’s ideas.
Center rich, grade-level texts that challenge thinking and vocabulary.

Day 5: Finding the Missing Link in Reading Comprehension to Boost Literacy Success

Speaker: Julie A. Van Dyke, Ph.D., Clinical Assistant Professor, Yale University Child Study Center; Research Scientist, Yale-UConn Haskins Global Literacy Hub

“Teach phonics for decoding. Teach syntax for understanding.” —Julie A. Van Dyke, Ph.D.

In the final presentation of the series, Julie Van Dyke explored an often-overlooked element of comprehension: syntax—the way words combine to create meaning. Van Dyke argued that syntax is to comprehension what phonics is to decoding.

She illustrated how the Science of Reading and the Reading Rope locate syntax within the language-comprehension strands—critical to understanding who did what to whom in complex sentences. Explicitly teaching sentence structure helps all learners, including multilingual/English learners, access higher-level meaning.

Simple practices can make a difference:

Have students paraphrase tricky sentences. (Starter question: “Who’s doing the action?”)
Pull strong sentences from your class texts to show how structure shapes meaning.
Encourage students to mirror those structures in their own writing.

What linked all five sessions together? The understanding that comprehension develops when teachers connect the code, the language, and the knowledge. Whether students are decoding in second grade or crafting essays in sixth, they thrive when we help them move from reading to understanding—step by step, strand by strand.

Watch all five on-demand recordings.

More to explore:

Download your Comprehension 101 bundle.
Read (and comprehend!): Reading comprehension strategies grounded in science
Listen to this special Essentials episode of Science of Reading: The Podcast, where Susan Lambert and other experts distill key reading comprehension insights.

Reading comprehension strategies grounded in science

When we teach reading using what science (specifically the Science of Reading) tells us, we guide the brain to start recognizing and understanding those letters, syllables, and words. And the most effective reading comprehension strategies depend not only on explicit instruction, but on building background knowledge.

Comprehension instruction: Breaking it down

According to the Simple View of Reading, two cognitive capacities are required for proficient reading: (1) decoding, and (2) language comprehension.

“Reading comprehension is the product, not the sum, of those two components,” says Dr. Jane Oakhill, professor of experimental psychology at the University of Sussex. “If one of them is zero, then overall reading ability is going to be zero.”

As Oakhill explains further on Science of Reading: The Podcast, each component contains its own set of distinct skills and processes. It’s crucial to help students develop all of these capacities.

Building mental models for new information

Some readers are great at decoding but struggle with language comprehension. Why might that be—and how can you support them?

Here’s some context: After you read this paragraph, you aren’t likely to recall the precise wording—but you will probably remember the idea. Researchers use the term mental model to describe the cognitive strategies for the structure you create in your mind to perform this feat of comprehension.

Historically, educators have thought about the process of comprehension — everything that happens after each word is recognized — as a black box. But now we know that there are two levels of comprehension at work: comprehension processes and comprehension products.

Comprehension processes are the steps you take to build a mental model of a text during reading. Comprehension products refer to the work you are able to do with that model after reading.

Think of the process of building a mental model as a sort of micro-comprehension. Weaker comprehenders build weaker models, so they may struggle when asked to create a narrative text summary, identify a theme, put together predictions, or describe key details of a character’s evolving beliefs.

By actively engaging with text, connecting prior knowledge, utilizing graphic organizers, receiving explicit instruction, and exploring new information, students can learn to build robust mental models that enhance their comprehension of the text. These mental models serve as frameworks for understanding, organizing, and synthesizing information, which then leads to improved comprehension, retention, and critical thinking.

Researchers have identified as many as 17 comprehension processes that affect students’ ability to build and use their mental models. The following are a few of the comprehension processes that weak comprehenders most commonly struggle with, and that with practice, can be targeted for skill development and improved overall comprehension.

Anaphora (using pronouns to refer to an earlier word or phrase): Some readers struggle to process pronoun relationships (Megherbi & Ehrlich, 2005), identify antecedents, and answer questions that require resolution of anaphora (Yuill & Oakhill, 1988).
Gap-filling inference: When reading the sentence “Carla forgot her umbrella and got soaking wet,” more skilled readers will conclude that it rained. A lack of awareness of when and how to activate background knowledge to fill in gaps may hinder a student’s ability to make inferences and comprehend the text as a whole (Cain & Oakhill, 1999).
Marker words: Writers use connective words (e.g., so, though, and yet), structure cues (e.g., meanwhile), and predictive cues (e.g., “There are three reasons why…”) to signal ways that text fits together. Students with limited knowledge of the meaning and function of these words may struggle with the meaning of the text (Oakhill, et al., 2015).
Comprehension monitoring: When proficient readers encounter difficulty, they tend to stop, reread, and try to figure it out. Less proficient readers may just keep going or fail to recognize that what they’re reading doesn’t fit their mental model.

Two strategies that you can employ in your classroom to guide students in comprehension strategy instruction:

Graphic organizers: Use graphic organizers such as concept maps, story maps, or Venn diagrams to help students learn to visually organize information and relationships within the text. Visualization enhances comprehension (Graesser, et al., 1994). As the text progresses, students can refer to and update their models.
Comprehension monitoring: Teach readers to monitor their comprehension while reading by pausing to reflect on their understanding, clarify confusing points, and adjust their reading strategies as needed. Monitoring comprehension helps good readers stay engaged and actively construct meaning from the text.

How background knowledge powers comprehension

The Science of Reading demonstrates the importance of systematic and explicit phonics instruction. But students don’t have to learn phonics or decoding before knowledge comes into the equation. In fact, the opposite might even be true.

Let’s say you’re handed a passage of text describing part of a baseball game. You read the text, and then you’re asked to reenact that part of the game. Which is most likely to help you do so?

Your ability to read
Your knowledge of baseball
Neither

If you answered “2,” you’re batting 1,000. This example summarizes an influential 1988 study that concluded that the strongest predictor of comprehension was knowledge. In the study, which showed readers (with varying degrees of background knowledge about baseball) a passage describing a game, struggling readers comprehended as well as strong readers—as long as they had prior knowledge of baseball.

“The background knowledge that children bring to a text is also a contributor to language comprehension,” says Sonia Cabell, Ph.D., an associate professor at Florida State University’s School of Teacher Education, on Science of Reading: The Podcast.

In fact, background knowledge is the scaffolding upon which readers build connections between prior knowledge and new words. Students with average reading ability and some background knowledge of a topic will generally comprehend a text on that topic as well as stronger readers who lack that knowledge.

But until recently, literacy instruction has typically focused on decontextualized skills—finding the main idea, making inferences—rather than on the content of texts and resources that students engage with. According to Cabell, what we know about knowledge and comprehension should inform instruction for the whole class. “I think most, if not every, theory of reading comprehension implicates knowledge,” she says. “But that hasn’t necessarily been translated into all of our instructional approaches.”

How can we help build background knowledge while teaching reading? Here are some strategies backed by science.

Systematically build the knowledge that will become background knowledge. Use a curriculum grounded in topics that build on one another. “When related concepts and vocabulary show up in texts, students are more likely to retain information and acquire new knowledge,” say education and literacy experts Barbara Davidson and David Liben. According to them, this retention even continues into subsequent grades. “Knowledge sticks best when it has associated knowledge to attach to.”
Provide instruction that engages deeply with content. Research shows that students—and teachers, too—actually find this content-priority approach more rewarding than, in Davidson and Liben’s words, “jumping around from topic to topic in order to practice some comprehension strategy or skill.”
Support students in acquiring vocabulary related to content. Presenting keywords and concepts prior to reading helps students comprehend text more deeply. Spending more time on each topic helps students learn more topic-related words and more general academic vocabulary they’ll encounter in other texts.
Use comprehension strategies in service of the content. While building knowledge systematically, teachers can use proven strategies—such as chunking and creating graphic organizers—to help students develop skills they can use to support their for understanding of important information.
Use discussions and writing to help students learn content. Invite students to share their interpretations, supporting their thought processes in their own words and connecting with peers’ perspectives.
Help students forge connections in small groups. Help students draw connections between reading lessons and units—and their own experiences—as they grow their knowledge base together.

Every day, the Science of Reading has more to tell us about comprehension as a multifaceted skill that requires a combination of various strategies, tools, and techniques to unlock meaning from text. Because of this body of research, we know that when educators bring intentional and evidence-based practices into the classroom, students can enhance their ability to comprehend grade level text, analyze information critically, and engage with diverse subject areas. By nurturing students’ reading comprehension skills grounded in the Science of Reading, educators can empower students to become good readers who can navigate complex texts with confidence and understanding.

Explore more

The Amplify blog:

Science of Reading: The Podcast

Rethinking reading comprehension

Collage of educational web pages and images featuring children reading, book graphics, and the title “Understanding Comprehension: The Heartbeat of Literacy,” highlighting interactive lessons and free teaching resources.

Have you ever listened to a student read aloud fluently about something—say, the life cycle of sea turtles—only to discover afterward that they couldn’t explain a single thing about…the life cycle of sea turtles? It’s a familiar classroom moment, and it reveals how easy it is to misunderstand what comprehension really is.

Comprehension is often framed only as the product of reading: the answers students give when asked to find the main idea, identify a theme, or summarize a passage.

But the Science of Reading tells us that comprehension is more than an outcome. Comprehension is also a dynamic process that unfolds as readers move through a text, powered by the interactions among words on the page and the knowledge and reasoning they bring to it. That’s why we like to think of it as the heartbeat of literacy.

**Why comprehension is both product and process**

For decades, much of classroom instruction has focused on language comprehension products: the demonstrations of understanding that happen after reading. Those are important, but they don’t tell the whole story.

That’s because products depend on processes. If students do not build a coherent mental model of what they’re reading—while they’re reading—they may succeed at reading, but not at comprehending.

This is the missing link that researchers like Hugh Catts, Ph.D., and Jane Oakhill, Ph.D., have revealed: Comprehension isn’t something readers suddenly have at the end of a passage. It’s also something they do all along the way.

What comprehension processes look like

Comprehension processes are the mental moves students make to construct meaning as they read. All students need explicit instruction and practice in order to learn to do this automatically. Some of the most important processes include:

Inference-making: Filling in gaps the author leaves unsaid. If a story says “Carlos forgot his umbrella and got wet,” readers must supply the missing piece: It rained.
Anaphora resolution: Figuring out who pronouns such as he or she refer to. For instance, in a passage where “Charmaine passed the ball to Kendra, and she scored,” not all readers may track that she refers to Kendra.
Monitoring meaning: Noticing when something doesn’t make sense and rereading to fix it. Think of a student breezing through a science lab procedure but not realizing they’ve misunderstood a key step.
Recognizing connectives: Using words like because, however, or meanwhile to understand how ideas fit together in a text about history, math, or literature.
Visualizing: Building a mental picture—whether that’s of how a caterpillar becomes a butterfly, or how a character’s feelings shift across a story.

When these processes don’t happen, comprehension breaks down—even for students who can decode fluently. That’s why teaching comprehension can’t mean just assigning comprehension questions. It has to mean teaching students how to think with text in real time.

The role of knowledge and writing

Processes don’t exist in isolation. They depend on, and are strengthened by, what students already know and what they can express in writing.

Knowledge: The more background students bring to a text, the easier it is for them to make inferences and connect ideas. A child who already knows a little about baseball will understand a passage about a pitcher’s strategy much more readily than one encountering the game for the first time.

Writing: Writing about reading reinforces comprehension. When students summarize a biography in their own words, draft a response to a novel, or synthesize ideas from multiple sources, they are practicing the very processes—like making connections and organizing ideas—that skilled readers rely on.

This interplay—reading feeding knowledge, knowledge feeding comprehension, writing reinforcing both—creates a cycle of literacy growth that goes far beyond the end-of-text quiz.

Rethinking classroom practice

Working on individual comprehension skills can help in the short term. But long-term literacy success—for all students—requires explicit instruction and practice in all the comprehension processes needed to build comprehension products.

So what does it mean to teach comprehension as a process, not just a product?

Weaving effective instruction in comprehension strategies into everyday literacy work. A few examples:

Model your thinking. Pause mid-reading to ask, “Who does she refer to here?” or “That didn’t make sense—let’s go back.”

Highlight connectives. Teach words like although or consequently explicitly, showing how they signal relationships between ideas.

Promote monitoring. Encourage students to ask themselves, “Does this make sense?” and to reread when it doesn’t.

Build knowledge deliberately. Use content-rich texts in science, history, and the arts to give students the context they need for stronger comprehension.

Pair reading with writing. Even short written responses—“Why do you think the character acted that way?”—help solidify understanding and make comprehension processes visible.

These practices shift comprehension instruction from an after-the-fact check to an in-the-moment skill set students can carry into every subject.

Want to dig deeper?

Expanding our understanding of comprehension as both product and process is one of the most important shifts the Science of Reading has brought to literacy instruction. It reminds us that comprehension isn’t just a mysterious outcome at the end of reading—it’s the ongoing work of making meaning along the way.

To help educators explore this shift, we’ve created the new Science of Reading: Comprehension 101 bundle. These resources break down the research and provide strategies you can use right away. When we teach comprehension as the ongoing process it truly is, we keep the heartbeat of literacy strong for every reader.

Inside, you’ll find the following resources:

Our anchor ebook: Understanding Comprehension: The Heartbeat of Literacy
Infographic: The missing link in reading comprehension
Ebook: Knowledge, Reading, and Writing: The Secret Recipe for Literacy Success
Podcast: “Science of Reading Essentials: Comprehension” episode and listening guide
Webinar: Rethinking Reading Comprehension: Reflections on Hugh Catts’ and Jane Oakhill’s Research

How comprehension fits into effective literacy instruction

Many of us grew up doing a classroom activity called “reading comprehension,” in which we would read a short text about, let’s say, sea turtles, then answer multiple-choice questions designed to demonstrate how much of that reading we comprehended. The next time, the reading might’ve been about the history of jazz.

Nothing against sea turtles or Dizzy Gillespie, but our approach to reading comprehension has evolved—and that’s thanks to the Science of Reading.

Let’s take a look at what we know now about how comprehension works and how to make it part of the best possible literacy instruction.

The role of comprehension in literacy instruction

Comprehension is one of the five foundational skills in reading and one of the two key components of the Simple View of Reading.

This framework lays out the two fundamental skills required for reading with comprehension:

Decoding—the ability to recognize written words
Language comprehension—understanding what words mean

In other words, reading proficiency is a product of word recognition and language comprehension.

The Reading Rope layers complexity onto this view, providing a visual metaphor of reading as a complex skill combining decoding skills, language comprehension, background knowledge, vocabulary, and more.

In this context, comprehension refers to the ability to understand and make meaning from written text. It involves not only accurately decoding and recognizing words, but also grasping the deeper meaning, intent, and implications of the text.

Product vs. process: The missing link in comprehension

Historically, comprehension instruction focused on the products of comprehension, rather than on the process. Students could demonstrate that they understood what they just read about sea turtles, but how did students understand it? What were their brains actually doing at the time? Answering those questions can help us better support students.

To do that, let’s look at the students who are not the best comprehenders—even though they have solid word recognition, vocabulary, and background knowledge. What’s missing?

After you read a piece of text, you’ll probably not recall its precise wording, but generally, you’ll remember the general idea. Doing so requires building a structure in your mind that researchers now call a “mental model.” The process of building a mental model is a sort of micro-comprehension.

Weak comprehenders build weak models. So when asked to analyze a character or make a prediction, their answers are not as strong as those of more advanced comprehenders.

We now know that students need four critical skills to improve their mental modeling/micro-comprehension—and thus their overall comprehension.

Interpreting the usage of anaphoras (like she, him, them).
Understanding the use of markers to signal ways that the text fits together — connectives (like so, though, whenever), structure cues, and directions.
Supplying gap-filling inferences. (Writers often make assumptions about what can be left unstated, and weaker readers who fail to make these gap-filling inferences wind up with gaps in their mental models.)
Monitoring comprehension as they read. (When something doesn’t make sense, strong readers stop, re-read, and try to figure it out, while weaker readers just keep going, failing to notice that they don’t understand.)

How background knowledge helps language comprehension

The Science of Reading demonstrates the importance of systematic and explicit phonics instruction.

But students do not have to learn phonics or decoding before knowledge comes into the equation.

“The background knowledge that children bring to a text is also a contributor to language comprehension,” says Sonia Cabell, associate professor at Florida State University’s School of Teacher Education, on Science of Reading: The Podcast. Background knowledge serves as the scaffolding upon which readers build connections between new information and what they already know. Students with average reading ability and some background knowledge of a topic will generally comprehend a text on that topic as well as stronger readers who lack that knowledge.

What we know about knowledge and comprehension should inform instruction. “I think most, if not every, theory of reading comprehension implicates knowledge,” says Cabell. “But that hasn’t necessarily been translated into all of our instructional approaches.”

So, a central question is: How can we help build background knowledge—and thus comprehension?

Broadly, we can work to use literacy curricula that intentionally and systematically builds knowledge as they go.

We can also be “intentional throughout our day in building children’s knowledge,” says Cabell, offering the example of choosing books to read aloud. She suggests we ask not just “‘Do they have the background knowledge to understand something,’ but rather ‘Can what I’m reading aloud to them build background knowledge?’”

Cabell also suggests being a little ambitious in your read-alouds: “Read aloud books a couple of grade levels above where [students are] reading right now, so that they’ll be able to engage with rich academic language.”

Comprehension instruction in the classroom

So, what does this type of comprehension instruction look like? Let’s explore a few science-informed examples:

Systematically build the knowledge that will become background knowledge. Use a curriculum grounded in topics that build on one another. “When related concepts and vocabulary show up in texts, students are more likely to retain information and acquire new knowledge,” even into the next grades, education and literacy experts Barbara Davidson and David Liben say. “Knowledge sticks best when it has associated knowledge to attach to.”
Present instruction that engages deeply with content. Research shows that students—and teachers, too—actually find this content-priority approach more rewarding than, in Davidson and Liben’s words “jumping around from topic to topic in order to practice some comprehension strategy or skill.”
Support students in acquiring vocabulary related to content. Presenting key words and concepts prior to reading equips students to comprehend the text more deeply. Spending more time on each topic helps students learn more topic-related words and more general academic vocabulary they’ll encounter in other texts.
Use comprehension strategies in service of the content. While building knowledge systematically, teachers can use proven strategies—such as “chunking” and creating graphic organizers—to develop students’ skills for understanding other texts.
Use discussions and writing to help students learn content. Invite students to share their interpretations, supporting them in articulating their thoughts and connecting with peers’ perspectives.
Help students forge connections. Help students draw connections among lessons and units—and to their own experiences—as they grow their knowledge together.

Comprehension goes beyond reading the words on a page. It involves actively engaging with the text, connecting ideas, drawing inferences, and relating the content to one’s own knowledge and experiences. By making sure students have the skills and knowledge they need to comprehend a text, we can help them comprehend the world.

More to explore

Achieve life-changing results with the
Science of Reading—we’ll show you how.

Watching students learn to read is magic. But knowing how they get there? That’s science.

Making the shift to the Science of Reading is commendable, but it is no small feat. Our extensive experience, field-tested resources, and stories of literacy success will help you deliver the true transformation you need in your district—and see the results your students deserve.

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Exploring the Science of Writing

Discover the captivating journey of writing with our new guide, Science of Writing: A Primer. This resource delves into the history of writing, highlights the crucial link between combining reading and writing instruction, and reveals why handwriting still matters in today’s digital world. Designed to complement CKLA 3rd Edition and our other literacy tools, this primer is set to become a trusted companion, just like those before it.

Download now

MTSS Playbook

Explore our new ebook designed to help you build an evidence-based Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) tailored to diverse literacy goals. This resource provides actionable steps and essential questions to fortify your MTSS with the Science of Reading, enhancing its effectiveness and achieving better outcomes for your students.

Download the playbook

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The science of teaching reading, coupled with the art of change management

Shifting to the Science of Reading isn’t just an overnight curriculum swap—it’s a profound culture change with multiple stages and stakeholders. We’ve helped educators succeed in that shift for years, and now we’re here to guide you every step of the way. Through each stage of implementation, our Change Management Playbook will help you mobilize your practice, process, and people to make the shift that matters most.

Download the playbook

What is the Science of Reading?

Learning to read is not innate, but it can be taught—and science tells us how. The Science of Reading refers to the vast body of growing research that deconstructs how children learn to read, and the instructional practices that can get them there.

Reading fluency requires a complex combination of skills, taught explicitly and systematically. There are two main frameworks that can help us break it all down: The Simple View of Reading and Scarborough’s Rope.

Learn more

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Cover of a guide titled "Science of Reading: A New Teacher’s Guide" by Amplify, featuring a teacher with two children and educational icons.

Science of Reading starter kit for new teachers

New to the classroom? We’ve compiled a collection of resources and insights about the Science of Reading to help you acquire more knowledge and build confidence. You’ll find the tools, information, and support you need to foster successful readers and writers in your classroom this school year—and beyond.

Access your resources

The Simple View of Reading

The Simple View of Reading, formulated by Philip Gough and William Tunmer in 1986, is the theory that proficient reading requires two main components:

Converting written words into speech, otherwise known as decoding.
Understanding that speech, otherwise known as reading comprehension.

Flowchart illustrating skilled reading as the product of language comprehension and word recognition, grounded in the science of reading.

A diagram with intertwining orange, yellow, and blue lines converging and diverging, illustrating interconnected pathways on a black background—reflecting the dynamic flow of ideas found in Core Knowledge or Amplify CKLA curricula.

The Reading Rope

The Reading Rope, developed by Dr. Hollis Scarborough in 2001, helps us visualize the strands of specific skills and instruction that support students in decoding and comprehension.

Professional development to support your shift to the Science of Reading

Ignite literacy transformation with Amplify’s Science of Reading: The Learning Lab—an inspiring three-course series.

Dive into a comprehensive overview with course one, Foundations to the Science of Reading.
Examine assessments and their roles in course two, Advanced Topics in the Science of Reading: Assessment and Reading Difficulties.
Apply effective literacy instruction to your classroom in course three, Applied Structured Literacy.

Crafted to the standards of the International Dyslexia Association, this self-paced online series provides unparalleled, research-backed instruction. Explore enriching activities, curated resources, and learn from Susan Lambert, chief academic officer and host of Science of Reading: The Podcast.

The best investment you can make is in knowledge, and the returns are priceless.

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Learn more about the online courses or request a quote!

Explore the courses

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Tap into individual online course seats.

Purchase a seat

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Science of Reading: The Podcast

Tune in to hear the latest insights and trends in early reading, right from leading literacy experts and practitioners.

Listen now

Build your background knowledge of the Science of Reading.

Our Science of Reading principles and primers explain the essentials: what the Science of Reading is, how it works, and why it matters for every student.

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New Science of Reading principles placemat!

Decades of research inform the updated Science of Reading principles placemat. Use these insights as a guide for evidence-based literacy instruction—perfect for committed educators aiming to achieve real improvements in student reading outcomes.

Download principles

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Science of Reading
A Primer: Part 1

In part 1 of our definitive Science of Reading primer, we discuss literacy as a societal goal, walk you through how the brain learns to decode and comprehend text, and present the patterns that top-performing schools and districts follow to achieve early reading success.

Download primer 1

Illustration of two people atop a yellow pyramid, with text reading "Science of Reading: A Primer | Part Two"—an engaging look at K–5 literacy instruction. "Amplify" appears in the top left corner.

Science of Reading
A Primer: Part 2

In part 2 of our Science of Reading primer, we establish the importance of prior knowledge for comprehension, lay out the process of micro-comprehension, and demonstrate how literacy skills build on and accelerate themselves.

Download primer 2

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“If you’re looking for a Science of Reading training, the [Science of Reading: Foundations to the Science of Reading] online course is great. It helps you build background knowledge on learning how students learn how to read, and then it goes deeper and it gives you strategies that correlate with those findings that you can implement right into your classroom.”

—Allie Appel, Instructional Coach

School District of Arcadia, WI

Why undertake this crucial change?

When we bring proven methods based on the Science of Reading into schools, we make sure kids are learning to read and help teachers and caregivers support a culture of reading. Together, we can solve the reading crisis and make literacy a reality everywhere.

You’ll change lives with literacy.

According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), only 35% of fourth graders in the United States are proficient in reading. But schools using a Science of Reading approach have seen significant improvements in literacy rates. Using research-based methods, educators can help give all children the chance to become successful readers.

See the report card

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You’ll build a foundation with explicit, systematic skills instruction.

Reading skills don’t come naturally. We actually need to rewire our brains with intentional, structured literacy instruction—starting with sounds.

Learn more

You’ll improve outcomes with knowledge building.

Longitudinal research shows that knowledge building doesn’t just happen as a result of reading, but is also a vital prerequisite for and component of it. And when delivered intentionally and systematically, knowledge delivers literacy results.

Read the research

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“It’s not just about the curriculum. It’s about the science behind how people, how children, and how we as humans learn to read… It’s working. I wish I had this years ago. ”

—Javonna Mack, Lead Content Teacher

Caddo Parish Schools, Louisiana

Science of Reading & Early Literacy Resources FAQ

Amplify understands that making the shift to the Science of Reading is no small feat. Get some early literacy resources and guidance with our Science of Reading FAQ.

Learning to read is not innate. It needs to be taught intentionally and systematically—and science tells us how. The vast and growing body of research on early literacy is referred to as the Science of Reading. It draws on extensive research in cognitive science, linguistics, and neuroscience. It emphasizes the systematic teaching of foundational skills—such as phonics, phonological awareness, and decoding—in building vocabulary and comprehension. In other words, it deconstructs the processes behind how children learn to read, and provides evidence for the instructional practices and early literacy resources that can get them there.

Read more

The Science of Reading refers to the pedagogy and practices proven by extensive research to effectively teach children how to read. It places a strong emphasis on both components of the Simple View of Reading, demonstrating that systematic and explicit instruction in phonics and and intentionally sequenced knowledge building are critical to reading success.

In a balanced literacy environment, learning happens through reading and writing immersion, where the need for explicit instruction in phonics is recognized but is not the primary focus.

The key difference between the approaches lies in their emphasis on foundational reading skills and a coherent approach to building language comprehension.

A balanced literacy approach typically includes a combination of whole language approaches (emphasizing meaning and context) and phonics instruction. Balanced literacy instruction is designed to be flexible and open to interpretation by the instructor. It may include the three-cueing system, which encourages students to rely on syntactic and semantic clues in a text to read an unfamiliar word, rather than decoding (Does it look right? Does it sound right? Does it make sense?). Balanced literacy practitioners may also use leveled reading to differentiate instruction, which can can limit vocabulary exposure, hinder in-depth comprehension skills, and further widen achievement gaps.

Balanced literacy has long been a popular approach to reading instruction, with educators appreciating its openness to variation. But advocates for the Science of Reading argue that an evidence-based approach aligned with known cognitive processes and a focus on foundational skills and language comprehension provides the most solid foundation for reading instruction—for confident and struggling readers alike.

Read more

According to our friends at The Reading League, the Science of Reading is important not because it gives us an effective way to teach reading, but because it gives us the most effective way to teach reading.

“The Science of Reading is critical because it emphasizes evidence-based instruction. Decades of scientific research on reading have consistently shown the most effective ways to teach reading. The Science of Reading incorporates this research, which includes phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.”

The Reading League also takes it to the next level: What happens when all children have access to the most effective early literacy and reading education? “We believe in a future where a collective focus on applying the Science of Reading through teacher and leader preparation, classroom application, and community engagement will elevate and transform every community, every nation, through the power of literacy.”

The Science of Reading has identified five foundational reading skills that are considered crucial for early reading development. One of those skills is phonics. In other words, the Science of Reading has established that phonics are crucial, but the Science of Reading is not the same as phonics.

Phonics instruction helps students learn how to sound out and blend letters to read words accurately. As we know from the Simple View of Reading, two fundamental skills are required for reading with comprehension:

Decoding—the ability to recognize written words (via phonics)
Language comprehension—understanding what words mean

And the Science of Reading also reminds us that students do not have to learn phonics or decoding before knowledge comes into the equation. “The background knowledge that children bring to a text is also a contributor to language comprehension,” says Sonia Cabell, Ph.D., associate professor at Florida State University’s School of Teacher Education, on Science of Reading: The Podcast.

The Science of Reading is an evolving field built on decades of high-quality, evidence-based research that continually integrates new insights gathered from cognitive neuroscience, psychology, and linguistics. These ongoing studies constantly refine our understanding of how the human brain processes language and learning, enabling more personalized and effective teaching strategies that can adapt to the wide-ranging learning needs of students.

Like other sciences such as medicine, astronomy, or engineering – new advancements in reading technology allow us to understand how the brain works and refine our practices. Every scientific advancement in this field of reading science deepens our comprehension of reading-related challenges like dyslexia and informs the development of evidence-based interventions. We don’t believe that the Science of Reading can be reduced to a fad or trend. Rather, it is a continually evolving, enduringly effective discipline, grounded in rigorous research and driven by the quest for better comprehension of how we read and learn.

Assessment grounded in the Science of Reading can help identify children at risk of dyslexia at the earliest possible moments, creating the widest opportunity for intervention.

People with dyslexia often experience challenges in phonological awareness. They may struggle to break down words into their component sounds and to recognize the relationships between letters and sounds. Systematic and explicit instruction in phonics and phonological awareness can help individuals with dyslexia develop necessary phonological skills. This evidence-based instruction can also help students who have difficulty with decoding.

Further, evidence-based comprehension instruction, including explicit instruction in vocabulary and comprehension strategies, can support students with dyslexia in understanding and making meaning from text.

Download our free dyslexia toolkit

The Science of Reading can be integrated with a Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) to provide comprehensive and targeted reading instruction for all students. The Science of Reading aligns with a tiered model by providing evidence-based practices for instruction at each tier. An MTSS includes universal screening to identify students at risk of reading difficulties; the Science of Reading can also guide the selection of screening measures to assess specific foundational skills. Aligning the Science of Reading with an MTSS framework can also enhance instructional practices and interventions, ensure data-driven decision making, and help meet the needs of all students.

Read more

Integrating the Science of Reading and the Science of Writing strengthens our approach to teaching literacy. Reading and writing are interdependent. Understanding how sentences are built not only contributes to better reading comprehension, it also helps writers develop clear, logical text. As students grow as readers, they also grow as writers, leading to a comprehensive literacy education. Clear thinking and effective writing are crucial for expressing ideas. By fostering both skills, teachers better support students in becoming confident readers and writers, prepared for academic challenges and beyond.

One of the research-based frameworks used in the Science of Reading is the Simple View of Reading. According to the Simple View, two cognitive capacities are needed for proficient reading: (1) understanding the language (comprehension) and (2) recognizing words in print (decoding). A true Science of Reading program is designed from the start for students to build these skills, in a developmentally appropriate way.

It will also emphasize the importance of knowledge building by exposing students to a diverse array of new topics spanning history, science, and literature, organized intentionally and coherently within and across grades. Deep and intentionally sequenced knowledge domains will help build a student’s vocabulary and understanding of complex texts. And it will include instruction in all five foundational skills: phonics, phonemic awareness, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension.

Download our free ebook, Science of Reading: Making the Shift, which includes a checklist of what to look for in a curriculum based on the Science of Reading. Learn more from our friends at The Reading League.

Actually, we have a full literacy suite built on the Science of Reading! It includes:

mCLASS^® assessment, powered by DIBELS^® 8th Edition, a gold-standard universal and dyslexia screener, plus a progress monitoring tool, all in one.
Amplify Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA), which provides explicit, systematic foundational skills instruction combined with intentional knowledge building.
Boost Reading, a highly adaptive personalized reading program that reinforces the core curriculum and supports enrichment, remediation, and intervention for each student in your classroom.
mCLASS Intervention, a staff-led intervention program targeted to Tiers 2 and 3, made easy with automatic data-driven grouping and sequenced explicit, systematic skills lesson plans to support at-risk students.

Reading requires deliberate, systematic attention—and so does shifting to the Science of Reading in your school or district. It requires not only the right curriculum, but also all-new mindsets, metrics, and more. Reflecting years of experience supporting real educators, our resources will walk you through the process of change management in your community—and show you why the shift is worth it. View our Science of Reading change management playbook.

The Reading Rope: Breaking it all down

What do pipe cleaners have to do with learning to read?

In the late 1990s, reading and literacy expert Hollis Scarborough, Ph. D., used pipe cleaners to create a model of the intertwined skills that make up the process of learning to read.

That model is the iconic Reading Rope, the visualization that helps us understand the essential strands of reading and how they work together.

In this post, we’ll examine the components of the Rope both individually and together, then explore how the Rope aligns with the Science of Reading and the five foundational reading skills.

What is the Reading Rope?

The human brain is wired to do many things, but reading is not one of them. The brain does not automatically know that certain marks on a page or screen are designed to represent sounds, or meaning. That’s why we have to teach reading, explicitly and systematically.

And when we teach reading using what science—the Science of Reading—tells us, the brain wires itself to start recognizing and understanding those letters, syllables, and words.

The Reading Rope provides a visual representation of that process and all its essential, interrelated components.

Why is the Reading Rope important for the Science of Reading?

The Reading Rope emphasizes the need for a comprehensive, deliberate approach to reading instruction. It recognizes that reading is not a singular skill, but rather a set of interwoven processes.

By understanding and addressing each of these processes (known in the Rope as strands), educators can provide the targeted instruction that helps readers succeed.

How does the Simple View of Reading connect to the Reading Rope?

One of the research-based frameworks used in the Science of Reading is the Simple View of Reading.

According to the Simple View, two cognitive capacities are required for proficient reading: (1) word recognition and (2) language comprehension.

“Reading comprehension is the product, not the sum, of those two components. If one of them is zero, then overall reading ability is going to be zero,” says Jane Oakhill, Ph.D., professor of experimental psychology at the University of Sussex.

Those two skills make up the two meta-strands of the Rope. But, as Oakhill explains further on her episode of Science of Reading: The Podcast, each strand contains its own subset of distinct skills and processes.

What are the strands of the Reading Rope?

Let’s take a look:

Word recognition encompasses the ability to accurately and swiftly decode printed words. Phonological awareness, phonics, and sight word recognition contribute to this strand.
1. Phonological awareness is the ability to recognize and manipulate the individual sounds (phonemes) within spoken words. It includes skills such as identifying rhymes, segmenting words into syllables, and manipulating sounds within words. Phonological awareness provides the foundation for phonics instruction.
2. Phonics describes the systematic relationship between letters and the sounds they represent. It includes understanding letter-sound correspondences, decoding unfamiliar words by applying sound-symbol relationships, and blending sounds to form words. Phonics instruction gives students the tools to decode printed words.
3. Sight word recognition is the ability to recognize and read words automatically, without decoding. Building a repertoire of sight words boosts fluency.
Language comprehension is the understanding of spoken and written language, including vocabulary, grammar, syntax, and the ability to make inferences and draw conclusions. Language comprehension allows readers to extract meaning from text.
1. Vocabulary refers to the words one knows and understands, both orally and in writing. A robust vocabulary enhances comprehension and communication.
2. Grammar and syntax are the rules and structures that govern language. Understanding and applying grammatical rules helps students comprehend and construct sentences, enhancing their ability to make meaning from text.
3. Inference and conclusion skills describe the abilities of drawing conclusions, making predictions, and deriving implicit meaning. These skills require readers to combine their background knowledge with information in the text to make guesses and reach conclusions.

How do the strands combine to form a process?

These strands are interconnected and mutually supportive. Strong word recognition skills enable efficient decoding, which frees up cognitive resources for language comprehension. Similarly, robust language comprehension skills facilitate deeper word understanding and contextualized reading.

That’s how the Rope represents not just the elements of learning to read, but also the process toward fluency. As students progress, their word recognition becomes increasingly automatic, and their language comprehension becomes increasingly strategic.

In the word recognition strand, readers focus on decoding individual words, relying on phonological awareness and phonics. With practice and instruction, word recognition becomes more efficient and effortless. This automaticity frees up cognitive resources for comprehension and higher-level thinking.
In the language comprehension strand, readers learn to engage actively with the text, ask questions, make connections and predictions, and monitor understanding. Strategic readers use comprehension strategies—summarizing, visualizing, self-questioning, and more—to deepen their understanding of what’s on the page.

Those two processes are intertwined and interdependent. The Rope shows that, as readers progress, they get better at combining automatic word recognition with strategic reading skills.

They can effortlessly recognize words, allowing them to focus on comprehending the text and performing higher-level thinking. By strategically applying language comprehension skills, readers construct meaning, make connections, and analyze the text.

This combination of automatic and strategic skills supports reading and facilitates engagement with more complex and challenging texts.

How does the Rope relate to the five foundational skills of reading?

The Rope is made of a lot more than the five foundational skills of reading (phonics, phonemic awareness, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension). How does it all add up?

While the Reading Rope does not explicitly mention these five skills as a distinct set, the strands do align with them. Here’s how:

Phonological awareness (and phonemic awareness) is represented in the Rope’s word recognition strand.
Phonics is also a critical aspect of word recognition.
Fluency—often considered a combination of accuracy, rate, and prosody—is not represented as its own strand, but it’s closely related to the word recognition strand. As students develop automaticity in word recognition, their reading fluency improves.
Vocabulary aligns with the language comprehension strand. The development of a robust vocabulary enhances reading comprehension by enabling students to understand and infer the meaning of words encountered in the text.
Comprehension is built into the language comprehension strand. It includes skills such as understanding sentence structure, making inferences, drawing conclusions, and connecting prior knowledge. These skills help the reader get meaning from the text and connect to higher-level thinking.

The Reading Rope is a game-changing tool, clarifying a complex process and helping teachers target instruction. When the strands come together, they weave the strongest possible foundation for student reading success.

Welcome, K–8 Program 1 reviewers!

We’re honored to introduce you to Amplify California Language Arts. We’re confident you’ll find this comprehensive program to be a powerful tool for bringing the vision of the California ELA Framework to life in classrooms across the state.

Please start with the video on the right to learn how to navigate the program and access key features referenced within our submission. Below you’ll find additional resources to support your review.

Your review samples

We’re excited for you to begin your review of Amplify Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA) California and Amplify ELA California. Physical and digital review materials will vary by grade level.

Reviewer Binders (K–8)

Your physical samples should have arrived in grade-specific boxes with three Reviewer Binders.

The first binder will contain logistical program review information and the printed Evaluation Criteria Map.
The second binder will contain the printed Standards Maps for grades K–4.
The third binder will contain the printed Standards Maps for grades 5–8.

Physical samples (K–5)

You can expect to receive 15 boxes of physical materials for your review. As you begin the process of organizing your materials, please refer to the inventory checklist found inside each box as well as within your Reviewer Binder. Please note you will not receive any physical samples for grades 6–8. Your review of the program for grades 6–8 will be entirely digital.

Digital samples (K–8)

In order to access your digital samples, you’ll need to log in to our platform using your unique login credentials found on a Digital Review Credential flyer inside of your Reviewer Binder. Once you have located the flyer:

Click the orange button below to access the platform.
Click “Log in with Amplify.”
Enter the username and password provided on your Digital Review Credential flyer.

Digital Access

Navigation tips

Before you get started, please review these important functionality notes:

Criteria Map and Standards Maps must be opened on Microsoft Word on your desktop to function as intended. If you open the documents without Microsoft Word on your desktop, citations will be cut off at the bottom of most tables within the document.

Many of our citations are deep-links to PDFs, meaning they will take you to the right page or the first page in the sequence for the citation in question. To ensure this functionality works, please disable any PDF-viewing extensions or plug-ins such as Adobe Acrobat Pro Browser Extension.

[Reviewer program navigation video] Grades K–5

[Reviewer program navigation video] Grades 6–8

Click here for additional information on navigating the digital materials for grades 6–8.

Category 1: English Language Arts (ELA) and English Language Development (ELD) Content/Alignment to Standards

Evaluation Criteria Map

Linked below is the Evaluation Criteria Map for grades K–8. Please note that you will need to be logged into the digital platform to access the links in the Evaluation Criteria Map.

Program 1: Basic ELA (K–8) Evaluation Criteria Map

ELA Standards Maps

The links below provide the Standards Maps for Amplify California Core Language Arts for each grade level. Please note that you will need to be logged into the digital platform to access the links in the Standards Maps.

Category 2: Program Organization

The Amplify California Language Arts Program 1 submission includes Amplify CKLA California for Grades K–5 and Amplify ELA California for Grades 6–8. This comprehensive curriculum provides a full year of evidence-based instruction for each grade level, transitioning from foundational literacy to advanced text analysis.

Program structure

Amplify’s California Language Arts programs are built on what the research shows: Strong readers need both word recognition and language comprehension. Our comprehensive curriculum suite follows the Simple View of Reading and The Reading Rope–bringing together foundational skills and knowledge building to deliver instruction grounded in evidence-based literacy practices.

Diagram illustrating the interplay between language comprehension and word recognition in reading, as seen in early literacy stages. It highlights pathways through knowledge, vocabulary, and sentence understanding, reflecting principles from the CKLA reading program.

Each lesson follows a predictable structure with clearly marked components, beginning with warm-up routines, progressing through explicit instruction with guided practice, and concluding with independent application activities. The program provides detailed teacher language, including question stems and discussion prompts, ensuring clear and consistent delivery of instruction.

[Reviewer highlight video] Program organization for Category 2

[Reviewer highlight video] Program structure for grades K–2

[Reviewer highlight video] Program structure for grades 3–5

[Reviewer highlight video] Program structure for grades 6–8

Amplify CKLA California empowers teachers to deliver effective instruction and keeps students engaged with the following resources:

Teacher Guides
Assessment Guides
Authentic texts and trade books
Knowledge Image Cards
Knowledge Flip Books
Remediation and intervention resources
Decodable readers
Student Readers and novels
Student Activity Books
Poet’s Journals
eReaders
Sound Library featuring articulation videos and songs
Instructional routine modeling videos
Assignable Practice Games
On-demand professional development

Amplify ELA California students stay engaged with the following resources:

Teacher Guides that include:
- Detailed lesson plans
- Standards alignment and exit tickets
- Real-time differentiation strategies
- Robust reporting
Student Editions that include:
- High-quality narrative and informational texts
- Videos, audio supports, and digital experiences that capture their attention
- Personal Writing Journal to keep all student writing in one place
Trade Books

Core literacy philosophy

Support every learner. Meet all learning needs with a Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) that brings together universal screening, scaffolded core instruction, support for English learners, and data-driven intervention to ensure every student gets what they need to succeed.

Deliver consistent foundational skills instruction. Daily explicit, systematic skills instruction in grades K–2, with targeted yet flexible support for students still building decoding confidence in grades 3–8, ensures mastery of essential reading foundations.

Build lasting knowledge across all grades. Through coherently sequenced, content-rich instruction that revisits key vocabulary and concepts with increasing complexity, students build meaningful connections that deepen their vocabulary and reading comprehension.

Strengthen reading through writing at every level. Regular writing instruction grounded in the Science of Writing supports reading comprehension, improves sentence-level writing, and provides the foundation for high-quality composition. As students progress through the upper grades, they engage in increasingly complex analytical tasks—synthesizing ideas, drawing generalizations, and interpreting multiple textual layers through both focused quick-writes and comprehensive essays.

Foster oral language development. Structured opportunities for academic conversation and evidence-based dialogue build students’ ability to express complex ideas with precision and allow them to participate confidently in classroom discussions.

Measure growth with comprehensive assessments. Assessments range from in-the-moment checks for understanding to summative assessments that measure progress toward skills mastery and standards proficiency, providing the data needed to drive targeted instruction.

Scope and sequence

Below you can view the scope and sequence for each grade level.

Kindergarten
- Amplify CKLA California Knowledge Strand
- Amplify CKLA California Skills Strand
Grade 1
- Amplify CKLA California Knowledge Strand
- Amplify CKLA California Skills Strand
Grade 2
- Amplify CKLA California Knowledge Strand
- Amplify CKLA California Skills Strand
Grade 3
Grade 4
Grade 5
Grade 6
Grade 7
Grade 8

Routines

Amplify CKLA California and Amplify ELA California include several structured instructional routines that provide predictable patterns for both teachers and students:

Discussion and collaboration routines:

Turn and Talk: Partners discuss text-specific content using sentence starters and frames
Think-Pair-Share: Students engage in individual thinking, partner discussion, and whole-class sharing
Partner reading: Students sit shoulder-to-shoulder, taking turns reading and listening

Foundational Skills routines:

Sound-spelling review: Warm-up activities that reinforce phonics patterns
Oral blending warm-ups: Teacher-guided practice progressing to independent application
Finger tapping: Techniques for blending sounds
Chaining activities: Students manipulate letters to transform one word into another
Word Work: Daily short activities focused on domain-specific and academic vocabulary

Knowledge-building routines:

Vocabulary preview: Introduction of new words before reading
Read-aloud procedures: Established routines for introducing and discussing complex texts
Text discussions: Structured comprehension conversations with scaffolded questioning

Fluency routines:

Teacher modeling: Demonstration of proper intonation, expression, and pacing
Choral reading: Whole-class reading practice
Partner reading: Paired fluency practice

Close reading routines

The program includes carefully structured close reading activities that guide students through multiple encounters with complex texts. These routines help students develop deeper comprehension through systematic analysis and discussion.

Each routine includes comprehensive instructional guides with clear-cut directions for implementation, straightforward explanations of concepts, and suggestions for discussion.

Category 3: Assessments

Systematic MTSS alignment

In alignment with the additional 2025 Guidance 3.1.a, the assessment systems align with MTSS tiers, including universal screening, diagnostic assessments for students demonstrating a need for additional support, and progress monitoring tools that complement California’s required universal screening schedule per SB 114.

	Tier 1: Universal/ differentiated support	Tier 2: Supplemental/ targeted support	Tier 3: Intensified/ intensive support
Core instruction assessments Frequency of administration	Amplify CKLA California, Amplify ELA California assessments Daily, Weekly, Monthly	Amplify CKLA California, Amplify ELA California assessments Daily, Weekly, Monthly	Amplify CKLA California, Amplify ELA California assessments Daily, Weekly, Monthly
Universal screening assessments Frequency of administration	mCLASS DIBELS and mCLASS Lectura 3 times per year – BOY, MOY, EOY	mCLASS DIBELS and mCLASS Lectura 3 times per year – BOY, MOY, EOY	mCLASS DIBELS and mCLASS Lectura 3 times per year – BOY, MOY, EOY
Formal progress monitoring assessments Frequency of administration	mCLASS DIBELS and mCLASS Lectura 3 times per year – BOY, MOY, EOY	mCLASS DIBELS and mCLASS Lectura Monthly	mCLASS DIBELS and mCLASS Lectura Bi-weekly
Informal progress monitoring assessments Frequency of administration	Amplify CKLA California, Amplify ELA California core assessments Daily	Intervention Toolkit progress monitoring assessments When linked to a lesson in the toolkit	Intervention Toolkit progress monitoring assessments When linked to a lesson in the toolkit
Diagnostic assessment Frequency of administration		Amplify skill diagnostic assessment Optional after universal screening assessment is administered	Amplify skill diagnostic assessment After universal screening assessment is administered

Universal assessment system

Amplify’s mCLASS® DIBELS® 8th Edition (K–8) and mCLASS Lectura (K–6) are universal and dyslexia screening assessments that should be administered three times per year (BOY, MOY and EOY) to all students. The assessments evaluate student literacy risk, determine progress toward grade-level goals, and indicate the level of instructional support a student may need. Beginning-of-year screenings require adequate instructional time before administration, particularly in grades K–1, while mid-year and end-of-year assessments evaluate instructional effectiveness and guide tier placement adjustments. These screenings also identify students at risk for dyslexia. Universal screening provides essential data for targeting instruction and measuring instructional system effectiveness.

Core instruction assessments

Amplify CKLA California and Amplify ELA California provide a comprehensive suite of assessments for Grades K–8 that range from low-stakes, informal formative assessments to more formal summative assessments. These assessments incorporate a variety of methods and question types, including multiple-choice questions, open-ended questions, and oral and written responses.

Formative assessments:

Checks for Understanding: Incorporated into each lesson segment throughout daily instruction. Quick pulse-checks that provide immediate feedback during lesson delivery (grades K–5).
Daily formative assessments: Highlighted moments within each lesson for teachers to plan to track mastery of Primary Focus objectives and standards of each lesson to get a clear snapshot of individual and whole-class progress (grades K–5).
Activity pages: Completed as part of lessons and can be used to assess lesson content understanding through various formats (grades K–5).
Exit Tickets: Located at the end of lessons, these provide a quick gauge of students’ ability to meet the lesson’s focus standards (grades 6–8).
Writing Prompts: Prompts integrated throughout lessons during writing activities that provide skill snapshots within lessons and tracks patterns of skill development over time (grades 6–8).
Independent reading activities (Solos): At the end of every lesson, students complete an independent reading activity (“Solo”) with reading questions that are scored to measure comprehension (grades 6–8).

Summative assessments:

Skills end-of-unit assessments (grades K–2)
Knowledge end-of-domain assessments (grades K–2)
End-of-unit assessments (grades 3–5)
Unit essays: A culminating end-of-unit set of lessons that guide students through crafting an essay with a rubric to score mastery of writing skills (grades 6–8)
Unit Reading Assessments: Auto-scored responses and two constructed response items evaluate comprehension, content understanding, and reading skills using the passages students read during the unit (grades 6–8)

Performance Assessments

Student Performance Assessments are multi-day assessments administered in Grades K–5 at the beginning, middle, and end of year to help teachers gauge student mastery of grade-level Core content. These assessments provide critical data to help teachers set targeted instructional goals and monitor individual and class-wide progress towards core objectives.

Progress monitoring

Amplify’s mCLASS® DIBELS® 8th Edition and mCLASS Lectura provide formal progress monitoring in the discrete skills that are indicative of reading growth and predictive of overall success to provide the most instructionally meaningful information to teachers.

Informal progress monitoring tools can be found within the Intervention Toolkit, including materials for teachers to record, track, and evaluate student progress.

Diagnostic assessment

Interventions within Amplify’s literacy programs are informed by a skill diagnostic assessment that provides detailed data on foundational literacy skill deficits. The Amplify Skill Diagnostic Assessment and Amplify Spanish Skill Diagnostic assessment serve as critical tools in this process, administered specifically to students identified as at risk for reading difficulty through universal screening assessments—particularly those demonstrating mCLASS DIBELS 8th Edition or mCLASS Lectura composite scores in the Well Below or Below Benchmark ranges. These diagnostic assessments provide teachers with the precise skills to begin intervention and remediation.

Category 4: Universal Access

Amplify CKLA California and Amplify ELA California were built on the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and reviewed by CAST, a nonprofit education research and development organization. The program is developed using the Universal Design for Learning framework to proactively ensure that all learners can access and participate in meaningful, challenging learning opportunities.

Universal Design for Learning

The programs incorporate opportunities for engagement, representation, action, and expression based on the guidelines of Universal Design for Learning.

Multiple Means of Engagement: The programs incorporate interesting and motivating ways for students to interact with information and content. In Amplify CKLA California, the Universal Access section in the introduction of each lesson provides specific lesson-level options based on the needs of individual classrooms and students. Scaffolding for students with various levels of need is incorporated into the design of each lesson.
Multiple Means of Representation: The programs provide multiple means of presenting content to maximize student understanding. This includes digital component files that allow for a range of presentations of images and text to support learning. Amplify provides access to universal supports such as point-of-use audio for all core texts, embedded definitions for critical vocabulary, and glossaries in multiple languages. Amplify CKLA California includes clarification on language found throughout the program, with sidebars that include support on transition words and syntax, and illustrations to help students understand the concepts they are learning.
Multiple Means of Action and Expression: The programs include a range of methods for all students, including English learners, to navigate and demonstrate learning. This includes physical actions, a range of methods for response, appropriate tools for composition, and varied scaffolding. In Amplify ELA California, lessons provide multiple ways for students to interact with text, allowing their brains to process the language through distinct pathways. Activities harness multiple learning modes, using media tools, digital apps, and a variety of visual and physical experiences to strategically support and enhance student learning.
Accessibility: Universal access features include visual aids, enlarged materials, physical objects, and multiple learning modalities through activities like Push & Say and Wiggle Cards. The Universal Access section in the introduction of each lesson provides specific lesson-level options based on the needs of individual classrooms and students.

Embedded differentiation

Amplify CKLA California and Amplify ELA California provide built-in differentiation strategies in every lesson for all students.

Pre-teaching supports include mini-lessons on:
- Core vocabulary building
- Core connections
- Essential background information building
- What Have We Already Learned?/What Do We Already Know?
Differentiated Support for Core Instruction tables, located in the overview of each K–2 Skills Teacher Guide, provide a list of specific opportunities for reteaching and additional support in each lesson based on skill.
Support and Challenge Sidebars in lesson margins offer educators immediate guidance in implementing point-of-use differentiation techniques.
Flexible Grouping within lessons provides opportunities for teachers to facilitate small groups, partners, or individualized support based on students’ needs. In the Skills Strand, teachers receive specific guidance for differentiated small-group instruction, with targeted support and activities outlined for both Group 1 (students needing additional support) and Group 2 (on-level students) based on data.
Amplify ELA California provides point-of-use supports embedded within key core lesson activities with six levels of differentiation. The goal of these supports is to fully enable access to grade-level content for all students, including students with disabilities, English learners, and students ready for an additional level of challenge.
The Universal Access section of Advance Preparation in each lesson includes varied strategies to ensure all students can access and engage in each lesson.
Frequent use of graphic organizers and visual supports in lessons provide opportunities for differentiation based on need. The program also includes a variety of technological supports, such as eReaders with audio.
Extension opportunities are suggested throughout lessons, often embedded in writing tasks, which include prompts to use more complex and descriptive vocabulary, figurative language, multi-clause and complex sentences, and informational text characteristics.

Assessment-driven MTSS resources

The K–8 Intervention Toolkit is available online and provides easy-to-use resources that assist teachers in filling gaps in students’ reading skills, with activities to support print concepts, phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, and other key skills
Fluency Packets (Grades 2–5)
Foundational Skills Intervention Program for Grades 3–8 support students who would benefit from direct and explicit intervention instruction in the full continuum of foundational skills in the upper grades
Flexible Instructional Time including:
- Pausing Points built into the curriculum that provide teachers with dedicated time to address specific student needs through targeted reteaching, remediation, practice, and extension activities
- Pausing Point activities designed to support English learners’ competence and confidence through differentiated whole-group, small-group, or individual instruction
Boost Reading is a K–5 student-led digital intervention program. Boost Reading follows Amplify CKLA California’s scope and sequence to reinforce the same foundational skills taught in core instruction. It integrates easily into daily routines, while the robust data provided by mCLASS® DIBELS® 8th Edition offers a detailed view of how students progress across all instructional tiers.

Category 5: Instructional Planning and Teacher Support

Amplify CKLA California and Amplify ELA California teachers are empowered to deliver effective instruction with various print and digital resources. The program provides comprehensive planning and support materials designed to help teachers prepare for and execute lessons effectively and fulfill the requirements of Category 5.

Implementation supports across K–8

Planning and preparation resources

Unit Overviews that provide important background and context for the texts students will read, including highlighted elements within the text and guidance for how students will work with those elements
Sub-unit Overviews (Grades 6–8) that provide an overview of Lesson Objectives and reading and writing assignments, as well as a list of any projections, multimedia, or digital apps that can be projected from the teacher’s included digital license
Lesson-by-lesson preparation checklists (Grades 6–8) accompanying each Sub-unit Overview
Lesson Briefs for each individual lesson providing important background and context
Content knowledge materials regarding topics that students will examine

Point-of-use instructional guidance

Teacher Editions that feature insets of the same text and activity instructions as the corresponding Student Edition, wrapping teacher instruction around these materials
Activity guidance at point of use
Lesson standards clearly called out
Discussion suggestions embedded in lessons
Differentiation tips at point of use
Detailed Instructional Guides in each activity that include sequencing and grouping suggestions, tips for facilitating discussion, possible student responses and exemplars
Student Supports in all core lessons provide teachers with targeted supports in daily core instruction, addressing which might serve the student best in the moment—support, strengthen, stretch—with additional call-outs for newcomers

Multimedia and digital support

Teacher tip videos provide modeling and guidance for implementing key foundational skills routines within the program
Digital platform access where teachers can access printable PDFs of differentiated support materials for English learners and readers struggling with text, including translated Unit Background and Context Documents and Text Previews
Teacher Dashboard and reporting tools (Grade 6–8) that provide real-time visibility into student progress and work for immediate instructional response

Caregiver supports

Communication and overview resources

Caregiver Hub available in English and Spanish that provides an overview of the curriculum
Caregiver Letters for each K–2 Knowledge Domain and unit in Grades 3–5 that provide an overview of the content, the skills students learn, as well as practical methods that continue the learning and knowledge building at home
Unit-specific Caregiver Letters (Grades 6–8) that provide detailed information regarding what students will read and learn in each unit, including conversation starters that allow caregivers to ask questions and discuss specific aspects of a unit with their student
Welcome letters that explain the assessment and placement process while inviting parent involvement and offering support
Editable Home-School Communication letters available in English and Spanish
Editable Progress Reports for teachers to update parents and guardians on what their child is learning

Content and learning support materials

Unit Background and Context documents that provide an introduction and overview to the unit’s topic and themes, available in English and Spanish
Text Previews that provide a brief introduction to formative, independent reading assignments (called Solos in Grades 6–8), available in English and Spanish
Unit Overview and Support documents (Grades 6–8) designed for caregivers that provide information about important questions, assignments, and key aspects of the unit texts, available in English and Spanish
Conversation starters included in Knowledge Strand Caregiver Letters to discuss domain topics at home

Home practice and extension activities

Take-Home pages in the Skills Strand that include copies of decodable passages, enabling students to share their reading progress with families and continue practicing their skills outside of school
Take-Home Letters in the Skills Strand that provide specific guidance for parents to support skills practice at home, such as sound-sorting activities, with detailed instructions and materials for home practice activities
Take-Home pages in the Knowledge Strand that provide suggested activities families can do together to reinforce and extend learning beyond the classroom
Games and activities on Take-Home Pages that extend classroom instruction, including all the materials and instruction necessary to help families assist students in a fun and engaging way
Digital access to decodable texts through the Amplify Caregiver Hub, allowing students to practice their reading skills both in class and at home
Weekly spelling lists and directions to decoding activities that can be practiced at home

Read more

In a balanced literacy environment, learning happens through reading and writing immersion, where the need for explicit instruction in phonics is recognized but is not the primary focus.

The key difference between the approaches lies in their emphasis on foundational reading skills and a coherent approach to building language comprehension.

Read more

Decoding—the ability to recognize written words (via phonics)
Language comprehension—understanding what words mean

Assessment grounded in the Science of Reading can help identify children at risk of dyslexia at the earliest possible moments, creating the widest opportunity for intervention.

Download our free dyslexia toolkit

Read more

Actually, we have a full literacy suite built on the Science of Reading! It includes:

mCLASS^® assessment, powered by DIBELS^® 8th Edition, a gold-standard universal and dyslexia screener, plus a progress monitoring tool, all in one.
Amplify Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA), which provides explicit, systematic foundational skills instruction combined with intentional knowledge building.
Boost Reading, a highly adaptive personalized reading program that reinforces the core curriculum and supports enrichment, remediation, and intervention for each student in your classroom.
mCLASS Intervention, a staff-led intervention program targeted to Tiers 2 and 3, made easy with automatic data-driven grouping and sequenced explicit, systematic skills lesson plans to support at-risk students.

Welcome, K–8 Program 2 reviewers!

Your review samples

We’re excited for you to begin your review of Amplify Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA) California and Amplify ELA California, Language Studio California for grades K–8. Physical and digital review materials will vary by grade level.

Reviewer Binders (K–8)

Your physical samples should have arrived in grade-specific boxes with three Reviewer Binders.

The first binder will contain logistical program review information and the printed Evaluation Criteria Map.
The second binder will contain the printed Standards Maps for grades K–4.
The third binder will contain the printed Standards Maps for grades 5–8.

Physical samples (K–5)

You can expect to receive 15 boxes of physical materials for your review. As you begin the process of organizing your materials, please refer to the inventory checklist found inside each box as well as within your Reviewer Binder. Please note you will not receive any physical samples for grades 6–8 ELA or Language Studio for grades K-8. Your review of the program for grades 6–8 ELA and Language Studio for grades K-8 will be entirely digital.

Digital samples

Click the orange button below to access the platform.
Click “Log in with Amplify.”
Enter the username and password provided on your Digital Review Credential flyer.

Digital Access

Navigation tips

Before you get started, please review these important functionality notes:

[Reviewer program navigation video] Grades K–5

[Reviewer program navigation video] Grades 6–8

Click here for additional information on navigating the digital materials for grades 6–8.

Category 1: English Language Arts (ELA) and English Language Development (ELD) Content/Alignment to Standards

Evaluation Criteria Map

Linked below is the Evaluation Criteria Map for grades K–8. Please note that you will need to be logged into the digital platform to access the links in the Evaluation Criteria Map.

Program 2: Basic ELA/ELD (K–8) Evaluation Criteria Map

ELA Standards Maps

The links below provide the Standards Maps for Amplify California Language Arts for each grade level. Please note that you will need to be logged into the digital platform to access the links in the Standards Maps.

ELD Standards Maps

The links below provide the ELD Standards Maps for Amplify California Core Language Arts for each grade level.

Category 2: Program Organization

The Amplify California Language Arts Program 2 submission includes Amplify CKLA California for Grades K–5, Amplify ELA California for Grades 6–8, and Amplify Language Studio California for Grades K–8. This comprehensive curriculum provides a full year of evidence-based instruction for each grade level, with both integrated and designated English Language Development instruction designed to give English learners the tools to thrive.

Program structure

[Reviewer highlight video] Program organization for Category 2

[Reviewer highlight video] Program structure for grades K–2

[Reviewer highlight video] Program structure for grades 3–5

[Reviewer highlight video] Program structure for grades 6–8

Amplify CKLA California empowers teachers to deliver effective instruction and keeps students engaged with with the following resources:

Teacher Guides
Assessment Guides
Authentic texts and trade books
Knowledge Image Cards
Knowledge Flip Books
Remediation and intervention resources
Decodable readers
Student Readers and novels
Student Activity Books
Dedicated ELD support with Language Studio California
Poet’s Journals
eReaders
Sound Library featuring articulation videos and songs
Instructional routine modeling videos
Assignable Practice Games
On-demand professional development

Amplify ELA California students stay engaged with the following resources:

Teacher Guides that include:
- Detailed lesson plans
- Standards alignment and exit tickets
- Real-time differentiation strategies
- Robust reporting
Student Editions that include:
- High-quality narrative and informational texts
- Videos, audio supports, and digital experiences that capture their attention
- Personal Writing Journal to keep all student writing in one place
Dedicated ELD support with Language Studio California
Trade Books

Core literacy philosophy

Provide intentional ELD support. Honor students’ linguistic assets while building academic English through both integrated and designated instruction.

Scope and sequence

Below you can view the scope and sequence for each grade level.

Routines

Amplify CKLA California and Amplify ELA California include several structured instructional routines that provide predictable patterns for both teachers and students:

Discussion and collaboration routines:

Turn and Talk: Partners discuss text-specific content using sentence starters and frames
Think-Pair-Share: Students engage in individual thinking, partner discussion, and whole-class sharing
Partner reading: Students sit shoulder-to-shoulder, taking turns reading and listening

Foundational Skills routines:

Sound-spelling review: Warm-up activities that reinforce phonics patterns
Oral blending warm-ups: Teacher-guided practice progressing to independent application
Finger-tapping: Techniques for blending sounds
Chaining activities: Students manipulate letters to transform one word into another
Word Work: Daily short activities focused on domain-specific and academic vocabulary

Knowledge-Building Routines:

Teacher modeling: Demonstration of proper intonation, expression, and pacing
Choral reading: Whole-class reading practice
Partner reading: Paired fluency practice

Close reading routines

Each routine includes comprehensive instructional guides with clear-cut directions for implementation, straightforward explanations of concepts, and suggestions for discussion.

Designated English Language Development materials

Language Studio California is a K–8 content-based companion for English language learners. Built on Amplify CKLA California’s and Amplify ELA California’s carefully sequenced Knowledge Domains and units, it combines engaging content knowledge with targeted supports and research-based strategies to help students move swiftly toward language proficiency. This program includes:

Real-world content to provide authentic opportunities to practice reading, writing, speaking, and listening.
Scaffolding strategies and differentiated instruction to offer targeted support along with five English proficiency levels.
Progress-monitoring tools to help teachers provide consistent and effective support.
Teacher Guides that:
- Provide impactful progress monitoring tools including formative and summative assessments and Language Proficiency Assessment rubrics.
- Offer varied differentiation strategies including Support, Challenge, and Access Supports in each lesson segment.
- Are organized into thoughtful lesson segments—Talk Time, Building Background, On Stage and more—that make learning objectives concrete.
Activities that:
- Expand on domain knowledge from core content and read-alouds and prompt collaborative conversation to practice oral fluency.
- Support hands-on language activities to promote authentic interaction in the classroom.
- Help students bridge experiences and knowledge with images, vocabulary activities, graphic organizers, anticipation guides, writing space, and more.

Category 3: Assessments

Systematic MTSS alignment

In alignment with the additional 2025 Guidance 3.1.a, the assessment systems align with MTSS tiers, including universal screening, diagnostic assessments for students demonstrating a need for additional support, and progress monitoring tools that complement the California’s required universal screening schedule per SB 114.

	Tier 1: Universal/ differentiated support	Tier 2: Supplemental/ targeted support	Tier 3: Intensified/ intensive support
Core instruction assessments Frequency of administration	Amplify CKLA California, Amplify Caminos California, Amplify ELA California assessments Daily, Weekly, Monthly	Amplify CKLA California, Amplify Caminos California, Amplify ELA California assessments Daily, Weekly, Monthly	Amplify CKLA California, Amplify Caminos California, Amplify ELA California assessments Daily, Weekly, Monthly
Universal screening assessments Frequency of administration	mCLASS DIBELS and Lectura 3 times per year – BOY, MOY, EOY	mCLASS DIBELS and Lectura 3 times per year – BOY, MOY, EOY	mCLASS DIBELS and Lectura 3 times per year – BOY, MOY, EOY
Formal progress monitoring assessments Frequency of administration	mCLASS DIBELS and Lectura 3 times per year – BOY, MOY, EOY	mCLASS DIBELS and Lectura Monthly	mCLASS DIBELS and Lectura Bi-weekly
Informal progress monitoring assessments Frequency of administration	Amplify CKLA California, Amplify Caminos California, Amplify ELA California core assessments Daily	Intervention Toolkit progress monitoring assessments When linked to a lesson in the toolkit	Intervention Toolkit progress monitoring assessments When linked to a lesson in the toolkit
Diagnostic assessment Frequency of administration		Amplify skill diagnostic assessment Amplify Spanish skill diagnostic assessment Optional after universal screening assessment is administered	Amplify skill diagnostic assessment Amplify Spanish skill diagnostic assessment After universal screening assessment is administered

Universal assessment system

Amplify’s mCLASS® DIBELS® 8th Edition and mCLASS Lectura are universal and dyslexia screening assessments that should be administered three times per year (BOY, MOY and EOY) to all students. The assessments evaluate student literacy risk, determine progress toward grade-level goals, and indicate the level of instructional support a student may need. Beginning-of-year screenings require adequate instructional time before administration, particularly in grades K–1, while mid-year and end-of-year assessments evaluate instructional effectiveness and guide tier placement adjustments. These screenings also identify students at risk for dyslexia. Universal screening provides essential data for targeting instruction and measuring instructional system effectiveness.

Core instruction assessments

Formative assessments:

Checks for Understanding: Incorporated into each lesson segment throughout daily instruction. Quick pulse-checks that provide immediate feedback during lesson delivery (grades K–5).
Daily formative assessments: Highlighted moments within each lesson for teachers to plan to track mastery of Primary Focus objectives and standards of each lesson to get a clear snapshot of individual and whole-class progress (grades K–5).
Activity pages: Completed as part of lessons and can be used to assess lesson content understanding through various formats (grades K–5).
Exit Tickets: Located at the end of lessons, these provide a quick gauge of students’ ability to meet the lesson’s focus standards (grades 6–8).
Writing Prompts: Prompts integrated throughout lessons during writing activities that provide skill snapshots within lessons and tracks patterns of skill development over time (grades 6–8).
Independent reading activities (Solos): At the end of every lesson, students complete an independent reading activity (“solo”) with reading questions that are scored to measure comprehension (grades 6–8).

Summative assessments:

Skills end-of-unit assessments (grades K–2)
Knowledge end-of-domain assessments (grades K–2)
End-of-unit assessments (grades 3–5)
Unit essays: A culminating end-of-unit set of lessons that guide students through crafting an essay with a rubric to score mastery of writing skills (grades 6–8)
Unit Reading Assessments: Auto-scored responses and two constructed response items evaluate comprehension, content understanding, and reading skills using the passages students read during the unit (grades 6–8)

Performance Assessments

Student Performance Assessments are multi-day assessments administered in Grades K-5 at the beginning, middle, and end of year to help teachers gauge student mastery of grade-level Core content. These assessments provide critical data to help teachers set targeted instructional goals and monitor individual and class-wide progress towards core objectives.

Progress monitoring

Informal progress monitoring tools can be found within the Intervention Toolkit, including materials for teachers to record, track, and evaluate student progress.

Diagnostic assessment

Category 4: Universal Access

Universal Design for Learning

The programs incorporate opportunities for engagement, representation, action, and expression based on the guidelines of Universal Design for Learning.

Multiple Means of Engagement: The programs incorporate interesting and motivating ways for students to interact with information and content. In Amplify CKLA California, the Universal Access section in the introduction of each lesson provides specific lesson-level options based on the needs of individual classrooms and students. Scaffolding for students with various levels of need is incorporated into the design of each lesson.
Multiple Means of Representation: The programs provide multiple means of presenting content to maximize student understanding. This includes digital component files that allow for a range of presentations of images and text to support learning. Amplify provides access to universal supports such as point-of-use audio for all core texts, embedded definitions for critical vocabulary, and glossaries in multiple languages. Amplify CKLA California includes clarification on language found throughout the program, with sidebars that include support on transition words and syntax, and illustrations to help students understand the concepts they are learning.
Multiple Means of Action and Expression: The programs include a range of methods for all students, including English Learners, to navigate and demonstrate learning. This includes physical actions, a range of methods for response, appropriate tools for composition, and varied scaffolding. In Amplify ELA California, lessons provide multiple ways for students to interact with text, allowing their brains to process the language through distinct pathways. Activities harness multiple learning modes, using media tools, digital apps, and a variety of visual and physical experiences to strategically support and enhance student learning.
Accessibility: Universal access features include visual aids, enlarged materials, physical objects, and multiple learning modalities through activities like Push & Say and Wiggle Cards. The Universal Access section in the introduction of each lesson provides specific lesson-level options based on the needs of individual classrooms and students.

Embedded differentiation

Amplify CKLA California and Amplify ELA California provide built-in differentiation strategies in every lesson for all students.

Throughout the Teacher Guides, point-of-use Differentiation icons provide targeted instructional strategies and supports. These icons indicate specific guidance for advanced learners, students who need additional support, and English learners, allowing teachers to easily identify and implement appropriate scaffolds and extensions during instruction. In addition, teachers are provided with recommendations for resources to use with each group of students.

Pre-teaching supports include mini-lessons on:
- Core vocabulary words
- Core Connections
- Essential Background Information or Terms
- What Have We Already Learned/What Do We Already Know?
Differentiated Support for Core Instruction tables, located in the overview of each K–2 Skills Teacher Guide, provide a list of specific opportunities for reteaching and additional support in each lesson based on skill.
Support and Challenge Sidebars in lesson margins offer educators immediate guidance in implementing point-of-use differentiation techniques.
Flexible Grouping within lessons provides opportunities for teachers to facilitate small groups, partners, or individualized support based on students’ needs. In the Skills Strand, teachers receive specific guidance for differentiated small-group instruction, with targeted support and activities outlined for both Group 1 (students needing additional support) and Group 2 (on-level students) based on data.
Amplify ELA California provides point-of-use supports embedded within key core lesson activities with six levels of differentiation. The goal of these supports is to fully enable access to grade-level content for all students, including students with disabilities, English learners, and students ready for an additional level of challenge.
The Universal Access section of Advance Preparation in each lesson includes varied strategies to ensure all students can access and engage in each lesson.
Frequent use of graphic organizers and visual supports in lessons provide opportunities for differentiation based on need. The program also includes a variety of technological supports, such as eReaders with audio.
Extension opportunities are suggested throughout lessons, often embedded in writing tasks, which include prompts to use more complex and descriptive vocabulary, figurative language, multi-clause and complex sentences, and informational text characteristics.

Assessment-Driven MTSS resources

The K–8 Intervention Toolkit is available online and provides easy-to-use resources that assist teachers in filling gaps in students’ reading skills, with activities to support print concepts, phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, and other key skills
Fluency Packets (Grades 2–5)
Foundational Skills Intervention Program for Grades 3–8 support students who would benefit from direct and explicit intervention instruction in the full continuum of foundational skills in the upper grades
Flexible Instructional Time including:
- Pausing Points built into the curriculum that provide teachers with dedicated time to address specific student needs through targeted reteaching, remediation, practice, and extension activities
- Pausing Point activities designed to support English learners’ competence and confidence through differentiated whole-group, small-group, or individual instruction
Boost Reading is a K–5 student-led digital intervention program. Boost Reading follows Amplify CKLA California’s scope and sequence to reinforce the same foundational skills taught in core instruction. It integrates easily into daily routines, while the robust data provided by mCLASS® DIBELS® 8th Edition offers a detailed view of how students progress across all instructional tiers.

Category 5: Instructional Planning and Teacher Support

Implementation supports across K–8

Planning and preparation resources

Unit Overviews that provide important background and context for the texts students will read, including highlighted elements within the text and guidance for how students will work with those elements
Sub-unit Overviews (Grades 6–8) that provide an overview of Lesson Objectives and reading and writing assignments, as well as a list of any projections, multimedia, or digital apps that can be projected from the teacher’s included digital license
Lesson-by-lesson preparation checklists (Grades 6–8) accompanying each Sub-unit Overview
Lesson Briefs for each individual lesson providing important background and context
Content knowledge materials regarding topics that students will examine

Point-of-use instructional guidance

Teacher Editions that feature insets of the same text and activity instructions as the corresponding Student Edition, wrapping teacher instruction around these materials
Activity guidance at point of use
Lesson standards clearly called out
Discussion suggestions embedded in lessons
Differentiation tips at point of use
Detailed Instructional Guides in each activity that include sequencing and grouping suggestions, tips for facilitating discussion, possible student responses and exemplars
Student Supports in all core lessons that provide teachers with targeted supports in daily core instruction, addressing which might serve the student best in the moment—support, strengthen, stretch—with additional call-outs for newcomers

Multimedia and digital support

Teacher tip videos provide modeling and guidance for implementing key foundational skills routines within the program
Digital platform access where teachers can access printable PDFs of differentiated support materials for English learners and students struggling with reading, including translated Unit Background and Context documents and Text Previews
Teacher dashboard and reporting tools (Grade 6–8) provide real-time visibility into student progress and work for immediate instructional response

Caregiver supports

Communication and overview resources

Caregiver Hub available in English and Spanish that provides an overview of the curriculum
Caregiver Letters for each K–2 Knowledge Domain and unit in Grades 3–5 that provide an overview of the content, the skills students learn, as well as practical methods that continue the learning and knowledge building at home
Unit-specific Caregiver Letters (Grades 6–8) that provide detailed information regarding what students will read and learn in each unit, including conversation starters that allow caregivers to ask questions and discuss specific aspects of a unit with their student
Welcome letters that explain the assessment and placement process while inviting parent involvement and offering support
Editable Home-School Communication letters available in English and Spanish
Editable Progress Reports for teachers to update parents and guardians on what their child is learning

Content and learning support materials

Unit Background and Context documents that provide an introduction and overview to the unit’s topic and themes, available in English and Spanish
Text Previews that provide a brief introduction to formative, independent reading assignments (called Solos in Grades 6–8), available in English and Spanish
Unit Overview and Support documents (Grades 6–8) designed for caregivers that provide information about important questions, assignments, and key aspects of the unit texts, available in English and Spanish
Conversation starters included in Knowledge Strand Caregiver Letters to discuss domain topics at home

Home practice and extension activities

Take-Home pages in the Skills Strand that include copies of decodable passages, enabling students to share their reading progress with families and continue practicing their skills outside of school
Take-Home Letters in the Skills Strand that provide specific guidance for parents to support skills practice at home, such as sound-sorting activities, with detailed instructions and materials for home practice activities
Take-Home pages in the Knowledge Strand that provide suggested activities families can do together to reinforce and extend learning beyond the classroom
Games and activities on take-home pages that extend classroom instruction, including all the materials and instruction necessary to help families assist students in a fun and engaging way
Digital access to decodable texts through the Amplify Caregiver Hub, allowing students to practice their reading skills both in class and at home
Weekly spelling lists and directions to decoding activities that can be practiced at home

Phonological awareness games

In Cut It Out, students isolate individual phonemes by listening to a beginning, middle, or ending sound and choosing a picture of the word containing the sound in that position.

Skills
Phonological awareness

Blending at the compound word, syllable, onset-rime, and phoneme level

Standards covered

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.1.2.C — Isolate and pronounce initial, medial vowel, and final sounds (phonemes) in spoken single-syllable words.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.K.2.D — Isolate and pronounce the initial, medial vowel, and final sounds (phonemes) in three-phoneme (consonant-vowel-consonant, or CVC) words.1 (This does not include CVCs ending with /l/, /r/, or /x/.)

In Gem & Nye, students blend sounds into words, starting with compound words and syllables and then moving to beginning (onset) and ending (rime) sounds and finally individual phonemes, to identify the picture of the word the Soundbots say when blended together.

Skills
Phonological awareness

Blending at the compound word, syllable, onset-rime, and phoneme level

Standards covered

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.1.2.B — Orally produce single-syllable words by blending sounds (phonemes), including consonant blends.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.K.2.B — Count, pronounce, blend, and segment syllables in spoken words.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.K.2.C — Blend and segment onsets and rimes of single-syllable spoken words.

In Wordbots, students practice segmenting words into their onsets and rimes to determine which Startbots and Endbots form a stimulus word.

Skills
Phonological awareness

Segment at the compound-word and onset-rime level

Standards covered

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.K.2.C — Blend and segment onsets and rimes of single-syllable spoken words.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.K.2.B — Count, pronounce, blend, and segment syllables in spoken words.

In Zoom Boom, students practice rhyming by listening to a word and identifying the picture of the word that rhymes with it.

Skills
Phonological awareness

Rhyming

Standards covered

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.K.2.A — Recognize and produce rhyming words.

Phonics Games in Amplify Reading: K–2

In Curioso Crossing, students practice accurate and automatic word recognition by identifying the correct spoken word to guide their Curioso safely throughout the land.

Skills
Phonics – Early Decoding; Advanced Decoding

Read high-frequency irregular words, regular words, words with inflected endings, two-syllable words, words with prefixes and suffixes, and multi-syllable words

Standards Covered

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.K.3.B — Associate the long and short sounds with the common spellings (graphemes) for the five major vowels.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.1.3.B — Decode regularly spelled one-syllable words.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.1.3.C — Know final -e and common vowel team conventions for representing long vowel sounds.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.1.3.E — Decode two-syllable words following basic patterns by breaking the words into syllables.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.1.3.F — Read words with inflectional endings.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.2.3.A — Distinguish long and short vowels when reading regularly spelled one-syllable words.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.2.3.C — Decode regularly spelled two-syllable words with long vowels.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.2.3.D — Decode words with common prefixes and suffixes.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.2.3.F — Recognize and read grade-appropriate irregularly spelled words.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.K.3.C — Read common high-frequency words by sight (e.g., the, of, to, you, she, my, is, are, do, does).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.1.3.G — Recognize and read grade-appropriate irregularly spelled words.

In Food Truck, students practice “chopping” blends, ending sounds (rimes), and whole words into beginning sounds (onsets), ending sounds, and individual letters to create orders for their hungry goblin customers. The difficulty of words and segmenting tasks increases with each level as customers order more sophisticated “dishes.”

Skills
Phonics – Early Decoding

Decode and spell words with common rime families

Standards Covered

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.K.3.A — Demonstrate basic knowledge of one-to-one letter-sound correspondences by producing the primary sound or many of the most frequent sounds for each consonant.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.K.3.B — Associate the long and short sounds with the common spellings (graphemes) for the five major vowels.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.K.3.D — Distinguish between similarly spelled words by identifying the sounds of the letters that differ.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.K.2.E — Add or substitute individual sounds (phonemes) in simple, one-syllable words to make new words.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.1.3.B — Decode regularly spelled one-syllable words.

In Grumpy Goblins, students learn sound-spelling correspondences for consonant digraphs and vowel teams by listening to a sound from a goblin and feeding it the piece of toast with the corresponding letter or combination.

Skills
Phonics – Letter Combinations

Sound-spelling correspondences for consonant digraphs and vowel teams

Standards Covered

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.K.3.B — Associate the long and short sounds with the common spellings (graphemes) for the five major vowels.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.1.3.A — Know the spelling-sound correspondences for common consonant digraphs.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.2.3.B — Know spelling-sound correspondences for additional common vowel teams.

In Hangry Goblins, students practice letter-sound combinations by feeding individual letter sounds, consonant digraphs, blends, and vowel teams to goblins that become more and more “hangry” until they are given the letters that match their demands.

Skills
Phonics – Letter Sound Correspondence

Sound-spelling correspondences for individual letters and letter combinations

Standards covered

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.K.3.A — Demonstrate basic knowledge of one-to-one letter-sound correspondences by producing the primary sound or many of the most frequent sounds for each consonant.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.K.3.B — Associate the long and short sounds with the common spellings (graphemes) for the five major vowels.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.1.3.A — Know the spelling-sound correspondences for common consonant digraphs.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.2.3.B — Know spelling-sound correspondences for additional common vowel teams.

In Picky Goblins, students practice sound-spelling correspondences for individual letters by listening to a sound from a goblin and feeding it the piece of toast with the corresponding.

Skills
Phonics – Letter-Sound Correspondence

Sound-Spelling Correspondences for single letters

Standards Covered

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.K.3.A — Demonstrate basic knowledge of one-to-one letter-sound correspondences by producing the primary sound or many of the most frequent sounds for each consonant.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.K.3.B — Associate the long and short sounds with the common spellings (graphemes) for the five major vowels.

In Read All About It, students practice reading sentences with words that include the sound-spelling correspondences, word features (e.g., prefixes/suffixes), and phonics rules (e.g., vowel consonant long e, syllable patterns) they learned and practiced in other games.

Skills
Phonics – Early Decoding; Advanced Decoding

Read grade level text accurately

Standards Covered

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.K.3 — Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.K.4 — Read emergent-reader texts with purpose and understanding.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.1.3 — Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.1.4 — Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.2.3 — Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.2.4 — Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.

In Rhyme Time, students practice with different rime families (words that end with the same sounds and rhyme) and decode words in these families by swapping the first letter sounds of words while the ending sounds remain constant.

Skills
Phonics – Early Decoding

Decode words with common rime families

Standards Covered

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.K.3.A — Demonstrate basic knowledge of one-to-one letter-sound correspondences by producing the primary sound or many of the most frequent sounds for each consonant.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.K.3.B — Associate the long and short sounds with the common spellings (graphemes) for the five major vowels.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.K.3.D — Distinguish between similarly spelled words by identifying the sounds of the letters that differ.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.K.2.E — Add or substitute individual sounds (phonemes) in simple, one-syllable words to make new words.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.1.3.B — Decode regularly spelled one-syllable words.

In Tongue Twist, students practice with different rime families (words that end with the same sounds and rhyme) and build words by changing the ending sound (rime) while the beginning (onset) sounds, consonant blends, and consonant digraphs remain constant.

Skills
Phonics – Early Decoding

Decode words with common rime families

Standards covered

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.K.3.A — Demonstrate basic knowledge of one-to-one letter-sound correspondences by producing the primary sound or many of the most frequent sounds for each consonant.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.K.3.B — Associate the long and short sounds with the common spellings (graphemes) for the five major vowels.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.K.3.D — Distinguish between similarly spelled words by identifying the sounds of the letters that differ.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.K.2.E — Add or substitute individual sounds (phonemes) in simple, one-syllable words to make new words.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.1.3.B — Decode regularly spelled one-syllable words.

In Word City, students identify and manipulate beginning, middle, and ending letter sounds to assemble word chains that form buildings.

Skills
Phonics – Early Decoding

Letter-sound correspondence
Decoding and spelling regular words

Standards Covered

CCSS.ELA-LITERACYRF.K.3.A — Demonstrate basic knowledge of one-to-one letter-sound correspondences by producing the primary sound or many of the most frequent sounds for each consonant.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACYRF.1.3.A — Know the spelling-sound correspondences for common consonant digraphs.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACYRF.1.3.B — Decode regularly spelled one-syllable words.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACYRF.1.3.C — Know final -e and common vowel team conventions for representing long vowel sounds.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACYRF.2.3.B — Know spelling-sound correspondences for additional common vowel teams.

Microcomprehension Games in Amplify Reading: K–2

In Because This, That, students learn how common text structures give clues to meaning by rearranging sentences to identify cause and effect or problem and solution.

Skills
Microcomprehension

Text Structure: Organize sentences using sequence/chronological order

Standards covered

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.1.3 — Describe the connection between two individuals, events, ideas, or pieces of information in a text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.1.8 — Identify the reasons an author gives to support points in a text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.2.3 — Describe the connection between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.2.8 — Describe how reasons support specific points the author makes in a text.

In Connect It!, students practice using different types of conjunctions (temporal and causal, for example) to combine two clauses into a coherent sentence.

Skills
Microcomprehension

Syntactic awareness – connectives

Standards covered

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.2.3 — Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening.

In Message in a Bottle, students build their awareness of syntax and the impact word order has on meaning by unscrambling scraps of lost messages to reconstruct sentences.

Skills
Microcomprehension

Syntactic awareness

Standards covered

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.1.1 — Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.2.1 — Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.

In Mind the Gap, comprehension levels are assessed through a modified cloze exercise in which students make selections to fill in the blanks of a text where approximately every seventh word has been omitted.

Skills
Microcomprehension

Reading fluency
Syntactic awareness
Inference
Comprehension monitoring

Standards covered

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.1 — Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.10 — Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently.

In Show Off, students learn how common text structures give clues to meaning, using cues from illustrations to rearrange sentences in the correct sequential or chronological order.
Skills
Microcomprehension

Text structure: Organize sentences using problem/solution and cause/effect

Standards covered

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.1.3 — Describe the connection between two individuals, events, ideas, or pieces of information in a text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.1.8 — Identify the reasons an author gives to support points in a text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.2.3 — Describe the connection between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.2.8 — Describe how reasons support specific points the author makes in a text.knowledge of one-to-one letter-sound correspondences by producing the primary sound or many of the most frequent sounds for each consonant.

In Sloppy Scrolls, students practice the art of comprehension monitoring, or ensuring that they continually build and check a mental model of what they read. In the game, students are introduced to a world of enchanted scrolls that have lost their magic: they contain inconsistencies, and no longer make sense. The students must attempt to identify the inconsistencies by tapping the sentences that don’t match the rest of the passage. To increase the challenge of the game, some of the passages are presented without errors.

Skills
Microcomprehension

Comprehension Monitoring

Standards Covered

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.10 — By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories and poetry, in the grades 2-3 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.

In Storyboard, students practice making inferences by completing a storyboard that integrates relevant background knowledge missing from a given sentence.

Skills
Microcomprehension

Inference

Standards covered

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.1 — With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.K.1 — With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.1 — Ask and answer questions about key details in a text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.1.1 — Ask and answer questions about key details in a text.

In Super Match, students work on developing cognitive flexibility, or the ability to track multiple elements simultaneously, by completing interactive puzzles that associate pictures and words across multiple dimensions (e.g., color and category, or starting sounds and category).

Skills
Microcomprehension

Cognitive flexibility

Standards covered

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.1.5.A — Sort words into categories (e.g., colors, clothing) to gain a sense of the concepts the categories represent.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.1.5.B — Define words by category and by one or more key attributes (e.g., a duck is a bird that swims; a tiger is a large cat with stripes).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.1.3 — Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words.

In Unmask That, students build their understanding of anaphora, a tool authors use to avoid repetition, by linking pronouns to their antecedents in text.

Skills
Microcomprehension

Syntactic awareness – anaphora

Standards covered

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.1.1 — Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.2.1 — Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.

Comprehension Games in Amplify Reading: K–2

In Best Buddy, students examine character traits to determine which school club provides the best fit for their fictional friends.

Skills
Comprehension – Key Ideas and Details

Character Traits

Standards Covered

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.3 — Describe characters, settings, and major events in a story, using key details.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.3 — Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges.

In Book Club, students compare and contrast two books on the same topic or theme to determine which book best meets the needs of a character in the game.

Skills
Comprehension – Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

Compare and Contrast Texts

Standards covered

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.1.9 — Identify basic similarities in and differences between two texts on the same topic (e.g., in illustrations, descriptions, or procedures).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.Rl.2.9 — Compare and contrast the most important points presented by two texts on the same topic.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.9 — Compare and contrast two or more versions of the same story (e.g., Cinderella stories) by different authors or from different cultures.

In Debate-a-Ball, students practice identifying the best evidence to support a claim. Students pick an animal avatar to compete with an automated opponent in debates on familiar topics. To win, students must put forward the best evidence to support each claim more frequently than their opponents. They are taught to identify evidence that is factual and strongly related to the claim.

Skills
Comprehension – Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

Evaluate evidence

Standards covered

CSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.2.8 — Describe how reasons support specific points the author makes in a text.

In Picture This, students complete the illustrations for a story by identifying words that describe its setting, characters, problems, and solutions.

Skills
Comprehension – Key Ideas and Details

Story Elements/Plot

Standards covered

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.1 — Ask and answer questions about key details in a text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.3 — Describe characters, settings, and major events in a story, using key details.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.1 — Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.3 — Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges.

In Storybox, students choose settings, situations, and solutions to send characters on different adventures, using details and context to help them resolve problems and complete the story.

Skills
Comprehension – Key Ideas and Details

Story Elements/Plot

Standards covered

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.3 — With prompting and support, identify characters, settings, and major events in a story.

In Tube Tales, students learn the attributes of different genres and practice identifying them in brief texts.

Skills
Comprehension – Craft and Structure

Text schema

Standards covered

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.10 — By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories and poetry, in the grades 2-3 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.2.5 — Know and use various text features (e.g., captions, bold print, subheadings, glossaries, indexes, electronic menus, icons) to locate key facts or information in a text efficiently.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.2.10 — By the end of year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, in the grades 2-3 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.

In What’s the Big Idea, students examine pictures, picture sequences, and short passages to practice differentiating the main idea from story details.

Skills
Comprehension – Key Ideas and Details

Main idea

Standards covered

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.K.2 — With prompting and support, identify the main topic and retell key details of a text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.1.2 — Identify the main topic and retell key details of a text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.2.2 — Identify the main topic of a multiparagraph text as well as the focus of specific paragraphs within the text.

Vocabulary Games in Amplify Reading: K–2

In Punchline!, students learn how words can have multiple meanings by channeling their inner comedian to crack homonym-based jokes.

Skills
Vocabulary

Multiple-meaning words

Standards covered

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.2.4.A — Use sentence-level context as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase.

In Shades of Meaning, students differentiate the nuances in similar words — first by ordering them from weakest to strongest, largest to smallest, or least to greatest; then by putting them into sentences that further clarify their meaning.

Skills
Vocabulary

Shades of meaning

Standards covered

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.1.5.D — Distinguish shades of meaning among verbs differing in manner (e.g., look, peek, glance, stare, glare, scowl) and adjectives differing in intensity (e.g., large, gigantic) by defining or choosing them or by acting out the meanings.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.2.5.B — Distinguish shades of meaning among closely related verbs (e.g., toss, throw, hurl) and closely related adjectives (e.g., thin, slender, skinny, scrawny).

Amplify Reading: K–2’s Integrated eReader

eReader Overview

Amplify Reading: K–2 has a new library of over 25 fiction and non-fiction ebooks and an adaptive algorithm that unlocks each book at the exact right point in a reader’s development. Moreover, they contain familiar interactions from the games so that students move seamlessly from text-embedded-in-games to games-embedded-in-text, maximizing their sense of growing competency.

The eReader also provides optional supports for its readers. From the settings icon on the title page of each book, students can turn on sentence numbering, read aloud functionality, and reveal words, as well as adjust the text size.

Student Experience
When students are ready for a text, it will appear as one of their quest steps.

When readers first unlock a new book, they read through it without interruption (with read-aloud support if appropriate).

In the second read, students discover embedded activities that repeat the familiar iconography of a game they previously mastered.

At the end of the book, additional activities evaluate students’ comprehension.

Achievements in books are part of the same overall reward system: helping your Curioso grow, just like achievement in skill-building games. Mastery of the content is reflected in the teacher dashboard within the given skill.

How teachers are using Amplify Reading

Independent study/rotation stations
Amplify Reading is a personalized, differentiated program designed to keep students engaged and on task in independent study. The program is most effective when used for a minimum of 45 minutes per week.

Other common uses
We designed the program to be flexible enough to fit any classroom model. Amplify Reading is browser-based, so it works on Chromebooks, iPads, laptops, desktops, and even iPhones. It can also be used at home to extend learning beyond the classroom.

Welcome, Program 3 reviewers!

Your review samples

We’re excited for you to begin your review of Amplify California Language Arts, a comprehensive biliteracy program for kindergarten through grade 6.

Reviewer Binders (K–6)

Your physical samples should have arrived in grade-specific boxes with three Reviewer Binders.

The first binder will contain logistical program review information and the printed Evaluation Criteria Map.
The second binder will contain the printed Standards Maps for grades K–2.
The third binder will contain the printed Standards Maps for grades 3–6.

Physical samples (trade books)

Your review of the program will be entirely digital with the exception of the trade books that you will be receiving as physical samples. You can expect to receive 13 boxes of physical materials for your review. Twelve boxes of trade books, one for each grade K–5, in English and Spanish, and one box containing your Reviewer Binders.

As you begin the process of organizing your materials, please refer to the inventory checklist found inside each box as well as within your Reviewer Binder.

Digital review materials

In order to access your digital review materials, you’ll need to log in to our platform using your unique login credentials found on a Digital Review Credential flyer inside of your Reviewer Binder. Once you have located the flyer:

Click the orange button below to access the platform.
Click “Log in with Amplify.”
Enter the username and password provided on your Digital Review Credential flyer.

Digital Access

Navigation tips

Before you get started, please review these important functionality notes:

[Reviewer program navigation video] Grades K–5

[Reviewer program navigation video] Grade 6

Click here for additional information on navigating the program for grade 6.

Category 1: English Language Arts (ELA) and English Language Development (ELD) content/alignment to standards

Evaluation Criteria Map

Linked below is the Evaluation Criteria Map. Please note that you will need to be logged into the digital platform to access the links in the Evaluation Criteria Map.

Program 3: Basic Biliteracy (K–6) Evaluation Criteria Map

ELA Standards Maps

The links below provide the Standards Maps for Amplify California Language Arts for each grade level.

ELD Standards Maps

Category 2: Program organization

Amplify California Language Arts’ biliteracy program is a comprehensive curriculum provides a full year of evidence-based instruction for each grade level, with both integrated and designated English Language Development instruction designed to give multilingual/English learners the tools to thrive. Amplify’s biliteracy program for grades K–6 includes:

Core English language arts instruction: Amplify Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA) California (grades K–5) and Amplify ELA California (grade 6) covering knowledge building and foundational skills.
- Provides upper grade foundational skills instruction for grades 3–6.
Core Spanish language arts instruction: Amplify Caminos California, a fully parallel SLA program that works in tandem with English core instruction across all grades.
- Provides upper grade foundational skills instruction for grades 3–6.
Designated English Language Development: Language Studio California is the designated English Language Development companion that directly aligns with and supports core English instruction.
Newcomer Support: Amplify California Language Arts Newcomer Support to facilitate instruction for students who are new to both English and the United States.

Program structure

Amplify’s California Language Arts programs are built on what the research shows: Strong readers need both word recognition and language comprehension. Our comprehensive curriculum suite follows the Simple View of Reading bringing together foundational skills and knowledge building to deliver instruction grounded in the Science of Reading.

This model is integral to the structure of the Amplify biliteracy program, which directly aligns with the CA CCSS ELA and ELD standards by combining rigorous decoding and skills instruction with research-based knowledge and language development instruction. In its early grades, the Amplify biliteracy program uses a two-strand structure—Skills/Lectoescritura and Knowledge/Conocimiento—to effectively address this learning challenge while meeting standards expectations for both language development and academic content mastery.

Diagram with three orange squares labeled: "Language comprehension," "Word recognition," and "Skilled reading," connected by multiplication and equals signs, with Spanish headings above each square.

[Reviewer highlight video] Program organization for Category 2

[Reviewer highlight video] Program structure for grades K–2

[Reviewer highlight video] Program structure for grades 3–5

[Reviewer highlight video] Program structure for grade 6

Amplify Caminos California lessons are designed to allow all students time to work toward learning objectives, including peer collaboration and discussion. Since each lesson activity is aligned to subsequent activities, students’ understanding and analysis develops progressively throughout the lesson.

Amplify CKLA California and Amplify Caminos California empower teachers to deliver effective instruction and keep students engaged with the following resources:

Teacher Guides
Assessment Guides
Authentic texts and trade books
Knowledge Image Cards
Knowledge Flip Books
Remediation and intervention resources
Decodable readers
Student Readers and novels
Student Activity Books
Dedicated ELD support with Language Studio California
Poet’s Journals
eReaders
Sound Library featuring articulation videos and songs
Instructional routine modeling videos
Assignable Practice Games
On-demand professional development

Amplify ELA California students stay engaged with the following resources:

Teacher Guides that include:
- Detailed lesson plans
- Standards alignment and exit tickets
- Real-time differentiation strategies
- Robust reporting

Student Editions that include:
- High-quality narrative and informational texts
- Videos, audio supports, and digital experiences that capture their attention
- Personal Writing Journal to keep all student writing in one place

Dedicated ELD support with Language Studio California
Trade books

Core literacy philosophy

Support every learner. Meet all learning needs with a Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) that brings together universal screening, scaffolded core instruction, support for multilingual/English learners, and data-driven intervention to ensure every student gets what they need to succeed.

Deliver consistent foundational skills instruction. Daily explicit, systematic skills instruction in grades K–2, with targeted yet flexible support for students still building decoding confidence in grades 3–6, ensures mastery of essential reading foundations.

Scope and sequence

Below you can view the scope and sequence documents for each grade level.

Routines

Amplify CKLA California, Amplify Caminos California, and Amplify ELA California include several structured instructional routines that provide predictable patterns for both teachers and students:

Discussion and collaboration routines:

Turn and Talk: Partners discuss text-specific content using sentence starters and frames
Think-Pair-Share: Students engage in individual thinking, partner discussion, and whole-class sharing
Partner reading: Students sit shoulder-to-shoulder, taking turns reading and listening

Foundational Skills routines:

Sound-spelling review: Warm-up activities that reinforce phonics patterns
Oral blending warm-ups: Teacher-guided practice progressing to independent application
Finger-tapping: Techniques for blending sounds
Chaining activities: Students manipulate letters to transform one word into another
Word Work: Daily short activities focused on domain-specific and academic vocabulary

Knowledge-building routines:

Teacher modeling: Demonstration of proper intonation, expression, and pacing
Choral reading: Whole-class reading practice
Partner reading: Paired fluency practice

Close reading routines

Each routine includes comprehensive instructional guides with clear-cut directions for implementation, straightforward explanations of concepts, and suggestions for discussion.

Cross-Linguistic Transfer routines

The Cross-Linguistic Transfer (CLT) routines are easy-to-implement, 10–15 minute mini-lessons designed to help bridge English and Spanish literacy and language development. These structured routines are organized by grade bands for K–2, grades 3–5 and grade 6, covering five skill areas:

Oral language
Reading
Vocabulary
Language
Writing

[Reviewer highlight video] Amplify’s program alignment to Cross-Linguistic Transfer criteria

Designated English Language Development materials

Language Studio California is a K–8 content-based companion for English language learners. Built on Amplify CKLA California and Amplify ELA California’s carefully sequenced Knowledge Domains, it combines engaging content knowledge with targeted supports and research-based strategies to help students move swiftly toward language proficiency. This program includes:

Real-world content to provide authentic opportunities to practice reading, writing, speaking, and listening.
Scaffolding strategies and differentiated instruction to offer targeted support along five English proficiency levels.
Progress monitoring tools to help teachers provide consistent and effective support.
Teacher Guides that:
- Provide impactful progress monitoring tools including formative and summative assessments, and Language Proficiency Assessment rubrics.
- Offer varied differentiation strategies including Support, Challenge, and Access supports in each lesson segment.
- Are organized into thoughtful lesson segments—Talk Time, Building Background, On Stage and more—that make learning objectives concrete.
Activities that:
- Expand on domain knowledge from core content and read-alouds and prompt collaborative conversation to practice oral fluency.
- Support hands-on language activities to promote authentic interaction in the classroom.
- Help students bridge experiences and knowledge with images, vocabulary activities, graphic organizers, anticipation guides, writing space, and more.

Category 3: Assessments

Systematic MTSS alignment

	Tier 1: Universal/ differentiated support	Tier 2: Supplemental/ targeted support	Tier 3: Intensified/ intensive support
Core instruction assessments Frequency of administration	Amplify CKLA California, Amplify Caminos California, Amplify ELA California assessments Daily, Weekly, Monthly	Amplify CKLA California, Amplify Caminos California, Amplify ELA California assessments Daily, Weekly, Monthly	Amplify CKLA California, Amplify Caminos California, Amplify ELA California assessments Daily, Weekly, Monthly
Universal screening assessments Frequency of administration	mCLASS DIBELS and Lectura 3 times per year – BOY, MOY, EOY	mCLASS DIBELS and Lectura 3 times per year – BOY, MOY, EOY	mCLASS DIBELS and Lectura 3 times per year – BOY, MOY, EOY
Formal progress monitoring assessments Frequency of administration	mCLASS DIBELS and Lectura 3 times per year – BOY, MOY, EOY	mCLASS DIBELS and Lectura Monthly	mCLASS DIBELS and Lectura Bi-weekly
Informal progress monitoring assessments Frequency of administration	Amplify CKLA California, Amplify Caminos California, Amplify ELA California core assessments Daily	Intervention Toolkit progress monitoring assessments When linked to a lesson in the toolkit	Intervention Toolkit progress monitoring assessments When linked to a lesson in the toolkit
Diagnostic assessment Frequency of administration		Amplify skill diagnostic assessment Amplify Spanish skill diagnostic assessment Optional after universal screening assessment is administered	Amplify skill diagnostic assessment Amplify Spanish skill diagnostic assessment After universal screening assessment is administered

Universal assessment system

Amplify’s mCLASS® DIBELS® 8th Edition (K–8) and mCLASS Lectura (K–6) are universal and dyslexia screening assessments that should be administered three times per year (BOY, MOY, and EOY) to all students. The assessments evaluate student literacy risk, determine progress toward grade-level goals, and indicate the level of instructional support a student may need. Beginning-of-year screenings require adequate instructional time before administration, particularly in grades K–1, while mid-year and end-of-year assessments evaluate instructional effectiveness and guide tier placement adjustments. These screenings also identify students at risk for dyslexia. Universal screening provides essential data for targeting instruction and measuring instructional system effectiveness.

Core instruction assessments

Amplify CKLA California, Amplify Caminos California, and Amplify ELA California provide a comprehensive suite of assessments for grades K–6 that range from low-stakes, informal formative assessments to more formal summative assessments. These assessments incorporate a variety of methods and question types, including multiple-choice questions, open-ended questions, and oral and written responses.

Formative assessments:

Checks for Understanding: Incorporated into each lesson segment throughout daily instruction. Quick pulse-checks that provide immediate feedback during lesson delivery (grades K–5).
Daily formative assessments: Highlighted moments within each lesson for teachers to plan to track mastery of Primary Focus objectives and standards of each lesson to get a clear snapshot of individual and whole-class progress (grades K–5).
Activity pages: Completed as part of lessons and can be used to assess lesson content understanding through various formats (grades K–5).
Exit Tickets: Located at the end of lessons, these provide a quick gauge of students’ ability to meet the lesson’s focus standards (grade 6).
Writing Prompts: Prompts integrated throughout lessons during writing activities that provide skill snapshots within lessons and tracks patterns of skill development over time (grade 6).
Independent reading activities (Solos): At the end of every lesson, students complete an independent reading activity (“Solo”) with reading questions that are scored to measure comprehension (grade 6).

Summative assessments:

Skills end-of-unit assessments (grades K–2)
Knowledge end-of-domain assessments (grades K–2)
End-of-unit assessments (grades 3–5)
Unit essays: A culminating end-of-unit set of lessons that guide students through crafting an essay with a rubric to score mastery of writing skills (grade 6)
Unit reading assessments: Auto-scored responses and two constructed response items evaluate comprehension, content understanding, and reading skills using the passages students read during the unit (grade 6)

Performance assessments

Progress monitoring

Informal progress monitoring tools can be found within the Intervention Toolkit, including materials for teachers to record, track, and evaluate student progress.

Diagnostic assessment

Category 4: Universal Access

Amplify CKLA California, Amplify Caminos California, and Amplify ELA California are developed using the Universal Design for Learning framework to proactively ensure that all learners can access and participate in meaningful, challenging learning opportunities.

Universal Design for Learning

Amplify CKLA California, Amplify Caminos California, and Amplify ELA California incorporate opportunities for engagement, representation, action, and expression based on the guidelines of Universal Design for Learning.

Multiple Means of Engagement: The programs incorporate interesting and motivating ways for students to interact with information and content. The Universal Access section in the introduction of each lesson provides specific lesson-level options based on the needs of individual classrooms and students. Scaffolding for students with various levels of need is incorporated into the design of each lesson.
Multiple Means of Representation: The programs provide multiple means of presenting content to maximize student understanding. This includes digital component files that allow for a range of presentations of images and text to support learning. Amplify provides access to universal supports such as point-of-use audio for all core texts, embedded definitions for critical vocabulary, and glossaries in multiple languages. The programs include clarification on language found throughout the program, with sidebars that include support on transition words and syntax, and illustrations to help students understand the concepts they are learning.
Multiple Means of Action and Expression: The programs include a range of methods for all students, including Multilingual/English Learners, to navigate and demonstrate learning. This includes physical actions, a range of methods for response, appropriate tools for composition, and varied scaffolding. Lessons provide multiple ways for students to interact with text, allowing their brains to process the language through distinct pathways. Activities harness multiple learning modes, using media tools, digital apps, and a variety of visual and physical experiences to strategically support and enhance student learning.
Accessibility: Universal access features include visual aids, enlarged materials, physical objects, and multiple learning modalities through activities like Push & Say and Wiggle Cards. The Universal Access section in the introduction of each lesson provides specific lesson-level options based on the needs of individual classrooms and students.

Embedded differentiation

Amplify CKLA California, Amplify Caminos California, and Amplify ELA California provide built-in differentiation strategies in every lesson for all students.

Pre-teaching supports include mini-lessons on:
- Core vocabulary building
- Core connections
- Essential background information building
- What Have We Already Learned?/What Do We Already Know?

Differentiated Support for Core Instruction tables, located in the overview of each K–2 Skills Teacher Guide, provide a list of specific opportunities for reteaching and additional support in each lesson based on skill.
Support and Challenge Sidebars in lesson margins offer educators immediate guidance in implementing point-of-use differentiation techniques.
Flexible Grouping within lessons provides opportunities for teachers to facilitate small groups, partners, or individualized support based on students’ needs. In the Skills Strand, teachers receive specific guidance for differentiated small group instruction, with targeted support and activities outlined for both Group 1 (students needing additional support) and Group 2 (on-level students) based on data.
Amplify ELA California and Amplify Caminos California provide point-of-use supports embedded within key core lesson activities with six levels of differentiation. The goal of these supports is to fully enable access to grade-level content for all students, including students with disabilities, English learners, and students ready for an additional level of challenge.
The Universal Access section of Advance Preparation in each lesson includes varied strategies to ensure all students can access and engage in each lesson.
Frequent use of graphic organizers and visual supports in lessons provide opportunities for differentiation based on need. The program also includes a variety of technological supports, such as eReaders with audio.
Extension opportunities are suggested throughout lessons, often embedded in writing tasks, which include prompts to use more complex and descriptive vocabulary, figurative language, multi-clause and complex sentences, and informational text characteristics.

Assessment-driven MTSS resources

The K–6 Intervention Toolkit is available online and provides easy-to-use resources that assist teachers in filling gaps in students’ reading skills, with activities to support print concepts, phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, and other key skills.
Fluency packets (Grades 2–6)
Foundational Skills Intervention Program for Grades 3–6 support students who would benefit from direct and explicit intervention instruction in the full continuum of foundational skills in the upper grades

Flexible Instructional Time including:
- Pausing Points built into the curriculum that provide teachers with dedicated time to address specific student needs through targeted reteaching, remediation, practice, and extension activities
- Pausing Point activities designed to support multilingual/English learners’ competence and confidence through differentiated whole-group, small-group, or individual instruction
Boost Reading and Boost Lectura are student-led digital intervention programs that follow the scope and sequences of Amplify CKLA California and Amplify Caminos California respectively, to reinforce the same foundational skills taught in core instruction. It integrates easily into daily routines, while the robust data provided by mCLASS® DIBELS® 8th Edition offers a detailed view of how students progress across all instructional tiers.

Category 5: Instructional Planning and Teacher Support

Amplify CKLA California, Amplify Caminos California, and Amplify ELA California teachers are empowered to deliver effective instruction with various print and digital resources. The program provides comprehensive planning and support materials designed to help teachers prepare for and execute lessons effectively and fulfill the requirements of Category 5.

Implementation supports across K–6

Planning and preparation resources

Unit Overviews that provide important background and context for the texts students will read, including highlighted elements within the text and guidance for how students will work with those elements
Sub-unit Overviews (Grade 6) that provide an overview of Lesson Objectives and reading and writing assignments, as well as a list of any projections, multimedia, or digital apps that can be projected from the teacher’s included digital license
Lesson-by-lesson preparation checklists (Grade 6) accompanying each Sub-unit Overview
Lesson Briefs for each individual lesson providing important background and context
Content knowledge materials regarding topics that students will examine

Point-of-use instructional guidance

Teacher Editions that feature insets of the same text and activity instructions as the corresponding Student Edition, wrapping teacher instruction around these materials
Activity guidance at point of use
Lesson standards clearly called out
Discussion suggestions embedded in lessons
Differentiation tips at point of use
Detailed Instructional Guides in each activity that include sequencing and grouping suggestions, tips for facilitating discussion, possible student responses and exemplars
On-the-Fly supports (Grade 6)—quick call-outs to the identifying features of “on track” and “needs support” students accompanied by short models of student guidance to foster strong performance

Multimedia and digital support

Teacher tip videos provide modeling and guidance for implementing key foundational skills routines within the program
Digital platform access where teachers can access printable PDFs of differentiated support materials for multilingual/English learners and students struggling to read, including translated Unit Background and Context documents and Text Previews
Teacher Dashboard and reporting tools provide real-time visibility into student progress and work for immediate instructional response

Caregiver supports

Communication and overview resources

Caregiver Hub available in English and Spanish that provides an overview of the curriculum
Caregiver Letters for each K–2 Knowledge Domain and unit in Grades 3–5 that provide an overview of the content, the skills students learn, as well as practical methods that continue the learning and knowledge building at home
Unit-specific Caregiver Letters (Grade 6) that provide detailed information regarding what students will read and learn in each unit, including conversation starters that allow caregivers to ask questions and discuss specific aspects of a unit with their student
Welcome letters that explain the assessment and placement process while inviting parent involvement and offering support
Editable Home-School Communication letters available in English and Spanish
Editable Progress Reports for teachers to update parents and guardians on what their child is learning

Content and learning support materials

Unit Background and Context documents that provide an introduction and overview to the unit’s topic and themes, available in English and Spanish
Text Previews that provide a brief introduction to formative, independent reading assignments (called Solos in Grade 6), available in English and Spanish
Unit Overview and Support documents (Grade 6) designed for caregivers that provide information about important questions, assignments, and key aspects of the unit texts, available in English and Spanish
Conversation starters included in Knowledge Strand Caregiver Letters to discuss domain topics at home

Home practice and extension activities

Take-Home pages in the Skills Strand that include copies of decodable passages, enabling students to share their reading progress with families and continue practicing their skills outside of school
Take-Home Letters in the Skills Strand that provide specific guidance for parents to support skills practice at home, such as sound-sorting activities, with detailed instructions and materials for home practice activities
Take-Home pages in the Knowledge Strand that provide suggested activities families can do together to reinforce and extend learning beyond the classroom
Games and activities on Take-Home Pages that extend classroom instruction, including all the materials and instruction necessary to help families assist students in a fun and engaging way
Digital access to decodable texts through the Amplify Caregiver Hub, allowing students to practice their reading skills both in class and at home
Weekly spelling lists and directions to decoding activities that can be practiced at home

Welcome, Ohio Department of Education and Workforce!

Amplify CKLA 3rd Edition builds on the principles and instruction of previous editions to provide better-than-ever support for teaching and learning. The focus continues on delivering evidence-based instruction across a system of multi-tiered supports aligned with the Science of Reading and Writing.

We’re excited to share this site, where you’ll find a range of materials and literacy tools including Reviewer Resources and Teaching Materials (Teacher Guides, Activity Books, and Student Readers) organized by grade and unit.

We welcome your thoughts and questions!

Reviewer resources

Alignment and scope and sequence

Core Comprehensive English Language Arts:

Core Foundational Skills:

K-2 Skills Scope and Sequence

Curriculum maps

Core Comprehensive English Language Arts:

Core Foundational Skills:

Kindergarten

Explore all available resources for Kindergarten, organized by strand and unit.

Core Comprehensive English Language Arts

Unit 1: Star Light, Star Bright: Nursery Rhymes and Fables

Unit 2: See, Hear, Smell, Taste, Touch: The Five Senses

Unit 3: Underdogs and Heroes: Stories

Unit 4: See How They Grow: Plants

Unit 5: Moo, Cluck, Oink: Farms

Unit 6: Deep Roots: Introduction to Native American Cultures

Unit 7: All Around the World: Geography

Unit 8 (Choice): Royal Tales: Monarchs

Unit 8 (Choice): National Icons: Presidents and American Symbols

Unit 9 (Choice): Our Planet: Taking Care of the Earth

Unit 9 (Choice): Rain and Rainbows: Seasons and Weather

Unit 10: Shaped by Nature: Art and the World Around Us

Core Foundational Skills

Unit 1

Unit 2

Unit 3

Unit 4

Unit 5

Unit 6

Unit 7

Unit 8

Unit 9

Unit 10

Ancillary Components

Grade 1

Explore all available resources for Grade 1, organized by strand and unit.

Core Comprehensive English Language Arts

Unit 1: The Moral of the Story: Fables and Tales

Unit 2: From Nose to Toes: How Your Body Works

Unit 3: Common Threads: Different Lands, Similar Stories

Unit 4: Reach for the Stars: Astronomy

Unit 5: Charting the World: Geography

Unit 6: A World of Homes: Animals and Habitats

Unit 7: A New Nation: American Independence

Unit 8 (Choice): Once Upon a Time: Fairy Tales

Unit 8 (Choice): Our Planet: The History of the Earth

Unit 9 (Choice): From Babylon to the Nile: Early World Civilizations

Unit 9 (Choice): Early Americas: Maya, Aztec, and Inca

Unit 10: Adventure Stories: Tales from the Edge

Core Foundational Skills

Unit 1

Unit 2

Unit 3

Unit 4

Unit 5

Unit 6

Unit 7

Ancillary Components

Grade 2

Explore all available resources for Grade 2, organized by strand and unit.

Core Comprehensive English Language Arts

Unit 1: Fortunes and Feats: Fairy Tales and Tall Tales

Unit 2: The Birthplace of Democracy: Ancient Greece

Unit 3: Legends and Heroes: Greek Myths

Unit 4: Our Planet: Cycles in Nature

Unit 5: Butterflies, Bees, and Beetles: Insects

Unit 6: A House Divided: The American Civil War

Unit 7: Sounds and Stanzas: Poetry

Unit 8 (Choice): Journeys to America: Immigration

Unit 8 (Choice): Making a Difference: Creating Change

Unit 9 (Choice): Building Blocks: All About Nutrition

Unit 9 (Choice): Early Asian Civilizations: India and China

Unit 10: Taking Flight: The Age of Aviation

Core Foundational Skills

Unit 1

Unit 2

Unit 3

Unit 4

Unit 5

Unit 6

Ancillary Components

Grade 3

Explore all available resources for Grade 3, organized by unit.

Core Comprehensive English Language Arts

Unit 1: Timeless Tales: Classic Stories

Unit 2: Fur, Fins, and Feathers: Animal Classification

Unit 3: Rhythm and Rhyme: Poetry

Unit 4: Rise and Fall: Ancient Rome

Unit 5: Our Solar System and Beyond: Astronomy

Unit 6: Regions and Cultures: Native Americans

Unit 7 (Choice): Novel Study: Charlotte’s Web

Unit 7 (Choice): Novel Study: Stella Díaz Has Something to Say

Unit 8 (Choice): Systems and Senses: The Human Body

Unit 8 (Choice): From Glow to Echo: Light and Sound

Unit 9: From Blues to Bebop: All That Jazz

Ancillary Components

Supplemental Skills Units

Grade 3 Supplemental Skills units are included in core classroom kits, although the instruction isn’t required for Grade 3 standards coverage.

Unit 1

Unit 2

Unit 3

Unit 4

Grade 4 Core Comprehensive ELA

Explore all available resources for Grade 4, organized by unit.

Unit 1: My Story, My Voice: Personal Narratives

Unit 2: Knights and Castles: Europe’s Middle Ages

Unit 3: Meaning and Metaphor: Poetry

Unit 4: Eureka! Student Inventor

Unit 5: Our Planet: Geology

Unit 6: Road to Independence: The American Revolution

Unit 7 (Choice): Novel Study: From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

Unit 7 (Choice): Novel Study: The Season of Styx Malone

Unit 8 (Choice): Crafting Stories: A World of Tales

Unit 8 (Choice): Adventure on the High Seas: Treasure Island

Unit 9: Inspiration and Ingenuity: American Innovation

Ancillary Components

Grade 5 Core Comprehensive ELA

Explore all available resources for Grade 5, organized by unit.

Unit 1: In My Own Words: Personal Narratives

Unit 2: Early Americas: Maya, Aztec, and Inca

Unit 3: Visions in Verse: Poetry

Unit 4: A Knight’s Tale: Don Quixote

Teacher Guide
Activity Book
Don Quixote (trade book, not downloadable)
Visual Supports
Student-Facing Pausing Point Activities
Assessment Guide: Unit Assessment
Take Home Activities
Caregiver Letter
Caregiver Letter (Spanish)

Unit 5: The Deep Blue World: Oceans

Unit 6: Cultures and Histories: Native Americans

Unit 7 (Choice): Novel Study: The Phantom Tollbooth

Unit 7 (Choice): Novel Study: The Science of Breakable Things

Unit 8 (Choice): Arts and Culture: The Renaissance

Unit 8 (Choice): Through the Forest: A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Unit 9: Building Up the World: Global Architecture

Ancillary Components

Digital platform

In the 2025-26 school year, Amplify CKLA’s all-in-one platform will offer essential tools that streamline instruction for teachers and engage students with meaningful content. Teachers can plan and deliver lessons efficiently, while students can access assignments, assessments, and fun practice games.

Presentation Screens
Deliver interactive lessons with ready-made, customizable slides for every lesson.

Auto-scored digital assessments
Assess vocabulary, comprehension, and knowledge development at the end of each K–2 Knowledge and 3–5 Integrated Unit.

Standards-based reports
Identify strengths and growth areas for individuals, small groups, or your entire class. Interactive dashboards offer detailed results from assessments and activities.

Skill-building practice games
Engage students with interactive games that reinforce concepts and make learning fun. Powered by Boost Reading™, these games align with lessons and provide real-time feedback.

eReader
Students access texts, take notes, and use audio-enabled eReaders to enhance their reading experience.

Sound Library
Students watch articulation videos and listen to songs for each sound to support phonological awareness.

Vocab App
Helps students in Grades 3-5 practice Amplify CKLA Tier 2 vocabulary words with fun, interactive games.

Intervention Toolkit
Offers user-friendly resources designed to aid educators in identifying and addressing deficiencies in students’ foundation skills.

Program support resources

Additional program resource documents:

Power up your Science of Reading knowledge: 2024 podcast recap

Amplify’s Science of Reading: The Podcast won both Silver and the Listeners’ Choice Award in the education category at the 2024 Signal Awards! If you haven’t already, we hope you’ll join those who have helped catapult the podcast to more than six million downloads.

You’re welcome to binge-listen all 29 podcast episodes released in 2024, but here, we’ve selected a few to highlight for you.

The power of the Science of Reading

Some context: As you probably know, the Science of Reading is a much-researched area alongside the science of learning. Applying cognitive, neuroscience, and educational principles, it helps us understand and improve how students acquire and develop reading skills. This knowledge is essential because, while humans typically learn to speak naturally, reading (and writing) require formal instruction. According to the Simple View of Reading, reading comprehension is the product of both decoding and linguistic comprehension. So kids must be taught the relationships between sounds and letters, and how to decode words. Systematic instruction presents these skills in a logical order, explicit instruction goes beyond just “exposing” kids to words and texts, and cumulative instruction builds on skills learned before.

The episodes below are a great start to exploring the fundamentals of evidence-based instruction beginning in early literacy. You’ll hear about the importance of knowledge building, the symbiosis between reading and writing, and the power of multilingual learning, just to name a few topics.

The power of knowledge

Season 8 focuses on why knowledge is so critical for literacy development and how educators can empower students to build it.

Episode 10: Comprehension is an outcome, with Sharon Vaughn

Many of us (as students and educators) were taught or trained with comprehension framed as a skill. But award-winning researcher and author Sharon Vaughn, Ph.D., says (spoiler!) that comprehension is not a skill to be taught in a vacuum, but rather an outcome—of strong decoding, vocabulary, and background knowledge. “If students can’t read words or don’t know what they mean, emphasizing comprehension is just the wrong priority,” she says. Vaughn stresses the importance of systematically building background knowledge through coherent, high-level informational texts and relevant content lessons, enabling students to connect ideas and deepen understanding. By focusing on these foundational elements, educators can support comprehension and meaningful learning.

Episode 11: Cognitive load theory: Four items at a time, with Greg Ashman, Ph.D.

Drawing from his book A Little Guide for Teachers: Cognitive Load Theory, deputy principal and professor Greg Ashman argues that students need to build a strong foundation of knowledge in order to think and learn effectively. He challenges the idea of leaving students to “figure things out” on their own. “Kids are not little scientists,” he says, and advocates instead for structured instruction to build the schemas necessary for deeper learning.

Ashman also recommends reducing extra cognitive load—distractions that overwhelm working memory—and cautions against overrelying on approaches like “productive failure,” which can frustrate students who happen to lack relevant foundational knowledge. His advice: Use evidence-based methods and prioritize clear, incremental instruction.

The power of evidence-based literacy instruction

Season 9 dives deep into the key principles of and latest developments in the Science of Reading.

Episode 3: Know the non-negotiables in a program aligned to the Science of Reading, with Kari Kurto

Kari Kurto, national Science of Reading project director with the Reading League, discusses the organization’s curriculum evaluation tool designed to assess research-based practices in reading programs. Drawing from her experience teaching students with dyslexia, Kurto emphasizes the necessity of explicit, systematic instruction in phonics and (like Ashman) the importance of reducing extraneous cognitive load.

She says one must-have for any effective, evidence-based curriculum is explicit instruction in phonics through a clear scope and sequence, which ensures that students build foundational skills, such as phonemic awareness, in a systematic way. “No program is perfect, but understanding both its strengths and areas for improvement allows schools to maximize its impact,” she says.

Episode 4: Comprehension is not a skill, with Hugh Catts, Ph.D.

Hugh Catts, like Vaughn, continues to challenge us to rethink reading comprehension. “Comprehension isn’t the purpose of reading,” says Catts, a professor at Florida State University. “The purpose of reading is whatever you’re reading for.” Whether scanning for a fact, grasping the gist, or diving deep into a complex topic, comprehension varies based on the reader’s intent and context. He also urges educators to do what the evidence asserts: Move beyond isolated skill drills to content-rich instruction that builds knowledge and engages students meaningfully. Catts notes that comprehension grows over time, as students develop mental models and apply critical thinking in a variety of reading contexts.

The power of multilingualism

In this special miniseries, our podcast focuses on how the Science of Reading serves multilingual/English learners (ML/ELs).

Episode 1: Language is always an asset, with Kajal Patel Below

Kajal Patel Below, Amplify’s vice president of biliteracy, highlights why language is such a powerful asset, and how multilingualism is not a barrier, but a gift. “Literacy in a new language builds from literacy in the home language,” she says.

But that’s not—yet—the prevailing view. Multilingual and English learners often face challenges like being left out of research or misidentified in assessments. Below also notes schools focus too much on phonics and foundational skills, sometimes overlooking the equally important elements of language comprehension, vocabulary, and speaking skills.

With the number of multilingual learners growing fast in the U.S., Below calls for schools and educators to embrace bilingual education, create stronger resources, and celebrate the unique strengths these students bring to the classroom.

More to explore

Reading and literacy integration

Amplify Science is a new phenomena-based science curriculum for grades K–8.

A collage of various educational book covers related to science and math, featuring illustrated themes like sports, nature, and energy.

Reading and literacy integration

Amplify Science units provide strategy-based literacy instruction that aims to develop students’ facility with reading, writing, and talking about science. Each unit provides many authentic opportunities for students to learn about and practice the ways of communicating and learning that characterize science as a discipline. The following are the Amplify Science Guiding Principles for Literacy:

Students acquire literacy expertise through the pursuit of science knowledge and by engaging in scientific and engineering practices.
Attention to discipline literacy instruction should begin as soon as students enter school and should continue throughout the grades.
Participation in a disciplinary community is key to acquiring disciplinary expertise and literacy.
Since the purpose of science is to better explain the natural world, argumentation and explanation are the central enterprises of science. Therefore, these practices are central foci of reading, writing, and talk in science.

Literacy instruction in the Amplify Science program utilizes a Gradual Release of Responsibility approach (Pearson and Gallagher 1983). In this approach, instruction begins with the teacher assuming primary responsibility for modeling strategy or skill and explicitly instruction how to use each strategy or skill. As instruction proceeds, the teacher offers as much support as needed so students can practice using the target strategy more independently. Over time, students take on more responsibility for using the strategy more independently. Depending on the goal, the path from teacher modeling to student independence will vary. Over the course of a unit, students may not achieve independence for every literacy goal, but they will move along the continuum toward flexible use of a wide range of reading, writing, and learning strategies that have been incorporated throughout the program.

Each Amplify Science Elementary Unit includes five books that students use to build an understanding of science ideas, practices, and crosscutting concepts. While the program does not take on responsibility for providing all literacy instruction required for students’ reading development (e.g., skill-based or fluency-oriented literacy instruction), it is designed to support vocabulary, language, and reading comprehension development.

Amplify Science provides students with a series of content-rich nonfiction and informational texts that are read for a variety of purposes throughout the unit. The five books in each unit include one book for approximately every five days of instruction and one reference book that students draw upon throughout the 22-lesson units (20 instructional lessons & 2 assessment days for pre/post). Students are encouraged to read books as independently as possible so they can apply the comprehension strategies they are learning in order to understand what they read. In each Amplify Science reading session, comprehension is supported at three stages: before, during, and after reading. At each stage, students engage in planned tasks that build an understanding of the key concepts and themes in a book. The teacher’s role is to scaffold comprehension and provide opportunities for practicing the strategies and skills that are being taught. At each stage, these include:

Before-reading activities designed to help students activate their background knowledge, prepare to use particular comprehension strategies, and set a purpose for reading.
During-reading activities intended to help students monitor their comprehension, make connections, and read and understand important science vocabulary in context.
After reading activities intended to help students reflect on their learning and connect their reading to their firsthand science investigations.

Nonfiction and informational text. The Amplify Science program is designed to help students gain familiarity with the structures and functions of nonfiction and informational texts by extending students’ exposure to these texts in a rich learning environment. The program uses nonfiction and informational texts because it is an important component of content learning in school; it helps build knowledge of the natural and social world, and it provides students with a purposeful context for learning key concepts and vocabulary. Nonfiction and informational text are also engaging and motivating as it answers genuine questions and capitalizes on student interests and background knowledge. Reading a wide variety of texts have been shown to affect students’ interest in reading overall (Duke 2004). Nonfiction and informational genres are also the genres students are most likely to encounter when reading and writing inside and outside of school. For adults, nonfiction and informational texts are read more often than other genres (Duel 2004; Smith 2000). In order for students to become successful information gatherers as adults, we need to provide opportunities for them to engage with nonfiction and informational texts in school.

Reading comprehension. Reading instruction in Amplify Science is designed to promote students’ capacity to read for meaning. Guided instruction and a supportive classroom context help students learn to employ powerful comprehension strategies that are critical for gaining a better understanding of text and becoming skilled readers (Duke and Pearson 2002). Comprehension strategies included in the Amplify Science program include posing questions, making inferences, setting goals for reading, summarizing, synthesizing, and using text features. Across units, students are guided to use these strategies flexibly as they read and make sense of a wide range of nonfiction and informational texts. Students also gain critical experience with understanding texts and experiences in relation to one another as they make connections between the books they read and the science they do. These connections then extend their growing conceptual understanding. Reading instruction in Amplify Science also encourages students to reflect on the utility of comprehension strategies, including when, why, and how these strategies helped them. One important way students make connections is through sustained classroom discussion of text with their peers (Nystrand 1997). Students regularly discuss both content and comprehension use before, during, and after reading, learning more about both as they engage in discussions with their peers. The Amplify Science approach also draws on research that demonstrates the benefits of instructional coherence (connected reading, writing, listening, and talk), particularly in the content area of science (Romance and Vitale 2001; Cervetti et. al. 2007; The Directed Reading Model supports reading comprehension before, during, and after reading. Cervetti et. al. 2006). Reading comprehension is enhanced as students connect what they read to what they are investigating and learning in science. The Amplify Science student books provide many opportunities for students to practice their developing reading skills in context, engage in authentic discourse around text, make connections, and support their understandings with textual evidence.

Students acquire literacy expertise through the pursuit of science knowledge and by engaging in scientific and engineering practices.
Attention to discipline literacy instruction should begin as soon as students enter school and should continue throughout the grades.
Participation in a disciplinary community is key to acquiring disciplinary expertise and literacy.
Since the purpose of science is to better explain the natural world, argumentation and explanation are the central enterprises of science. Therefore, these practices are central foci of reading, writing, and talk in science.

Before-reading activities designed to help students activate their background knowledge, prepare to use particular comprehension strategies, and set a purpose for reading.
During-reading activities intended to help students monitor their comprehension, make connections, and read and understand important science vocabulary in context.
After reading activities intended to help students reflect on their learning and connect their reading to their firsthand science investigations.

Back to Amplify Science

mCLASS Professional Development

Assessments

Credible. Actionable. Timely. The assessment system for each Amplify Science unit is designed to provide teachers with actionable diagnostic information about student progress toward the learning goals for the unit. Assessment of unit learning goals is grounded in the Unit Progress Build (PB), which describes how student understanding is likely to develop and deepen through engagement with the unit’s learning experiences. The assessment system includes formal and informal opportunities for students to demonstrate understanding and for teachers to gather information throughout the unit – all while giving teachers flexibility in deciding what to score and what to simply review. Built largely around instructionally-embedded performances, these opportunities encompass a range of modalities that, as a system, attend to research on effective assessment strategies and the NRC Framework for K-12 Science Education.

The variety of assessment options for Amplify Science include:

Pre-Unit Assessment (formative): discussion, modeling, and written explanations to gauge students knowledge.
On-the-Fly Assessments (OtFA) (formative): each OtFA includes guidance on what to look for in student activity or work products, and offers suggestions on how to adjust instruction accordingly.
End-of-Chapter Problem Context Explanations (formative): Three-dimensional performance tasks to support students’ consolidation of ideas encountered in each chapter and provide insight into students’ developing understanding.
Self-Assessments (formative): One per chapter; brief opportunities for students to reflect on their own learning, ask questions, and reveal ongoing wonderings about unit content.
Critical Juncture Assessment (CJ) (formative): Occurring at the end of each chapter similar in format to the Pre-Unit and End-of-Unit assessments.
End-of-Unit Assessment (summative): discussion, modeling, and written explanations to gauge students’ knowledge and growth.

Hands-On and Print Materials (“Kits”)

There is a box of materials associate with every unit of Amplify Science, containing a variety of hands-on activities and print materials that are called for in the various lessons in the unit. Each box, commonly called a “kit,” is associated with a given unit, and each teacher should ideally have their own kit for each unit.

Hands-on brochures

*One blackline master Student Investigation Notebook is included in each unit kit, grades 3–5.

Within the kit there are two types of materials:

Physical manipulatives
Printed materials

The physical manipulatives are the hands-on items used in various lessons in the unit. For example, the Balancing Forces kit contains balloons, batteries, magnets, fasteners, rubber balls, and various other materials.

There are two types of physical manipulatives: consumables and nonconsumables. Nonconsumables are durable and, if cared for properly, can be used over the course of several years. Consumables are used up with each use and must be replenished.

There are also print materials in the kits, including:

Key concepts: Teachers designate an area of the classroom wall to post “Key Concept” printed cards. These cards contain short sentences that explicitly identify an important idea or concept learned in the unit. By posting that card to the wall, the classroom has a visual anchor – a physical representation of “what we’ve learned so far.”
Vocabulary wall: Like the Key Concepts, Vocabulary cards are provided in your unit’s kit. These, too, are posted to a designated area of the classroom wall, and more and more vocabulary cards are added to the wall as we progress through the unit.
Unit and Chapter Questions: Printed cards with the unit question and individual chapter questions are also provided in the kit. These cards help students to remember exactly what we are investigating over the course of the chapter, and ultimately, over the course of the unit.
Card Sets: Printed cards, specific to a unit, are in each kit (though not all units have Card Sets). Often, students are sorting these cards on their desks, ranking them, ordering them, etc. For example, in the Metabolism unit, students take “Evidence Cards,” each with a piece of evidence, and then rank and arrange the evidence cards from strong-> weak->irrelevant, thereby providing a visualization of their thinking and reasoning.

Preview Amplify Science: NYC

Start your view by simply selecting “Preview the Curriculum” and then selecting either Teacher or Student access. We recommend selecting Teacher access as you will also be able to see the student resources.

Looking for help reviewing the program? Reach out to a New York City Amplify Science curriculum expert.

Preview K–5 Preview 6–8

Reading and Literacy Integration

Students acquire literacy expertise through the pursuit of science knowledge and by engaging in scientific and engineering practices.
Attention to discipline literacy instruction should begin as soon as students enter school and should continue throughout the grades.
Participation in a disciplinary community is key to acquiring disciplinary expertise and literacy.
Since the purpose of science is to better explain the natural world, argumentation and explanation are the central enterprises of science. Therefore, these practices are central foci of reading, writing, and talk in science.

Before-reading activities designed to help students activate their background knowledge, prepare to use particular comprehension strategies, and set a purpose for reading.
During-reading activities intended to help students monitor their comprehension, make connections, and read and understand important science vocabulary in context.
After reading activities intended to help students reflect on their learning and connect their reading to their firsthand science investigations.

Digital Simulations

Digital Sims are digital tools that serve as venues of exploration and means for collecting data and evidence, and present students with opportunities to make observations and manipulate variables of key scientific processes and mechanism. Sims allow students to explore scientific concepts that might otherwise be invisible or impossible to see with the naked eye. Much like real scientists do, students of Amplify Science will use these computer simulations to gain insight into processes that occur on the microscopic scale, or alternatively, to speed up processes that might otherwise take thousands or millions of years to observe.

In grades 4–8, Amplify Science offers a unique sim which students will use throughout the unit. And each time a sim appears in a lesson, there are clear instructions for both teachers and students on its use.

Digital simulation from Ecosystem Restoration unit

Spanish Resources

Amplify Science is committed to providing support to meet the needs of all learners, including multiple access points for Spanish-speaking students. Developed in conjunction with Spanish-language experts and classroom teachers, multiple components are available in Spanish across the Amplify Science curriculum.

Spanish-language materials include:

Component	Teacher/student
Student Investigation Notebooks (K–8)	Student
Science articles (6–8)	Student
Student Books (K–5)	Student
Video transcripts (6–8)	Student
Digital simulation translation key (6–8)	Student
Printed classroom materials (K–8) (Unit and chapter questions, key concepts, vocabulary cards, etc.)	Teacher and student
Copymasters (K–8)	Teacher
Assessments (K–8)	Teacher

Supporting ELLs

English language learners (ELLs) bring a lifetime of background knowledge and experiences to everything they do. As they work to acquire a new language and new academic knowledge simultaneously, they may need specific linguistic support. In the instruction, the Differentiation Brief points out activities that could pose linguistic challenges for English learners or reduce their access to science content, and suggests supports and modifications accordingly.

The Lawrence Hall of Science authorship team believes that it is essential for students to develop both a deep understanding of science concepts and facility with disciplinary practices that are essential to the work of scientists and engineers. It is also important to recognize that in a single classroom, students have an array of learning needs and preferences. In particular, English language learners can benefit from learning opportunities designed to meet their needs from additional support then needed as they tackle the language and content demands of science.Five principles helped the Lawrence Hall of Science curriculum developers design instructional sequences to meet the goals of bolstering students who develop understanding of science content, decreasing language demands without diluting science content, and allowing students to more fully engage in disciplinary literacy practices. The five principles are based on research on best practices in the field and have been reviewed by Amplify Science ELL advisors.

Leverage and build students’ informational background knowledge.
Capitalize on students’ knowledge of language.
Provide explicit instruction about the language of science.
Provide opportunities for scaffolded practice.
Provide multimodal means of accessing science content and expressing science knowledge.

Back to Amplify Science

Using formative assessment to support literacy

Learning to read is not linear. That’s because reading is not just one skill, but a bundle of skills, intertwined and supporting one another.

In the late 1990s, reading and literacy expert Hollis Scarborough helped us visualize this complex process by creating a model that’s now known as the Reading Rope. Grounded in the Science of Reading, this now-iconic model emphasizes the need for a comprehensive, deliberate approach to reading instruction. It’s an approach that recognizes the importance of building both reading skills and the background knowledge that makes them even stronger.

The Reading Rope model also connects educators to key strands of formative data that guide instruction and assessment.

With data and information that support the relationship between language comprehension and word recognition skills, teachers can devise reading comprehension strategies and get a better idea of where to focus their instruction. And thanks to the Science of Reading, this data can also help you track what students know, and where they need to go.

Let’s take a closer look to see how it all works.

Reading comprehension and more: The strands of the Reading Rope

The design of the Reading Rope shows that the two core components of reading are word recognition and language comprehension.

Word recognition encompasses the ability to accurately, effortlessly, and rapidly decode printed words. Phonological awareness, phonics, and sight word recognition contribute to this strand.

Phonological awareness is the ability to recognize and manipulate the individual sounds (phonemes) within spoken words. It includes skills such as identifying rhymes, segmenting words into syllables, and manipulating sounds within words. Phonological awareness provides the foundation for phonics instruction.
Phonics involves the systematic relationship between letters and the sounds they represent. It includes understanding letter-sound correspondences, decoding unfamiliar words by applying sound-symbol relationships, and blending sounds to form words. Phonics instruction gives students the tools to decode printed words.
Sight word recognition happens when students have had enough practice decoding words that they can automatically recognize and apply sound-spelling patterns across words. Automaticity in word recognition allows students to shift their focus from decoding to comprehending texts.

Language comprehension involves the understanding of spoken and written language. This includes vocabulary, grammar, syntax, and the ability to make inferences and draw conclusions. Language comprehension allows readers to extract meaning from and create meaning with text.

Vocabulary refers to the words one knows and understands, both orally and in writing. A robust vocabulary enhances comprehension and communication.
Grammar and syntax are the rules and structures that govern language. Understanding and applying grammatical rules help students comprehend and construct sentences, enhancing their ability to make meaning from and create meaning with text.
Inference skills involve the ability to draw conclusions, make predictions, and derive implicit meaning. With these skills, students are able to combine their background knowledge with information in the text to make guesses and reach conclusions.

The importance of knowledge

The Reading Rope affirms that readers use their existing knowledge and experiences to make sense of what they are reading. A student who brings relevant background knowledge to a text can understand it even better than a stronger reader who’s new to the topic.

Background knowledge also helps readers navigate unfamiliar vocabulary or concepts. When readers encounter words or ideas they already have some familiarity with, they can make connections and use contextual clues to determine meaning, which contributes to reading fluency and comprehension.

Intentionally building background and academic knowledge—coupled with comprehension strategies—fuels students’ capacity to understand texts, answer questions, and grapple with ideas.

As educators Barbara Davidson and David Liben write: “Although students’ independent reading is often at lower complexity levels at the beginning of a unit, as they acquire knowledge about the core topic they are generally able to read texts on their related topic at complexity levels greater than their diagnosed grade level.”

Putting it all together with formative assessment

There are a variety of ways to gather information about your students’ skills and knowledge, using the Reading Rope as your guide. Here are just a few examples that correspond to its strands:

Word recognition

Letters: See how students do with letter-sound correspondence tasks such as: matching graphemes to phonemes, writing letters that represent sounds, word-building activities, and sound sorts with word cards.
Words: Gauge students’ ability to apply sound-symbol correspondences by asking them to spell words with sound-spelling patterns they’ve already learned.

Language comprehension

Knowledge: How much are students learning about a topic overall? Keep asking—through pre-reading tasks, discussions, and checks for understanding.
Vocabulary: Track students’ vocabulary growth with word-mapping, context-clue, and word-brainstorming tasks.

Skilled reading

Here’s where it all comes together. Many formative assessment activities will help you discover what your students know about the skills they’re using as readers. Here, we’ll focus on the power of students speaking and writing about what they’re reading.

Speaking: As children learn to speak, they develop vocabulary and knowledge of sentence structure, both of which support reading comprehension. Simply giving students the opportunity to talk about a topic can provide insight into their oral language development.
Writing: Challenge students to write summaries, critiques, and analyses of texts to see what they’re comprehending from what they’re reading.

More to explore

Learn more about the Science of Reading.
Read our article, What is the Science of Reading anyway?
Read our article, The Reading Rope: Breaking it all down
Join thousands of educators like you and subscribe to the podcast.

What is the Science of Reading?

Diagram illustrating the pathways of language comprehension and word recognition merging into skilled reading, with processes becoming increasingly strategic or automatic.

The Science of Reading is a large body of research that helps answer a key question about the human experience: How do people learn to read?

It also helps answer a fundamental question for educators: How should we teach reading?

The Science of Reading draws on decades of research from fields like cognitive science, neuroscience, linguistics, psychology, and education. This vast (and still growing) body of research describes our up-to-date understanding of what reading requires, and therefore shapes our approach to effective literacy instruction.

Two frameworks are widely used to capture and communicate those core takeaways:

The Simple View of Reading
The Reading Rope

In this overview, we’ll walk you through both.

Why reading needs science

Spoken language develops naturally. Children typically learn to understand and use language simply by being around other people who talk.

Reading, on the other hand, works differently. Written language is a human invention; our brains did not evolve to read. When we are born, the parts of our brain that see letters are completely separate from the parts that hear sounds. So to become readers, students require explicit instruction. They have to be taught specifically to build new connections between what they see on the page and the language they already know.

For a brain to read words, it needs to create new pathways that connect letters with sounds. For example, when a child sees the letter “f” and connects it to the /f/ sound in “funny,” their brain builds a new bridge between the areas that handle sight and sound. Reading actually rewires the brain, bringing together the regions for vision, speech, sound, and meaning into one coordinated reading system.

The Science of Reading explains what those new connections involve—and why some students need more support than others to build them.

The Simple View of Reading

At the heart of the Science of Reading is one of the most widely accepted frameworks in reading research: the Simple View of Reading, first proposed by experts Philip Gough and Bill Tunmer in the 1980s.

The Simple View answers a basic question: What has to be in place for a reader to understand a text?

According to the Simple View, reading comprehension depends on two essential components:

Decoding: the ability to turn written words into spoken language
Language comprehension: the ability to understand the meaning of that language

Both are necessary, and neither works on its own. One reader may decode words accurately but struggle to understand what they read, while another may understand spoken language well but be unable to read the words on the page. In either case, comprehension breaks down.

The Simple View captures this core finding of reading research: Skilled reading depends on both word reading and language understanding working together.

Decoding: Reading the words on the page

Decoding involves learning how letters and letter patterns represent sounds. This task is complex in alphabetic writing systems like English, where many letters represent more than one sound, and many sounds can be spelled in different ways.

When children begin learning to read, they already understand a great deal of spoken language. What they don’t yet understand is written language. Letters and printed words are unfamiliar in a way that speech is not.

As students practice decoding, they become more accurate and more fluent. Over time, decoding becomes increasingly automatic.

And this automaticity matters—when students no longer have to focus most of their attention on reading the words, they can devote more mental energy to understanding what the text means.

Language comprehension: Understanding what you read

Language comprehension includes vocabulary, knowledge about the world, and an understanding of how language works across sentences and texts.

Research shows that what readers already know plays a major role in comprehension. As shown in the baseball experiment, students understood and remembered more when the text described a familiar activity—even when their reading skills were relatively weak.

When students read about unfamiliar topics, comprehension becomes more difficult. This is true even for students who can read the words on the page accurately.

So what’s the best way to teach reading comprehension? Combine both elements of the Simple View. In other words, reading comprehension grows alongside vocabulary and knowledge, and exposure to a wide range of topics supports reading development.

The Reading Rope

The Simple View of Reading identifies what reading requires, while the Reading Rope reflects how those requirements develop and become integrated over time.

The Reading Rope organizes reading into two broad strands:

Word recognition, which includes phonological awareness, decoding, and fluent word reading
Language comprehension, which includes vocabulary, background knowledge, and the ability to make meaning from text

Each strand of the Rope is made up of multiple interconnected skills. With effective instruction and practice, these skills become more coordinated and more automatic. As that happens, reading becomes smoother and less effortful, allowing readers to focus more fully on meaning.

The Reading Rope builds on the Simple View by showing how skilled reading emerges as these components strengthen and work together.

Instructional practices: Putting it all to work

The Science of Reading is the broad body of research on how reading develops, and the Simple View of Reading and Reading Rope capture the core takeaways of that research.

Together, they show that skilled reading depends on both accurate word reading and strong language comprehension, and that these abilities develop through explicit and systematic instruction, practice, and growing knowledge over time.

For educators, this understanding provides the strongest possible foundation for reading instruction. When students become skilled readers, new possibilities open up—in their classrooms today, and for the rest of their lives.

Frequently asked questions

Still have questions? We have answers. Check out the following FAQ.

Overview

Amplify CKLA is based on research showing that closing the background knowledge gap is necessary for supporting the literacy development of all students. To that end, Amplify CKLA teaches literacy through the lens of cross-curricular domains in science, history, literature, and culture. It was developed in response to research that shows the critical impact of background knowledge on reading comprehension and college- and career-readiness.
The program also reflects the latest early reading research showing the importance of explicit foundational skills instruction. The program develops students’ foundational literacy skills through a systematic scope and sequence with a focus on phonics.

Our research-based language arts curriculum is built on findings showing that higher-level reading comprehension depends on both automatic, fluent decoding and background knowledge. Combining well-established findings from the field of early literacy research with classroom-based feedback, Amplify CKLA ensures that children will learn to listen, speak, read, and write confidently and proficiently. For more information, view the Amplify CKLA Research Guide.

Amplify CKLA is a PreK–5 program. While the PreK and K–2 materials respect the important differences between early childhood education and formal schooling, the Grades 3–5 materials ensure a smooth transition to the academic rigors of middle school.

PreK

The focus in PreK is to maintain a developmentally appropriate early childhood setting; the structures, routines, and activities are engaging and children receive a solid foundation for future language arts instruction.

K–2

The focus in K–2 is developing fluent reading and writing skills, and enhancing language comprehension by building background knowledge and vocabulary. This is accomplished through two strands: the Skills Strand and the Knowledge Strand.

The Skills Strand focuses on decoding, encoding, grammar, handwriting, and the writing process, and it contains decodable chapter books for students to practice just-learned sound-spellings.

The Knowledge Strand builds background knowledge and vocabulary through carefully sequenced read-alouds and complex texts. Teachers read aloud stories that are more complex than the text students can decode on their own, enabling children to engage with complex texts and build background knowledge of a variety of connected topics in history, science, literature, and the arts.

3–5

In Grades 3–5, students are still focused on building reading and writing skills as well as knowledge and vocabulary, but the program no longer has two strands. The various lessons in each unit include read-alouds; whole-group, small-group, and partner reading; close reading; literal, inferential, and evaluative comprehension questions; vocabulary; grammar; writing; morphology and spelling (10–15 words per week); and unit assessments.

Program design

The Skills strand provides intentional and systematic support in building decoding skills. The lessons support learning related to phonemic awareness, sound-letter patterns (or spelling patterns), decoding (both in explicit lessons and with engaging decodable texts), writing mechanics, and writing structure and processes, for 60 minutes daily.

The Knowledge Strand develops young children’s language and background knowledge. By exposing children to rich and complex texts through daily read-alouds, engaging in text-based and analytic discussions of the text and content, and building connections from the text to the work of the classroom through extension activities, the Knowledge Strand provides daily, extensive (60 minutes) broadening and deepening of children’s oral language and comprehension.

Teaching the Skills Strand and Knowledge Strand in parallel helps students avoid cognitive overload and acquire advanced, complex vocabulary in the Knowledge Strand—in essence, reading to learn from day one—while becoming expert decoders in the Skills Strand. The program is designed to bring these two strands together in grades 3–5, as foundational skills and higher-level comprehension and meaning-making gradually intertwine.

The CKLA program takes a comprehensive approach to teaching the code of the English language in the Skills strand. While the English language has only 26 letters, these letters combine to create 150 spelling patterns that represent 44 sounds of language. In most reading programs, children are explicitly taught only a fraction of this information and must glean the rest from ad hoc and incidental exposure to these spelling patterns through text. CKLA focuses on explicitly teaching each of the 44 sounds and the 150 ways that these sounds are represented (via letters and letter combinations). This comprehensive approach assures educators that children have the knowledge they need to address any text and any word.

The Knowledge Strand reflects the fact that knowledge, comprehension, and vocabulary are intimately related. The materials are designed to provide children sustained time on a variety of domains (bodies of knowledge) through shared read-alouds and discussions. This coherent organization of content is critical to building knowledge, inferring new vocabulary, and enabling comprehension. The content-rich, intentionally sequenced nature of the read-alouds within the Knowledge Strand creates the optimal context for incidental and explicit vocabulary-learning opportunities. After the read-aloud, children analyze the text through interactive discussion questions, engage in activities that foster their comprehension of complex sentences and ideas, and extend the ideas of the read-aloud into other activities in the classroom. In this way, the lessons create rich, academically oriented, oral language experiences that promote both receptive and expressive language skills.

Amplify CKLA embeds a variety of diagnostic and classroom assessments into the program materials.

There are curriculum-based assessments of both foundational skills and content knowledge, placement assessments in Grades 1 and 2 for the Skills Strand, and end-of-year Skills Strand assessments in Grades K–3. These assessments are built into the units of instruction/domains within the Teacher Guides. In Grades 4–5, there are beginning-of-year assessments, frequent spelling assessments, and comprehensive unit assessments.

Formative Assessments are integrated into every lesson, allowing teachers to understand exactly how students are doing on meeting lesson goals and standards-based objectives.

Writing in multiple genres is taught through a process that builds from three highly scaffolded steps to seven flexible steps.
In addition to explicit lessons in handwriting, spelling, and grammar, writing is taught throughout K–5. Instruction begins with a three-step writing process: plan, draft, and edit. The process is reinforced as each new writing genre is addressed. Each genre is taught through a gradual reduction in scaffolding over a set of six lessons that includes teacher modeling, group practice, independent practice, and independent application. This systematic approach allows for continued support and predictable learning as children progress in their knowledge of text types and complexity of writing. By Grade 3, students have worked their way up to a five-step writing process: planning, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing. Beginning in Grade 4, the writing process expands to seven components: planning, drafting, sharing, evaluating, revising, and editing (and the optional component of publishing). An important change between the writing process in Grades 3–5 is that the writing process is no longer conceptualized as a series of scaffolded, linear steps that students follow in a set sequence. Rather, students move back and forth between components of the writing process in a flexible manner, similar to the process that mature and experienced writers follow. In addition to specific writing lessons, there are numerous writing opportunities for students throughout the curriculum.

Alignment to the CCSS

Fully implementing the Common Core Standards requires some shifts in prevailing instructional approaches. For early grades language arts, these shifts can be summarized as (1) balancing fiction and nonfiction text, (2) building knowledge, (3) supporting students’ capacity to learn from increasingly complex texts, (4) giving text-based answers, (5) writing from sources, and (6) explicitly supporting the acquisition of academic vocabulary. The following sections document the primary ways that Amplify CKLA meets the demands of these shifts.

The amount of nonfiction gradually increases, reaching the 50-50 balance of fiction and nonfiction by grade 3.
Read-alouds in the Knowledge Strand are designed according to the latest research to build knowledge and vocabulary in history, science, the arts, and more.
The texts in both the Knowledge Strand and the Skills strand increase in complexity as the program progresses within and across grades.
In the Skills Strand, the language and knowledge demands of the texts increase, but remain decodable based on the aspects of the code that have been taught to date.
Both strands engage students in appropriate means of providing text-based answers—orally, pictorially, and eventually in writing.
Together, the Skills and Knowledge Strands enable students to read and digest various sources and then write by drawing on those sources.
In both strands of the program, Amplify CKLA teaches children the process of using the text as a springboard for understanding.
The Knowledge Strand offers repeated exposures to academic vocabulary through authentic texts and explicit word instruction.

Materials

PreK

Teacher Guides, Student Activity Pages, 3–4 Trade Books per domain, Flip Books, Image Cards, Transition and Center Cards, Nursery Rhymes and Songs Posters, and a Big Book (Classic Tales)

Grades K–2

Knowledge Strand: Teacher Guides, Flip Books, Student Activity Books, Image Cards, and online resources including supplemental lessons
Skills Strand: Teacher Guides, Activity Books, Student Readers, Big Books, Letter Cards, Spelling Cards, Individual Code Sheets, Code and Chaining Resources (Vowel/Consonant Code Flip Books, Student Chaining Folders), Blending Cards, and online resources including differentiation and remediation guides

Grades 3–5

Teacher Guides, Student Readers, Activity Books, Poet’s Journal, Writer’s Journal, Core Quests (The Viking Age in Grade 3, Eureka: Student Inventor in Grade 4 and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” in grade 5) and Writing Quests (The Contraption in Grade 4, The Robot in Grade 5)

Language comprehension: Building mental models

©Alexander Huth / The Regents of the University of California

Throughout this five-part series, we will cover the main components of the Science of Reading (SoR) and provide additional resources and research to guide your exploration and implementation of this important movement.

Say you’re given a passage of text to read. This particular paragraph describes half an inning of a made-up baseball game.

After you read the passage, you are asked to reenact the scene.

Which is more likely to aid your success?

A. Your ability to read

B. Your knowledge of baseball

C. It makes no difference

Would you be surprised to know the answer is actually B?

In part one of our series, “What is the Science of Reading anyway?,” we discussed the two main components of the Science of Reading: decoding (converting written words into speech) and language comprehension (understanding that speech). We also provided in-depth coverage of both learning and teaching how to decode the symbols of the English alphabet and strengthen the reading muscle.

LANGUAGE COMPREHENSION

In 1988, two young researchers and 64 students took part in an experiment that has forever changed how we think about reading and comprehension. One by one, the students were handed the same story covering half an inning of a made-up baseball game and asked to reenact it.

To the researchers’ surprise, they found that reading ability had little impact on how well kids understood the story—but knowledge of baseball did. In fact, students who were weak readers did as well as strong readers if they had knowledge of baseball.

Teaching knowledge explicitly improves reading comprehension. As Willingham has said, “Reading tests are knowledge tests in disguise.”

Researchers at the Haskins Lab at Yale tested this theory and found an extraordinarily high correlation between how well a 7-to-9-year-old child can recognize words and how well they comprehend text.

Common teaching mistake — Strategy instruction

So if reading comprehension is driven by a student’s vocabulary and knowledge, are widely taught strategies like finding the main idea equally critical?

Many strategies make intuitive sense: Stopping and re-reading when comprehension breaks down, for instance, is helpful for many children. But teaching the main idea strategy over and over is less helpful.

It is hard to find the main idea of a piece of writing if you don’t really understand any of the ideas in it. And even if you know a strategy — like re-reading when stuck — you also need to be well-versed in when to apply the strategy. You need to notice that you didn’t understand the text.

Often, strategy instruction neglects to offer students practice with identifying the situations in which they should use the strategy.

In the 1940s, a skills shift began to take place in education systems throughout the world. Its effects can be traced in the U.K., Sweden, Germany, and, most recently, France. This shift brought an emphasis on reading and math, squeezing out the broader knowledge taught in the sciences and social sciences. Some have linked the decline in standardized test scores—the SAT in the U.S. and the DEPP national exam in France—to this shift.

The National Survey of Science and Mathematics Education reported that today, classes in grades K–3 spend just 19 minutes per day on science and 16 minutes per day on social science.

To counter this loss of broader knowledge in our students, research suggests that we teach comprehension strategies in moderation and use the freed-up time to build knowledge (and vocabulary).

But simply exposing students to everyday speech doesn’t build a strong vocabulary. In a typical conversation, there are around 20 unusual words—such as dismayed or zeal—per 1000 words. Newspapers and books contain more than twice as many. Rich vocabulary, then, is gained not solely through speech, but through reading. Rich vocabulary, then, is gained not solely through speech, but through reading—especially when reading a variety of text types.

Mental models

Some readers with good word recognition, vocabulary, and knowledge are still weak comprehenders. Why might this be the case?

After students read a passage, they aren’t likely to recall the precise wording, but they will probably remember the ideas. Researchers use the term mental model to describe the structure you create in your mind to perform this feat of comprehension. Think of the process of building a mental model as a sort of micro-comprehension. Weak comprehenders build poor models. Hence, when asked prediction or mapping character development questions, they answer poorly.

There are four critical skills students need to improve their mental modeling:

Decoding the usage of anaphoras (she, they, him). Some early readers can’t reliably figure out who the pronoun is referring to, especially in ambiguous text.
Understanding the use of markers to signal ways that the text fits together — connectives, (like so, though, whenever) structure cues, and directions. Inexperienced readers may not know that but, though, yet, and however signal that something opposite follows.
Writers make assumptions about what can be left unstated. For instance, when they read “Carla forgot her umbrella and got very wet today,” good readers will use their prior knowledge to conclude that it rained. Weaker readers who fail to make these gap-filling inferences wind up with gaps in their mental model.
When something doesn’t make sense, you stop, re-read, and try to figure it out. Weaker readers just keep going—not because they’ve failed to figure it out, but because they’ve failed to notice that they don’t understand. They need explicit instruction in monitoring comprehension as they read.

Overview

Think of reading as a suitcase that you need two keys to open. The first key is word-level decoding, a skill that becomes automatic and fluent. The second key is language, vocabulary, and domain-specific knowledge. The more words you can decode, the more new words — and their meanings — you can learn. Similarly, the more knowledge you have on a topic, the more you can soak up on the same topic — and on related topics.

These two keys make up the Science of Reading. When schools focus heavily on one key or the other, the suitcase doesn’t open. So now the greater task of applying this knowledge in the classroom awaits us.

For more in-depth examples, brain scans, and information about the Science of Reading, download our free primer:

Science of Reading – Make the Shift Today

Unleash the potential of knowledge building in language comprehension

Every child is capable of becoming a skilled reader. Every classroom can provide that opportunity and drive student success, through a content-rich literacy curriculum.

We’ll show you how.

The relationship among knowledge, language comprehension, and literacy skills

The Science of Reading shows that early literacy skills are best built deliberately, on a foundation of knowledge. Knowledge building is not a result of reading and language comprehension; it’s a vital prerequisite and a fundamental part of the process. When students read a text on a familiar topic–event a tough one–they’re more likely to comprehend it. In other words: The more you know, the more, and faster, you learn.

Learn more

Why is building knowledge so important?

Background knowledge—coupled with comprehension strategies—fuels students’ capacity to understand texts, answer questions, and grapple with ideas.

Students bring different bodies of knowledge into school. Some are whizzes at baseball or mechanics; some visit museums, have tons of books at home, and know the word “yacht.” That means their comprehension of a given topic or text will correlate with what they already know. But what happens when they learn the same content together? A recent independent study showed that a knowledge-building literacy curriculum in elementary school raised test scores and helped eliminate income-based opportunity gaps.

It is our responsibility as educators to bring the world into the classroom for all students and help them grow their literacy skills.

Literacy instruction has typically focused on decontextualized skills—finding the main idea, making inferences—before, or instead of, the content of texts and resources that students engage with. Many teachers may have been trained to “put the skills and strategies in the foreground, like a skill of the week, then bring in texts that they find suited for demonstrating the skill or strategy,” says Natalie Wexler, author of The Knowledge Gap. But science shows that harnessing skills and strategies to content is actually more effective. That is, using a coherent and systematic progression of content that helps knowledge and skills build on each other has been shown to result in better student outcomes.

“The advantage of a coherent curriculum is that the topics it covers can build on one another, with one unit providing a foundation of knowledge for others that come later, both throughout a single school year and across grade levels,” according to Barbara Davidson and David Liben. Along the way, students also cultivate curiosity and confidence, accelerating the entire process. So the more you know, the faster you learn—and that lasts a lifetime.

Getting started with knowledge based learning

Effective literacy instruction must celebrate the experiences students have but not assume each student has specific pieces of prior knowledge. Rather, it must build knowledge in the classroom. Students (and teachers) need curricula that expose them to a diverse array of new topics—spanning history, science, literature, culture, and the arts—in an intentional sequence that builds a rich and common knowledge base from which all students can draw.

Want to get started now? We’ve got an ebook to help you out.

Download now

Professional development to support your shift to the Science of Reading

Ignite literacy transformation with Amplify’s Science of Reading: The Learning Lab—an inspiring three-course series.

Course 1: Foundations to the Science of Reading
Course 2: Advanced Topics in the Science of Reading: Assessment and Reading Difficulties
Course 3: Applied Structured Literacy

The best investment you can make is in knowledge, and the returns are priceless.

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Before and after knowledge building: What knowledge looks like in the classroom

Making connections to what students already know

Before: Teachers “activate” students’ prior knowledge before reading.
After: Teachers build students’ knowledge explicitly for students to leverage later as background knowledge.

Developing reading comprehension

Before: Teachers focus instruction on comprehension strategies (e.g., “strategy of the day” instruction).
After: Teachers focus on content and use comprehension strategies to help students gain knowledge of that content.

Introduction of new topics and information

Before: Students learn about content-area topics individually in disconnected units of instruction.
After: Students learn topics through a coherent approach that builds knowledge within and across units of instruction.

See the remarkable difference shifting to a knowledge-building approach can make in your school. Our enlightening flyer guides you through a before-and-after journey, illustrating the profound impact of knowledge building on learning. Check it out!

What to look for in a knowledge-building literacy curriculum:

It develops content knowledge.

The program should immerse students in a given domain for weeks—that’s how they acquire academic knowledge. The content should also develop from grade to grade, so that students learning about Renaissance art can reflect on and compare to what they previously learned about art in the Middle Ages.

It leverages read-alouds for exposure to complex language.

In early grades, students’ listening comprehension outpaces their reading comprehension. Interactive read-alouds can be used to expose students to academic language and rich vocabulary. With background knowledge, vocabulary words are “the main support beams in the comprehension house.” This approach also helps teachers introduce students to new information and experiences—in a supportive and interactive environment.

It introduces students to a wide variety of topics and content.

A content-rich curriculum exposes students to broad knowledge over time in a systematic, cumulative way, which is more effective than spending several months on just one topic. And while that’s happening, students are participating in enriching discussions and writing activities so they can further interact with the content, promoting deeper engagement and supporting retention of both the knowledge and associated vocabulary.

It builds both knowledge and foundational skills.

Knowledge building is just one component of literacy development. A content-rich curriculum that helps students build both knowledge (language comprehension) and skills (word recognition) takes into account both sides of the Reading Rope, giving students everything they need to build the foundation for a lifetime of literacy success. Instead of learning to read so they can read to learn, students who use a content-rich curriculum learn to read and learn about the world at the same time, enabling them to understand what they’re reading.

“Shifting from balanced literacy to a knowledge-building curriculum was a huge change for us. [Amplify] CKLA systematically builds knowledge from unit to unit and across grade levels. Students are constantly making connections to what they learned earlier in the year. We are excited to see the connections that they make after they have had a few years of the program. Student engagement has significantly increased. They are excited about the topics that they are learning. I never would have thought that students would find the War of 1812 or ancient Greek civilizations fascinating, but they do!”

—Christina Pina, Instructional Data Specialist, Chicopee Public Schools, Chicopee, MA

Season 9, Episode 4

Comprehension is not a skill, with Hugh Catts, Ph.D.

In this episode Susan Lambert is joined by Hugh Catts, Ph.D., professor at Florida State University, to break down what comprehension is and bust some myths about what it isn’t. With a family history of dyslexia, he has a personal connection to the topic that led him into research in language sciences and language disorders. He discusses how his findings moved him away from viewing comprehension as simply a “component of reading” but rather something entirely separate—a condition created over time, defined by purpose, and influenced by prior knowledge. Together, Susan and Hugh address many comprehension-related concepts, such as the Simple View of Reading, the five pillars of reading, and comprehension’s relationship to knowledge building. Hugh also gives listeners practical advice for helping students suss out their comprehension before reading, and he clarifies why understanding the standard of coherence is important.

Meet our guest(s):

Hugh Catts, Ph.D.

Hugh Catts’s research interests include the early identification and prevention of reading disabilities. He is a former board member of the International Dyslexia Association and former president of the Society for the Scientific Study of Reading. He has received the Samuel T. Orton Award, the International Dyslexia Association’s highest honor, and the Honors of the Association Award from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, for his career contributions in these disciplines. His current research concerns the early identification of reading and language difficulties and the nature and assessment of reading comprehension problems.

Meet our host, Susan Lambert

Susan Lambert is the Chief Academic Officer of Elementary Humanities at Amplify, and the host of Science of Reading: The Podcast. Throughout her career, she has focused on creating high-quality learning environments using evidence-based practices. Lambert is a mom of four, a grandma of four, a world traveler, and a collector of stories.

As the host of Science of Reading: The Podcast, Lambert explores the increasing body of scientific research around how reading is best taught. As a former classroom teacher, administrator, and curriculum developer, Lambert is dedicated to turning theory into best practices that educators can put right to use in the classroom, and to showcasing national models of reading instruction excellence.

Transcripts and additional resources

Show notes:

Follow Hugh on X: @CattsHugh

Read: Rethinking How to Promote Reading Comprehension by Hugh Catts

Transcript

Submit your literacy questions for a chance to win!

Read: The Simple View of Reading: Advancements and False Impressions by Hugh Catts

Quotes

If you learn how to swim, you can swim in a lake, a pool, an ocean, whatever. But that’s not the case for comprehension. You can’t learn to comprehend and then take that out into different situations for different purposes. You can learn some things that will help you, but in general, it’s the topic and purpose that are going to impact how well you understand something.
–Hugh Catts, Ph.D.

If I was going to define comprehension, it’s not a single thing. I mean, that’s the problem. We want it to be a single thing, but it depends upon what you’re reading and why you’re reading it.
–Hugh Catts, Ph.D.

What comprehension is is the interaction of what you bring into that reading situation and what you already know about it, and your motivation and purpose to comprehend it.
–Hugh Catts, Ph.D.

There’s just not enough mental reserve to be able to build that meaning that quickly. So it helps tremendously that you have some knowledge about it beforehand. That knowledge gives you a place to put information. So when you read about something, it gives you storage for the information. It’s kind of like a cubby hole that you put the mail in, in an office.
–Hugh Catts, Ph.D.

Featured blog post

What my wedding taught me about choosing curriculum

The right curriculum choice isn’t only about the product—it’s about who’s by your side from start to finish. Here’s how one district found that with Amplify CKLA.

By Kelly Pruitt, Instructional Facilitator, Peninsula School District | May 28, 2026

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A teacher leans over a group of elementary students who are working together at a classroom table under a "CKLA Skills" sign, guiding them through successful CKLA implementation.

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Welcome to Amplify CKLA!

Amplify Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA) is a cutting-edge and effective core ELA program for students in grades K–5. It was developed in partnership with the Core Knowledge Foundation, features proven evidence-based instructional practices, and was specifically designed to help teachers implement Science of Reading principles.

Note: We’re continually adding information to this site, including specific details regarding our alignment with your non-negotiables. Keep checking back with us between now and April 20, 2023.

Getting Started

On this site, you’ll find a variety of resources designed to support your review and evaluation of the program. Before you dive in, watch the Orientation Overview and Program Overview videos below to learn about CKLA’s alignment to CCSD’s ELA adoption requirements, as well as where to find key program resources.

[Video] Orientation Overview

[Video] Program Overview

In the video below, learn about CKLA’s structure and materials, as well the research behind the curriculum.

Evidence-Based

[Video] Pedagogical Overview with Simple View of Reading

In the video below, Amplify’s Chief Academic Officer Susan Lambert shares the big picture of CKLA, and explains why it was created and the impact it’s making across the country. Below are a few portions of the video that you may find particularly helpful as you conduct your review.

0-1:00 Why CKLA?
1:00-4:40 How CKLA was built on the Simple View of Reading
4:40-8:00 How to review the CKLA Components
8:00-end Teacher Testimonial

[Features] Supporting the Simple View of Reading

Built out of the latest research in the Science of Reading, Amplify CKLA delivers explicit instruction in both foundational literacy skills (systematic phonics, decoding, and fluency) and background knowledge in grades K–2 with an integrated approach to explicit instruction in grades 3–5.

Review this Science of Reading toolkit to learn more about the Science of Reading best practices integrated throughout CKLA.

See our Science of Reading solutions in action! Click here to see a real example of how one Ohio district is implementing and educating their K–8 community on the Science of Reading as a response to Ohio’s Plan to Raise Literacy Achievement Initiative.

Great reading instruction starts with helping kids develop great decoding skills. By building a solid foundation of phonological awareness and phonics, reading the words on the page becomes automatic so that comprehension and critical thinking can happen. Our instruction is supported by:

Step-by-step lessons with multisensory approaches, clear lesson objectives, and embedded formative assessments.
Decodable books and student readers with ebook and audiobook versions that feature engaging plots and relatable characters.
An engaging sound library with fun songs and videos that develop phonological awareness.
An interactive Vocab App featuring engaging activities with immediate feedback and automated, customized instruction based on student performance.

Students build grade-appropriate subject-area knowledge and vocabulary in history, science, literature, and the arts while learning to read, write, and think creatively and for themselves. Our instruction is supported by:

Knowledge builders that provide a quick overview of each domain with its key ideas.
Interactive Read-Alouds designed to build knowledge and vocabulary.
Content-rich anchor texts that support students as they tackle increasingly complex text and sharpen their analytical skills.
Social and emotional learning paired with lessons in civic responsibility.

Easy-to-Use Materials

Amplify CKLA offers a number of digital and multimedia resources to support instruction and enhance the teacher and student experience.

Amplify CKLA Digital Experience Site: All teacher and student materials are posted on this site for planning and information purposes, including Teacher Guides, Readers, Activity Books, Ancillary Materials, videos, additional resources, and links to other useful sites, such as the Professional Learning site.
The Professional Learning Site: This site includes training materials, best practices, and other resources to develop program expertise. Access professional development anywhere, anytime.
Intervention Toolkit: The Intervention Toolkit provides easy-to use resources to assist teachers in filling gaps in students’ foundational skills. Teachers will find hundreds of activities to support phonics, fluency, comprehension, handwriting, and other key skills.
The Science of Reading: The Podcast: Hosted by Susan Lambert, The Podcast delivers the latest insights from researchers and practitioners in early reading. Each episode takes a conversational approach and explores a timely topic related to the Science of Reading.

In addition to the videos below, our CKLA Components Guide can be a helpful tool as you explore the materials provided within your sample tubs.

[Video] Physical Materials Walkthrough

As you explore your physical samples, the material walkthrough video below can be a helpful resource. In particular, we suggest watching the following portions of the video.

0-4:38 CKLA components for K–2
4:38-7:00 CKLA components for 3–5
7-7:30 CKLA Program Guide
10:12-13:20 CKLA’s Teacher Resource Site

Note: The below video covers both our K-5 program (Amplify CKLA) as well as our 6-8 program (Amplify ELA).

[Video] Digital Materials Walkthrough

In the video below, learn about CKLA’s digital tools for teachers and students across both classroom and asynchronous environments.

As you prepare to explore our digital platform, be sure to watch and refer to the video below.

Diverse Texts

In Amplify CKLA, texts serve a variety of purposes, from building background knowledge, vocabulary, and comprehension to building decoding and fluency skills.

In grades K–2, instruction is segmented between two strands: Knowledge and Skills.

Reading within the Knowledge Strand is centered around authentic read-alouds and trade books that are intentionally sequenced to build content knowledge and vocabulary in specific domain topics around literature, history, science, and the arts. Because research shows that students’ listening comprehension outpaces their reading comprehension until their early teens, Amplify CKLA strategically uses read-aloud text in this strand, allowing students to focus their cognitive energy on gaining meaning from the words and better understanding from the images.
Reading within the Skills Strand centers around carefully crafted Student Readers that teach students how to read. Structured as chapter books, these readers are 100% decodable and were developed to align with Amplify CKLA’s scope and sequence for phonics, directly connecting instruction to student practice in connected texts. Students use the Readers to practice decoding, fluency, and comprehension during shared reading lessons, targeted close reading sessions, in small groups, and independently.

In grades 3–5, integrated units bring the Skills and Knowledge strands together as students become increasingly automatic and strategic in their word recognition and language comprehension skills. Student reading and comprehension activities involve a variety of reading materials:

Authentic Read-Alouds and trade books ensure students encounter a variety of perspectives as they use these complex text to increase their knowledge while practicing vocabulary and listening comprehension skills.
Student Readers connect to each theme and are designed to increase in complexity over time, providing a continual challenge as students’ reading and listening comprehension skills develop and strengthen throughout the year.
Novel Guides provide teachers a flexible option for extending authentic reading and text-based activities in the classroom using award-winning and acclaimed novels.
ReadWorks articles give students access to additional high-quality texts aligned to both Amplify CKLA knowledge topics and the topics outlined in the Common Core State Standards.

Decodable Readers at Grades K–2

Our Decodable Readers are designed to progress in skills, mirroring the scope and sequence of instruction, which allows students to immediately apply what they are learning to 100% decodable text. More specifically, our decodables:

Are uniquely designed to provide intensive practice with the CKLA code while students read compelling and engaging stories and informational texts for the first time.
Gradually introduce students to “tricky” spelling concepts, such as different sounds that use the same letter code.
Increase in text complexity (i.e., content, length, and vocabulary) as students progress through the grades.
Include fiction and nonfiction text.
Are available as ebooks and audiobooks.

Below, you can see how students grow from year-to-year across grades K–2.

Student Readers at Grades 3–5

By grades 3–5, students have mastered the basics of decoding and are hungry to use what they’ve learned to reach out to the world. Although Read-Alouds remain an important part of lessons, students are also encouraged to practice independent reading starting in grade 3 with the support of carefully crafted Student Readers. These readers are chock-full of various text types, cultural stories, and a blend of fiction and nonfiction texts that are tied to and support the overarching theme of the unit.

Read-alouds

Authentic literature exposes students to a variety of text types and perspectives to deepen their knowledge of fascinating topics in social studies, science, literature, and the arts. Authentic texts support text-to-self, text-to-world, and text-to-text connections for readers.

Trade books

Our optional Trade Book Collection (and suggested list of additional trade books) align with our grade-level topics, and extend the knowledge students are learning through an authentic text.

Novel Guides

Novel Guides bring students beyond the CKLA curriculum. We provide fifteen full days of instruction on contemporary trade books, as well as writing prompts that help students navigate the authentic literature they love.

ReadWorks

Amplify CKLA and ReadWorks® have partnered to deliver high-quality texts curated to support the Amplify CKLA Knowledge Sequence and to extend student learning. Texts include high-interest nonfiction articles in topics in social studies, science, literature, and the arts. These texts are accompanied by vocabulary supports and standards-aligned formative assessment opportunities. Teachers can monitor their students’ progress using the ReadWorks reporting features.

Reading resources

The following resources may be helpful as you explore our approach to reading and the role that diverse texts play in the program.

Writing

CKLA is rich with opportunities for students to develop, practice, and hone their writing skills. While the shape of writing instruction looks slightly different at each grade level, a commonality across all grades K–5 is that writing isn’t taught in isolation. Rather, it’s embedded within the context of each unit, and is connected to what students read.

At Grades K–2, writing takes place in both the Skills and Knowledge strands.

Explicit instruction in writing skills (such as sentence structure) and handwriting takes place in the Skills Strand, and is tied to the decodable readers used within each unit.
Extended writing and writing process activities take place in the Knowledge Strand.

At Grades 3–5, writing is embedded through the integrated units.

Across each unit, students work on smaller, more discrete writing skills alongside their Student Reader. These skills eventually culminate at the end of each unit in the form of a writing project.
In 4th and 5th grades, we expand writing even further with the addition of Poetry units.

Writing and text-dependent questions

The overwhelming majority of questions, tasks, and assignments in CKLA materials are text-dependent. Every CKLA unit and domain is based around key texts that are either read aloud, with a peer, or independently. These readings are followed by class discussions where students are expected to refer to these texts when answering literal, inferential, and evaluative questions, both orally during class discussions and through written responses.

Literal questions assess students’ recall of key details from the text. These are text-dependent questions that require students to paraphrase and/or refer back to the portion of the text where the specific answer is provided.
Inferential questions ask students to infer information from the text and to think critically. These text-dependent questions require students to summarize and/or reference the portions of the text that lead to and support the inference they are making.
Evaluative questions ask students to build on what they have learned from the text using analytical and application skills, often to form an opinion or make a judgment. These questions require students to paraphrase and/or cite the textual evidence that substantiates their argument or opinion.

In addition, students are often asked to generate additional questions based on the texts. Students further demonstrate understanding in writing by applying what they have learned and providing evidence from the text to back up their answers and opinions. For example, Grade 3 students learning about sea exploration write a paragraph from the perspective of a sailor on John Cabot’s ship, stating their opinion of whether the hardships they experienced are worth the adventure or glory and citing examples from the text to support their response. Grade 5 students studying the Adventures of Don Quixote write a four-paragraph persuasive essay arguing whether they believe Don Quixote’s good intentions justify his often calamitous actions, using reasons and evidence from the text to support their claims.

Writing with authentic literature

Novel Guides are designed around authentic texts students love. They not only help students foster a love for reading, they also present authentic opportunities for students to express themselves through writing. Novel Guides provide daily text-based writing and discussion through five activity types:

Ask contains questions for discussion, reflection, or brief written responses. These questions cover information all students should understand as they read the text.
Explore prompts offer brief research opportunities centered around items mentioned in the text.
Imagine activities promote creativity and further reflection.
Observe items ask students to take notes or make other kinds of observations about what they have read.
Understand questions push students to explore connections to the text.

Writing and enrichment

Writing tasks throughout the program provide almost limitless opportunities for extension. Feedback from the teacher, peers, and self-reflection provide students opportunities to strengthen their writing. For example, advanced students can be encouraged to:

Use more complex and unusual descriptive vocabulary.
Incorporate figurative language into their writing.
Write multi-clause sentences with more complex joining words.
Create longer or richer opinion, explanatory, and narrative pieces.
Evaluate the use of informational textual characteristics and use in their own writing (e.g., headers, bullets).

Writing resources

The following resources may be helpful as you explore our approach to writing and how writing develops across the program.

Access the program

Explore as a teacher

Before logging in, watch this brief video on navigating the CKLA Teacher Resource Site.

Ready to explore as a teacher? Follow these instructions:

Click the CKLA Teacher Resource Site button below.
Select Log in with Amplify.
Enter the username: t1.ccsd-k5-ckla@demo.tryamplify.net
Enter the password: Amplify1-ccsd-k5-ckla
Click the CKLA Teacher Resource icon
Select a grade level

CKLA Teacher Resource Site

Explore as a student

Before logging in, watch this brief video on navigating the CKLA Student Hub.

Ready to explore as a student? Follow these instructions:

Click the CKLA Teacher Resource Site button below.
Select Log in with Amplify.
Enter the username: s1.ccsd-k5-ckla@demo.tryamplify.net
Enter the password: Amplify1-ccsd-k5-ckla
Click the CKLA Teacher Resource icon
Select a grade level

CKLA Student Hub

Check out these additional resources

Nevada submission resources:

CKLA review resources:

CKLA Program guide
Diversity, equity, and inclusion in CKLA
Text complexity in CKLA
Trade books in CKLA
Assessments in CKLA
Remote and hybrid learning with CKLA
Amplify ELA Technical Specifications
CKLA Scopes and Sequences
- Grade K Skills and Knowledge
- Grade 1 Skills and Knowledge
- Grade 2 Skills and Knowledge
- Grade 3 Integrated
- Grade 4 Integrated
- Grade 5 Integrated

Oregon Enhanced ELA State Review for K–5

Welcome, Seattle Public Schools, to the next chapter in the Science of Reading, with Amplify CKLA 3rd Edition!

Amplify Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA) helps implement the Washington State K–12 Learning Standards for English Language Arts (Common Core State Standards) by translating the Science of Reading into manageable, engaging, and effective classroom practices. For more than a decade, Amplify CKLA has transformed classrooms nationwide with its intentional knowledge building and systematic skills instruction.

Scroll down to learn how Amplify CKLA is uniquely designed to help all your students make learning leaps in literacy.

Download Amplify CKLA Program Guide

An astronaut floats in space near the Moon, with a speech bubble displaying

Our approach

Improve outcomes with a program that’s built on a decade of research and meets the strongest Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) Tier I criteria.

Diagram illustrating the Simple View of Reading model. It shows that skilled reading results from increasingly strategic language comprehension and increasingly automatic word recognition.

Grounded in the Science of Reading

As the original Science of Reading program, Amplify CKLA puts research into action with explicit, systematic foundational skills instruction and a proven knowledge-building sequence. In collaboration with education experts and practitioners, we provide powerful resources that deliver real results.

Success stories

Background knowledge drives results.

Amplify CKLA follows the Core Knowledge Sequence, a content-specific, cumulative, and coherent approach to knowledge building. This approach improves reading scores and closes achievement gaps by establishing a robust knowledge base that strengthens comprehension.

In Amplify CKLA 3rd Edition, we’ve enriched our Knowledge Sequence with a wider range of perspectives and high-quality texts in new and enhanced units.

See units and connections

An illustrated person in a yellow shirt looks at a colorful map of Puerto Rico. Above them are two educational posters about world geography and animals, integrating elements from the k–5 literacy curriculum to enhance learning experiences.

An infographic showing the steps to pronounce

Build foundational skills for long-term success.

Students progress from simple to complex skill development starting with phonological and phonemic awareness. Instruction in Grades K–2 explicitly teaches the 150 spellings for the 44 sounds of English, following an intentional progression to ensure student success.

In our 3rd Edition, we’ve added dedicated Grade 3 foundational skills instruction that can either support core lessons or function as an intervention, based on student needs.

Skills by year

Daily writing deepens learning.

Grounded in the Science of Writing—the research on how kids learn to write—instruction is explicit, daily, and woven into the curriculum’s rich content. It covers both transcription (handwriting and spelling) and composition (organizing ideas into narratives) with high-impact activities like sentence-level combining and expanding, and pre-writing exercises. Writing and reading instruction are integrated so students simultaneously strengthen their communication skills, comprehension, and confidence.

See the Simple View of Writing

A child in a green shirt smiles while writing in a notebook at a classroom desk, engaged in their k–5 literacy curriculum, with another student visible in the background.

An open laptop displaying a children's story titled

High-quality, diverse texts

Amplify CKLA students are immersed in a variety of texts—complex read-alouds, decodable chapter books, trade books, and content-rich readers—that reflect varied experiences and connect to learning goals.

Readers are 100% decodable for Grades K–2, empowering students to directly apply what they’ve learned. Novel Study units for Grades 3–5 offer a mix of contemporary and classic literature, and Culminating Research Units in every grade include a set of authentic texts and trade books.

See Research Unit trade books

Reach all learners with differentiated support.

Scaffolds and challenges, developed in collaboration with education experts, make content accessible to every student, including multilingual and English learners. With strategies embedded right in the curriculum, teachers can deliver in-the-moment, individualized instruction to meet diverse student needs.

For a dedicated English language development program aligned to Amplify CKLA, explore Language Studio.

View embedded support

Children sit on the floor in a classroom, some raising their hands, smiling and engaged. The lively atmosphere reflects the effectiveness of the k–5 literacy curriculum being implemented.

What’s included with Amplify CKLA

The comprehensive resources in Amplify CKLA 3rd Edition support effective literacy instruction in every classroom.

Download Amplify CKLA Components Guide

Download Amplify CKLA Writing Brochure

Image of a laptop displaying an assessment report, surrounded by books about astronomy, an illustration of the moon, and a

Various educational materials, including textbooks, workbooks, a picture book, documents, and a laptop displaying a slide titled

Easy-to-use teacher materials

Amplify CKLA teachers are empowered to deliver effective instruction with the following print and digital resources:

Teacher Guides (K–5)
Assessment Guides (K–5)
Authentic texts and trade books (K–5)
Knowledge Image Cards (K–2)
Knowledge Flip Books (K–2, digital)
Ready-made and customizable Presentation Screens (K–5, digital)
Remediation and intervention resources (K–5)
On-demand professional development (K–5, digital)

Immersive Amplify CKLA student resources

Amplify CKLA students stay engaged with the following print and digital resources:

Decodable readers (K–2)
Student Readers and novels (3–5)
Student Activity Books (K–5)
Poet’s Journal (3–5)
eReaders (K–5, digital)
Sound Library featuring articulation videos and songs (K–2, digital)
Skill-building practice games (K–5)

An open laptop displaying a poem and a person, alongside two educational booklets and a green butterfly, depicts the essence of a rich core knowledge language arts curriculum. The background includes simple graphic elements enhancing the scene.

A collection of six book covers including

Rich literary experiences

The array of high-quality, varied texts in Amplify CKLA connect to the curriculum, sparking students’ curiosity and empowering them to learn to read with confidence.

Trade Book Collections (K–5) inspire student research in each grade’s Culminating Research Unit.
Classic and contemporary literature (3–5) delight students in Novel Study Units.
Increasingly complex Student Readers (K–5) develop students’ literacy across grades.

Hands-on phonics materials

Multisensory phonics and foundational skills resources engage students with fun, varied approaches that promote mastery and build independence.

Chaining Folders and Small Letter Cards (K)
Read-Aloud Big Books (K–1)
Large Letter Cards (K–2)
Sound Cards (K–2)
Image Cards (K–3)
Blending Picture Cards (K)
Consonant and Vowel Code Posters and Spelling Cards (1–2)
Sound Library (K–2, digital)

Image includes various vowel sounds and combinations on flashcards and worksheets, along with a playful illustrated mammal, all part of a comprehensive literacy curriculum for elementary students.

A laptop displays a student screen showing a quiz question about word usage, part of a literacy curriculum for elementary students. Behind it, a computer monitor shows an assessment report interface. Abstract decorative elements are in the background.

All-in-one digital platform

Our comprehensive platform simplifies your day-to-day tasks and makes it easier to plan and deliver lessons.

Ready-made and customizable Presentation Screens
Auto-scored digital assessments
Standards-based reporting
Assignable skill-building games
Sound Library
eReaders

Professional development (PD)

Move beyond traditional program training with Amplify’s digital PD Library, designed to fully support your shift to the Science of Reading and Amplify CKLA. Deepen your understanding with:

Program and planning resources.
Model lesson videos from real classrooms.
Guidance on using Amplify’s literacy suite to provide multi-tiered support.

Two women are seated at a table with papers and a laptop. One woman is working on the literacy curriculum for elementary grades, while the other is smiling.

“Teachers love the ease of implementing the program, and students have fun while learning. Growth is evident in our data, and we have the support of Amplify experts who are available to answer questions and provide top-notch professional development.”

Bridget Vaughan, District K–8 Coordinator of ELA and Literacy

Quincy Public Schools, Massachusetts

Language Studio: Multilingual and English language learner support

Language Studio is Amplify CKLA’s dedicated K–5 program for multilingual and English language learners. Through daily 30-minute lessons, it strengthens reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills while reinforcing core instruction. This tailored support empowers students to confidently access grade-level content as they develop academic English.

A young girl immerses herself in the science of reading at a classroom desk, surrounded by peers and diverse educational materials.

Curriculum Maps

Curriculum Maps by Grade and Strand:

Amplify Caminos program overview

¡El futuro es bilingüe! | The future is bilingual!

Amplify Caminos is a research-based core curriculum essential for Spanish literacy and grounded in the Science of Reading.

View our Amplify Caminos Program Guide to learn our approach to foundational skills by year, view skills practice with student readers and writing, and understand how the program supports teachers in meeting the needs of all students with embedded differentiation.

Download Amplify Caminos Program Guide

Amplify Caminos offers a robust and authentic elementary Spanish language arts program for grades K–5 that promotes
biliteracy and helps teachers inspire students as they become confident readers, writers, and thinkers in Spanish.

Using the program’s two strands, Caminos Conocimiento and Caminos Lectoescritura, teachers develop student
comprehension in Spanish through a program rich in background knowledge and foundational skills activities. The texts students encounter include authentic Spanish literary works that honor Spanish language development and build deep content knowledge in social studies, science, literature, and the arts.

Amplify Caminos is designed to support a variety of bilingual and dual language instructional models to meet every student’s biliteracy needs. Combined with its English language partner, Amplify Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA), Amplify Caminos provides a comprehensive biliteracy solution.

A girl runs joyfully surrounded by a turtle, a soccer ball, an open book, and tropical scenery with a toucan and ancient ruins, with "¡Hola!" written above.

Illustration of the amplify caminos language comprehension model, featuring step-by-step progression from simple word recognition to skilled reading, with educational graphics and text excerpts.

Amplify Caminos delivers rich, authentic experiences.

With a robust digital experience and an expanding library of online materials, Amplify Caminos provides everything needed to support, challenge, and engage your students. From digital Teacher Guides to lesson projectables, the program includes all the tools needed to successfully deliver every lesson.

How Amplify Caminos works with Amplify CKLA

Through direct instruction, both Amplify Caminos and Amplify CKLA develop reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills in their respective languages. Together, the programs empower educators to effectively foster biliteracy with:

Intentional knowledge building that connects topics throughout the program.
Increased metalinguistic awareness from students exploring the similarities and differences in each language while strengthening their knowledge across both.
Instruction with high-quality Spanish and English decodable readers that provide every student with opportunities to apply skills learned and grow competency in reading.

“There were other programs that claimed to be [based on the] Science of Reading, but no other vendor provided the suite of products together. We did not want to be picking from here, picking from there. [Amplify’s literacy suite] met our needs, because it aligned and provided us the best suite of products, hands down.”

Nicole Peterson, Principal, Midway Middle School

Sampson County Schools, North Carolina

Demo access

Explore the Amplify CKLA teacher digital resources.

First, watch the quick navigation video to the right. Then, follow the directions below.

Go to: learning.amplify.com or click the Access CKLA Teacher Digital button below.
Select Log in with Amplify.
Enter the following information:
- Teacher username: t1.seattle_sd_ckla@demo.tryamplify.net
- Teacher password: Amplify1-seattle_sd_ckla
- Student username: s1.seattle_sd_ckla@demo.tryamplify.net
- Student password: Amplify1-seattle_sd_ckla
Please note, these demo accounts expire on: February 26, 2026
Click the CKLA button.
Select your desired grade level from the Program drop down.

Access CKLA Teacher Digital

Follow the directions below to access the Student Resource Site:

Go to: learning.amplify.com or click the Access CKLA Student Digital button below.
Select Log in with Amplify.
Enter the following information:
- Teacher username: t1.seattle_sd_ckla@demo.tryamplify.net
- Teacher password: Amplify1-seattle_sd_ckla
- Student username: s1.seattle_sd_ckla@demo.tryamplify.net
- Student password: Amplify1-seattle_sd_ckla
Please note, these demo accounts expire on: February 26, 2026
From the main page, click the backpack in the top right corner.
Click on the grade level to select your desired grade.

Access CKLA Student Digital

Reading and Writing: How the Simple Views can help you teach

The processes of learning to read and write are so complex, they’ve inspired an entire body of research called the Science of Reading (along with its newer cousin, the Science of Writing). Luckily, literacy experts have distilled these processes into their simplest components.

The result? Two models that help educators understand how students learn to read and write, and the best ways to teach them.

These frameworks—the Simple View of Reading and the Simple View of Writing—align with what reading research tells us about the brain’s processes for decoding, understanding, and creating text. Together, they can support your instructional practices and help all your students become proficient readers. Let’s take a closer look.

What is the Simple View of Reading?

The Simple View of Reading is a model that breaks the capacity to read into two main components:

Decoding: The ability to recognize words in print, which includes phonics and phonemic awareness.
Language comprehension: The ability to understand and interpret the meaning of those words.

It’s important to note that reading is not the sum of these parts—it’s the product. Reading success results from decoding multiplied by language comprehension. Both are crucial. If either one is weak or nonexistent, the ability to read with understanding collapses. Even if a student can decode every word on a page, they won’t truly be reading if they don’t understand what the words mean. Likewise, no matter how good their comprehension skills, if they can’t decode, they can’t access the text.

Are you curious for more detail? Explore the framework known as the Reading Rope, which breaks these components down further, showing how skills such as phonological awareness, vocabulary, and background knowledge intertwine to create skilled reading. Understanding these connections helps educators develop effective instruction and address specific gaps in literacy skills.

Why is the Simple View of Reading framework so powerful?

The Simple View of Reading gives teachers a clear roadmap.

Instead of wondering why a student is struggling with reading, we can look at their decoding and language comprehension skills separately. Are they having trouble sounding out words? That’s a decoding issue. Struggling to understand a story’s plot? That’s a language comprehension issue.

Once you know where the challenge lies, it’s easier to intervene and teach students effectively.

This model also aligns with the principles of structured literacy. By focusing on explicit, systematic instruction in both decoding and comprehension, educators can build a strong foundation for all learners and support everyone in accessing grade-level text.

The Simple View of Writing: A logical extension

Just as the components of reading can be broken down into two parts, so can writing. They are:

Transcription: The physical act of writing, including handwriting, spelling, and typing.
Composition: The ability to generate ideas, organize them, and express them effectively in written form.

Transcription ensures that students can physically put words on a page, while composition helps them turn those words into meaningful text. Writing success equals transcription multiplied by composition. A student may have great ideas (strong composition) but struggle to write them down (weak transcription), or they may write neatly but lack substance.

Putting it together: How these models transform literacy instruction

Reading and writing are closely intertwined. As students improve their decoding, their transcription often follows because both rely on an understanding of letters and sounds. Similarly, language comprehension and composition share a connection—when students build vocabulary and understanding through reading, they’re better equipped to express themselves in writing.

These models allow educators to:

Pinpoint needs. Are students struggling with spelling? Focus on transcription. Do they have difficulty understanding what they’ve read? Strengthen language comprehension.
Measure progress. These models provide clear benchmarks for assessing growth. Success in one area (like decoding) can lead to noticeable improvements in another (like comprehension).
Individualize support. No two students are the same. One child may need help with phonics, while another needs to build vocabulary. The Simple Views let teachers tailor instruction to each learner.

The Simple Views of Reading and Writing remind us that literacy is a combination of distinct yet interconnected skills. By breaking these processes into manageable parts, we can better understand how to help students thrive. And when we focus on both the mechanics and the meaning, we’re not just teaching kids to read and write—we’re giving them the tools to communicate, imagine, and succeed.

More to explore

Check out our infographic for a visual breakdown of these powerful frameworks and how they work together to support literacy success.

Plus:

Listen: Science of Reading: The Podcast: The Simple View of Reading with Laurence Holt
Follow @amplify.education on Instagram for reading resources and information
Read: “Science of Reading principles that guide early literacy”

Amplify and SFUSD Partnership

We recognize and respect the unique differences of each of our partnering districts—and that includes San Francisco USD.

Out of the box, Amplify Caminos offers districts a rich, comprehensive, research-based SELA experience. That said, no two districts are exactly alike. To that end, we are committed to working with San Francisco USD to ensure that Amplify Caminos addresses the needs of your community. This includes providing implementation guidance and support, as well as collaborating with your staff to determine which domains need to be modified or exchanged.

What is Amplify Caminos?

Amplify Caminos is a core Spanish language arts program for grades TK–5 that delivers:

Authentic instruction built from the ground up for the Spanish language.
A unique research-based approach truly built on the Science of Reading.
A combination of explicit foundational skills with meaningful knowledge-building.
Embedded support and differentiation that gets all students reading grade-level texts together.
Opportunities for students to see the strengths and experiences that all people share while also celebrating each others’ unique identities and experiences.

Watch the video below to learn more about Amplify Caminos for Grades K–2.

Watch the video below to learn more about Amplify Caminos for Grades 3–5.

How does Amplify Caminos work?

Amplify Caminos is built on the science of how kids learn to read—in Spanish.

Amplify Caminos is all about helping you teach students how to read, all while giving them authentic and engaging reasons to read. That’s why Amplify Caminos develops foundational skills and builds knowledge in tandem.

Knowledge: Through complex and authentic Spanish read-alouds with an emphasis on classroom interactivity, oral comprehension, and contextual vocabulary, students start to build their awareness of the world around them—and the way the reading skills they’re building give them access to it.
Skills: Starting with the sounds at the core of the Spanish
language, students practice their phonemic awareness, handwriting skills, vocabulary, spelling, and grammar. Through daily practice, students become aware of the connection between reading and writing, building confidence as they go.

Illustration depicting the flow of genetic information, represented by ribbons transitioning from dna to rna, connected to various educational images and diagrams.

Respecting the development differences between grade ranges, Amplify Caminos teaches foundational skills and background knowledge as two distinct strands in grades K–2, and combines them into one integrated strand in grades 3–5.

Grades K–2:
Every day, students in grades K–2 complete one full lesson that explicitly and systematically builds foundational reading skills in the Amplify Caminos Lectoescritura strand, as well as one full lesson that builds robust background knowledge to access complex text in the Amplify Caminos Conocimiento strand. Through learning in each of these strands, students develop the early literacy skills necessary to help them become confident readers and build the context to understand what they’re reading.

Grades 3–5:
In grades 3–5, the Amplify Caminos Lectoescritura and Conocimiento strands are integrated in one set of instructional materials. Lessons begin to combine skills and knowledge with increasingly complex texts, close reading, and a greater writing emphasis. Students can then use their skills to go on their own independent reading adventures.

What do Amplify Caminos students explore?

Amplify Caminos builds students’ knowledge about the world.

In addition to teaching all students to crack the written code (which is vital for equity), the Amplify Caminos program helps students see the strengths and experiences we all share while celebrating their own unique identities and experiences.

This is accomplished through the exploration of topics and text that feature people who resemble students and familiar situations or experiences while also exposing them to people whose appearances, lives, beliefs, and backgrounds differ from their own.

Engaging domains

Amplify Caminos builds knowledge coherently across subjects and grades.

Throughout the program, students use their skills to explore domains that relate to storytelling, science, and the history of our world as seen through the eyes of many different groups.

Carefully selected to build from year-to-year, our grade-appropriate topics help students make and deepen connections while also reading, writing, and thinking creatively and for themselves.

Curriculum flowchart for Kindergarten to Grade 5, showing subject progression in language, science, and social studies, with highlighted and connected units.

New Knowledge Research Units for Grades K–5

Our brand-new Knowledge Research units carry forward Amplify Caminos’ powerful and proven instructional approach while also:

Adding more diversity. The rich topics and highly visual components featured in these units provide students with even more “windows and mirrors” and perspectives as they work to build knowledge.
Adding more authentic literature. Each new research unit revolves around a collection of high-interest authentic trade books that will spark more curiosity and inspire more inquiry.
Adding more flexibility. Units can be implemented for extended core instruction during flex periods, district-designated Pausing Points, or enrichment periods.

Units cover a variety of rich and relevant topics:

With these new units, students will soar to new heights with Dr. Ellen Ochoa, Amelia Earhart, and the Tuskegee Airmen. They’ll feel the rhythm as they learn about Jazz legends Miles Davis, Tito Puente, and Duke Ellington. And they’ll explore the far reaches of the world with Jacques Cousteau, Matthew Henson, and Eugenie Clark.

Grade K: El arte y el mundo que nos rodea
Grade 1: Cuentos de aventuras: relatos desde los confines de la Tierra
Grade 2: ¡A volar! La era de la aviación
Grade 3: Jazz y más
Grade 4: Energía: pasado, presente y futuro
Grade 5: Más allá de Juneteenth: de 1865 al presente

Units will be made available in English and Spanish, and will include the following components:

Why we added this unit:
“Every child is an artist,” said Picasso, meaning that every child uses art to explore and understand the world around them. El arte y el mundo que nos rodea honors that truth by introducing Kindergarten students to some of the ways in which artists have explored and understood the world around them.

This domain introduces students to artists from different time periods, countries, and cultures. Throughout the unit, students learn about different kinds of art and how artists use the world around them as they make art. They also connect this to what they have already learned about the earth, plants, and animals in other Caminos domains: Granjas, Plantas, and Cuidar el planeta Tierra. In addition, students connect this to what they have learned about sculptors in the Presidentes y símbolos de los Estados Unidos domain. As they explore different artists and artistic traditions, they develop their ideas about how humans are connected to each other and to the world around them.

As you read the texts in this unit, students may observe ways in which the characters or subjects are both similar to and different from students. This is a good opportunity to teach students awareness and sensitivity, building on the idea that all people share some things in common, even as they have other things that make them unique. This unit also offers an excellent opportunity to collaborate with your school’s art teacher, as many lessons have suggested activities to help students understand the kind of art they are studying.

Within this unit, students have opportunities to:

Use details to describe art.
Identify three ways to create art.
Identify characteristics of cave art.
Sequence the steps of making pottery.
Describe how artists can create work connected to the world around them.
Describe what makes Kehinde Wiley’s portraits unique.
Explain how the texture of a surface can affect artwork created on it.
Explain what a sculpture is.
Describe what makes James Turrell’s artwork about the sky unique.
Explain what a museum is and what kinds of things you can see or do there.

Trade books in this unit:
Instruction in this unit revolves around the following collection of high-interest authentic trade books. One copy of each trade book is included with the unit materials.

Georgia O’Keeffe por Erica Salcedo
Yayoi Kusama: De aquí al infinito por Sarah Suzuki
Tejedora del arcoíris por Linda Elovitz Marshall
Las tijeras de Matisse por Jeanette Winter
El museo por Susan Verde
Quizás algo hermoso: Cómo el arte transformó un barrio por F. Isabel Campoy

Sample materials:
Take a sneak peek at the rich instruction and engaging activities for this unit by viewing the PDFs below.

Why we added this unit:
This domain introduces students to adventure stories set around the world and challenges students to dig into the adventures through research. By listening to the Read-Alouds and trade books, students increase their vocabulary and reading comprehension skills, learn valuable lessons about perseverance and teamwork, and become familiar with gathering information for research.

In this unit, students study the careers of real-world explorers Dr. Eugenie Clark and Sophia Danenberg, marvel at the inventions of Jacques Cousteau, think critically about how teamwork and collaboration can make greater adventures possible, learn about the science and technology that enable adventures, and research some of the ways humans have confronted challenges at the edges of the world, from the oceans below to space above.

Each lesson in the domain builds students’ research skills as they ask questions, gather information, and write a paragraph about their findings. Students share what they have learned about adventures in an Adventure Gallery Walkthrough. By taking on the persona of one of the adventurers they meet in the Read-Alouds and trade books, students deliver their final paragraphs as if they are a “speaking portrait” of that person. Students are invited to dress up as that adventurer if they desire.

In addition, teachers can set aside time outside the instructional block to create the picture frames students will hold as they present to the Adventure Gallery Walk guests. Frames can be made from shirt boxes, cardboard, construction paper, or any art supplies that are on hand. This might be an opportunity to collaborate with the school’s art department if resources are available. Another option is to ask students to make their frames at home with their caregivers. On the day of the Adventure Gallery Walk, students will be the hosts and take on specific jobs, such as welcoming the guests, describing their work throughout the unit, and pointing out the areas of study on the domain bulletin board. You can find a complete list of student jobs in Lesson 13.

How this unit builds knowledge:
This unit builds upon the following Caminos units that students will have encountered in the previous grade.

Rimas y fábulas infantiles (Kindergarten)
Cuentos (Kindergarten)

The specific core content targeted in these domains is particularly relevant to the Read-Alouds students will hear in Cuentos de aventuras: relatos desde los confines de la Tierra. The background knowledge students bring to this unit will greatly enhance their understanding of the trade books used in this unit.

My Name Is Gabito/Me llamo Gabito por Monica Brown
Galápagos Girl/Galapagueña por Marsha Diane Arnold
My Name Is Gabriela/Me llamo Gabriela por Monica Brown
El viaje de Kalak por María Quintana Silva y Marie-Noëlle Hébert
Señorita Mariposa por Ben Gundersheimer
Sharuko, el arqueólogo peruano/Peruvian Archaeologist Julio C. Tello por Monica Brown
Abuelita fue al mercado por Stella Blackstone

Sample materials:
Take a sneak peek at the rich instruction and engaging activities for this unit by viewing the PDFs below.

Why we added this unit:
With this domain, students head up, up, and away with an introduction to the soaring history of aviation. Students learn the stories of early aviators, such as the Montgolfier brothers, the Wright brothers, Aida de Acosta, and Amelia Earhart.

During the unit, students study the science of flight, including the physics concept of lift, and research the social impacts of the world of flight. Finally, students let their research skills take flight as they explore key figures from the world of aviation.

The lessons in this domain build on earlier Grade 2 Caminos domains about the westward expansion, early Greek civilizations, and Greek myths, and lay the foundation for learning about other periods of world history in future grades.

How this unit builds knowledge:
This unit builds upon the following Caminos units that students will have encountered earlier in the year.

La civilización griega antigua (Grade 2)
Mitos griegos (Grade 2)
La expansión hacia el oeste (Grade 2)

The specific core content targeted in these domains is particularly relevant to the Read-Alouds students will hear in ¡A volar! La era de la aviación. The background knowledge students bring to this unit will greatly enhance their understanding of the trade books used in this unit.

¡A volar! Todo sobre aviones por Jennifer Prior
Amelia sabe volar por Mara dal Corso
Héroes de la aviación que cambiaron el mundo por Dan Green
El niño que alcanzó las estrellas por José M. Hernández
La niña que aprendió a volar por Sylvia Acevedo
Buenas Noches Capitán Mamá por Graciela Tiscareño-Sato

Sample materials:
Take a sneak peek at the rich instruction and engaging activities for this unit by viewing the PDFs below.

Why we added this unit:
This domain teaches students about the vibrant music, poetry, and culture of the Jazz Age in the United States. Students learn about famous writers and musicians like Langston Hughes, Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, Melba Liston, Tito Puente, and Miles Davis. They study how the jazz art form took root in the South, then spread to the North to become the sound of the Harlem Renaissance, eventually connecting people around the world in musical expression.

During this unit, students perform guided research to further explore both the history of jazz and what jazz is today. They develop research skills and then use those skills to find deeper connections between the stories and music of the Jazz Age and music today. As students learn about the world of jazz, they collaborate and share ideas with their classmates. They also practice sharing feedback focused on their written work, and, at the end of the unit, students present their research to the group.

The lessons give students opportunities to dive into the rhythms and stories of jazz, utilizing the knowledge sequence in this unit to:

Collaboratively generate research questions about jazz, jazz musicians, contemporary musicians from the state where they live or have lived, and the evolution of jazz music.
Utilize Read-Alouds, independent reading, and partner reading to learn about the Jazz Age, the Harlem Renaissance, jazz music, and biographies of celebrated jazz musicians and writers.
Research the answers to their generated questions, gather information, write a short research essay about a famous jazz musician, write a short essay about a contemporary musician from the state where they live or have lived, and give a presentation about their research.

How this unit builds knowledge:
Within this unit, students have opportunities to:

Ask relevant questions and make pertinent comments
Identify details in texts
Determine key ideas of texts by evaluating details
Make text-based inferences
Generate questions based on prior knowledge and gathered information
Synthesize details across texts to demonstrate comprehension
Discuss and explain an author’s purpose
Identify and cite reliable primary and secondary sources of information
Compose a well-organized and focused informative essay
Make connections between topics
Present information using appropriate media

¡Esquivel! Un artista del sonido de la era espacial por Susan Wood
Ray Charles por Sharon Bell Mathis
Tito Puente, el Rey del Mambo por Monica Brown
Me llamo Celia, la vida de Celia Cruz por Monica Brown
¡Azúcar! por Ivar Da Coll

In this unit, students also read the poem “Harlem” by Langston Hughes. (Available for free through the Academy of American Poets website and the Poetry Foundation website, with recorded audio available through the website for John Hancock College Preparatory High School.)

Sample materials:
Take a sneak peek at the rich instruction and engaging activities for this unit by viewing the PDFs below.

Why we added this unit:
With this domain, students become tomorrow’s problem solvers in this study of energy in the United States. Analytical reading skills are developed by examining the challenges of early energy innovators. Students then read about current energy practices and young energy change-makers across the world.

Throughout the unit, students conduct research into different sources of energy and present a proposal, putting them in the shoes of future energy innovators. They also use the knowledge sequence in this unit to:

Collaboratively analyze texts to identify cause-effect and problem-solution relationships.
Generate questions and conduct research about energy.
Write an opinion essay making their case for a fuel of the future.
Create energy proposals using primary and secondary resources.

How this unit builds knowledge:
This unit builds upon the following Caminos units that students will have encountered in previous grades as well as earlier in the year.

Plantas (Grade K)
La historia de la Tierra (Grade 1)
¡Eureka! Estudiante inventor (Grade 4)

The specific core content targeted in these domains is particularly relevant to the Read-Alouds students will hear in Energía: pasado, presente y futuro. The background knowledge students bring to this unit will greatly enhance their understanding of the trade books used in this unit.

La historia de los combustibles fósiles por William B. Rice
El niño que domó el viento por William Kamkwamba y Bryan Mealer

Sample materials:
Take a sneak peek at the rich instruction and engaging activities for this unit by viewing the PDFs below.

Why we added this unit:
Within this domain, Students learn about General Granger’s announcement in Galveston, Texas on June 19, 1865, a day marked in history as Juneteenth. Texts and multimedia sources will support foundational knowledge-building about the end of slavery in the United States. A review of the first freedom announcement, President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, provides students with background knowledge to further emphasize the significance of Juneteenth in American history.

This unit also takes students on a journey beyond Juneteenth, as they study specific contributions of African Americans from 1865 to the present day. Students participate in a virtual field trip to Emancipation Park in Houston, Texas and use the knowledge sequence in this unit to:

Collaboratively generate research questions about Juneteenth, The Great Migration, innovators and inventors, education, the humanities, activists, and allies.
Use Read-Alouds, independent, and partner reading to learn about African American contributions from 1865 to the present.
Research to find answers to their generated questions, gather information, and write a four-chapter Beyond Juneteenth book.

How this unit builds knowledge:
This unit builds upon the following Caminos units that students will have encountered in previous grades.

Los nativos americanos (Grade K)
Una nueva nación: la independencia de los Estados Unidos (Grade 1)
La Guerra Civil de los Estaods Unidos (Grade 2)
La inmigración (Grade 2)
Los nativos americanos (Grade 5)

The specific core content targeted in these domains is particularly relevant to the Read-Alouds students will hear in Más allá de Juneteenth: de 1865 al presente
. The background knowledge students bring to this unit will greatly enhance their understanding of the trade books used in this unit.

Martí’s Song for Freedom/Martí y sus versos por la libertad escrito por Emma Otheguy
¡Celebremos Juneteenth! escrito por Carole Boston Weatherford
Side by Side/Lado a Lado: The Story of Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez/La Historia de Dolores Huerta y César Chávez escrito por Monica Brown
Canto de alabanza para el día: Poema para la ceremonia inaugural del mandato de Barack Obama escrito por Elizabeth Alexander, traducido por Rodrigo Rojas

Sample materials:
Take a sneak peek at the rich instruction and engaging activities for this unit by viewing the PDFs below.

Diverse texts

Amplify Caminos puts a variety of texts in the hands of students every day.

Amplify Caminos includes both transadaptations and authentic texts written by Latin American and Spanish authors. In addition to featuring a diverse range of authors and topics, our texts represent individuals and characters with a broad range of identity factors, including socioeconomic status, age, ability, race, ethnicity, country of origin, religion, and more.

Amplify Caminos texts include:

Authentic literature: Authentic literature exposes students to a variety of text types and perspectives to deepen their knowledge of fascinating topics in social studies, science, literature, and the arts. Authentic texts support text-to-self, text-to-world, and text-to-text connections for readers.
Decodable Student Readers: Amplify Caminos is built on the conviction that equitable instruction is vital to an effective program. Decodable Student Readers at grades K–2 are newly re-designed to celebrate students’ diverse experiences and feature individuals with a broad range of identity factors, including socioeconomic status, age, ability, race, ethnicity, country of origin, religion, and more.
ReadWorks® texts: Amplify and ReadWorks have partnered to deliver high-quality texts curated to support the Amplify Caminos Knowledge Sequence and to extend student learning. Texts include high-interest nonfiction articles in topics in social studies, science, literature, and the arts. These texts are accompanied by vocabulary supports and standards-aligned formative assessment opportunities. Teachers can monitor their students’ progress using the ReadWorks reporting features.

Three book covers displaying children's books in spanish, each featuring colorful and stylized illustrations related to cultural stories.

Amplify Caminos Trade Book Collection Guide

Each book in our authentic literature collection was selected specifically to support and enhance the content of the K-2 Conocimiento Strand. These anchor texts are intended for use as an introduction to each domain—engaging students, piquing their curiosity, and building initial background knowledge—before diving into the deeper content of the domain Read-Alouds.

Every trade book has an instructional guide that includes the following:

Author and illustrator
Book summary
The Essential Question of the Knowledge domain, connecting the book to the domain
Key Tier 2 and Tier 3 vocabulary words found in the book
A group activity to reinforce and extend students’ knowledge and understanding
A performance task to help gauge students’ comprehension of concepts in the text
Writing prompts to expand understanding and critical thinking
Text complexity ratings and descriptors for quantitative, qualitative, and reader/task categories

Download the Amplify Caminos Trade Book Collection Guide for Grades K–2.

Detailed information about text complexity ratings and descriptors; additional uses for the books before, during, and after domain instruction; and the complete list of domains and books for each grade level can be found in the More About the Books section of this guide.

What makes Amplify Caminos different?

Built on the Science of Reading

Built out of the latest research in the Science of Reading, Amplify Caminos delivers explicit instruction in both foundational literacy skills (systematic phonics, decoding, and fluency) and background knowledge in grades K–2 with an integrated approach to explicit instruction in grades 3–5.

Explicit systematic skills instruction

The skills instruction in Amplify Caminos was distinctly developed with the Spanish language in mind. Its foundational lessons are specific to the language, rather than a direct translation from Amplify CKLA’s English skills instruction.

Reading instruction begins with the vowels first, then the most common consonants, and finally the least common consonants. Students will blend and segment sounds to form syllables, and syllables to form words.

Although Spanish has a highly predictable orthography, there are a few silent letters (h is always silent, u is silent after g or q), as well as letters that can make different sounds, depending on the letters that follow them. For that reason, syllables with these letters are taught somewhat later in the progression. The same is true for syllables with infrequently occurring consonants, such as z, k, x, and w.

Coherent knowledge instruction

While students are learning how to read, the Conocimiento strand gives them authentic and engaging reasons to read.

Amplify Caminos uses spiral learning to reinforce every student’s ability to develop skills like reading, writing, speaking, and listening in Spanish that can be transferred to English. As students engage with their lessons, they explore the similarities and differences in grammar, vocabulary, writing, and language use between Spanish and English. This bridge helps students learning two languages to strengthen their knowledge in both.

Through cross-curricular content, students explore units that relate to storytelling, science, and the history of our world in a holistic and thoughtful way. With these units, you’ll bring the world to your students, showing them how reading can become an exciting, rewarding, and useful part of their lives.

A collage of illustrated book covers, including themes of Don Quixote, space exploration, and anthropomorphic animals in various scenarios, all enriched with Spanish language elements.

Embedded differentiation for all learners

Amplify Caminos provides built-in differentiation strategies and supports in every lesson.

Apoyo a la enseñanza y desafío: Support and Challenge suggestions in every lesson provide assistance or opportunities for more advanced work toward the goal of the lesson.
Notas culturales: These point-of-use notes provide additional information about the traditions, foods, holidays, word variations, and more from across the Spanish-speaking world.
Apoyo adicional: Every lesson in the Lectoescritura (Skills) Strand provides additional support activities suggested to reinforce foundational skills instruction. These activities can be given to any student who requires extra help, including students with special needs.

Systematic and cohesive writing instruction

Writing instruction in Amplify Caminos builds systematically and cohesively within and across grades.

In Grades K-2, writing mechanics—including handwriting and spelling—are taught in the Amplify Caminos Lectoescritura strand. Starting in Grade 1, instruction includes four steps in the writing process: planning, drafting, editing, and publishing and features lessons that have modeling, collaboration, and sharing. As students gain skills and confidence, they are able to take on more of these steps independently. Students learn to use planning techniques, including brainstorming and graphic organizers.

Beginning in Grade 4, the Amplify Caminos writing process expands to also include sharing and evaluating. In Grades 4 and 5, the writing process is no longer conceptualized as a series of scaffolded, linear steps (an important change from the Grade 3 writing process). Rather, students move between components of the writing process in a flexible manner, similar to the process mature and experienced writers follow naturally.

young male students writing with a pencil

Amplify Caminos’ writing instruction provides a clear progression through the text types in each grade.

Because Amplify Caminos has two strands of lessons in Grades K-2, Lectoescritura and Conocimiento, students are exposed to both narrative and informational texts throughout the year. In Grades 3-5, the integrated units feature study in literary, informational, or a mix of both types of texts, depending on the content of the unit.

Grades K–2 introduce and establish the key elements of each text type, allowing students to gain comfort and confidence writing narratives, opinions, and informative texts. This enables students to practice thinking about content in different ways, offering more depth and breadth to their understanding of core content and of the writing text types.
By Grade 3, students will have gained significant practice in narrative, opinion/argumentative, and informational/explanatory forms of writing and will continue to apply those skills through Grade 5.

How does Amplify Caminos integrate with the other parts of the literacy system?

Amplify Caminos + mCLASS® Lectura

Achieve complete parity between English and Spanish assessments with mCLASS Lectura for K–6. mCLASS Lectura allows teachers to connect with their Spanish-speaking students face-to-face, one-on-one, and in the language most comfortable to them. The result? Valid and reliable student data reports
available in both English and Spanish, enabling teachers to pinpoint where their Spanish-speaking or emergent bilingual students really are in their skill development and what instruction to prioritize.

Reading assessment validated for benchmark, progress monitoring, and dyslexia screening

Amplify Caminos + Amplify Reading

Amplify Reading is an engaging, adaptive digital program that extends the learning in Amplify Caminos. Amplify Reading offers support to a large sub-group of English learners (ELs) through Spanish voice-over. Spanish voiceover instructions are available in vocabulary and sentence-level comprehension games so ELs can build their vocabulary, language, and critical comprehension skills before moving into analyzing complex texts

Demo access and sample materials

Ready to explore on your own? First, watch the videos below to learn about the program’s components and how to navigate the digital platform.

Physical materials walkthrough video

Digital navigation video

Demo access

Next, follow the instructions below to access your demo account.

Laptop screen displaying a login page for

Click the CKLA and Caminos Demo button below.
Select Log in with Amplify.
To explore as a teacher, enter this username: t1.sfusdreviewer@demo.tryamplify.net
To explore as a student, enter this username: s1.sfusdreviewer@demo.tryamplify.net
Enter the password: Amplify1-sfusdreviewer
Click the Programs and apps menu
Select CKLA Teacher Resource Site
Select the desire grade level
Use the toggle to switch between English (CKLA) and Spanish (Caminos) resources.

CKLA and Caminos Demo

Sample materials

Finally, click on the grade levels below to explore your requested sample units.

Every trade book has an instructional guide that includes the following:

Author and illustrator
Book summary
The Essential Question of the Knowledge domain, connecting the book to the domain
Key Tier 2 and Tier 3 vocabulary words found in the book
A group activity to reinforce and extend students’ knowledge and understanding
A performance task to help gauge students’ comprehension of concepts in the text
Writing prompts to expand understanding and critical thinking
Text complexity ratings and descriptors for quantitative, qualitative, and reader/task categories

Download the Amplify Caminos Trade Book Collection Guide for Grades K–2.
Detailed information about text complexity ratings and descriptors; additional uses for the books before, during, and after domain instruction; and the complete list of domains and books for each grade level can be found in the More About the Books section of this guide.

Conocimiento Strand:

Lectoescritura Strand:

Conocimiento Strand:

Lectoescritura Strand:

Integrated Strand

Additional resources

Caminos Program Guide
Biliteracy and Science of Reading Principles
Amplify Caminos Conocimiento Scopes and Sequences
- Grade K Knowledge Strand
- Grade 1 Knowledge Strand
- Grade 2 Knowledge Strand
- Grade 3 Integrated Strand
- Grade 4 Integrated Strand
- Grade 5 Intgrated Strand

Amplify Caminos for SFUSD

Amplify Caminos is an authentic elementary Spanish language arts program. Like its English language counterpart, Amplify CKLA, Amplify Caminos provides explicit, systematic foundational skills instruction sequenced with deep knowledge-building content to foster comprehension. When used with Amplify CKLA, Amplify Caminos provides full parity across English and Spanish that’s suitable for any dual language implementation model.

Colorful illustration featuring a child in traditional Andean clothing, tropical plants, a volcano, a toucan, a horse rider, and the word "Gracias!" written in Spanish.

Amplify and SFUSD Partnership

We recognize and respect the unique differences of each of our partnering districts—and that includes San Francisco USD.

What is Amplify Caminos?

Amplify Caminos is a core Spanish language arts program for grades TK–5 that delivers:

Authentic instruction built from the ground up for the Spanish language.
A unique research-based approach truly built on the Science of Reading.
A combination of explicit foundational skills with meaningful knowledge-building.
Embedded support and differentiation that gets all students reading grade-level texts together.
Opportunities for students to see the strengths and experiences that all people share while also celebrating each others’ unique identities and experiences.

Watch the video below to learn more about Amplify Caminos for Grades K–2.

Watch the video below to learn more about Amplify Caminos for Grades 3–5.

How does Amplify Caminos work?

Amplify Caminos is built on the science of how kids learn to read—in Spanish.

Knowledge: Through complex and authentic Spanish read-alouds with an emphasis on classroom interactivity, oral comprehension, and contextual vocabulary, students start to build their awareness of the world around them—and the way the reading skills they’re building give them access to it.
Skills: Starting with the sounds at the core of the Spanish
language, students practice their phonemic awareness, handwriting skills, vocabulary, spelling, and grammar. Through daily practice, students become aware of the connection between reading and writing, building confidence as they go.

A diagram illustrating reading development as intertwined strands: language comprehension and word recognition, progressing from basic skills to increasingly strategic and automatic reading.

What do Amplify Caminos students explore?

Amplify Caminos builds students’ knowledge about the world.

In addition to teaching all students to crack the written code (which is vital for fairness), the Amplify Caminos program helps students see the strengths and experiences we all share while celebrating their own unique identities and experiences.

Engaging domains

Amplify Caminos builds knowledge coherently across subjects and grades.

Throughout the program, students use their skills to explore domains that relate to storytelling, science, and the history of our world as seen through the eyes of many different groups.

Carefully selected to build from year-to-year, our grade-appropriate topics help students make and deepen connections while also reading, writing, and thinking creatively and for themselves.

Curriculum flowchart showing reading themes and activities from Kindergarten to Grade 5, organized by grade level and literary theme, with interconnected boxes for each topic.

New Knowledge Research Units for Grades K–5

Our brand-new Knowledge Research units carry forward Amplify Caminos’ powerful and proven instructional approach while also:

Adding more content for students from all walks of life. The rich topics and highly visual components featured in these units provide students with even more “windows and mirrors” and perspectives as they work to build knowledge.
Adding more authentic literature. Each new research unit revolves around a collection of high-interest authentic trade books that will spark more curiosity and inspire more inquiry.
Adding more flexibility. Units can be implemented for extended core instruction during flex periods, district-designated Pausing Points, or enrichment periods.

Units cover a variety of rich and relevant topics:

Grade K: El arte y el mundo que nos rodea
Grade 1: Cuentos de aventuras: relatos desde los confines de la Tierra
Grade 2: ¡A volar! La era de la aviación
Grade 3: Jazz y más
Grade 4: Energía: pasado, presente y futuro
Grade 5: Más allá de Juneteenth: de 1865 al presente

Units will be made available in English and Spanish, and will include the following components:

Teacher Guide
Student Activity Books
Image Cards
Trade Book Collection
Digital Components (for Grades K–3 and Grade 5 only)

Within this unit, students have opportunities to:

Use details to describe art.
Identify three ways to create art.
Identify characteristics of cave art.
Sequence the steps of making pottery.
Describe how artists can create work connected to the world around them.
Describe what makes Kehinde Wiley’s portraits unique.
Explain how the texture of a surface can affect artwork created on it.
Explain what a sculpture is.
Describe what makes James Turrell’s artwork about the sky unique.
Explain what a museum is and what kinds of things you can see or do there.

Georgia O’Keeffe por Erica Salcedo
Yayoi Kusama: De aquí al infinito por Sarah Suzuki
Tejedora del arcoíris por Linda Elovitz Marshall
Las tijeras de Matisse por Jeanette Winter
El museo por Susan Verde
Quizás algo hermoso: Cómo el arte transformó un barrio por F. Isabel Campoy

Sample materials:
Take a sneak peek at the rich instruction and engaging activities for this unit by viewing the PDFs below.

How this unit builds knowledge:
This unit builds upon the following Caminos units that students will have encountered in the previous grade.

Rimas y fábulas infantiles (Kindergarten)
Cuentos (Kindergarten)

My Name Is Gabito/Me llamo Gabito por Monica Brown
Galápagos Girl/Galapagueña por Marsha Diane Arnold
My Name Is Gabriela/Me llamo Gabriela por Monica Brown
El viaje de Kalak por María Quintana Silva y Marie-Noëlle Hébert
Señorita Mariposa por Ben Gundersheimer
Sharuko, el arqueólogo peruano/Peruvian Archaeologist Julio C. Tello por Monica Brown
Abuelita fue al mercado por Stella Blackstone

Sample materials:
Take a sneak peek at the rich instruction and engaging activities for this unit by viewing the PDFs below.

How this unit builds knowledge:
This unit builds upon the following Caminos units that students will have encountered earlier in the year.

La civilización griega antigua (Grade 2)
Mitos griegos (Grade 2)
La expansión hacia el oeste (Grade 2)

¡A volar! Todo sobre aviones por Jennifer Prior
Amelia sabe volar por Mara dal Corso
Héroes de la aviación que cambiaron el mundo por Dan Green
El niño que alcanzó las estrellas por José M. Hernández
La niña que aprendió a volar por Sylvia Acevedo
Buenas Noches Capitán Mamá por Graciela Tiscareño-Sato

Sample materials:
Take a sneak peek at the rich instruction and engaging activities for this unit by viewing the PDFs below.

The lessons give students opportunities to dive into the rhythms and stories of jazz, utilizing the knowledge sequence in this unit to:

Collaboratively generate research questions about jazz, jazz musicians, contemporary musicians from the state where they live or have lived, and the evolution of jazz music.
Utilize Read-Alouds, independent reading, and partner reading to learn about the Jazz Age, the Harlem Renaissance, jazz music, and biographies of celebrated jazz musicians and writers.
Research the answers to their generated questions, gather information, write a short research essay about a famous jazz musician, write a short essay about a contemporary musician from the state where they live or have lived, and give a presentation about their research.

How this unit builds knowledge:
Within this unit, students have opportunities to:

Ask relevant questions and make pertinent comments
Identify details in texts
Determine key ideas of texts by evaluating details
Make text-based inferences
Generate questions based on prior knowledge and gathered information
Synthesize details across texts to demonstrate comprehension
Discuss and explain an author’s purpose
Identify and cite reliable primary and secondary sources of information
Compose a well-organized and focused informative essay
Make connections between topics
Present information using appropriate media

¡Esquivel! Un artista del sonido de la era espacial por Susan Wood
Ray Charles por Sharon Bell Mathis
Tito Puente, el Rey del Mambo por Monica Brown
Me llamo Celia, la vida de Celia Cruz por Monica Brown
¡Azúcar! por Ivar Da Coll

Sample materials:
Take a sneak peek at the rich instruction and engaging activities for this unit by viewing the PDFs below.

Collaboratively analyze texts to identify cause-effect and problem-solution relationships.
Generate questions and conduct research about energy.
Write an opinion essay making their case for a fuel of the future.
Create energy proposals using primary and secondary resources.

How this unit builds knowledge:
This unit builds upon the following Caminos units that students will have encountered in previous grades as well as earlier in the year.

Plantas (Grade K)
La historia de la Tierra (Grade 1)
¡Eureka! Estudiante inventor (Grade 4)

La historia de los combustibles fósiles por William B. Rice
El niño que domó el viento por William Kamkwamba y Bryan Mealer

Sample materials:
Take a sneak peek at the rich instruction and engaging activities for this unit by viewing the PDFs below.

Collaboratively generate research questions about Juneteenth, The Great Migration, innovators and inventors, education, the humanities, activists, and allies.
Use Read-Alouds, independent, and partner reading to learn about African American contributions from 1865 to the present.
Research to find answers to their generated questions, gather information, and write a four-chapter Beyond Juneteenth book.

How this unit builds knowledge:
This unit builds upon the following Caminos units that students will have encountered in previous grades.

Los nativos americanos (Grade K)
Una nueva nación: la independencia de los Estados Unidos (Grade 1)
La Guerra Civil de los Estaods Unidos (Grade 2)
La inmigración (Grade 2)
Los nativos americanos (Grade 5)

Martí’s Song for Freedom/Martí y sus versos por la libertad escrito por Emma Otheguy
¡Celebremos Juneteenth! escrito por Carole Boston Weatherford
Side by Side/Lado a Lado: The Story of Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez/La Historia de Dolores Huerta y César Chávez escrito por Monica Brown
Canto de alabanza para el día: Poema para la ceremonia inaugural del mandato de Barack Obama escrito por Elizabeth Alexander, traducido por Rodrigo Rojas

Sample materials:
Take a sneak peek at the rich instruction and engaging activities for this unit by viewing the PDFs below.

Wide-ranging texts

Amplify Caminos puts a variety of texts in the hands of students every day.

Amplify Caminos includes both transadaptations and authentic texts written by Latin American and Spanish authors. Our texts feature a wide variety of authors, topics, individuals and characters representing many different socioeconomic statuses, ages, abilities, races, ethnicities, countries of origin, religions, and more.

Amplify Caminos texts include:

Authentic literature: Authentic literature exposes students to a variety of text types and perspectives to deepen their knowledge of fascinating topics in social studies, science, literature, and the arts. Authentic texts support text-to-self, text-to-world, and text-to-text connections for readers.
Decodable Student Readers: Decodable Student Readers at grades K–2 are newly redesigned to include students from all walks of life and educational backgrounds. They feature characters with a broad range of backgrounds, experiences, ages, races, religions, and more.
ReadWorks® texts: Amplify and ReadWorks have partnered to deliver high-quality texts curated to support the Amplify Caminos Knowledge Sequence and to extend student learning. Texts include high-interest nonfiction articles in topics in social studies, science, literature, and the arts. These texts are accompanied by vocabulary supports and standards-aligned formative assessment opportunities. Teachers can monitor their students’ progress using the ReadWorks reporting features.

Three children's book covers in Spanish are shown: "La Flor de Oro," "El conejo en la Luna," and "El secreto de las hormigas," each featuring illustrated artwork.

Amplify Caminos Trade Book Collection Guide

Every trade book has an instructional guide that includes the following:

Author and illustrator
Book summary
The Essential Question of the Knowledge domain, connecting the book to the domain
Key Tier 2 and Tier 3 vocabulary words found in the book
A group activity to reinforce and extend students’ knowledge and understanding
A performance task to help gauge students’ comprehension of concepts in the text
Writing prompts to expand understanding and critical thinking
Text complexity ratings and descriptors for quantitative, qualitative, and reader/task categories

Download the Amplify Caminos Trade Book Collection Guide for Grades K–2.

What makes Amplify Caminos different?

Built on the Science of Reading

Flowchart showing "Language comprehension" times "Word recognition" equals "Skilled reading," with text in both Spanish and English inside orange boxes.

Explicit systematic skills instruction

Coherent knowledge instruction

While students are learning how to read, the Conocimiento strand gives them authentic and engaging reasons to read.

Embedded differentiation for all learners

Amplify Caminos provides built-in differentiation strategies and supports in every lesson.

Apoyo a la enseñanza y desafío: Support and Challenge suggestions in every lesson provide assistance or opportunities for more advanced work toward the goal of the lesson.
Notas culturales: These point-of-use notes provide additional information about the traditions, foods, holidays, word variations, and more from across the Spanish-speaking world.
Apoyo adicional: Every lesson in the Lectoescritura (Skills) Strand provides additional support activities suggested to reinforce foundational skills instruction. These activities can be given to any student who requires extra help, including students with special needs.

Systematic and cohesive writing instruction

Writing instruction in Amplify Caminos builds systematically and cohesively within and across grades.

Amplify Caminos’ writing instruction provides a clear progression through the text types in each grade.

Grades K–2 introduce and establish the key elements of each text type, allowing students to gain comfort and confidence writing narratives, opinions, and informative texts. This enables students to practice thinking about content in different ways, offering more depth and breadth to their understanding of core content and of the writing text types.
By Grade 3, students will have gained significant practice in narrative, opinion/argumentative, and informational/explanatory forms of writing and will continue to apply those skills through Grade 5.

How does Amplify Caminos integrate with the other parts of the literacy system?

Amplify Caminos + mCLASS® Lectura

A laptop screen displays a slide describing the Lectura data-driven instructional cycle with sections for Assessment, Reporting, and Instruction, each illustrated with sample interface screenshots.

Amplify Caminos + Amplify Reading

Language selection screen with options for English and Spanish, and an illustrated girl saying “¡Hola!” in a speech bubble. The heading reads “Idiomas.”.

Demo access and sample materials

Ready to explore on your own? First, watch the videos below to learn about the program’s components and how to navigate the digital platform.

Physical materials walkthrough video

Digital navigation video

Demo access

Next, follow the instructions below to access your demo account.

Click the CKLA and Caminos Demo button below.
Select Log in with Amplify.
To explore as a teacher, enter this username: t1.sfusdreviewer@demo.tryamplify.net
To explore as a student, enter this username: s1.sfusdreviewer@demo.tryamplify.net
Enter the password: Amplify1-sfusdreviewer
Click the Programs and apps menu
Select CKLA Teacher Resource Site
Select the desire grade level
Use the toggle to switch between English (CKLA) and Spanish (Caminos) resources.

CKLA and Caminos Demo

Sample materials

Finally, click on the grade levels below to explore your requested sample units.

Conocimiento Strand:

Lectoescritura Strand:

Conocimiento Strand:

Lectoescritura Strand:

Integrated Strand

Additional resources

Caminos Program Guide
Biliteracy and Science of Reading Principles
Amplify Caminos Conocimiento Scopes and Sequences
- Grade K Knowledge Strand
- Grade 1 Knowledge Strand
- Grade 2 Knowledge Strand
- Grade 3 Integrated Strand
- Grade 4 Integrated Strand
- Grade 5 Intgrated Strand

Welcome, Tigard-Tualatin School District, to the next chapter in the Science of Reading, with Amplify CKLA 3rd Edition!

Amplify Core Knowledge Language Arts® (CKLA) is approved by the Oregon Department of Education.

Truly built on the Science of Reading, Amplify CKLA helps Oregon teachers implement the Oregon English Language Arts and Literacy Standards by translating the science of reading into manageable, engaging, and effective classroom practices. For more than a decade, Amplify CKLA has transformed classrooms nationwide with its intentional knowledge building and systematic skills instruction.

Scroll down to learn how CKLA is uniquely designed to help all your students make learning leaps in literacy.

Download CKLA Program Guide

Our approach

Improve outcomes with a program that’s built on a decade of research and meets the strongest ESSA Tier I criteria.

Diagram illustrating the Simple View of Reading model, depicting language comprehension and word recognition pathways converging into skilled reading, with processes becoming increasingly strategic and automatic—a foundational concept in literacy curriculum for elementary education.

Grounded in the Science of Reading

Success stories

Background knowledge drives results

In Amplify CKLA 3rd Edition, we’ve enriched our Knowledge Sequence with a wider range of perspectives and high-quality texts in new and enhanced units.

See units and connections

Build foundational skills for long-term success.

In our 3rd Edition, we’ve added dedicated Grade 3 foundational skills instruction that can either support core lessons or function as an intervention, based on student needs.

Skills by year

Daily writing deepens learning.

See the Simple View of Writing

High-quality, diverse texts

See Research Unit trade books

Reach all learners with differentiated support.

Scaffolds and challenges, developed in collaboration with education experts, make content accessible to every student—including multilingual and English learners. With strategies embedded right in the curriculum, teachers can deliver in-the-moment, individualized instruction to meet diverse student needs.

For a dedicated English language development program aligned to Amplify CKLA, explore Language Studio.

View embedded support

What’s included with Amplify CKLA

The comprehensive resources in Amplify CKLA 3rd Edition support effective literacy instruction in every classroom.

Download CKLA Components Guide

Download CKLA Writing Brochure

Easy-to-use teacher materials

Amplify CKLA teachers are empowered to deliver effective instruction with the following print and digital resources:

Teacher Guides (K–5)
Assessment Guides (K–5)
Authentic texts and trade books (K–5)
Knowledge Image Cards (K–2)
Knowledge Flip Books (K–2, digital)
Ready-made and customizable Presentation Screens (K–5, digital)
Remediation and intervention resources (K–5)
On-demand professional development (K–5, digital)

Immersive Amplify CKLA student resources

Amplify CKLA students stay engaged with the following print and digital resources:

Decodable readers (K–2)
Student Readers and novels (3–5)
Student Activity Books (K–5)
Poet’s Journal (3–5)
eReaders (K–5, digital)
Sound Library featuring articulation videos and songs (K–2, digital)
Skill-building practice games (K–5)

Rich literary experiences

All the high-quality, diverse texts in Amplify CKLA connect to the curriculum, fostering your students’ curiosity and helping them learn to read with confidence.

Trade Book Collections (K–5) inspire student research in each grade’s Culminating Research Unit.
Classic and contemporary literature (3–5) delight students in Novel Study Units.
Increasingly complex Student Readers (K–5) develop students’ literacy across grades.

Hands-on phonics materials

Multisensory phonics and foundational skills resources engage students with fun, varied approaches that promote mastery and build independence.

Chaining Folders and Small Letter Cards (K)
Read-Aloud Big Books (K–1)
Large Letter Cards (K–2)
Sound Cards (K–2)
Image Cards (K–3)
Blending Picture Cards (K)
Consonant and Vowel Code Posters and Spelling Cards (1–2)
Sound Library (K–2, digital)

All-in-one digital platform

Our comprehensive platform simplifies your day-to-day tasks and makes it easier to plan and deliver lessons.

Ready-made and customizable Presentation Screens
Auto-scored digital assessments
Standards-based reporting
Assignable skill-building games
Sound Library
eReaders

Professional development

Move beyond traditional program training with Amplify’s digital PD Library, designed to fully support your shift to the Science of Reading and Amplify CKLA. Deepen your understanding with:

Program and planning resources
Model lesson videos from real classrooms
Guidance on using Amplify’s literacy suite to provide multi-tiered support

“Teachers love the ease of implementing the program, and students have fun while learning. Growth is evident in our data, and we have the support of Amplify experts who are available to answer questions and provide top-notch professional development.”

Bridget Vaughan, District K–8 Coordinator of ELA and Literacy

Quincy Public Schools, Massachusetts

Language Studio: Multilingual and English language learner support

Curriculum Maps

Curriculum Maps by Grade and Strand:

Amplify CKLA serves

150,000+

Classrooms

4,000,000+

Students

U.S. States and D.C.

Amplify Caminos program overview

¡El futuro es bilingüe! | The future is bilingual!

Amplify Caminos is a research-based core curriculum essential for Spanish literacy and grounded in the Science of Reading.

View our Caminos Program Guide to find our approach to foundational skills by year, skills practice with student readers and writing, and how Caminos supports teachers meeting the needs of all students with embedded differentiation.

Download Caminos Program Guide

Using the program’s two strands, Caminos Conocimiento and Caminos Lectoescritura, teachers develop student
comprehension in Spanish through a program rich in background knowledge and foundational skills activities. The texts students encounter include authentic Spanish literature that honor Spanish language development and build diverse content knowledge in social studies, science, literature, and the arts.

Amplify Caminos is designed to support a variety of bilingual and dual language instructional models to meet your student’s biliteracy needs. Combined with its English language partner, Amplify Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA), Amplify Caminos provides a comprehensive biliteracy solution.

Ilustración de un niño alegre participando en el programa de lectura de CKLA, jugando fútbol junto a un libro abierto, con una tortuga, un loro y un exuberante paisaje tropical rodeándolos. La palabra "

Amplify Caminos delivers rich, authentic experiences.

With a robust digital experience and expanding library of online materials, Amplify Caminos provides everything needed to support, challenge, and engage your students. From digital Teacher Guides to lesson projectables, we provide all the tools needed to successfully deliver every lesson.

How Amplify Caminos works with Amplify CKLA

Intentional knowledge building that connects topics throughout the program.
Increased metalinguistic awareness from students exploring the similarities and differences in each language while strengthening their knowledge across both.
Equitable instruction using high-quality Spanish and English decodable readers that provide students with opportunities to apply skills learned, and foster each students’ growing competency in reading.

“There were other programs that claimed to be [based on the] Science of Reading, but no other vendor provided the suite of products together. We did not want to be picking from here, picking from there. [Amplify’s literacy suite] met our needs, because it aligned and provided us the best suite of products, hands down.”

Nicole Peterson, Principal, Midway Middle School

Sampson County Schools, North Carolina

Demo Access

Explore the CKLA Teacher Digital Resources

First, watch the quick navigation video to the right. Then, follow the directions below.

Go to: learning.amplify.com or click the Access CKLA Teacher Digital button below
Select Log in with Amplify.
Enter this username: t1.ttsd_ckla_caminos@demo.tryamplify.net
Enter this password: Amplify1-ttsd_ckla_caminos
Click the CKLA button
Select your desired grade level from the Program drop down

Access CKLA Teacher Digital

Follow the directions below to access the Student Resource Site:

Go to: learning.amplify.com or click the Access CKLA Student Digital button below
Select Log in with Amplify.
Enter this username: s1.ttsd_ckla_caminos@demo.tryamplify.net
Enter this password: Amplify1-ttsd_ckla_caminos
From the main page, click the backpack in the top right corner.
Click on the grade level to select your desired grade.

Access CKLA Student Digital

S5.E6. Why skepticism is essential to the Science of Reading, with Dr. Claude Goldenberg

Elementary literacy

Science of reading resources

What does the “science of reading” really mean? How can you apply it in the classroom? We’ve created resources to help you get started

A girl in an orange dress runs through a green meadow, flying a colorful kite streaming words like letters, words, and sounds against a cloudy sky.

What is science reading?

The “science of reading,” or “structured literacy,” refers to the wealth of research findings on how students learn to read.

At its heart is what experts call the Simple View of Reading, which describes the two fundamental skills required for people to read with comprehension:

Decoding—the ability to recognize written words
Language comprehension—understanding what words mean

Decoding x Language Comprehension = Reading Comprehension

Without both decoding and language comprehension, reading comprehension cannot occur.

A group of diverse children attentively looking upwards with expressions of curiosity and interest.

Download the Science of Reading Toolkit

Find out why foundational skills must start with sounds and the crucial role of background knowledge.

Get the kit now!

Amplify literacy programs built on the science of reading

Amplify’s suite of instruction, assessment, and intervention is based on the science of reading. Developed with experts, our highly-regarded programs for elementary core curriculum (Amplify Core Knowledge Language Arts), assessment, (mCLASS ®) and intervention and differentiated instruction (Amplify Reading and mCLASS ® Intervention) are a comprehensively aligned system based on the latest research.

Teacher in an orange sweater gestures while speaking to attentive students seated at desks in a classroom with educational posters on the walls.

Core instruction

Rated “all green” by EdReports.org, Amplify Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA) is an English language arts program for preK–5 offering explicit, systematic foundational skills and deep knowledge-building in real-world, relevant topics that kids love to learn about.

Learn more here >

high quality informational materials five fundamentals

A teacher interacts with three young students in a classroom, showing them something on a smartphone.

Universal and dyslexia screening

Valid, reliable data is at the center of a science of reading-based literacy system. Built from the ground up on the science of reading, mCLASS, Amplify’s literacy assessment for K–6, identifies risk of reading difficulties, including dyslexia, at the earliest levels.

As the only licensed digital provider of DIBELS® 8th Edition, mCLASS’s predictive, teacher-administered, one-minute measures generate actionable data on skills, risk levels, and level of support needed. Teachers receive targeted instruction for small groups and individual students.

Learn more here >

Remediation and enrichment

Amplify Reading, K–5 Edition, is an adaptive digital program that extends the learning from core instruction, giving students deep, differentiated practice in foundational skills, comprehension processes, and vocabulary—all while exploring narrative worlds designed to appeal to kids at each grade band. Part of Amplify’s integrated literacy suite, it syncs with mCLASS, using students’ assessment profiles to start them at the right place in the learning progression.

Learn more here >

A split image with a vibrant market scene on the left and a cozy bookstore scene on the right, featuring colorful characters and items.

Structured, staff-led intervention

For students below grade level, mCLASS Intervention for K–6 integrates with mCLASS screening and progress-monitoring to provide the analytical tools and resources educators need to make targeted, staff-led intervention a daily reality throughout the school year. Specifically, it groups students with similar needs and provides explicit, systematic foundational skills lessons for each group.

Learn more here >

Getting Started Resources

Cover image of the book Science of Reading: A Primer, Part One by Amplify, showing a person flying a kite with multicolored ribbons in a green landscape with trees and clouds.

Science of reading: Volume 2

Cover of Science of Reading: The Primer Part Two by Amplify, featuring an illustration of a person standing atop a large stair pyramid holding a staff with a glowing symbol, with trees and clouds in the background.

Science of reading: Volume 2

Science of reading Getting started..

Science of reading: The Podcast

Join us for an informative new episode featuring a new special guest every two w…

What would you like to do next?

Talk to product experts Stay up to date on new science of reading resources and podcasts

Amplify CKLA Review for Alabama

Review the digital curriculum

Click on the orange button below.
Sign in with Google with this username and password:

Username: FLsciencestudent@demo.tryamplify.net
Password: AmplifyNumber1

3. Click on the orange Amplify Curriculum button.

Note: You may be asked by Google to provide your location. If this occurs, please type in: Brooklyn, NY. If Brooklyn, NY does not work, type in: Alpharetta, GA . (This is a Google authentication security measure.)

Comprehensive Student Investigation Notebooks

Comprehensive Science 1

Comprehensive Science 2

Comprehensive Science 3

Domain Student Investigation Notebooks

Earth and Space Science

Life Science

Physical Science

The importance of reading fluency in effective literacy instruction

There’s a difference between the ability to sound out words on a page and the ability to truly understand their meaning. That difference? Reading fluency.

Fluency is one of the five foundational reading skills. (The other four, as you likely know, are phonological awareness, phonics, vocabulary, and comprehension.) Fluency connects readers not just to words, but to emotions and expressions, characters and connotations. And it’s also where reading really starts to foster joy.

In this post, we’ll explore what fluency is, why it matters, and how to successfully incorporate it into your literacy instruction.

Defining fluency

The International Literacy Association defines reading fluency as “reasonably accurate reading, at an appropriate rate, with suitable expression, that leads to accurate and deep comprehension and motivation to read.”

In other words, fluency is not just reading fast. And it goes beyond merely decoding words, to developing a deep understanding of what they’re trying to say. Fluency allows readers to connect ideas, recognize patterns, and infer meanings.

“I call fluency the bridge to comprehension,” says Kent State literary education professor Tim Rasinski, discussing the topic on Amplify’s Science of Reading: The Podcast.

Why fluency in reading matters

Rasinski is also director of Kent State’s award-winning reading clinic, and in his podcast episode, he describes encountering students as old as grade 5 who have decoding skills, but not fluency. “[These students] can sound words out, but if you were to hear them read orally, it would be slow, laborious reading in a monotone,” he says. According to Rasinski, these students aren’t getting “much joy and satisfaction, or even comprehension” from their reading.

While oral expression in reading is not the ultimate goal, it is an indicator. “The way you read orally reflects the way you read silently,” Rasinski says. “Most of us would say when we read silently we ‘hear’ ourselves with our internal voice.”

When readers develop fluency, they also develop:

Comprehension. As decoding becomes more effortless, readers can focus on understanding meaning. Fluent readers recognize words automatically, allowing them to dedicate cognitive resources to complex sentence structures and connections among ideas. They grasp both main points and nuances. All told, they get what they’re reading.
Confidence. Fluent readers are more likely to feel accomplished, proud, and motivated with regards to their reading abilities. And it’s a virtuous cycle: As their confidence grows, they’re more likely to engage in and enjoy reading—and continue to improve.
Vocabulary. Fluency plays a significant role in vocabulary acquisition and language development. Fluent readers encounter a larger variety of words in context. This exposure enhances their language and communication skills across academic topics and life experiences.
Academic success. Fluency helps students read to learn. As students advance through school, fluency becomes increasingly important for comprehension and analysis of more advanced and content-rich texts.
Emotional connection. Fluency enables readers to connect with the characters, emotions, experiences, and implications in a given text. That’s what makes reading immersive and enjoyable—in the moment and for a lifetime.

The fluency journey: learning and assessment

The Science of Reading tells us that foundational reading skills must be taught explicitly and systematically, and fluency is no exception. Developing reading fluency is a gradual process that requires consistent practice and exposure to different types of texts. There are several stages and skills that support the development of reading fluency.

Fluency starts with accuracy in decoding. As students practice and improve their phonics skills, they can accurately recognize and decode more and more words. This helps them move from laborious reading toward more efficient reading.
Speed comes as a result of accuracy. As students become more accurate in decoding, they can read words more quickly. Accuracy helps reduce the time it takes to identify and process each word, allowing for a smoother and faster reading experience.
Fluency practice helps with automaticity. And the more students develop both accuracy and speed, the more they develop automaticity.

As you may know, there’s a tool called Oral Reading Fluency (ORF) that reading professionals use as a quick-read thermometer of sorts to measure reading speed and accuracy. It’s a simple assessment, measuring how many words a student reads correctly in an unpracticed passage. It’s considered one of the best indicators of a student’s reading progress.

“It works! It has validity. It gives us good, useful information,” says researcher, educational consultant, and author Dr. Jan Hasbrouck on Science of Reading: The Podcast. That’s why it’s widely used—but, she adds, it’s also widely misunderstood.

It is a reliable and helpful measure of fluency in terms of reading rate and accuracy, she says. At the same time, “It was unfortunate to put the label ‘fluency’ on it,” she says. “We reading teachers think of fluency as something much more multifaceted and complex that at minimum includes prosody, or expression. It is accuracy, rate, expression, metacognition, background knowledge—it’s all of this stuff that really experienced reading teachers think of as fluency.”

Fluency best practices for literary instruction

Automaticity frees up cognitive space for comprehension, but fluency isn’t just about reading fast—it’s also about making meaning, which is where prosody comes in.

Prosody refers to the rhythm, intonation, and expression used by someone reading aloud.

But it’s not just for the natural performers in the classroom. Prosody can be influenced. How do we help students develop that external, and internal, prosodic voice?

Through targeted read-aloud practice. By explicitly teaching students about prosody and providing systematic practice opportunities, educators can nurture fluency and comprehension simultaneously—a connection to overall reading success that is well-supported by evidence-based research.

Some fluency strategies include:

Reader’s Theater in the classroom: Students don’t have to be skilled actors to take on roles and read from scripts. Theater activities allow them to practice recognition and expressions of drama and emotion as they bring the lines to life.
Assisted reading: When students read aloud simultaneously with a more fluent reader, they practice their own skills while also hearing someone else make meaning of the same text. This can also take the form of choral reading, i.e., students reading aloud as a group, focusing on using appropriate intonation and expression. Reading together allows them to practice prosody in a supportive and collaborative environment.
Consistent reinforcement and rewards: Rasinski works with students on snippets of text, first with prosody modeled by teachers, then practiced alone and together (repeated reading), then performed for each other or even parents or other adults who offer praise. This regular practice helps boost the confidence and motivation that assists students in developing fluency. “We want children to experience reading success every single day,” says Rasinski.

More to explore

Elementary literacy

Science of reading resources

What does the “science of reading” really mean? How can you apply it in the classroom? We’ve created resources to help you get started

What is science reading?

The “science of reading,” or “structured literacy,” refers to the wealth of research findings on how students learn to read.

At its heart is what experts call the Simple View of Reading, which describes the two fundamental skills required for people to read with comprehension:

Decoding—the ability to recognize written words
Language comprehension—understanding what words mean

Decoding x Language Comprehension = Reading Comprehension

Without both decoding and language comprehension, reading comprehension cannot occur.

Download the Science of Reading Toolkit

Find out why foundational skills must start with sounds and the crucial role of background knowledge.

Get the kit now!

Amplify literacy programs built on the science of reading

Core instruction

Learn more here >>

Universal and dyslexia screening

Learn more here >

Remediation and enrichment

Learn more here >

Structured, staff-led intervention

Learn more here >

Getting Started Resources

Science of reading: Volume 2

Science of reading Getting started..

Science of reading: The Podcast

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Amplify Desmos Math California

Welcome, K–8 Reviewers!

We’re honored to introduce you to Amplify Desmos Math California. We’re confident you’ll find this comprehensive program to be a powerful tool for bringing the vision of the California Math Framework to life in classrooms across the state.

Your Review Samples

As a curriculum that incorporates both print and digital resources, it’s important that you explore both our physical materials (delivered to you in grade-specific tubs) and our digital materials (accessible through our platform). We invite you to explore both types of resources using the instructions and tips below.

Print Samples

Your print samples should have arrived in grade-specific tubs with a copy of two Reviewer binders. The K-5 Reviewer binder is contained within the Grade K shipping box and the Grade 6-8 Reviewer binder can be located in the Grade 6 shipping box. As you begin the process of organizing your materials, please refer to the inventory checklist found inside each tub as well as within your Reviewer Binder.

Digital Samples

In order to access your digital samples, you’ll need to log into our platform using your unique login credentials found on a Digital Access Flyer inside of your Reviewer Binder. Once you have located the flyer:

Click the orange button below to access the platform.
Click “Log in with Amplify.”
Enter the username and password provided on your Digital Access Flyer.

Digital Access

Navigation Tips

Below you will find helpful tips for navigating Amplify Desmos Math California. We recommend reading these pages alongside the program’s print materials and digital experience to gain a deeper understanding of the program.

Click the links below to read about navigating program features including:

Built for California

The Amplify Desmos Math California program is designed around the vision articulated in the California Mathematics Framework to enable all California students to become powerful users of mathematics. Our program incorporates the latest research in student learning, meaning that we:

Focus on the Big Ideas: Amplify Desmos Math California’s courses, units, and lessons are centered around the Big Ideas. Big Ideas, like standards, are not considered in isolation. In addition to each unit and lesson’s focal Big Ideas, Amplify Desmos Math California also provides connections among the Big Ideas across units and lessons.
Center on open and engaging tasks: Amplify Desmos Math California is grounded in engaging tasks meant to address students’ often-asked question: “Why am I learning this?” Students are invited into learning with low-floor, high-ceiling tasks that provide an entry point for all. Open tasks in Amplify Desmos Math California provide the space for students to try on multiple strategies and represent their thinking in different ways, and allow student explanation and discussion to serve as the center of the classroom. All lessons offer both print and digital representations of lessons.
Provide enhanced digital experiences: Amplify Desmos Math California includes digitally-enhanced lesson activities, incorporating interactive digital tools alongside print materials. These purposefully-placed resources allow students to visualize mathematical concepts, receive actionable feedback while practicing, encounter personalized learning support from an onscreen tutor, and engage in discussions about their thinking and approaches.
Treat core instruction and differentiation as integral partners: The Amplify Desmos Math California curriculum provides teachers with lessons, strategies, and resources to eliminate barriers and increase access to grade-level content without reducing the mathematical demand of tasks. Every activity has multiple entry points to ensure that all students are supported and challenged. Intervention and personalized learning activities are directly connected to lesson content and offer students the individualized support as they dive into the mathematics.

Category 1: Mathematics Content/Alignment with the Standards

Standards Maps

The links below provide the Standards Maps for Amplify Desmos Math California for each grade level.

Evaluation Criteria Map

Linked here is the Evaluation Criteria Map for grades K–8. Please note that you will need to be logged into the digital platform to access the links in the Evaluation Criteria Map.

Standards for Mathematical Practice

The links below provide the alignment of Amplify Desmos Math California to the Standards for Mathematical Practice at each grade level.

Drivers of Investigation and Content Connections

Amplify Desmos Math California incorporates the Drivers of Investigation (DIs) and Content Connection (CCs) throughout the program. Throughout the year, students engage with open and authentic tasks of varying durations — from lesson activities to unit-level Explore lessons and longer course-level Investigations. Every lesson and investigation opportunity is grounded around the why, how, and what of the learning experience, and helps teachers bring mathematical concepts to life.

A three-column chart details: Drivers of Investigation, Standards for Mathematical Practice, and Content Connections, each with their respective codes and brief descriptions.

California English Language Development Standards

The links below provide the alignment of Amplify Desmos Math California to the California English Language Development Standards at each grade level.

California Environmental Principles and Concepts

Select lessons, performance tasks, and investigations across grade levels in Amplify Desmos Math California are aligned to one or more of the California Environmental Principles and Concepts. Click the links below to view how the California Environmental Principles and Concepts are represented in each grade level.

Category 2: Program Organization

Amplify Desmos Math California thoughtfully combines conceptual understanding, procedural fluency, and application. Each lesson is designed to tell a story by posing problems that invite a variety of approaches before guiding students to synthesize their understanding of the learning goals.

Big Ideas

Amplify Desmos Math California’s courses, units, and lessons are centered around the Big Ideas. In addition to each unit and lesson’s focal Big Ideas, Amplify Desmos Math California also provides connections among the Big Ideas across units and lessons. Please refer to Keeping the Big Ideas at the Center (linked below) for specific lesson designs and alignment with the Big Ideas for each grade level.

Program Structure

Amplify Desmos Math California combines the best of problem-based lessons, intervention, personalized practice, and assessments into a coherent and engaging experience for both students and teachers.

A diagram showing three stages: Core instruction, Integrated personalized learning, and Embedded intervention, under Screening and progress monitoring with daily tiered support.

Lessons and units in Amplify Desmos Math California are designed around a Proficiency Progression, a model that steps out problem-based learning by systematically building students’ curiosity into lasting grade-level understanding.

Five steps for learning: 1. Activate prior knowledge, 2. Collaborate, 3. Refine ideas, 4. Guide to understanding, 5. Practice and extend for lasting understanding.

In the Proficiency Progression, lessons begin by activating students’ natural curiosity and offering opportunities to generate new ideas through collaboration. Teachers are then able to refine ideas through intentional facilitation and guide students to grade-level understanding, while students retain the ability to use different strategies and methods to show their comprehension of the content. Students are provided ample opportunities to develop lasting understanding.

Scope and Sequence

Below you can view the scope and sequence for each grade level.

A chart displaying seven kindergarten math units with themes, number of instructional days, and assessment days, totaling 136 suggested instructional days.

Grade 1 instructional units overview showing 7 units on math topics, total suggested days is 153, with each unit listing instructional and assessment days.

Grade 2 math curriculum map showing 8 units with topics, number of instructional and assessment days, and total days; suggested instructional days: 156.

Seven instructional units are shown, each with a title, icon, number of instructional and assessment days, and total days; a note suggests 150 instructional days in total.

A Grade 4 math curriculum overview showing seven units with titles, number of instructional days, and assessment days; the suggested total instructional days is 152.

A curriculum map displays seven math units with icons, titles, instructional days, and assessment days, totaling 149 suggested instructional days.

A chart showing Grade 6 math units, each with instructional days, assessment days, and optional days. Total suggested instructional days is 142, plus 19 optional days.

Overview of Grade 7 math curriculum units, showing unit titles, number of instructional, assessment, and optional days for each, with a total of 125 instructional days plus 22 optional days.

Eight illustrated cards display Grade 8 math units, each with the unit title, topics covered, number of instructional and assessment days, and a total of 131 suggested instructional days.

Curriculum chart showing eight units split into two volumes, with topics, instructional days, assessment days, and optional days listed for each unit over an accelerated 6th-grade year.

A chart displays the breakdown of Accelerated 7 math units, indicating topics, number of instructional days, assessment days, and optional days for each of the nine units across two volumes.

Lesson Design and Structure

A four-part diagram shows: Warm-Up, Activities with a graph of student ideas to grade-level understanding, Synthesis with notes, and Practice and differentiation with students building a structure.

Amplify Desmos Math California is designed with a structured approach to problem-based learning that systematically builds on students’ curiosity and allows students to grapple with the Big Ideas of the California Framework. Every lesson activity is organized into a Launch, Monitor, Connect format.

Launch: The launch is a short, whole-class conversation that creates a need or excitement, provides clarity, or helps students connect their prior knowledge or personal experience, which ensures that everyone has access to the upcoming work.
Monitor: As students work individually, in pairs, or in groups, teachers explore student thinking, ask questions, and provide support to help move the conversations closer to the intended math learning goal.
Connect: Teachers connect students’ ideas to the key learning goals of the lesson, facilitating class discussions that help synthesize and solidify the Big Ideas.

Each lesson within Amplify Desmos Math California follows the same structure.

Warm-Up: Every Amplify Desmos Math California lesson begins with a whole class Warm-Up. Warm-Ups are an invitational Instructional Routine intended to provide a social moment at the start of the lesson in which every student has an opportunity to contribute. Warm-Ups may build fluency or highlight a strategy that may be helpful in the current lesson or act as an invitation into the math of the lesson.
Lesson Activities: Each lesson includes one or two activities. These activities are the heart of each lesson. Students notice, wonder, explore, calculate, predict, measure, explain their thinking, use math to settle disputes, create challenges for their classmates, and more. Guidance is provided to help teachers launch, monitor, and connect student thinking over the course of the activity.
Synthesis and Show What You Know: The Synthesis is an opportunity for the teacher and students to pull all the learning of the lesson together into a lesson takeaway. Students engage in a facilitated discussion to consolidate and refine their ideas about the learning goals, and the teacher synthesizes students’ learning. Show What You Know is a daily assessment opportunity for students to show what they know about the learning goals and what they are still learning.
Centers (K–5): Centers are hands-on activities for students in grades K–5 to play collaboratively to strengthen their understanding of key skills and concepts. In grades K–1, students have Daily Center Time built into every lesson.
Practice and Differentiation: Daily practice problems for the day’s lesson are included both online and in the print Student Edition, including fluency, test practice, and spiral review.

Kindergarten–Grade 1

A lesson plan timeline showing phases: Warm-Up (5–10 min, whole class), Lesson Activities (25–30 min), Synthesis (10 min), Centers (15 min), and Practice (time varies).

Grades 2–5

A horizontal flowchart shows a classroom lesson sequence: Warm-Up (5–10 min), Lesson Activities (35 min), Synthesis (10 min), and Practice (time varies); groupings vary.

Grades 6–8

A horizontal timeline shows four lesson segments: Warm-Up (5 min), Lesson Activities (30 min), Synthesis (10 min), and Practice (time varies).

Routines

Amplify Desmos Math California features a variety of lesson routines. Instructional routines and Math Language Routines (MLRs) are used within lessons to highlight student-developed language and ideas, cultivate conversation, support mathematical sense-making, and promote meta-cognition. Both are called out at point-of-use within the Teacher Edition and Teacher Presentation Screens. Below are the types of routines used throughout the Amplify Desmos Math California curriculum:

Math Language Routines

MLR1: Stronger and Clearer Each Time
MLR2: Collect and Display
MLR3: Critique, Correct, Clarify
MLR5: Co-Craft Questions
MLR6: Three Reads
MLR7: Compare and Connect
MLR 8: Discussion Supports

Instructional Routines

Decide and Defend
Notice and Wonder
Number Talk
Tell a Story
Think-Pair-Share
Which One Doesn’t Belong?

Category 3: Assessments

A variety of performance data in Amplify Desmos Math California provides evidence of student learning, while helping students bolster their skills and understanding.

Unit-Level Assessment

Amplify Desmos Math California has embedded unit assessments that offer key insights into students’ conceptual understanding of math. These assessments provide regular, actionable information about how students are thinking about and processing math, with both auto-scoring and in-depth rubrics that help teachers anticipate and respond to students’ learning needs.

Pre-Unit Check: Each unit in grades 2–8 begins with a formative assessment designed to identify the student skills that will be particularly relevant to the upcoming unit. This check is agnostic to the standards covered in the following unit and serves not as a deficit-based acknowledgment of what students do not know, but rather as an affirmation of the knowledge and skills with which students come in.
End-of-Unit Assessment: Students engage with rigorous grade-level mathematics through a variety of formats and tasks in the summative End-of-Unit Assessment. A combination of auto-scored (when completed digitally) and rubric-scored items provides deep insights into student thinking. All Amplify Desmos Math California End-of-Unit Assessments include two forms.
Sub-Unit Quizzes: Sub-Unit Quizzes are formative assessments embedded regularly in Grades Kindergarten through Algebra 1. In these checks, students are assessed on a subset of conceptual understandings from the unit, with rubrics that help illuminate students’ current understanding and provide guidance for responding to student thinking.
Sub-Unit Checklists: These checklists enable teachers to observe key skills and concepts that cannot be assessed on a pencil-and-paper assessment in Kindergarten–Grade 1. The checklists outline the supports students need to achieve mathematical growth and success.
Performance Tasks: At the end of each unit in grades 3–8, there is a summative assessment performance task provided to evaluate students’ proficiency with the concepts and skills addressed in the unit.

Lesson-Level Assessments

Amplify Desmos Math California lessons include daily moments of assessment to provide valuable evidence of learning for both the teacher and student. Beyond formative, summative, and benchmark assessments, students also have opportunities for self-reflection with Watch Your Knowledge Grow. Students take ownership of their learning by reflecting and tracking their progress before and after each unit.

Show What You Know: Each lesson has a daily formative assessment focused on one of the key concepts in the lesson. Show What You Know moments are carefully designed to minimize completion time for students while maximizing daily teacher insights to attend to student needs during the following class.
Responsive Feedback™: Teachers have the ability to see and provide in-the-moment feedback as students progress through a digital lesson. Responsive Feedback motivates students and engages them in the learning process.

Diagnostic Assessment

Every grade level features an asset-based diagnostic assessment designed to be administered at the beginning of the year. Delivered digitally and to the whole class, our diagnostic assessment is uniquely designed to reveal underlying math thinking and identify what students know about grade-level math. With data beyond just right and wrong, teachers have the type of deeper level of insights need to take the right next step.

CAASPP-Aligned Assessment Preparation

Amplify Desmos Math is designed to support students’ mathematical development through problem-based learning, differentiation, and embedded assessments. The program’s emphasis on conceptual understanding, procedural fluency, and application aligns with the mathematical practices and content standards assessed by the CAASPP.

Amplify Desmos Math California includes a CAASPP-aligned Item Bank. This standards-aligned bank of questions allows teachers to filter and search by grade and standard to find items. Once assigned on the digital platform, students will experience CAASPP-like practice with the online digital tools.

Data and Reporting

Amplify Desmos Math California provides teachers and administrators with unified reporting and insights so that educators have visibility into what students know about grade-level math—and can plan instruction accordingly for the whole class, small groups, and individual students. Reporting functionality integrates unit assessments, lesson assessments, diagnostic data, and progress monitoring for a comprehensive look at student learning. Program reports show proficiency and growth by domain, cluster, standard, and priority concept using performance data from unit assessments, then highlight areas of potential student need to allow teachers to modify their instruction and target differentiated support.

Administrator reporting provides a complete picture of student, class, and district performance, allowing administrators to implement instructional and intervention plans.

Category 4: Access and Equity

The Amplify Desmos Math California curriculum provides teachers with lessons, strategies, and resources to eliminate barriers and increase access to grade-level content without reducing the mathematical demand of tasks. Our lessons are developed using the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework to proactively ensure that all learners can access and participate in meaningful, challenging learning opportunities.

Every activity has multiple entry points to ensure that all students are supported and challenged. Intervention and personalized learning activities are directly connected to the day’s content and offer students the individualized supports they need to be successful.

Each lesson and unit contains guidance for teachers on how to identify students who may need support, students who need to keep strengthening their understanding, and students who may be ready to stretch their learning. In addition, teachers are provided with recommendations for resources to use with each group of students.

Universal Design for Learning

Each lesson in the program incorporates opportunities for engagement, representation, action, and expression based on the guidelines of Universal Design for Learning (UDL).

Multiple Means of Engagement: Students engage in both print and digital learning, and are regularly participating in discussions and hands-on activities. Students are invited to build their own challenge for other students to solve, which provides opportunities for choice and
autonomy, as well as joy and play.
Multiple Means of Representation: Students are encouraged to demonstrate their learning using mathematical representations, both print and digital, and regularly engage with their peers in analyzing multiple possible solutions. Classes engage in open-ended discussions about what individual students notice and wonder about mathematical concepts.
Multiple Means of Action and Expression: Learners differ in how they navigate learning environments and express what they know. Students can communicate their ideas in multiple ways, including in print, sketching, uploading photos, or recording an audio response.

Accessibility

Lesson facilitation supports

Every lesson includes at least one specific suggestion the teacher can use to increase access to the lesson without reducing the mathematical demand of the tasks. These suggestions address the following areas:

Visual-spatial processing
Conceptual processing
Executive functioning
Memory and attention
Fine motor skills

Accessibility tools

Students have the ability to control accessibility tools so that each learning experience is customized to their individual needs. In many instances, these tools can be turned on or off at any point of instruction.

Text to speech: Reads text instructions to students in multiple languages
Enlarged font: Increases the size of all text on screen
Braille mode: Includes narration of digital interactions
Language selection: Toggles between languages

Differentiation: In-Lesson Teacher Moves

Within every lesson activity, teachers can use the suggestions in the Differentiation Teacher Moves table to provide in-the-moment instructional support while students are engaged in the work of the lesson. This table can help teachers anticipate the ways students may approach the activity, and provides prompts that they can use during the lesson to Support, Strengthen, and Stretch individual students in their thinking. Teachers are provided with clear student actions and understanding to look for, each matched with immediately usable suggestions for how to respond to the student thinking illustrated in each row of the table. In addition to using these suggestions in the moment as teachers monitor student work, teachers can review the Differentiation table in advance to help them anticipate how students are likely to approach the activity.

A table showing differentiation teacher moves with examples of representing groups in different ways, support prompts, and a stretch question about patterns with more teams.

Differentiation: Beyond the Lesson

Teachers are provided with recommendations for resources to use with each group of students needing support, strengthening, and stretching after each lesson. Support, Strengthen, and Stretch resources include:

Mini-Lessons: 15-minute, small-group direct instruction lessons targeted to a specific concept or skill
Item Banks: Space for teachers to create practice and assessments by using filters and searching for standards, summative-style items, and more
Fluency Practice: Adaptive, personalized practice built out for basic operations and more
Centers (K–5): Lesson-embedded routines and practice for students that are vertically aligned across grade levels
Extensions: Lesson-embedded Teacher Moves including possible stretch questions and activities for students
Lesson Practice: Additional practice problems support every lesson
Math Adventures: Strategy-based math games where students engage with math concepts and practice skills in a fun digital environment
Lesson Summary Support: Support for students and caregivers that provides efficient explanation of the learning goal with clear examples

Math Identity and Community

The Math Identity and Community feature supports teachers in helping students build confidence in their own mathematical thinking, develop skills to work with and learn from others when doing math, and learn how math is an interwoven part of their broader community. The embedded prompts throughout the lessons are designed to highlight what it means to be good at math, the value of sharing ideas, and the power of flexible and creating thinking. Here are some examples of the Math Identity and Community supports embedded in each lesson:

I can be all of me in math class. You will work with partners every day in math class. What do you want your partners to know about you?
We are a math community. What does good listening look like and sound like in a math community?
I am a doer of math. What math strengths did you use today?

Unit Stories

Every unit in grades K–5 contains a Unit Story. These Unit Stories are brief fiction stories read aloud by the teacher at the beginning of each unit that connect to the math of the unit and introduce characters that students will get to know as they engage in the unit. Teachers read the story aloud from their Teacher Edition while projecting illustrations for students from the story, found in the Teacher Presentation Screens for the story. Across the unit, the Unit Story context and characters are used at appropriate points to inspire and engage students in the math as well as in reflections about their math identity and community.

Math Language Development

Every lesson in Amplify Desmos Math California includes opportunities for all students to develop mathematical language as they experience the content. Amplify Desmos Math California purposefully progresses language development from lesson to lesson and across units by supporting students in making their arguments and explanations stronger, clearer, and more precise. This systematic approach to the development of math language can be broken down into the following four categories of support:

Vocabulary: Units and lessons start by surfacing students’ language for new concepts, then building connections between their language and the new vocabulary for that unit. This honors the language assets that students bring into their learning.
Language goals: Language goals attend to the mathematics students are learning, and are written through the lens of one or more of four language modalities: reading, writing, speaking, and listening.
Math Language Routines: Math Language Routines are used within lessons to highlight student-developed language and ideas, cultivate conversation, support mathematical sense-making, and promote meta-cognition.
Multilingual/English learner supports: Supports for multilingual/English learners (ML/ELs) are called out at intentional points within each lesson. These specific, targeted suggestions support ML/ELs with modifications that increase access to a task, or through development of contextual or mathematical language (both of which can be supportive of all learners).

Multilingual and English Learner Supports

Partnership with English Learner Success Forum

Amplify partnered with the English Learner Success Forum (ELSF), a national nonprofit organization that advocates for high-quality instructional materials that are inclusive of multilingual learners. ELSF reviewed Amplify Desmos Math California, and provided directional guidance and feedback to ensure that the program reflects their research-based instructional strategies for multilingual/English learners.

Math Language Development Resources

Our Math Language Development Resources book contains lesson-specific strategies and activities for all levels of English Learners (i.e., Emerging, Expanding, Bridging). With support for every lesson, teachers are empowered to help all students, regardless of their language skills, to participate fully, grasp the material, and excel in their mathematical journey.

Multilingual Glossary

Amplify Desmos Math California includes a digital glossary for languages other than Spanish. Translations will be provided for up to nine languages.

Spanish Version

Amplify Desmos Math California will include Spanish student-facing materials beginning in the 2026–27 school year.

Category 5: Instructional Planning and Support

Amplify Desmos Math California includes a variety of embedded instructional supports to empower teachers to lead effectively and gain actionable insights into student growth and progress. Teachers are equipped with a comprehensive set of resources designed to fulfill the requirements of Category 5.

Grade-level concepts

Within the Teacher Edition front matter:

Scope and sequence
Big Ideas, Drivers of Investigation, and Content Connections
Grade level standards
Standards for Mathematical Practice
English Language Development Standards
Environmental Principals and Concepts

Within each Unit and Sub-Unit Overview:

Big Ideas, Drivers of Investigation, and Content Connections
Math that Matters Most
Grade level standards
Standards for Mathematical Practice
English Language Development Standards
Environmental Principals and Concepts

Within each Lesson:

Big Ideas, Drivers of Investigation, and Content Connections
Grade level standards
Standards for Mathematical Practice
English Language Development Standards
Environmental Principals and Concepts

How to implement the program

At the course level (within the Teacher Edition front matter):

Navigating the Program (both print and digital)
Facilitating Lesson Activities with Launch, Monitor and Connect
Overview of the Digital Facilitation Tools

At the lesson level:

Suggestions for timing
What materials to prep
How to organize and group students
Key lesson takeaways with the Synthesis
Recommendations for Differentiation
Strategies for intervention and extensions (in the Intervention, Extensions, and Investigation Resources book)

At the activity level:

Differentiation recommendations
Accessibility tips
ML / EL tips
Teacher look-fors
Recommended Teacher Moves
Prompts for guiding student thinking
Sample student responses

Development of Math Language

A variety of language development supports are provided within the Student and Teacher Editions and Math Language Development Resources book.

At the lesson level:

Diagrams and visuals
Sentence frames and word banks
Graphic organizers, including Frayer models
Vocabulary routines
Embedded language supports aligned to the CA ELDs
Lesson-specific strategies for Emerging, Expanding, and Bridging

At the unit level:

Words With Multiple Meanings
Contextual vocabulary

At the course level:

English/Spanish cognates
Multilingual Glossary

Other Curriculum Guidance

Additional Practice Resources book
Assessment Resources book
Assess and Respond guidance paired with each assessment opportunity
Show-What-You-Know activities
Answer keys and rubrics
Performance tasks

Is this literacy program true to the Science of Reading?

We’ll show you how to tell.

We know how children learn to read. We know how to teach children to read. That’s all thanks to the Science of Reading.

As you likely know, the Science of Reading refers to the pedagogy and practices proven by extensive research to effectively teach children how to read. Learning to read is not innate, but it can be taught—and science tells us how.

That’s why it’s so important to use literacy programs that are truly grounded in the Science of Reading.

But how can you tell which ones are and which ones are not? It can be confusing. Some programs may be partially aligned with the Science of Reading, or use bits and pieces of pedagogy based on it.

But true Science of Reading programs have it in their DNA. And we can show you how to find them.

Explicit and systematic structure

One of the research-based frameworks used in the Science of Reading is the Simple View of Reading.

According to the Simple View, two cognitive capacities are needed for proficient reading: (1) understanding the language (comprehension) and (2) recognizing words in print (decoding).

A true Science of Reading program is built from the start for students to develop these skills. And it’s built to do so in a developmentally appropriate way. That is, program structure matters, too.

Some programs may add supplemental Science of Reading activities to address these needs. Some have been modified to do the same. But that’s not the same as a comprehensive program designed to develop them, explicitly and systematically. That kind of program is truly rooted in the Science of Reading.

The importance of knowledge building

Again, reading depends on both decoding and comprehension. For many years, classroom observation and received wisdom suggested that comprehension should be taught as its own set of skills, while allowing decoding to develop more naturally.

But cognitive science research now shows that early literacy skills are best built deliberately—on a foundation of knowledge. In fact, knowledge-building is not a result of reading and comprehension, but a prerequisite for it. The more you know, the faster you learn.

Some programs rely on the strategy of activating students’ prior knowledge. But not all kids have the same prior knowledge. Diverse backgrounds and experiences mean that not all kids will come to school with the same information about, let’s say, baseball, or the beach.

So a true Science of Reading program will expose students to a diverse array of new topics spanning history, science, and literature. Those topics will be organized in an intentional sequence that builds knowledge coherently within and across grades. And they will make reading accessible to all students.

The foundational skills readers need

Some programs focus on phonemic awareness and phonics. Those are foundational skills, but they’re not all of the foundational skills. The Science of Reading shows that five components are fundamental to reading: phonics, phonemic awareness, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension.

Students require instruction in all five in order to learn to recognize words and use that knowledge for reading and writing.

As students develop these foundational skills, they develop automaticity. With practice, they are able to recognize words more and more quickly and move from decoding to comprehension.

A true Science of Reading program will include all foundational skills and will deliver the regular practice students need to become automatic decoders.

How Amplify CKLA is built on the Science of Reading

The Science of Reading is in Amplify CKLA’s DNA. The program was built from the ground up:

On the Simple View of Reading.
To deliver knowledge on an even playing field for all students.
With texts that develop all five foundational literacy skills.

With CKLA, students build knowledge through diverse and enriching content domains. They refine foundational skills through explicit, systematic, phonics-focused instruction. And they do it all in one program, with a detailed road map that guides teachers on every step of the reading journey.

Listen to the podcast now

Additional resources

5 ways to shift from balanced literacy to the Science of Reading

MTSS vs. RTI in literacy instruction: What’s the difference?

Welcome, Salem-Keizer School District, to the next chapter in the Science of Reading, with Amplify CKLA 3rd Edition!

Amplify Core Knowledge Language Arts® (CKLA) is approved by the Oregon Department of Education.

Scroll down to learn how CKLA is uniquely designed to help all your students make learning leaps in literacy.

Download CKLA Program Guide

Our approach

Improve outcomes with a program that’s built on a decade of research and meets the strongest ESSA Tier I criteria.

Grounded in the Science of Reading

Success stories

Background knowledge drives results

In Amplify CKLA 3rd Edition, we’ve enriched our Knowledge Sequence with a wider range of perspectives and high-quality texts in new and enhanced units.

See units and connections

Build foundational skills for long-term success.

In our 3rd Edition, we’ve added dedicated Grade 3 foundational skills instruction that can either support core lessons or function as an intervention, based on student needs.

Skills by year

Daily writing deepens learning.

See the Simple View of Writing

High-quality, diverse texts

See Research Unit trade books

Reach all learners with differentiated support.

For a dedicated English language development program aligned to Amplify CKLA, explore Language Studio.

View embedded support

What’s included with Amplify CKLA

The comprehensive resources in Amplify CKLA 3rd Edition support effective literacy instruction in every classroom.

Download CKLA Components Guide

Download CKLA Writing Brochure

Easy-to-use teacher materials

Amplify CKLA teachers are empowered to deliver effective instruction with the following print and digital resources:

Teacher Guides (K–5)
Assessment Guides (K–5)
Authentic texts and trade books (K–5)
Knowledge Image Cards (K–2)
Knowledge Flip Books (K–2, digital)
Ready-made and customizable Presentation Screens (K–5, digital)
Remediation and intervention resources (K–5)
On-demand professional development (K–5, digital)

Immersive Amplify CKLA student resources

Amplify CKLA students stay engaged with the following print and digital resources:

Decodable readers (K–2)
Student Readers and novels (3–5)
Student Activity Books (K–5)
Poet’s Journal (3–5)
eReaders (K–5, digital)
Sound Library featuring articulation videos and songs (K–2, digital)
Skill-building practice games (K–5)

Rich literary experiences

All the high-quality, diverse texts in Amplify CKLA connect to the curriculum, fostering your students’ curiosity and helping them learn to read with confidence.

Trade Book Collections (K–5) inspire student research in each grade’s Culminating Research Unit.
Classic and contemporary literature (3–5) delight students in Novel Study Units.
Increasingly complex Student Readers (K–5) develop students’ literacy across grades.

Hands-on phonics materials

Multisensory phonics and foundational skills resources engage students with fun, varied approaches that promote mastery and build independence.

Chaining Folders and Small Letter Cards (K)
Read-Aloud Big Books (K–1)
Large Letter Cards (K–2)
Sound Cards (K–2)
Image Cards (K–3)
Blending Picture Cards (K)
Consonant and Vowel Code Posters and Spelling Cards (1–2)
Sound Library (K–2, digital)

All-in-one digital platform

Our comprehensive platform simplifies your day-to-day tasks and makes it easier to plan and deliver lessons.

Ready-made and customizable Presentation Screens
Auto-scored digital assessments
Standards-based reporting
Assignable skill-building games
Sound Library
eReaders

Professional development

Move beyond traditional program training with Amplify’s digital PD Library, designed to fully support your shift to the Science of Reading and Amplify CKLA. Deepen your understanding with:

Program and planning resources
Model lesson videos from real classrooms
Guidance on using Amplify’s literacy suite to provide multi-tiered support

“Teachers love the ease of implementing the program, and students have fun while learning. Growth is evident in our data, and we have the support of Amplify experts who are available to answer questions and provide top-notch professional development.”

Bridget Vaughan, District K–8 Coordinator of ELA and Literacy

Quincy Public Schools, Massachusetts

Language Studio: Multilingual and English language learner support

Curriculum Maps

Curriculum Maps by Grade and Strand:

Amplify CKLA serves

150,000+

Classrooms

4,000,000+

Students

U.S. States and D.C.

Amplify Caminos program overview

¡El futuro es bilingüe! | The future is bilingual!

Amplify Caminos is a research-based core curriculum essential for Spanish literacy and grounded in the Science of Reading.

Download Caminos Program Guide

View the video below to learn more about Amplify Caminos.

Using the program’s two strands, Caminos Conocimiento and Caminos Lectoescritura, teachers develop student
comprehension in Spanish through a program rich in background knowledge and foundational skills activities. The texts students encounter include authentic Spanish literature that honor Spanish language development and build diverse content knowledge in social studies, science, literature, and the arts.

Amplify Caminos delivers rich, authentic experiences.

How Amplify Caminos works with Amplify CKLA

Intentional knowledge building that connects topics throughout the program.
Increased metalinguistic awareness from students exploring the similarities and differences in each language while strengthening their knowledge across both.
Equitable instruction using high-quality Spanish and English decodable readers that provide students with opportunities to apply skills learned, and foster each students’ growing competency in reading.

“There were other programs that claimed to be [based on the] Science of Reading, but no other vendor provided the suite of products together. We did not want to be picking from here, picking from there. [Amplify’s literacy suite] met our needs, because it aligned and provided us the best suite of products, hands down.”

Nicole Peterson, Principal, Midway Middle School

Sampson County Schools, North Carolina

Demo Access

Explore the CKLA Teacher Digital Resources

First, watch the quick navigation video to the right. Then, follow the directions below.

Go to: learning.amplify.com or click the Access CKLA Teacher Digital button below
Select Log in with Amplify.
Enter this username: t1.salem_keizer_3e_cam@demo.tryamplify.net
Enter this password: Amplify1-salem_keizer_3e_cam
Click the CKLA button
Select your desired grade level from the Program drop down

Access CKLA Teacher Digital

Follow the directions below to access the Student Resource Site:

Go to: learning.amplify.com or click the Access CKLA Student Digital button below
Select Log in with Amplify.
Enter this username: s1.salem_keizer_3e_cam@demo.tryamplify.net
Enter this password: Amplify1-salem_keizer_3e_cam
From the main page, click the backpack in the top right corner.
Click on the grade level to select your desired grade.

Access CKLA Student Digital

Welcome, Ohio educators!

Thank you for taking the time to review Amplify’s CKLA resources for K–5.

Amplify Core Knowledge Language Arts® (CKLA) is an effective core literacy resource for students in grades K–5 and is aligned to Ohio’s Rule for Phonics. CKLA was developed in partnership with the Core Knowledge Foundation and was specifically designed to help teachers implement proven evidence-based instructional practices.

Click here for correlations to the Ohio Learning Standards for English Language Arts.

Click here to view Amplify CKLA’s Alignment to Ohio’s “Shifting to the Science of Reading” Framework.

Illustration featuring diverse cultural and historical elements like an african woman, an egyptian sphinx, a space rocket, and urban and natural landscapes under a starry sky.

Recognized Quality

Amplify CKLA is one of only a few high-quality, knowledge-building literacy curricula recognized by the Knowledge Matters campaign. Our shared message: Background knowledge is essential to literacy and learning.

A diagram showing "Knowledge x Skills = Amplify CKLA," with Knowledge as language comprehension, Skills as word recognition, and Amplify CKLA as skilled reading. Knowledge Matters badge included.

Independently and rigorously reviewed

Amplify CKLA not only received an all-green rating from the rigorous evaluators at EdReports, but it was also recently recognized by the Knowledge Matters Campaign as a literacy program that excels in building knowledge.

Read our EdReports review Read our Knowledge Matters review

Intentional knowledge-building

The Science of Reading reveals knowledge as an essential pillar of reading comprehension and lifelong literacy. Hear from author Natalie Wexler and CKLA customers on edWebinar about the importance of knowledge-building in reading instruction.

Hear from Natalie Wexler edWebinar Links

Designed for Ohio

We know there are several different paths you can take when implementing a Science of Reading program in your district:

Prekindergarten
K-2 Core No Foundational Skills
K-2 Supplemental Foundational Skills
K-2 Core Comprehensive English Language Arts
3-5 English Language Arts

To learn how Amplify CKLA supports each one of these paths, click here.

A man in a suit reads a book to a group of young children seated on a colorful rug in a classroom with a large clock displayed on a screen.

PreKindergarten

Amplify CKLA PreK easily fits into any class routine, with 45 minutes of interac…

A collection of colorful, spiral-bound and softcover educational books featuring illustrated covers arranged on a white surface.

K-2 Core No Foundational Skills

The most extensive and robust knowledge-building sequence that builds within and…

A collection of educational books, workbooks, flashcards, and teaching materials with red and white covers displayed on a white background.

K-2 Supplemental Foundational Skills

Amplify CKLA Skills is a comprehensive foundational skills program offering expl…

A collection of educational workbooks, activity books, and other printed learning materials arranged neatly on a white surface.

K-2 Core Comprehensive English Language Arts

In grades K–2, students complete one lesson that builds foundational reading ski…

A collection of educational books, workbooks, and cards displayed in front of a box labeled “Eureka!” with various illustrations and diagrams on the covers.

3-5 English Language Arts

In Amplify CKLA grades 3–5, lessons begin to combine skills and knowledge with i…

Program Overview

Amplify CKLA is a core ELA program for grades K–5 that delivers:

A unique research-based approach truly built on the Science of Reading.
A combination of explicit foundational skills with meaningful knowledge building.
Embedded support and differentiation that gets all students reading grade-level texts together.
Opportunities for students to see the strengths and experiences that all people share while also celebrating each others’ unique identities and experiences.
Authentic Spanish language arts instruction with Amplify Caminos.

Amplify CKLA for Grades K–2

After watching the K–2 video below, scroll down to learn even more, download resources, and access a demo.

Amplify CKLA for Grades 3–5

After watching the 3–5 video below, scroll down to learn even more, download resources, and access a demo.

How it works

Amplify CKLA teaches both foundational skills and background knowledge in K–2 and combines them in 3–5, as required by the science of reading.

In grades K–2, students complete one full lesson that builds foundational reading skills, as well as one full lesson that builds background knowledge.
In grades 3–5, student complete one integrated lesson that combines skills and knowledge with increasingly complex texts, close reading, and a greater writing emphasis.

Download CKLA Program Guide

A flowchart showing word recognition and language comprehension strands intertwining to form skilled reading, with progression labeled as increasingly automatic and strategic.

Rich topics

Amplify CKLA builds knowledge coherently across subjects and grades.

Students make connections from year-to-year by exploring grade-appropriate subject-area knowledge and vocabulary in history, science, literature, and the arts while learning to read, write, and think creatively and for themselves.

Illustration showing diverse cultural representations: two native american figures, a bear in a forest, and a medieval european woman, all set against colorful abstract backgrounds.

Units by grade

Take a closer look at the topics students explore.

New! Knowledge Research Units

Explore our newly added Knowledge Research units.

Skills by grade

Take a closer look at the skills students develop.

Diverse text

Amplify CKLA puts a variety of texts in the hands of students every day to build and strengthen background knowledge and vocabulary, listening and reading comprehension, and decoding and fluency skills.

More than that, we ensure the texts students read represent the world around them. With a diverse range of authors, topics, and characters, all students have ample access to both windows and mirrors. Our texts include:

authentic books.
authentic text passages.
student readers.
novel guides (grades 3–5).

Grade K Text List

Grade 1 Text List

Grade 2 Text List

Grade 3 Text List

Cartoon people of varied ages and backgrounds enjoy a city park; some play music, others relax or interact, with buildings and trees in the background.

Grade 4 Text List

A girl writes at her desk, imagining herself graduating in cap and gown, with a thought bubble showing her smiling and holding a diploma.

Grade 5 Text List

Aligned to LETRS and Orton Gillingham

Amplify CKLA aligns with the instructional principles recommended by Orton Gillingham and LETRS.

Structured–Concepts are taught through consistent routines
Sequential–Concepts are taught in a logical, well-planned sequence
Systematic–Phonemes are taught from simplest to most complex
Explicit–Decoding and encoding concepts are taught directly and explicitly
Multi-sensory–Instruction is delivered through visual, auditory, and kinesthetic-tactile pathways
Cumulative–Concepts are applied in decodable, connected texts with constant review and reinforcement

Diagram showing parallel strands labeled with reading skills and knowledge merging together into a single twisted line labeled "Integration.

CKLA Skills sequence for K–2

CKLA Skills sequence for 3–5

Universal access

We believe we have a responsibility to provide literacy instruction that gives every student the same opportunity to succeed and excel.

We know that early reading affects achievement throughout school and beyond—well into college and career. Yet most literacy programs continue to fall short of supporting early literacy success. That’s why we’re so proud that CKLA is helping close the reading gap between students within diverse communities.

A boy with glasses smiles while reading a book, with illustrated objects like a telescope, gourd, and cartoon insect in the background.

Un grupo de jóvenes estudiantes se sientan muy juntos y miran atentamente hacia arriba. Algunos de los niños visten atuendos coloridos, incluida una niña con un hijab azul. Parecen estar en un salón de clases.

Grades K–2: Supporting all learners

Un grupo de niños sentados alrededor de un escritorio, sonriendo y riendo mientras miran una computadora portátil. Un adulto está cerca y también sonríe.

Grades 3–5: Supporting all learners

Complete curriculum

A strong literacy program is not just about a reading program or an assessment tool: it brings together curriculum, instruction, regular practice, intervention, and assessments.

Amplify has brought these components together in our early literacy suite of curriculum, ensure that you have what you need for multi-tiered support.

Un adulto y un niño se sientan en una mesa y usan juntos una tableta. El adulto viste un top floral amarillo y el niño, vestido con un traje azul marino y blanco, señala la pantalla.

CKLA and mCLASS

CKLA connects to our comprehensive diagnostic universal screener called mCLASS.

Dos niñas están sentadas en una mesa, mirando juntas la pantalla de una computadora portátil en un salón de clases. Al fondo se ven estanterías con libros y materiales de clase.

CKLA and Boost Reading

CKLA connects to our adaptive reading practice program called Boost Reading.

CKLA and Language Studio

CKLA aligns with Language Studio–our ELD companion program for grades K–5.

CKLA and Writing Studio

CKLA aligns with Writing Studio–our writing companion program for grades K–5.

Science of Reading Resources

Watching students learn to read: magic. Knowing how they get there: science.

As you consider your next core ELA program, it’s critically important to understand what the Science of Reading really means and what it tells us about how to teach more effectively. Unlike other programs, Amplify CKLA was built upon these insights and practices, making it easier for teachers to implement this proven approach.

Explore Science of Reading Handbook

A girl runs outdoors holding a kite with colorful ribbons labeled knowledge, vocabulary, sentences, connections, gist, sounds, letters, and words.

Access demo

Ready to explore on your own? Follow the instructions below to access your demo account.

Explore the CKLA Teacher Digital Site

First, watch the quick navigation video to the right. Then follow the directions below:

Click the CKLA Teacher Digital Site button
Select Log in with Amplify.
Enter this username: t1.cklareviewohio@demo.tryamplify.net
Enter this password: Amplify1-cklareviewohio
Select the desired grade level

Access CKLA Teacher Digital Site

Explore the CKLA Student Digital Site

To access the student digital site follow the directions below:

Click the CKLA Student Digital Site button
Select Log in with Amplify.
Enter this username: s1.cklareviewohio@demo.tryamplify.net
Enter this password: Amplify1-cklareviewohio
From the Home page, scroll down to the robot and “Click to go to the Hub“
From the Hub, click the Grade button to select the grade.

Access CKLA Student Digital Site

Boost Reading sample site

Texas ELAR Literacy Adoption

The next chapter in the Science of Reading

Introducing Amplify CKLA 3rd Edition, a K–5 core literacy program within Amplify’s literacy suite. For more than a decade, Amplify CKLA has transformed classrooms nationwide with its intentional knowledge building and systematic skills instruction. Available for the 2025–2026 school year, the 3rd Edition builds on this successful foundation to better support all students in becoming confident readers, writers, and thinkers. Together, let’s write the next chapter in the Science of Reading.

Request samples

Amplify CKLA serves

150,000+

Classrooms

4,000,000+

Students

U.S. States and D.C.

Our approach

Improve outcomes with a program built on a decade of research, and that meets the strongest ESSA Tier I criteria.

Grounded in the Science of Reading

As the original Science of Reading program, Amplify CKLA puts research into action with explicit, systematic foundational skills instruction and a proven knowledge-building sequence. In collaboration with education experts and practitioners, we provide powerful resources that deliver real results.

Success stories

Background knowledge drives results

In Amplify CKLA 3rd Edition, we’ve enriched our Knowledge Sequence with a wider range of perspectives and high-quality texts in new and enhanced units.

See units and connections

Build foundational skills for long-term success.

In our 3rd Edition, we’ve added dedicated Grades 3–5 foundational skills instruction that can either support core lessons or function as an intervention, based on student needs.

Skills by year

Daily writing deepens learning.

Grounded in the Science of Writing—the research on how kids learn to write—instruction is explicit, daily, and woven into the curriculum’s rich content. It covers both transcription (handwriting and spelling) and composition (organizing ideas into narratives) with high-impact activities like sentence-level combining and expanding, and pre-writing exercises. Writing and reading instruction are integrated so students simultaneously strengthen their communication skills, comprehension, and confidence.

See the Simple View of Writing

High-quality, diverse texts

Amplify CKLA students are immersed in a variety of texts—complex read-alouds, decodable chapter books, trade books, and content-rich readers—that reflect varied experiences and connect to learning goals.

See Research Unit trade books

Reach all learners with differentiated support.

Scaffolds and challenges, developed in collaboration with education experts, make content available to every student—including multilingual and English learners. With strategies embedded right in the curriculum, teachers can deliver in-the-moment, individualized instruction to meet all student needs.

For a dedicated English language development program aligned to Amplify CKLA, explore Language Studio.

View embedded support

What’s included

The comprehensive resources in Amplify CKLA 3rd Edition support effective literacy instruction in every classroom.

Easy-to-use teacher materials

Amplify CKLA teachers are empowered to deliver effective instruction with the following print and digital resources:

Teacher Guides (K–5)
Assessment Guides (K–5)
Authentic texts and trade books (K–5)
Knowledge Image Cards (K–2)
Knowledge Flip Books (K–2, digital)
Ready-made and customizable Presentation Screens (K–5, digital)
Remediation and intervention resources (K–5)
On-demand professional development (K–5, digital)

Immersive Amplify CKLA student resources

Amplify CKLA students stay engaged with the following print and digital resources:

Decodable readers (K–2)
Student Readers and novels (3–5)
Student Activity Books (K–5)
Poet’s Journal and Writer’s Journal (3–5)
eReaders (K–5, digital)
Sound Library featuring articulation videos and songs (K–2, digital)
Assignable Practice Games (K–5)

Rich literary experiences

All of the high-quality, diverse texts in Amplify CKLA connect to the curriculum, fostering your students’ curiosity and helping them learn to read with confidence.

Trade Book Collections (K–5) inspire student research in each grade’s Culminating Research Unit.
Classic and contemporary literature (3–5) delight students in Novel Study Units.
Increasingly complex Student Readers (K–5) develop students’ literacy across grades.

Hands-on phonics materials

Multisensory phonics and foundational skills resources engage students with fun, varied approaches that promote mastery and build independence.

Chaining Folders and Small Letter Cards (K)
Read-Aloud Big Books (K–1)
Large Letter Cards (K–2)
Sound Cards (K–2)
Image Cards (K–3)
Blending Picture Cards (K)
Consonant and Vowel Code Posters and Spelling Cards (1–2)
Sound Library (K–2, digital)

All-in-one digital platform

Our comprehensive platform simplifies your day-to-day tasks and makes it easier to plan and deliver lessons.

Ready-made and customizable Presentation Screens
Auto-scored digital assessments
Standards-based reporting
Assignable Practice Games
Sound Library
eReaders

Professional Development

Move beyond traditional program training with Amplify’s digital PD Library, designed to fully support your shift to the Science of Reading and Amplify CKLA. Deepen your understanding with:

Program and planning resources
Model lesson videos from real classrooms
Guidance on using Amplify’s literacy suite to provide multi-tiered support

Ready to continue your learning journey?

We also offer live, tailored professional learning sessions by expert partners to expand your Science of Reading expertise, strengthen implementation, and improve student outcomes.

Explore Amplify PD

“Teachers love the ease of implementing the program, and students have fun while learning. Growth is evident in our data, and we have the support of Amplify experts who are available to answer questions and provide top-notch professional development.”

Bridget Vaughan, District K–8 Coordinator of ELA and Literacy

Quincy Public Schools, Massachusetts

A true Science of Reading early literacy suite for Grades K–5

Amplify has combined the critical elements of a Science of Reading system: assessment, core curriculum, personalized learning, and intervention. Based on 20 years of experience with the Science of Reading, this complete system saves you time and aligns your literacy practices.

Assess with mCLASS^®: A universal and dyslexia screener, powered by DIBELS 8th Edition
Instruct with Amplify CKLA: Core curriculum to build foundational skills and knowledge
Practice with Boost Reading™: Personalized learning program to extend and reinforce core
Intervene with mCLASS Intervention: Staff-led Tier 2 and 3 intervention for intensive support

“There were other programs that claimed to be [based on the] Science of Reading, but no other vendor provided the suite of products together. We did not want to be picking from here, picking from there. [Amplify’s literacy suite] met our needs, because it aligned and provided us the best suite of products, hands down.”

Nicole Peterson, Principal, Midway Middle School

Sampson County Schools, North Carolina

Language Studio: Multilingual and English language learner support

Language Studio is Amplify CKLA’s dedicated K–5 program for multilingual and English language learners. Through daily 30-minute lessons, it strengthens reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills while reinforcing core instruction. This tailored support empowers students to confidently access grade-level content as they develop academic English.

Explore more programs in Amplify’s literacy and biliteracy suite.

All of the programs in our literacy suite and our biliteracy suite are designed to support and complement each other. Learn more about our related programs:

Collage of six varied educational scenes including students in classrooms, animation of a campus, and a stylized eagle over mountains, highlighting the Amplify Caminos Spanish language program.

Amplify Caminos

Amplify Caminos is a K–5 Spanish language arts program and curriculum designed t…

Illustration of a colorful, stylized map showing various buildings, roads, trees, and icons with people engaged in different reading activities or roles related to the science of reading.

Boost Reading

Boost Reading provides your child with the opportunity to learn and practice lit…

mCLASS

mCLASS is an assessment and instruction system that helps measure your child’s l…

See All Programs

Welcome, Oak Park USD, to the next chapter in the Science of Reading, with Amplify CKLA 3rd Edition!

For more than a decade, Amplify CKLA has transformed classrooms nationwide with its intentional knowledge building and systematic skills instruction.

Scroll down to learn how CKLA is uniquely designed to help all your students make learning leaps in literacy.

Download CKLA Program Guide

Our approach

Improve outcomes with a program that’s built on a decade of research and meets the strongest ESSA Tier I criteria.

Grounded in the Science of Reading

Success stories

Background knowledge drives results

In Amplify CKLA 3rd Edition, we’ve enriched our Knowledge Sequence with a wider range of perspectives and high-quality texts in new and enhanced units.

See units and connections

Build foundational skills for long-term success.

In our 3rd Edition, we’ve added dedicated Grade 3 foundational skills instruction that can either support core lessons or function as an intervention, based on student needs.

Skills by year

Daily writing deepens learning.

See the Simple View of Writing

High-quality, diverse texts

See Research Unit trade books

Reach all learners with differentiated support.

For a dedicated English language development program aligned to Amplify CKLA, explore Language Studio.

View embedded support

What’s included with Amplify CKLA

The comprehensive resources in Amplify CKLA 3rd Edition support effective literacy instruction in every classroom.

Download CKLA Components Guide

Download CKLA Writing Brochure

Easy-to-use teacher materials

Amplify CKLA teachers are empowered to deliver effective instruction with the following print and digital resources:

Teacher Guides (K–5)
Assessment Guides (K–5)
Authentic texts and trade books (K–5)
Knowledge Image Cards (K–2)
Knowledge Flip Books (K–2, digital)
Ready-made and customizable Presentation Screens (K–5, digital)
Remediation and intervention resources (K–5)
On-demand professional development (K–5, digital)

Immersive Amplify CKLA student resources

Amplify CKLA students stay engaged with the following print and digital resources:

Decodable readers (K–2)
Student Readers and novels (3–5)
Student Activity Books (K–5)
Poet’s Journal (3–5)
eReaders (K–5, digital)
Sound Library featuring articulation videos and songs (K–2, digital)
Skill-building practice games (K–5)

Rich literary experiences

All the high-quality, diverse texts in Amplify CKLA connect to the curriculum, fostering your students’ curiosity and helping them learn to read with confidence.

Trade Book Collections (K–5) inspire student research in each grade’s Culminating Research Unit.
Classic and contemporary literature (3–5) delight students in Novel Study Units.
Increasingly complex Student Readers (K–5) develop students’ literacy across grades.

Hands-on phonics materials

Multisensory phonics and foundational skills resources engage students with fun, varied approaches that promote mastery and build independence.

Chaining Folders and Small Letter Cards (K)
Read-Aloud Big Books (K–1)
Large Letter Cards (K–2)
Sound Cards (K–2)
Image Cards (K–3)
Blending Picture Cards (K)
Consonant and Vowel Code Posters and Spelling Cards (1–2)
Sound Library (K–2, digital)

All-in-one digital platform

Our comprehensive platform simplifies your day-to-day tasks and makes it easier to plan and deliver lessons.

Ready-made and customizable Presentation Screens
Auto-scored digital assessments
Standards-based reporting
Assignable skill-building games
Sound Library
eReaders

Professional development

Move beyond traditional program training with Amplify’s digital PD Library, designed to fully support your shift to the Science of Reading and Amplify CKLA. Deepen your understanding with:

Program and planning resources
Model lesson videos from real classrooms
Guidance on using Amplify’s literacy suite to provide multi-tiered support

“Teachers love the ease of implementing the program, and students have fun while learning. Growth is evident in our data, and we have the support of Amplify experts who are available to answer questions and provide top-notch professional development.”

Bridget Vaughan, District K–8 Coordinator of ELA and Literacy

Quincy Public Schools, Massachusetts

Language Studio: Multilingual and English language learner support

Curriculum Maps

Curriculum Maps by Grade and Strand:

Amplify CKLA serves

150,000+

Classrooms

4,000,000+

Students

U.S. States and D.C.

“There were other programs that claimed to be [based on the] Science of Reading, but no other vendor provided the suite of products together. We did not want to be picking from here, picking from there. [Amplify’s literacy suite] met our needs, because it aligned and provided us the best suite of products, hands down.”

Nicole Peterson, Principal, Midway Middle School

Sampson County Schools, North Carolina

The next chapter in the Science of Reading

Request samples

Amplify CKLA serves

150,000+

Classrooms

4,000,000+

Students

U.S. States and D.C.

Our approach

Improve outcomes with a program built on a decade of research, and that meets the strongest ESSA Tier I criteria.

Grounded in the Science of Reading

Success stories

Background knowledge drives results

In Amplify CKLA 3rd Edition, we’ve enriched our Knowledge Sequence with a wider range of perspectives and high-quality texts in new and enhanced units.

See units and connections

Build foundational skills for long-term success.

In our 3rd Edition, we’ve added dedicated Grades 3–5 foundational skills instruction that can either support core lessons or function as an intervention, based on student needs.

Skills by year

Daily writing deepens learning.

See the Simple View of Writing

High-quality, diverse texts

See Research Unit trade books

Reach all learners with differentiated support.

For a dedicated English language development program aligned to Amplify CKLA, explore Language Studio.

View embedded support

What’s included

The comprehensive resources in Amplify CKLA 3rd Edition support effective literacy instruction in every classroom.

Easy-to-use teacher materials

Amplify CKLA teachers are empowered to deliver effective instruction with the following print and digital resources:

Teacher Guides (K–5)
Assessment Guides (K–5)
Authentic texts and trade books (K–5)
Knowledge Image Cards (K–2)
Knowledge Flip Books (K–2, digital)
Ready-made and customizable Presentation Screens (K–5, digital)
Remediation and intervention resources (K–5)
On-demand professional development (K–5, digital)

Immersive Amplify CKLA student resources

Amplify CKLA students stay engaged with the following print and digital resources:

Decodable readers (K–2)
Student Readers and novels (3–5)
Student Activity Books (K–5)
Poet’s Journal and Writer’s Journal (3–5)
eReaders (K–5, digital)
Sound Library featuring articulation videos and songs (K–2, digital)
Assignable Practice Games (K–5)

Rich literary experiences

All of the high-quality, diverse texts in Amplify CKLA connect to the curriculum, fostering your students’ curiosity and helping them learn to read with confidence.

Trade Book Collections (K–5) inspire student research in each grade’s Culminating Research Unit.
Classic and contemporary literature (3–5) delight students in Novel Study Units.
Increasingly complex Student Readers (K–5) develop students’ literacy across grades.

Hands-on phonics materials

Multisensory phonics and foundational skills resources engage students with fun, varied approaches that promote mastery and build independence.

Chaining Folders and Small Letter Cards (K)
Read-Aloud Big Books (K–1)
Large Letter Cards (K–2)
Sound Cards (K–2)
Image Cards (K–3)
Blending Picture Cards (K)
Consonant and Vowel Code Posters and Spelling Cards (1–2)
Sound Library (K–2, digital)

All-in-one digital platform

Our comprehensive platform simplifies your day-to-day tasks and makes it easier to plan and deliver lessons.

Ready-made and customizable Presentation Screens
Auto-scored digital assessments
Standards-based reporting
Assignable Practice Games
Sound Library
eReaders

Professional Development

Move beyond traditional program training with Amplify’s digital PD Library, designed to fully support your shift to the Science of Reading and Amplify CKLA. Deepen your understanding with:

Program and planning resources
Model lesson videos from real classrooms
Guidance on using Amplify’s literacy suite to provide multi-tiered support

“Teachers love the ease of implementing the program, and students have fun while learning. Growth is evident in our data, and we have the support of Amplify experts who are available to answer questions and provide top-notch professional development.”

Bridget Vaughan, District K–8 Coordinator of ELA and Literacy

Quincy Public Schools, Massachusetts

A true Science of Reading early literacy suite for Grades K–5

Assess with mCLASS^®: A universal and dyslexia screener, powered by DIBELS 8th Edition
Instruct with Amplify CKLA: Core curriculum to build foundational skills and knowledge
Practice with Boost Reading™: Personalized learning program to extend and reinforce core
Intervene with mCLASS Intervention: Staff-led Tier 2 and 3 intervention for intensive support

“There were other programs that claimed to be [based on the] Science of Reading, but no other vendor provided the suite of products together. We did not want to be picking from here, picking from there. [Amplify’s literacy suite] met our needs, because it aligned and provided us the best suite of products, hands down.”

Nicole Peterson, Principal, Midway Middle School

Sampson County Schools, North Carolina

Language Studio: Multilingual and English language learner support

Explore more programs in Amplify’s literacy and biliteracy suite.

All of the programs in our literacy suite and our biliteracy suite are designed to support and complement each other. Learn more about our related programs:

Amplify Caminos

Amplify Caminos is a K–5 Spanish language arts program and curriculum designed t…

Boost Reading

Boost Reading provides your child with the opportunity to learn and practice lit…

mCLASS

mCLASS is an assessment and instruction system that helps measure your child’s l…

See All Programs

Texas Public Reviewers: Welcome to Amplify Desmos Math Texas!

Thank you for taking the time to review Amplify Desmos Math Texas K–5. This site provides the login steps and tools you need to review the program.

Watch this short introductory video to help you navigate the Amplify Desmos Math Texas K-5 platform. Then, use the login credentials below to start your online review.

The helpful Navigation Tool-Title List with live links and other documents to guide your review can be found below as well.

Three people engage in a painting project indoors, with one holding a fraction card and others painting the walls and floor. A tree and math symbols are in the background.

Login page for Amplify with options to log in via Google, Clever, Amplify, QR code, or District SSO. A "Help" button and illustrated design elements are also visible.

Step 1

Go to learning.amplify.com and select Login with Amplify.

Enter the username and password:

Username: t.txmathk5public@tryamplify.net
Password: AmplifyNumber1

Step 2

Select Amplify Desmos Math in Your Programs.

Educational dashboard showing a welcome message to "Educator K-5 Review," highlighting "Amplify Desmos Math" as a recommended program, with a paper airplane and quick links section.

Step 3

Once you’re in the program, select a grade level to explore the digital curriculum.

Navigation video

View this short introductory video to help you navigate the Amplify Desmos Math Texas K-5 platform.

Navigation Tool – Title Lists

Tip: Be sure you’re logged into the Amplify Desmos Math Texas platform (steps above) before clicking on the links in these documents.

New content – Quality rubric 1.1a

If approved, this proposed content will be added as a Paper Resource on the Course-level tile on Amplify Desmos Math Texas and on the Caregiver Hub as an additional home resource.

New content – Quality rubric 2.1c

If approved, these two pages will be added to the front matter of the Assessment Resource teacher ancillary.

Revised Content – Kindergarten

Personalized Learning name change

Revised Content – Grade 1

Personalized Learning name change

Revised Content – Grade 2

Revised Content – Grade 3

New Content – Grade 4

Grade 4, Unit 1, Lesson 13 Student Edition
4.1.C.iv select tools, including technology as appropriate, to solve problems
- 4.1.C.iv Activity Citation 1:4.3.14 (New Content: Activity 2, Screens 5 – 10, Second Sentence on each Screen)
- 4.1.C.iv Activity Citation 2: 4.1.03 (New Content: Activity 1, Screen 3, Sentence that begins with Choose)
- 4.1.C.iv Activity Citation 3: 4.1.03 (New Content: Synthesis, Screen 8, Explain, Last sentence that begins with Choose)
- 4.1.C.iv Activity Citation 4: 4.6.16 (New Content: Activity 1, Screen 2, Sentence that begins with Choose)
Grade 4, Unit 3, Lesson 13 Student Edition
Grade 4, Unit 4 End-of-Unit Assessment – form A-answers.pdf
Grade 4, Unit 5, Lesson 17 Student Edition
Grade 4, Unit 5, Lesson 17 Teacher Edition
Grade 4, Unit 5, Subunit 3 Summary
Personalized Learning name chang e

New Content – Grade 5

Personalized Learning name change

Citations for Upper Limit TEKS in K-5 Mathematics

Proposed changes to address the upper limit TEKS breakouts can be found at the link above. The notes for each citation indicate where the new content will exist, once approved.

Components List

View the full list of components for Amplify Desmos Math Texas K-5.

Center Resources and Kits

Access a description and ISBN’s for the K-5 Center Resources and Kits.

Manipulative Kits List

View the full list of contents for each K-5 Amplify Desmos Math Texas Manipulative Kit.

How to implement the Science of Reading in your classroom today

Science of Reading

Connecticut K-5 ELA: Explore Amplify CKLA (English) and Caminos (Spanish)

Thank you for visiting Amplify’s Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA) and Caminos website designed exclusively for you. We are very excited for you to further explore Amplify CKLA and Amplify Caminos and discover more about our proven, phonics-based literacy programs in English and Spanish. Begin your journey with the Introduction below and explore Amplify CKLA and Caminos.

Introduction

We are excited for you to see how Amplify CKLA and Amplify Caminos provide parallel, high-quality resources in both English and Spanish for all students and multilingual learners across NYC! Both programs are flexible, offering stand-alone foundational skills instruction as well as comprehensive core English Language Arts.

Amplify CKLA Skills and Caminos Lectoescritura are entirely built on the latest reading science and provide comprehensive instruction in all foundational reading skills. These programs feature:

Phonological awareness, phonics, and word recognition
Strong, systematic sound-first instruction to support students in learning to decode
Language skills, including conventions, spelling, and grammar
Reading comprehension
Writing instruction

CKLA and Caminos for grades K–2 provides a two-strand approach – the first strand is the Foundational Skills Strand (as described above) and the second is the Knowledge Strand, in which students build rich background knowledge through multidisciplinary Read-Alouds in both English and Spanish. Additionally, in Grades 3-5, CKLA and Caminos take an Integrated Approach, meaning everything is focused on rich worldly context.

We highly encourage you to check out the Grades K-2 Knowledge Strand section of the website and the 3-5 Integrated Approach section to explore these components further, gain access to the engaging, worldly, and diverse texts students and teachers are using in their classrooms daily, and discover so much more!

Access the program

Every day in the CKLA/Caminos classroom, students will practice their existing reading skills while stretching themselves toward new goals. In K–2, each day includes dedicated skills time to help you give students a solid foundation. In the upper grades, skills instruction becomes integrated with Knowledge lessons, and students engage with increasingly complex content-rich texts and writing activities.

Start with the sound

All instruction starts with phonological awareness, which research has shown to benefit the greatest number of students.

Students begin by learning to recognize sounds, as well as to articulate them.

Build to the phoneme

All instruction starts with phonological awareness, which research has shown to benefit the greatest number of students. Students begin by learning to recognize sounds, as well as to articulate them.

Crack the code

Once students can recognize sounds, they learn to form the corresponding letter codes. CKLA starts by teaching the sound-spellings that appear most frequently in English, which lets your students read and write as many words as possible, as soon as possible.

Grow in complexity

The lessons continue to challenge students as they progress, introducing complications like multisyllabic words, “tricky words,” and homophones. In each case, students encounter complications as they become ready for them.

While students are learning how to read, Knowledge Domains give them authentic and engaging reasons to read. Students will use their skills to explore domains that relate to storytelling, science, and the history of our world as seen through the eyes of many different groups. With these domains, you’ll bring the world to your students, showing them how reading can become an exciting, rewarding, and useful part of their lives.

Build connections and context

Each CKLA/Caminos Knowledge Domain gives students a base of vocabulary and concepts, building on what they’ve learned in previous domains. This helps students make connections within and across grades, building a base of background knowledge that will help them navigate new and more complex texts.

Listen and understand

Students learn to listen and understand before they learn to read. By delivering knowledge through classroom Read-Alouds, we teach students the key comprehension skills they’ll use throughout their reading lives.

Emphasis on interactivity

We emphasize interactions with students, challenging them and encouraging them to think about the material rather than simply receive it. Each lesson includes many options for formative assessment and immediate adjustment to your class’s needs.

Assess what’s important

End-of-domain digital assessments for Knowledge Domains are fully voice acted, ensuring that each student’s comprehension skills are being authentically tested. This not only helps build student test-taking confidence, but also gives you a more accurate picture of your class.

Step 1: Watch this video walkthrough of the CKLA/Caminos Teacher Resource Site.

Step 2: Explore the Teacher Resource Site.

Click the CKLA/Caminos Teacher Resource button below.
Select Log in with Amplify.
Enter your teacher username: t.nyc-ckla-caminosK2@tryamplify.net
Enter your password: AmplifyNumber1
Toggle to access either English and Spanish

Access CKLA/Caminos Teacher Resource Site

Step 3: Watch this video walkthrough of the CKLA/Caminos Student Hub.

Step 4: Explore the CKLA/Caminos Student Hub for Grades K-2.

Click the CKLA/Caminos Student Hub button below.
Select Log in with Amplify.
Enter your student username: s.nyc-ckla-caminosK2@tryamplify.net
Enter your password: AmplifyNumber1
Select a grade level.

Access CKLA/Caminos Student Hub

By grades 3–5, students have mastered the basics of decoding and are hungry to use what they’ve learned to reach out to the world. Although Read-Alouds remain an important part of lessons, students are also encouraged to practice independent reading starting in grade 3—striking a balance between strong teacher support and developing their autonomy and confidence as readers.

Writing and Language

As students progress from K–2, writing activities start to emphasize analysis, creativity, and independent thinking about the material students are learning.

Core Quests: Transforming the classroom

Each of the levels in grades 3–5 contains a Core Quest. In these special
units, all the normal rules of the classroom change, and students engage
with language in surprising new ways. Here in this grade 5 example, they
learn to love the dense Shakespearian language of A Midsummer Night’s
Dream through imagery, close reading, and performance.

Step 1: Watch this video walkthrough of the CKLA/Caminos Teacher Resource Site.

Step 2: Explore the CKLA/Caminos Teacher Resource Site for Grades 3-5.

Click the CKLA/Caminos Teacher Resource button below.
Select Log in with Amplify.
Enter your teacher username: t.nyc-ckla-caminos35@tryamplify.net
Enter your password: AmplifyNumber1
Toggle to access either English and Spanish

Access CKLA/Caminos Teacher Resource Site

Step 3: Watch this video walkthrough of the CKLA/Caminos Student Hub.

Step 4: Explore the CKLA/Caminos Student Hub for Grades 3-5.

Click the CKLA/Caminos Student Hub button below.
Select Log in with Amplify.
Enter your student username: s.nyc-ckla-caminos35@tryamplify.net
Enter your password: AmplifyNumber1
Select a grade level.

Access CKLA/Caminos Student Hub

Key program features

The student body of our country has been changing, and it’s changing fast. Over 10% K-12 students are english language learners who speak other languages. This skews heavily to primary grades with 15-16% in grades K-3. In 2021-2022, New York City Public Schools enrolled over 147,000 English language learners across K-12 or about 14% of students. Over 52% of those students are in elementary schools across the district with 23% in grades K-3.

Amplify Caminos uses spiral learning to reinforce every student’s ability to develop skills like reading, writing, speaking, and listening in Spanish that can be transferred to English. As students engage with their lessons, they explore the similarities and differences in grammar, vocabulary, writing, and language use between Spanish and English. This bridge helps students learning two languages to strengthen their knowledge in both.

Through cross-curricular content, students explore units that relate to storytelling, science, and the history of our world in a holistic and thoughtful way. With these units, you’ll bring the world to your students, showing them how reading can become an exciting, rewarding, and useful part of their lives.

Amplify Caminos al Conocimiento Esencial, a Spanish language arts program for Grades K–5 that will inspire and engage your students to become confident readers, writers, and thinkers.

It is designed to support any biliteracy model, including English as a Second Language (ESL), transitional bilingual programs, dual language strands, and Spanish immersion programs.

When used in tandem with Amplify CKLA, Amplify Caminos provides an one-to-one English and Spanish solution.

Review this Science of Reading Toolkit to learn more about the Science of Reading best practices integrated throughout CKLA.

Our instruction is supported by:

Step-by-step lessons with multisensory approaches, clear lesson objectives, and embedded formative assessments.
Decodable books and student readers with ebook and audiobook versions that feature engaging plots and relatable characters.
An engaging sound library with fun songs and videos that develop phonological awareness.
An interactive Vocab App featuring engaging activities with immediate feedback and automated, customized instruction based on student performance.

Students build grade-appropriate subject-area knowledge and vocabulary in history, science, literature, and the arts while learning to read, write, and think creatively and for themselves.

Our instruction is supported by:

Knowledge builders that provide a quick overview of each domain with its key ideas.
Interactive read-alouds designed to build knowledge and vocabulary.
Content-rich anchor texts that support students as they tackle increasingly complex text and sharpen their analytical skills.
Social and emotional learning paired with lessons in civic responsibility.

From the printed page to the screen, we bring foundational skills and knowledge of the world to your young learners, and make the transition from classroom to home learning seamless.

Download the Amplify CKLA Components Guide to see components by grade.

Additional materials to support your review

About the program

mCLASS offers teacher-administered assessment, intervention, and personalized instruction for grades K–6. Know exactly how to monitor and support every student in your classroom, with features like:

Precise one-minute measures based on over three decades of predictive data.
Universal and Reading Difficulties screening in one tool.
Instruction that highlights observed patterns and recommends activities.
Robust reports for teachers, specialists, administrators, and parents.

Table displaying student reading assessment data by skill area and benchmark status, based on universal screening, with percentages and student counts for each category across the year.

The right measures at the right time

With mCLASS DIBELS 8th Edition, you’ll assess students based on grade-specific curriculum and instructional standards, in accordance with International Dyslexia Association (IDA) guidelines.

mCLASS DIBELS 8th Edition offers one-minute, easy-to-administer measures of processing speed, phonological awareness, alphabetic principle, and word reading.

DIBELS® 8th Edition subtest alignment with SB 114 requirements
RDRP Screening Area	mCLASS DIBELS 8th Edition Measure	Grade K	Grade 1	Grade 2	Grade 3	Grade 4–6
Rapid naming ability	Letter Naming Fluency (LNF)
Phonological awareness	Phoneme Segmentation Fluency (PSF)
Alphabetic principle	Nonsense Word Fluency (NWF)
Word reading	Word Reading Fluency (WRF)
Word reading	Oral Reading Fluency (ORF)
Comprehension	Maze
Language Comprehension	Oral Language
Vocabulary	Vocabulary
RAN	Rapid Automatized Naming (Numbers)
Encoding	Spelling	OPTIONAL

Validated as a universal screener and a dyslexia screener

Strong reliability and validity evidence shows that DIBELS 8th Edition can effectively assess students in key skills linked to both dyslexia and broader reading difficulty. The research supporting DIBELS 8th Edition, conducted by the University of Oregon, is rigorous, meets high technical standards, and empowers educators to make well-informed decisions.

Read the DIBELS 8th Edition Dyslexia White Paper.

A document cover titled "Dyslexia Screening and DIBELS 8th Edition" by Christopher Ives, Gina Biancarosa, Hank Fien, and Patrick Kennedy from the University of Oregon College of Education. The cover has a PDF icon.

A complete system for data-based decision making

A flowchart illustrating a cyclical process: assess skills, identify risk, provide personalized instruction, progress monitor, and adjust instruction. Features images of people, charts, and a dyslexia assessment screen for comprehensive analysis.

mCLASS DIBELS 8th Edition provides rich data that helps you make informed instructional decisions and seek out further dyslexia screening evaluation if needed:

Assess skills: mCLASS DIBELS 8th Edition and optional dyslexia screenings in Rapid Automatized Naming (RAN), Spelling, Vocabulary, and Oral Language accurately assess students’ abilities.
Identify risk: The DIBELS 8 composite score shows each student’s risk level, with ‘Well Below Benchmark’ indicating a need for intensive support. Students who are also ‘Well Below Benchmark’ in RAN and/or Spelling have an additional Risk Indicator icon next to their name.
Provide instruction: The mCLASS Instruction feature analyzes student error patterns to key dyslexia-related subtests, then recommends small groups and explicit, multi-sensory activities for reinforcing skills.
Progress monitor: mCLASS includes progress-monitoring measures to track student growth in letter sounds, alphabetic principle, word reading, oral reading fluency, and comprehension, so that informed instructional decisions can be made.
Adapt instruction: mCLASS displays indicators based on progress monitoring performance that indicate when a change in instruction may be needed. It also updates instruction recommendations using the latest data.

Request a demo

Differentiated literacy instruction

mCLASS DIBELS 8th Edition lays the groundwork for a strong Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS).

In addition to identifying students with symptoms of dyslexia, mCLASS DIBELS 8th Edition data recommends early intervention, personalized instruction, and core instruction within Amplify’s early literacy suite. Based on the Science of Reading, Amplify’s early literacy suite programs follow an explicit and systematic structure, build knowledge, and instruct on all of the foundational skills essential to literacy development.

Intervene with mCLASS Intervention and Amplify Tutoring: Staff-led Tier 2 and 3 intervention for intensive support.
Practice with Boost Reading: Personalized learning program to extend and reinforce core instruction.
Instruct with Amplify Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA): Core curriculum to build foundational skills and knowledge.

Diagram showcasing "Science of Reading Skill Development" with three branches: "Universal and Dyslexia screening," "Core instruction," "Personalized learning," and "Intervention," with accompanying photos of people interacting.

Bilingual Reading Difficulties screening

By assessing with mCLASS DIBELS 8th Edition and its Spanish counterpart, mCLASS Lectura, you’ll know with confidence whether a student truly shows signs of of reading difficulties or is experiencing difficulties learning a new language.

When used together, mCLASS DIBELS 8th Edition and mCLASS Lectura feature a Dual Language Report that analyzes Reading Difficulties screening results in both languages. The report also details how each student can leverage their strengths from one language to support growth in the other.

Student named Marisol Mejía is shown with her English and Spanish literacy scores. English scores are mostly Well Below and Below benchmark; Spanish scores are mostly at Benchmark except for one below.

Equal skill coverage in English and Spanish

mCLASS Lectura subtest alignment with SB114

RDRP screening areas	English measure	Spanish measure	Description*
Letter Naming and RAN	Letter Naming Fluency (LNF)	Fluidez in nombrar letras (FNL)	Grades K–1: Naming letters in print. 1 minute, 1:1 administration.
Phonological Awareness (Segmentation)	Phonemic Segmentation Fluency (PSF)	Fluidez en la segmentación de sílabas (FSS) & Fluidez en la segmentación de fonemas (FSF)	Grades K–1: Hearing and using sounds or syllables in spoken words. 1 minute, 1:1 administration.
Phonological Awareness (Elision)	–	¿Qué queda? (QQ)	Grades K–2: Produce the part of a word that remains after deleting a syllable or phoneme. 1 minute, 1:1 administration.
Letter Sound Correspondence Knowledge	Nonsense Word Fluency Correct Letter Sounds(NWF-CLS)	Fluidez en los sonidos de letras (FSL)	English: Grades K–3: Identify letter-sound correspondences in the context of pseudo-words. Spanish: Grades K-1: Identify letter-sounds in isolation. 1 minute, 1:1 administration.
Letter-Sound Knowledge (Receptive)	–	Fluidez en los sonidos de las letras K-Inicio (FSL K-Inicio)	Grade K: Identify (point to) which letter makes a certain sound. Untimed, 1:1 administration.
Decoding	Nonsense Word Fluency Words Recoded Correctly (NWF-WRC)	Fluidez en los sonidos de las sílabas (FSL)	Grades K–3: Identify letter-sound correspondences in the context of pseudo-words. Spanish: Grades K–1: Identify letter-sounds in isolation. 1 minute, 1:1 administration.
Word Reading	Word-Reading Fluency (WRF)	Fluidez en las palabras (FEP)	Grades K–3: Reading common words easily, quickly and correctly.1 minute, 1:1 administration.
Fluency	Oral Reading Fluency (ORF)	Fluidez en la lectura oral (FLO)	Grades 1–6: Reading connected text with accuracy and automaticity. 1 minute, 1:1 administration.
Reading Comprehension	Maze	¿Cuál palabra? (CP)	Grades 2–6: Understanding meaning from texts. 3 minutes, group administration.
Vocabulary	Vocabulary	Vocabulario	Grades K–3: Arranging letters correctly to spell words with grade appropriate features. 15 minutes, group administration.
Encoding	Spelling	Ortografía	Grades K–3: Arranging letters correctly to spell words with grade-appropriate features. 15 minutes, group administration.
RAN (Numbers)	Rapid Automatized Naming	–	Grades K–3: Correctly and quickly naming visual symbols, such as numbers. 1-2 minutes, 1:1 administration.
Language Comprehension	Oral Language	Lenguaje oral	Grades K–2: Demonstrate the ability to use words and phrases acquired through conversations, reading and being read to, and responding to texts. 5 minutes, 1:1 administration.

*Students can be assessed using off-grade measures when information on specific skills is needed.

Resources for families

Welcome California Caregivers! Please click here to learn more about mCLASS assessments.

Families play a crucial role in helping children overcome reading challenges. mCLASS DIBELS 8th Edition and mCLASS Lectura provide a Home Connect letter after each screening to explain the results in family-friendly language, recommend activities, and direct families to a free website for additional at-home support.

A woman helps a young girl work on a computer in a classroom setting. Both are smiling and focused on the screen. Background has soft shapes in yellow and blue.

Developmentally appropriate

Computer-based assessments that require students to complete tasks silently or independently may over-identify students for intervention services, especially young learners who are still developing focus and attention abilities.

mCLASS requires students to actively demonstrate their proficiency in producing letter sounds, forming words, and reading texts. This approach to assessment aligns with IDA guidelines for effective screening of reading challenges. By choosing mCLASS for universal screening, you’ll gain accurate information about a student’s risk for reading difficulties, and gain the capability to monitor every student’s path to reading proficiency.

Additional resources

mCLASS Resources

Dyslexia Resources

mCLASS Dyslexia Toolkit
Dyslexia Fact vs. Fiction ebook
Blog post: 4 tools to help teachers better understand dyslexia
Science of Reading: The Podcast, Season 7, Episode 7: Debunking the “gift” of dyslexia in children, with Dr. Tim Odegard
Science of Reading: The Podcast, Season 1, Episode 6: The facts and myths of dyslexia, with Emily Lutrick

Multilingual and English learners Resources

Supporting multilingual and English learners in literacy

Your California team

Looking to speak directly with your local representative?
Get in touch with a California team member to learn more about our early literacy suite or request a demo account.

Dan Pier
Vice President, West
(415) 203-4810
dpier@amplify.com

Erin King
Sales Director, CA
(512) 736-3162
eking@amplify.com

NORTHERN CA
Wendy Garcia
Senior Account Executive
(510) 368-7666
wgarcia@amplify.com

BAY AREA
Lance Burbank
Account Executive
(415) 830-5348
lburbank@amplify.com

CENTRAL VALLEY and CENTRAL COAST
Demitri Gonos
Senior Account Executive
(559) 355-3244
dgonos@amplify.com

VENTURA and L.A. COUNTY
Jeff Sorenson
Associate Account Executive
(310) 902-1407
jsorenson@amplify.com

ORANGE and L.A. COUNTY
Lauren Sherman
Senior Account Executive
(949) 397-5766
lsherman@amplify.com

SAN BERNARDINO and L.A. COUNTY
Michael Gruber
Senior Account Executive
(951) 520-6542
migruber@amplify.com

RIVERSIDE AND L.A. COUNTY
Brian Roy
Senior Account Executive
(818)967-1674
broy@amplify.com

SAN DIEGO COUNTY
Kirk Van Wagoner
Senior Account Executive
(760) 696-0709
kvanwagoner@amplify.com

BUTTE, DEL NORTE, HUMBOLDT, and SHASTA COUNTY and DISTRICTS UNDER 2250 ENROLLMENT
Kevin Mauser
Lead Account Executive
(815) 534-0148
kmauser@amplify.com

Amplify CKLA updates for Back to School 2021

Welcome, Massachusetts reviewers!

On this site, you will find the following information to assist you as you review Amplify Core Knowledge Language Arts: a program overview to get you started, the CKLA knowledge sequence, comprehensive program guides for a deeper dive into the research base and day-to-day instruction, and other useful information. You’ll also find a month’s worth of lessons for each grade level.

CKLA was developed by the Core Knowledge Foundation and Amplify.

Getting started

Welcome to CKLA, a comprehensive reading and language arts curriculum built on today’s rigorous standards. CKLA delivers superior results through a uniquely research-based approach, combining step-by-step foundational skills with meaningful content knowledge in science, history, literature, and the arts. By focusing deeply on building students’ knowledge base, CKLA levels the playing field for every child.

Read the program overview to learn more about CKLA’s unique approach.

Grades K–2

In grades K–2, Amplify CKLA is segmented into two distinct strands: Knowledge and Skills.

Skills Strand: Skills Strand lessons build a strong foundation for students through daily instruction in phonemic awareness, spelling patterns, decoding with engaging, decodable texts, writing mechanics, and writing structure and processes.

Knowledge Strand It is vital to build students’ knowledge and vocabulary while they are still in the process of learning to read. In doing so, you better ensure their long-term success. CKLA’s Knowledge Strand is based on that very principle.

Grades K–2 Resources

K–2 materials

Core components for grades K–2:

Teacher Guide
You’ll find step-by-step lessons that are comprehensive, engaging, and support every learner.

Activity Book
With an integrated approach to reading and writing, students practice new sound-spellings by reading them in diverse contexts and then writing in response to the text.

Reader
Unlike other decodable texts, CKLA’s Readers feature engaging plots and characters, making the process of learning to read rewarding.

Teacher Guides

Student Readers

Skills 7

Student Activity Books

Skills 7

Teacher Guides

Student Readers

Skills 4

Student Activity Books

Skills 4

Teacher Guides

Student Readers

Skills 6

Student Activity Books

Skills 6

Grades 3–5

In grades 3–5, the Skills and Knowledge strands are integrated. As part of the curriculum’s research-based design, students in grades 3–5 spend several weeks immersed in sequenced domains in science, history, and literature, deepening both critical literacy skills and background knowledge.

Grades 3–5 Resources

Grades 3–5 materials

Core components for grades 3–5:

Teacher Guide
Teacher Guides for each unit provide step-by-step guidance, clear lesson objectives, and formative assessment as well as differentiated supports to empower teachers with proven strategies and research-based tools.

Activity Book
Anchored by the unit’s text, Activity Books immerse students in content-rich learning for deeper comprehension. They provide daily opportunities for students to respond to text while applying knowledge and serve as formative assessments connected to each day’s objectives.

Reader
Rich in knowledge and diverse in content, Student Readers are the foundation of each unit as students dive into increasingly complex text and sharpen their analytical skills. From geology to the Middle Ages, students engage with a truly diverse range of topics.

Teacher Guides

Unit 4

Student Readers

Unit 4

Student Activity Books

Unit 4

Teacher Guides

Unit 3

Student Activity Books

Unit 3

Teacher Guides

Unit 9

Student Readers

Unit 9

Student Activity Books

Unit 9

Welcome, Tennessee educators!

On this site, you will find the following information to assist you as you review Amplify Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA): a program overview to get you started, the CKLA knowledge sequence, comprehensive program guides for a deeper dive into the research base and day-to-day instruction, and other useful information. You’ll also find a month’s worth of lessons for each grade level.

Amplify CKLA was developed by the Core Knowledge Foundation and Amplify.

Illustration of historical sea battle with various sailing ships bearing british and american flags, and a fort in the background.

Getting started

Welcome to Amplify CKLA, a comprehensive reading and language arts curriculum built on today’s rigorous standards. CKLA delivers superior results through a uniquely research-based approach, combining step-by-step foundational skills with meaningful content knowledge in science, history, literature, and the arts. By focusing deeply on building students’ knowledge base, CKLA levels the playing field for every child.

Read the program overview to learn more about CKLA’s unique approach.

Grades K–2

In grades K–2, Amplify CKLA is segmented into two distinct strands: Knowledge and Skills.

Grades K–2 Resources

K–2 materials

Core components for grades K–2:

Teacher Guide
You’ll find step-by-step lessons that are comprehensive, engaging, and support every learner.

Activity Book
With an integrated approach to reading and writing, students practice new sound-spellings by reading them in diverse contexts and then writing in response to the text.

Reader
Unlike other decodable texts, CKLA’s Readers feature engaging plots and characters, making the process of learning to read rewarding.

Teacher Guides

Student Readers

Skills 7

Student Activity Books

Skills 7

Teacher Guides

Student Readers

Skills 4

Student Activity Books

Skills 4

Teacher Guides

Student Readers

Skills 6

Student Activity Books

Skills 6

Grades 3–5

Grades 3–5 Resources

Grades 3–5 materials

Core components for grades 3–5:

Teacher Guides

Unit 4

Student Readers

Unit 4

Student Activity Books

Unit 4

Teacher Guides

Unit 3

Student Activity Books

Unit 3

Teacher Guides

Unit 9

Student Readers

Unit 9

Student Activity Books

Unit 9

Contact us

A smiling woman with shoulder-length blonde hair, wearing an orange blouse and gold earrings, against a light background.

Chasity O’Quinn
Account Executive for East Tennessee
coquinn@amplify.com
(865) 599-5101

Portrait of a smiling woman with short brown hair, wearing glasses, a black blouse, and a pearl necklace against a maroon background.

Ann Patterson
Account Executive for West Tennessee
apatterson@amplify.com
(704) 813-7757

What’s included in our grades K–2 language arts curriculum

Amplify Core Knowledge Language Arts^® (CKLA) is a comprehensive early literacy curriculum, grounded in the Science of Reading. The K–2 curriculum sequences deep content knowledge-building with research-based foundational skills. With Amplify CKLA, you’ll have the instruction and guidance of proven, evidence-based practices to help all of your students become strong readers, writers, and thinkers.

Choose Level

K–2 3–5 PreK

Year at a glance

The Amplify CKLA curriculum is modeled after proven research in early literacy that supports a two-strand approach to literacy instruction in the early years. With this approach, students in Grades K–2 complete one full lesson per day that builds foundational reading skills in the Skills Strand, as well as one full lesson that builds background knowledge in the Knowledge Strand. The deep content knowledge is sequenced together with research-based foundational skills in Grades K–2 so that students develop the early literacy skills necessary to help them become confident readers, as well as build the context to understand what they’re reading.

In Grades 3–5, lessons combine skills and knowledge with increasingly complex texts, close reading, and a greater emphasis on writing. Students start to use their skills to go on their own independent reading adventures, further opening up their worlds.

Units & domains at a glance

The number of days to complete each Skills Unit and Knowledge Domain varies based on instructional purpose.

Knowledge Domain 1

Nursery Rhymes and Fables

Well-known fables introduce students to new vocabulary, build phonological awareness, and prompt discussion of character, virtues, and behavior.

Number of Lessons: 12

Knowledge Domain 2

The Five Senses

Students explore how they learn about the world using their five senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch.

Number of Lessons: 8

Knowledge Domain 3

Stories

Students develop an awareness of language and recurring themes in children’s literature, including classic stories, trickster tales, and fiction from other cultures.

Number of Lessons: 10

Knowledge Domain 4

Plants

Read-aloud texts introduce students to basic knowledge of ecology, parts of plants, how plants grow, and the interdependence of all living things.

Number of Lessons: 11

Knowledge Domain 5

Farms

Students identify several farm animals and crops and contrast how plants make their food with how animals get their food.

Number of Lessons: 9

Knowledge Domain 6

Native Americans

Students explore cultures of three Native American groups, as well as how conditions in different geographical regions influence their ways of life.

Number of Lessons: 8

Knowledge Domain 7

Kings and Queens

Students listen to read-aloud texts, both fiction and nonfiction, about kings, queens, and royal families, which build students’ understanding of royal customs.

Number of Lessons: 8

Knowledge Domain 8

Seasons and Weather

This is an introduction to weather and the seasons, where students learn that regions of Earth experience different characteristic weather patterns throughout the year.

Number of Lessons: 8

Knowledge Domain 9

Columbus and the Pilgrims

A look at the first contact between Europe and the Americas and some of its results.

Number of Lessons: 9

Knowledge Domain 10

Colonial Towns and Townspeople

Students are introduced to the early history of the United States as they explore what life was like for people in colonial times.

Number of Lessons: 10

Knowledge Domain 11

Taking Care of the Earth

Students are introduced to the importance of environmental awareness and conservation as they become familiar with the earth’s natural resources.

Number of Lessons: 10

Knowledge Domain 12

Presidents and American Symbols

Students learn about the legacies of five famous presidents, several national symbols, the branches of government, the role of the president, and elections.

Number of Lessons: 9

Skills Unit 1

Students build phonological awareness through environmental noises, words within sentences, and sounds within words. They learn basic strokes used to form letters.

Skills Unit 2

Students learn how to blend syllables together to form multisyllabic words. They orally produce two- and three-sound words by blending sounds.

Skills Unit 3

Students learn eight new sounds and practice blending them into words. They learn how to write letters that represent the new sounds.

Skills Unit 4

With oral language games, chaining exercises, and shared reading, students practice blending eight new sounds into words and writing the sound-letter correspondences.

Skills Unit 5

Eight new sounds are introduced, including a spelling alternative for /k/. Students continue to practice previously learned sound-letter correspondences.

Skills Unit 6

Students are introduced to consonant clusters, letter names, and rhyming words. Students begin to read text independently using decodable Student Readers.

Skills Unit 7

Students learn about various digraphs. Students practice blending and segmenting the sounds through phonemic awareness and phonics activities, chaining exercises, and reading.

Skills Unit 8

This unit introduces students to double-letter spellings for consonant sounds, as well as seven new high-frequency Tricky Words.

Skills Unit 9

Students practice writing uppercase letters and learn 17 new Tricky Words. Students answer comprehension questions about stories in the Student Reader.

Skills Unit 10

Students learn the basic code spelling for the five long vowel sounds. Students are administered a cumulative end-of-year assessment.

Knowledge Domain 1

Fables and Stories

Students are introduced to fables and stories, increase vocabulary and reading comprehension skills, and become familiar with the key elements of a story.

Number of Lessons: 10

Knowledge Domain 2

The Human Body

Students are introduced to the systems of the human body, care of the body, germs and disease, vaccines, and keys to good health.

Number of Lessons: 10

Knowledge Domain 3

Different Lands, Similar Stories

Students encounter cultures from around the world as they explore the ways in which folktales from different lands treat similar themes or characters.

Number of Lessons: 9

Knowledge Domain 4

Early World Civilizations

Students explore Mesopotamia and Egypt and learn about the importance of rivers, farming, writing, laws, art, and beliefs.

Number of Lessons: 16

Knowledge Domain 5

Early American Civilizations

Students compare and contrast key features of the early civilizations of the Maya, Aztec, and Inca, and explore the development of cities.

Number of Lessons: 11

Knowledge Domain 6

Astronomy

In this introduction to the solar system, students learn about Earth in relation to the moon, other planets, the sun, and the stars.

Number of Lessons: 9

Knowledge Domain 7

The History of the Earth

Students learn about the geographical features of Earth’s surface, the layers of the earth, rocks and minerals, volcanoes, geysers, fossils, and dinosaurs.

Number of Lessons: 8

Knowledge Domain 8

Animals and Habitats

Students focus on the interconnectedness of living things as they learn what a habitat is and explore specific types of habitats.

Number of Lessons: 9

Knowledge Domain 9

Fairy Tales

Students learn about the Brothers Grimm, identify common elements of fairy tales, make interpretations, and compare and contrast different tales.

Number of Lessons: 9

Knowledge Domain 10

A New Nation: American Independence

Students are introduced to important historical figures and events in the story of how the 13 colonies became an independent nation.

Number of Lessons: 12

Knowledge Domain 11

Frontier Explorers

Students are introduced to exploration of the American West, its key figures, and how colonists spread westward, including their interactions with native peoples.

Number of Lessons: 11

Skills Unit 1

Unit 1 provides a review of the sounds/spellings taught in the CKLA Kindergarten curriculum. Teachers administer the beginning-of-year assessment.

Skills Unit 2

Students read and write words with long vowel spellings and learn new Tricky Words. The unit also includes grammar lessons on nouns.

Skills Unit 3

Work continues on vowel sounds and their spellings. Grammar focus is on verbs and verb tense. Formal instruction in the writing process begins.

Skills Unit 4

Students work with /r/-controlled vowel sounds. Students practice segmenting two-syllable words. Adjectives are introduced as students practice descriptive writing.

Skills Unit 5

Students work with spelling alternatives for sounds. Students also learn to identify sentence types. They plan, draft, and edit opinion letters.

Skills Unit 6

Students continue to work with several spelling alternatives for sounds. Students review nouns and pronouns. They plan, draft, and edit personal narratives.

Skills Unit 7

Students focus on spelling alternatives for sounds. Students plan, draft, and edit an informative/explanatory text. Students are administered an end-of-year assessment.

Knowledge Domain 1

Fairy Tales and Tall Tales

Students consider characteristic elements of fairy tales and tall tales and consider problems faced by the characters and lessons each story conveys.

Number of Lessons: 8

Knowledge Domain 2

Early Asian Civilizations

Students are introduced to Asia, specifically India and China. In addition, students are introduced to related folktales and poetry.

Number of Lessons: 14

Knowledge Domain 3

Ancient Greek Civilization

Students explore the civilization of ancient Greece, which lives on in many ways—in our language, government, art, architecture, the Olympics, and more.

Number of Lessons: 12

Knowledge Domain 4

Greek Myths

Building on the Ancient Greek Civilization domain, students explore common characteristics and story elements of several well-known Greek myths and mythical characters.

Number of Lessons: 10

Knowledge Domain 5

The War of 1812

Students are introduced to major figures and events in the War of 1812, sometimes called America’s “second war for independence.”

Number of Lessons: 8

Knowledge Domain 6

Cycles in Nature

Students are introduced to natural cycles that make life on Earth possible, such as seasonal cycles, life cycles, and the water cycle.

Number of Lessons: 9

Knowledge Domain 7

Westward Expansion

Students are introduced to an important period in the history of the United States—the time of westward expansion during the 1800s.

Number of Lessons: 9

Knowledge Domain 8

Insects

Students learn about the helpful and harmful characteristics of insects, insect life cycles, and social insects such as bees and ants.

Number of Lessons: 8

Knowledge Domain 9

The U.S. Civil War

Students learn about the controversy between the North and the South over slavery and about key historical figures during that time.

Number of Lessons: 11

Knowledge Domain 10

Human Body: Building Blocks and Nutrition

Students learn about the human body, including body systems, good nutrition, keys to good health, and the advances in microbiology made by Anton van Leeuwenhoek.

Number of Lessons: 9

Knowledge Domain 11

Immigration

Students explore the idea of e pluribus unum and the importance of immigration in the history of the United States.

Number of Lessons: 10

Women in early 20th-century clothing march with signs for voting rights and justice in front of a yellow bus labeled "Cleveland Ave.," making history that can inspire lessons in a K–2 language arts curriculum.

Knowledge Domain 12

Fighting for a Cause

Students explore the connection between ideas and actions, and see how people can do extraordinary things to change the dominant ideas and actions of an entire nation.

Number of Lessons: 9

Un contorno simplificado de un gato saltando para atrapar una mariposa, sobre un fondo verde con varias ilustraciones relacionadas con gatos y palabras como "saltar" y "leche".

Skills Unit 1

Sound-spellings with an emphasis on consonant sounds, one- and two-syllable words, and Tricky Words are reviewed. The beginning-of-year assessment is administered.

Ilustración de un animal verde sobre un fondo verde con varios objetos delineados como una cama, un conejo, una nube y sonidos fonéticos.

Skills Unit 2

The unit focus is on various sound-spellings and words with one- and two-syllables. Students begin the writing process, writing narratives and opinions.

Fondo verde con el contorno blanco de un birrete de graduación en el centro, rodeado de varios garabatos educativos y relacionados con logros, como un trofeo, una cinta y una portería de fútbol.

Skills Unit 3

Practice with spelling alternatives continues. Grammar focuses on capitalization, quotation marks, ending punctuation, and common and proper nouns. Students write personal narratives.

Ilustración de un paisaje urbano con varios símbolos que incluyen un tren subterráneo, una panadería, la Estatua de la Libertad y carteles que dicen "ahora contratando" y "ciudad/ee" sobre un fondo verde.

Skills Unit 4

Students practice a range of spelling alternatives. Students practice persuasive writing as part of a friendly letter. Students learn more about nouns and verbs.

Skills Unit 5

Students practice chunking sounds as they read multisyllabic words. Grammar work includes adjectives, subjects, and predicates. Writing includes rewriting a story ending.

Skills Unit 6

Students review advanced phonics and grammar skills. Students are introduced to expository/report writing. Students take an end-of-year assessment.

Program components

The program includes instructional guidance and student materials for a year of instruction, with lessons and activities that keep students engaged every day.

Component

FORMAT

Knowledge Strand Teacher Guide

Knowledge Strand Teacher Guides contain Amplify CKLA’s cross-curricular read-alouds and application activities, all of which are standards-based to build mastery of content knowledge and literacy skills. There is one Teacher Guide per Knowledge Domain.

Print or digital

Knowledge classroom materials

Amplify CKLA includes oversized Flip Books and smaller Image Cards that bring each topic to life through vivid visuals.

Print or digital

Skills Strand Teacher Guide

Amplify CKLA Skills Strand Teacher Guides include comprehensive research-based instruction in phonological and phonemic awareness, phonics, print concepts, the alphabetic principle, grammar, writing mechanics, comprehension, spelling, and other critical foundational literacy skills.

Print or digital

Hands-on Skills ancillaries

Dynamic classroom materials include student Chaining Folders, Small and Large Letter Cards, Spelling Cards, Sound Cards, Big Books, Vowel and Consonant Code Flip Books, Code Charts, and more.

Print or digital

Assessment and Remediation Guide

The unit-by-unit Assessment and Remediation Guide provides thousands of pages of activities for reteaching, differentiation, and additional practice.

Print or digital

Digital experience

The Amplify CKLA digital experience delivers ready-made, customizable, slides-based lesson presentations to enhance instruction and save time. Everything needed to plan and present high-quality, engaging early literacy instruction is in one convenient place.

Digital

Component

FORMAT

Knowledge Strand Activity Books

Knowledge Strand Activity Books provide students with the opportunity to deepen world and word knowledge by responding to text in a diversity of ways.

Skills Strand Student Reader

Unique decodable Student Readers provide direct practice with just-learned sound-spelling patterns, using compelling stories and characters to integrate phonics and comprehension.

Skills Strand Activity book

Skills Strand Activity Books support the program’s connected approach to reading and writing, providing ample opportunities to respond to text while building core skills.

Digital experience

Digital

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The next chapter in the Science of Reading

Request samples

Amplify CKLA serves

150,000+

Classrooms

4,000,000+

Students

U.S. States and D.C.

Our approach

Improve outcomes with a program built on a decade of research, and that meets the strongest ESSA Tier I criteria.

Grounded in the Science of Reading

Success stories

Background knowledge drives results

In Amplify CKLA 3rd Edition, we’ve enriched our Knowledge Sequence with a wider range of perspectives and high-quality texts in new and enhanced units.

See units and connections

Build foundational skills for long-term success.

In our 3rd Edition, we’ve added dedicated Grades 3–5 foundational skills instruction that can either support core lessons or function as an intervention, based on student needs.

Skills by year

Daily writing deepens learning.

See the Simple View of Writing

High-quality, diverse texts

See Research Unit trade books

Reach all learners with differentiated support.

For a dedicated English language development program aligned to Amplify CKLA, explore Language Studio.

View embedded support

What’s included

The comprehensive resources in Amplify CKLA 3rd Edition support effective literacy instruction in every classroom.

Easy-to-use teacher materials

Amplify CKLA teachers are empowered to deliver effective instruction with the following print and digital resources:

Teacher Guides (K–5)
Assessment Guides (K–5)
Authentic texts and trade books (K–5)
Knowledge Image Cards (K–2)
Knowledge Flip Books (K–2, digital)
Ready-made and customizable Presentation Screens (K–5, digital)
Remediation and intervention resources (K–5)
On-demand professional development (K–5, digital)

Immersive Amplify CKLA student resources

Amplify CKLA students stay engaged with the following print and digital resources:

Decodable readers (K–2)
Student Readers and novels (3–5)
Student Activity Books (K–5)
Poet’s Journal and Writer’s Journal (3–5)
eReaders (K–5, digital)
Sound Library featuring articulation videos and songs (K–2, digital)
Assignable Practice Games (K–5)

Rich literary experiences

All of the high-quality, diverse texts in Amplify CKLA connect to the curriculum, fostering your students’ curiosity and helping them learn to read with confidence.

Trade Book Collections (K–5) inspire student research in each grade’s Culminating Research Unit.
Classic and contemporary literature (3–5) delight students in Novel Study Units.
Increasingly complex Student Readers (K–5) develop students’ literacy across grades.

Hands-on phonics materials

Multisensory phonics and foundational skills resources engage students with fun, varied approaches that promote mastery and build independence.

Chaining Folders and Small Letter Cards (K)
Read-Aloud Big Books (K–1)
Large Letter Cards (K–2)
Sound Cards (K–2)
Image Cards (K–3)
Blending Picture Cards (K)
Consonant and Vowel Code Posters and Spelling Cards (1–2)
Sound Library (K–2, digital)

All-in-one digital platform

Our comprehensive platform simplifies your day-to-day tasks and makes it easier to plan and deliver lessons.

Ready-made and customizable Presentation Screens
Auto-scored digital assessments
Standards-based reporting
Assignable Practice Games
Sound Library
eReaders

Professional Development

Move beyond traditional program training with Amplify’s digital PD Library, designed to fully support your shift to the Science of Reading and Amplify CKLA. Deepen your understanding with:

Program and planning resources
Model lesson videos from real classrooms
Guidance on using Amplify’s literacy suite to provide multi-tiered support

Ready to continue your learning journey?

We also offer live, tailored professional learning sessions by expert partners to expand your Science of Reading expertise, strengthen implementation, and improve student outcomes.

Explore Amplify PD

“Teachers love the ease of implementing the program, and students have fun while learning. Growth is evident in our data, and we have the support of Amplify experts who are available to answer questions and provide top-notch professional development.”

Bridget Vaughan, District K–8 Coordinator of ELA and Literacy

Quincy Public Schools, Massachusetts

A true Science of Reading early literacy suite for Grades K–5

Assess with mCLASS^®: A universal and dyslexia screener, powered by DIBELS 8th Edition
Instruct with Amplify CKLA: Core curriculum to build foundational skills and knowledge
Practice with Boost Reading™: Personalized learning program to extend and reinforce core
Intervene with mCLASS Intervention: Staff-led Tier 2 and 3 intervention for intensive support

“There were other programs that claimed to be [based on the] Science of Reading, but no other vendor provided the suite of products together. We did not want to be picking from here, picking from there. [Amplify’s literacy suite] met our needs, because it aligned and provided us the best suite of products, hands down.”

Nicole Peterson, Principal, Midway Middle School

Sampson County Schools, North Carolina

Language Studio: Multilingual and English language learner support

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Science of Reading principles that guide early literacy

Our understanding of the natural world is grounded in basic truths or laws we call scientific principles.

And we’ve got a similar set of principles for the Science of Reading.

In science, we have things like gravity, buoyancy, and the laws of motion, while the Science of Reading has universality, vocabulary, background knowledge, and so much more.

These principles, which are grounded in extensive Science of Reading research, inform our understanding of how children learn to read and guide educators in implementing best practices for science-based, effective literacy instruction.

These principles can support you in bringing the Science of Reading into your classroom and fostering literacy success for all your students.

Let’s take a look.

Science of Reading principles

We’ve identified 10 principles that touch on key Science of Reading components. Here’s a peek at the first five.

1. Science-based reading instruction supports all children.

Every child deserves access to high-quality instruction that can help them become proficient readers. The latest National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) data shows that students’ reading scores are slipping, with 37% of fourth graders performing below the NAEP Basic level in reading in 2022. Fortunately, we have the research and tools we need to get to work reversing this trend—and more and more educators are using them. Science-based reading instruction channels decades of research into teaching methods that match the diverse needs of all students. Using the Science of Reading, we can raise those scores and support literacy development for this generation and the next.

2. Reading and writing must be taught systematically, explicitly, and cumulatively.

Humans typically learn to speak naturally, through social interaction. But reading and writing require formal instruction. According to the Simple View of Reading, reading comprehension is the product of both decoding and linguistic comprehension. Kids must be taught the relationships between sounds and letters (phonemic awareness and phonics), and how to decode words. Systematic instruction presents these skills in a logical order, explicit instruction goes beyond just “exposing” kids to words and texts, and cumulative instruction builds on skills learned before. This structured approach is essential for laying a strong foundation in literacy.

3. Proficient reading requires word recognition and language comprehension, while proficient writing requires transcription and composition skills.

Proficient readers recognize words quickly and effortlessly, allowing them to focus on understanding the text rather than decoding each word. They are then able to comprehend language using a knowledge of vocabulary, an understanding of sentence structure, and the skill of meaning-making. Likewise, proficient writers possess transcription skills, including spelling and handwriting. And as in reading, these transcription skills eventually become automatic, allowing students to expend less effort on handwriting, typing, and spelling and redirect that energy toward creating text and sharing ideas.

4. Reading and writing are mutually reinforcing processes that should be taught through integrated instruction.

When students read a variety of texts, they absorb different writing styles, structures, and vocabularies, which also serve as models for their own writing. Writing about what they read also helps students deepen their capacity for both comprehension and expression. Integrated instruction might include activities like reading a historical novel and writing diary entries from the perspective of a character, or researching a scientific topic and creating an informative brochure.

5. Background knowledge and vocabulary are critical to both reading comprehension and writing composition.

Background knowledge is like Velcro to which new texts, and new knowledge itself, can stick. A robust vocabulary is crucial for reading comprehension, because it allows students to understand and engage with more complex material. In writing, a rich vocabulary lets students express their ideas more precisely and vividly. Integrated activities such as book clubs or writing workshops can build background knowledge, vocabulary, and the natural interplay between reading and writing, fostering a holistic—and science-backed—approach to literacy development.

You’re part of a larger community—one made up of educators and researchers invested in deepening our understanding of how kids learn to read and write, and how to bring those approaches into the classroom. Start every day inspired and grounded in this community with our Science of Reading principles placemat.

The Science of Reading and middle school: A perfect match

Perhaps you’re familiar with the Science of Reading—the large (and still-growing) body of research that details how children learn to read and informs instructional best practices to get them there.

And perhaps you also know how important it is to provide kids with evidence-based practices for reading instruction—and how, as the most effective way to make sure that every kid can learn to read, it’s truly crucial in setting all students up for success.

But did you know that the Science of Reading is not just about building foundational skills like phonological and phonemic awareness? It’s not just about how the littlest kids learn to recognize letters and words on a page. The need for research-informed instruction doesn’t go away once kids make the initial shift from not reading to reading. In fact, it’s essential throughout their reading journey—from the earliest years through grade school, and most certainly in the middle school classroom.

Let’s explore why middle schoolers need research-based literacy instruction, and take a look at how teachers can deliver it.

The Science of Reading and middle school literacy

Our brains are wired to learn spoken language, but they are not automatically wired for reading. They don’t just know that certain marks on a page are designed to represent sounds or meanings. That’s why—as the Science of Reading confirms—we have to teach reading explicitly and systematically. Learning to read actually rewires the brain by creating new neural connections and enhancing existing ones.

And when it comes to brain development, middle school is a big moment. The prefrontal cortex, responsible for higher-order thinking and executive function, is still maturing. It’s flexible, adaptable, and perfectly situated to receive the explicit instruction provided by research-based reading instruction.

Students in middle school have typically reached a certain level of automaticity with encoding and decoding. They’ve got the full—and finite—set of phonics skills under their belt, and they’re able to apply them across new and different contexts, even as vocabulary becomes more complex and unfamiliar.

But although this decoding practice remains important, students in middle school are typically able to shift more cognitive energy toward language comprehension.

And we know that background knowledge is crucial for language comprehension—the more prior knowledge you bring to a text, the better you understand it. That’s why middle school presents a major opportunity to deliver strategic and specific instruction in both language comprehension and background knowledge.

Leveraging the power of the Science of Reading

How might you take advantage of this unique developmental moment to accelerate student literacy? Here’s a glimpse at some of the approaches Amplify Chief Academic Officer and Vice President of ELA Deb Sabin explores in this webinar:

Choose complex grade-level texts that help build students’ background knowledge and expose them to a variety of structures and genres. Exposure and access to grade-appropriate content is crucial for every student and helps them stay on target towards reading goals.
Provide explicit comprehension instruction to help students interpret texts and build mental models for understanding. You might employ graphic organizers or encourage performance for deeper understanding and engagement.
Incorporate writing prompts into core instruction. More and more research shows that writing has a strong impact on comprehension, helping students crystallize their understanding while also exposing gaps.
Focus on fluency. Research connects oral reading practice to improved comprehension. You might have students practice reading specific passages aloud, encouraging them not only to work on rate and accuracy, but also to reflect on which words they choose to emphasize and why.

That’s just a peek at how you can bring the power of research-based reading instruction to your middle schoolers. To learn more, check out the following resources:

Download our Science of Reading infographic to learn more about how the Science of Reading supports middle schoolers.
Review our infographic, Four steps for improving literacy in middle school, shares evidence-based practices to equip middle school students with the strategies they need excel.
Read through our resource, Providing strong writing instruction in middle school, to help your middle schoolers become strong, skilled writers.

Texas State Reviewers: Welcome to Amplify Desmos Math Texas!

Thank you for taking the time to review Amplify Desmos Math Texas K–5. This site provides the login steps and tools you need to review the program.

Watch this short introductory video to help you navigate the Amplify Desmos Math Texas K-5 platform. Then, use the login credentials below to start your online review.

The helpful Navigation Tool-Title Lists with live links and other documents to guide your review can be found below as well.

Step 1

Go to learning.amplify.com and select Login with Amplify.

Enter the username and password:

Username: t.txmathk5@tryamplify.net
Password: AmplifyNumber1

Step 2

Select Amplify Desmos Math in Your Programs.

Step 3

Once you’re in the program, select a grade level to explore the digital curriculum.

Navigation video

View this short introductory video to help you navigate the Amplify Desmos Math Texas K-5 platform.

Navigation Tool – Title Lists

Tip: Be sure you’re logged into the Amplify Desmos Math platform (steps above) before clicking on the links in these documents.

New content – Quality rubric 1.1a

If approved, this proposed content will be added as a Paper Resource on the Course-level tile on Amplify Desmos Math Texas and on the Caregiver Hub as an additional home resource.

New content – Quality rubric 2.1c

If approved, these two pages will be added to the front matter of the Assessment Resource teacher ancillary.

New content – Grade 4

Grade 4, Unit 1, Lesson 13 Student Edition
4.1.C.iv select tools, including technology as appropriate, to solve problems
- 4.1.C.iv Activity Citation 1:4.3.14 (New Content: Activity 2, Screens 5 – 10, Second Sentence on each Screen)
- 4.1.C.iv Activity Citation 2: 4.1.03 (New Content: Activity 1, Screen 3, Sentence that begins with Choose)
- 4.1.C.iv Activity Citation 3: 4.1.03 (New Content: Synthesis, Screen 8, Explain, Last sentence that begins with Choose)
- 4.1.C.iv Activity Citation 4: 4.6.16 (New Content: Activity 1, Screen 2, Sentence that begins with Choose)

Citations for Upper Limit TEKS in K-5 Mathematics

Proposed changes to address the upper limit TEKS breakouts can be found at the link above. The notes for each citation indicate where the new content will exist, once approved.

Components List

Access the full list of components for Amplify Desmos Math Texas K-5.

Center Resources and Kits

Access a description and ISBN’s for the K-5 Center Resources and Kits.

Manipulative Kits List

Access the full list of contents for each K-5 Amplify Desmos Math Texas Manipulative Kit.

Welcome, K–5 Atlanta Public Schools!

Georgia educators, achieve life-changing results with the Science of Reading—we’ll show you how.

The Science of Reading and middle school

The power of the Science of Reading doesn’t end in elementary school. Evidence-based reading instruction is equally critical for developing strong, proficient readers in middle school and beyond.

What is the Science of Reading?

The Science of Reading is the robust body of research that:

Illuminates how the brain processes reading, providing insights into both decoding and language comprehension.
Breaks down the distinct components of literacy development and shows how to address those components explicitly and systematically.
Offers educators actionable strategies and an evidence-based road map to fluent reading.

By understanding the neurological pathways involved in—and built by—reading, educators can tailor their instruction to better meet the diverse needs of all their students.

Learn more

How does the Science of Reading apply to middle school?

The Simple View of Reading and the Reading Rope are core models that illustrate the essential—and interconnected—components of successful reading and how students move through them as they build literacy. Together, the two provide a detailed map for strengthening the interdependent skills of decoding and comprehension.

Middle school students are drawing on all components of the Reading Rope as they encounter increasingly sophisticated text. They require instructional techniques that nurture advanced language comprehension skills and continue to support key fluency skills. This involves continuing to build background knowledge, deliberately targeting key areas of language comprehension that arise in the text, and reinforcing foundational skills, all in order to address the increasing language demands of their educational journey.

Download our ebook

Science of Reading and middle school: A critical moment

The middle school years are a pivotal and transformative period in reading development—just when students are also experiencing significant cognitive, emotional, and social growth. Integrating the Science of Reading into your curriculum can help students bridge any gaps, empowering them to move from basic reading skills to complex, critical reading skills at a time when strong reading comprehension becomes essential.

Learn more

The importance of challenging, grade-level texts

Middle school students are on their way to becoming skilled readers, and need a unique balance of structured and independent opportunities to explore a range of texts, gathering information as they read. Key to the Science of Reading, exposure to varied texts helps middle schoolers continue building their vocabulary and background knowledge.

Providing all students access to diverse, grade-level texts challenges them, both as readers and critical thinkers, while treating them with dignity and respect as learners.

Middle schoolers are driven by social connection. They typically thrive in learning environments that incorporate collaborative activities and peer interaction. This synergy not only supports learning, but also enhances engagement and motivation—forming a powerful cycle.

Cognitively, adolescent students are increasingly able to handle abstract concepts, prefer active learning experiences, and are energized by authentic instruction and cognitively challenging work that is connected to the world beyond the classroom.¹

¹Marks, H. M. (2000). Student engagement in instructional activity: Patterns in the elementary, middle, and high school years. American Educational Research Journal, 37(1), 153–184; and NMSA (2010). https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.3102/00028312037001153

Science of Reading-driven instruction for middle schoolers

Aligning literacy practices to the Science of Reading provides the best systematic, explicit, and engaging instruction for middle schoolers, empowering teachers to target the areas where students need the most support.

A lively middle school classroom buzzes with students eagerly raising their hands, engaged in the comprehensive language arts curriculum. Educational posters line the walls, enhancing the learning atmosphere as they face their teacher at the front.

Effective literacy strategies

To develop essential literacy and critical thinking abilities, students should concentrate on key skills through meaningful engagement with core content. The most effective method goes beyond isolated “skill-building” exercises; instead, it embraces an integrated approach that involves:

Building background knowledge.
Encouraging engagement with sequenced, grade-level materials.
Spending dedicated time on vocabulary and word study.
Interactive exercises, such as read-alouds and collaborative discussions.

Writing and reading build on each other. Through the Science of Reading, integrating evidence-based writing instruction with reading instruction offers students a holistic approach to literacy that reinforces understanding and promotes seamless expression of ideas.

Guided support and interventions

As Tim Shanahan, Ph.D., literacy expert and author, writes, “Be on the lookout for kids who are not able to decode proficiently. It doesn’t matter the source of those problems…they need to be identified.”

Through evidence-based literacy instruction and explicit, differentiated support for students who need it, educators can adapt their teaching to meet their middle school students where they are academically, socially, and developmentally—ensuring they continue to advance toward being capable, inspired, and lifelong readers and writers.

Science of Reading ebook

Learn how to offer the strongest literacy instruction to your middle schoolers.

Middle school webinar

Explore strategies to help middle schoolers at the far end of the Reading Rope.

Science of Reading: The Podcast

Listen and subscribe to hear the latest insights from literacy experts.

Want to change your middle schoolers’ lives with the Science of Reading?

We’re here to help! Speak with a representative to get started.

Overview

With the Science of Reading at its core, Boost Reading blends compelling storytelling with research-based instructional practices to offer:

Personalized instruction across 13 different critical skill areas that adapts to each student’s needs while building on their strengths. Explicit practice in comprehension processes, phonics, and vocabulary. Extra support and scaffolds for struggling readers and English learners with demonstrated impact. An immersive game-play design that motivates students to discover that learning to read is fun.

Engagement is in the DNA: Every lesson and activity engages students through compelling storytelling and powerful narrative. Students persist longer and learn more deeply than when they are working on repetitive worksheet-like programs.

Instruction and practice: Boost Reading gives students practice as well as instruction in the key concepts they need to master. Our reading instruction and curriculum is interactive, not passive.

Emphasizes deep conceptual understanding: Backed by the latest research and designed with experts, Boost Reading focuses on ensuring that students have a deep understanding of the concepts. And those skills transfer from the program to the real world.

Boost Reading is a supplemental digital literacy instruction program that provides students with practice and explicit instruction in the underlying phonics, phonological awareness, vocabulary, and comprehension skills that are essential for fluent reading with good comprehension (e.g., Cartwright, 2010; NICHD, 2000; Oakhill, Cain, & Elbro, 2015).

The overarching goal of the program is to provide engaging individualized instruction and practice in the skills and strategies that have the most impact on literacy, while making it explicit to students that the skills they are practicing are things that good readers do while they are reading. As repetition with variety is an essential part of effective literacy instruction (e.g., Schuele & Boudreau, 2008), after a brief introduction to each activity, students are given repeated opportunities to practice these skills with varied stimuli. They receive immediate feedback for their responses and are given more explicit instruction in areas that are challenging. The instruction provided incorporates documented principles of effective instructional delivery; the activities engage students in multiple opportunities to practice critical skills at an appropriate pace with consistent feedback and prioritize student engagement and motivation, helping students to see their own growth toward reading goals (Carnine, Silbert, Kame’enui, & Tarver, 2016; Gersten, et. al., 2009; Deci, & Ryan, 2012.).

Activities build on an existing computer-based intervention that has been documented to improve the decoding skills of students in multiple experimental studies (Richardson & Lyytinen, 2014). Since learning is promoted when students use their knowledge across tasks (e.g., Merrill, 2002), generalization is encouraged through ebooks with embedded activities that reinforce skills recently practiced in related games.

Instruction is closely aligned with the English Language Arts Common Core State Standards (CSSS) for literary and informational texts and the North Carolina English Language Arts standards. The program was designed to include content that is most effective at building the word reading and comprehension skills of elementary students (e.g., NICHD, 2000; NIFL, 2008), including at-risk and struggling readers (e.g., NICHD, 2000) and English language learners (e.g., August & Shanahan, 2006). The content focuses on foundational reading skills (i.e., phonological awareness and phonics) as well as vocabulary and reading comprehension.

Research also shows that by providing students with contextualized learning experiences and rich engaging stories, narrative-centered interactive learning environments increase student interest, self-efficacy, and feelings of involvement and control in their learning (McQuiggan, Rowe, Lee, & Lester, 2008).

Over the course of our early efficacy study, kindergarteners using Boost Reading grew an average of 16% more than kindergarteners who didn’t use Boost Reading. First graders using Boost Reading grew 23% more than first graders who didn’t.

We compared students in kindergarten through fifth grade who used Boost Reading during the 2019 fall semester to students from the same district who did not use Boost Reading, using Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills, 8th Edition (DIBELS® 8th Edition) Composite Scores and Zones of Growth. We found K–5 students who used Boost Reading showed better growth on DIBELS 8th Edition Zones of Growth than those who did not use the product. Additionally, we found that the program was particularly effective for English Language Learners (ELLs). (DIBELS 8th Edition; University of Oregon, 2018)

You can view the study here.

Boost Reading allows younger students to progress through the curriculum along a pathway that best fits their developing abilities. Students are placed into the program based on prior data and the system maintains a rich profile for them as they master each skill level. Boost Reading also provides adaptive support, meaning that the degree of scaffolding, instruction, and practice adapts within each game based on student performance.

Students are served up content that’s appropriate for them within each quest. If a student struggles with a particular content set (3 failed attempts), the set is removed from the quest and presented to the student in a later quest after they’ve had more practice with the prerequisite skills.

When this happens, the teacher dashboard will indicate that the student is “stuck” through the class view and the student view.

If the teacher taps on the student’s name, they can see the specific content that the student struggled with. This allows teachers to provide additional support for the student. The progress bar will go back to green when the student has mastered the content set at a later date.

Classroom use

For younger students

Boost Reading is a supplemental reading curriculum designed to support a student’s development in key early literacy skills through play. The games in Boost Reading are meant to engage students individually on their own unique path. As a result, there are numerous ways you can use Boost Reading with your students.

We recommend you allow students to play for 10–15 minutes per session, 2–3 times a week in some of the following ways:

As part of a work station or literacy center
During reading blocks or choice time
With students not in intervention groups during intervention time
During transitions between periods (or at the start or end of school)
In a computer lab
In after-school programs
At home (students may use logins to practice on Boost Reading at home)

For younger students

Students propel the storyline in Boost Reading forward as they take on quests in Bookerton. This narrative is available in both English and Spanish. Students can toggle between the two languages through their settings menu.

In-Game Supports

In addition to the overall narrative, many of the games have features that support ELL students and struggling readers:

Many of the games have read-aloud text or are picture-based so that students can work independently, whatever their level of language proficiency.
Supports such as cognates are provided for vocabulary words in Boost Reading interactive Reader.
Boost Reading has games that cover phonics and phonological awareness, including at the syllable level, to support pre-readers who need robust instruction in these areas.
Boost Reading has games that provide explicit language instruction, for example connectives and anaphora, as well as strategy instruction in comprehension monitoring and morphology.
Boost Reading’s instructional methods (e.g., providing clear models, multiple opportunities to practice skills, feedback, cumulative review) and the skills and strategies taught in phonics, morphology, and language leverage techniques proven to help ELs learn how to read in English. Coupled with progressing Spanish-language support, Boost Reading ensures that all students can succeed, no matter what their first language is. Read more here.

Technology

Supported Devices and Network Requirements

To ensure that your hardware and network meet the minimum technical requirements for optimal performance and support of Boost Reading please see Amplify’s customer requirements page

List of IP Addresses to Allow

To make sure Boost Reading is accessible at your district, you can add the appropriate URLs to your district’s firewall allowlist. Visit the Amplify Network Access Validator to see the list of URLs and IP addresses.

What Is Reading Comprehension Anyway?

August 19

Monday, 3pm ET

What is comprehension exactly? Is it a skill that can be taught and measured? And how can we help students grow as comprehenders? Join Susan Lambert, Ed.D., to learn the fundamentals of comprehension, including how it connects to oral language and working memory, what comprehension processes and products are, and the different comprehender profiles.

Comprehension and Knowledge Building: A Two-Way Street

June 24

Tuesday, 3pm ET/12pm PT

Join researchers Sonia Cabell, Ph.D., and HyeJin Hwang, Ph.D., to explore the relationship between building background knowledge and comprehension. They’ll cover how oral language development, knowledge, and comprehension are connected; go over recent research; and share the best instructional approaches for reading comprehension—and literacy—success.

What is Reading Comprehension Anyway?

June 24

Monday, 3pm ET/12 pm PT

start.amplify test page

Amplify K–6 ELA programs for Fairfax County

Welcome, Fairfax County Reviewers!

Thank you for exploring our evidence-based K–6 programs built on the Science of Reading and aligned to Virginia standards and Fairfax County’s learning model.

Amplify CKLA for Grades K–5 and Amplify ELA for Grade 6 intentionally build knowledge alongside skills and are aligned within and across grades. Meaningful learning experiences for students pair with powerful instructional support for teachers to drive results.

The following resources will support your review. These include clips of Amplify programs in action; details about key features of the curriculum; and research on the real-world successes of schools, districts, and states who’ve partnered with Amplify.

Amplify CKLA for Grades K–5

Introduction to Amplify CKLA

We’re excited for you to see how Amplify CKLA provides high-quality resources to support literacy instruction for all students! This program is flexible, offering stand-alone foundational skills instruction as well as the program core English Language Arts.

Amplify CKLA Skills is built on the latest reading science and provides comprehensive instruction in all foundational reading skills, featuring:

Phonological awareness, phonics, and word recognition.
Strong, systematic sound-first instruction to support students in learning to decode.
Language skills, including conventions, spelling, and grammar.
Reading comprehension.
Writing instruction.

CKLA for Grades K–2 provides a two-strand approach. The first is the Foundational Skills Strand (as described above) and the second is the Knowledge Strand, in which students build rich background knowledge through multidisciplinary read-alouds. CKLA takes an Integrated approach in Grades 3–5, in which lesson sequencing is especially focused on rich, worldly content.

We encourage you to check out the K–2 Knowledge Strand and 3–5 Integrated approach sections of this site to explore the components further and gain access to the engaging and diverse texts students and teachers are using in their classrooms every day!

K–2 Skills Strand

In the CKLA classroom, students practice reading while stretching themselves toward higher goals. In K–2, daily dedicated skills time gives students a solid foundation, while the upper grades integrate this instruction with knowledge lessons in which students engage with increasingly complex, content-rich texts and writing activities.

Start with the sound

All instruction starts with phonological awareness, which research has shown to benefit the greatest number of students. Students begin by learning to recognize sounds, as well as to articulate them.

Build to the phoneme

Over time, students build up their awareness of phonemes. We give teachers a variety of tools, including multisensory gestures, to help kids develop this awareness.

Crack the code

Grow in complexity

K–2 Knowledge Strand

Build connections and context

Each CKLA Knowledge Domain gives students a base of vocabulary and concepts, building on what they’ve learned in previous domains. This helps students make connections within and across grades, building a base of background knowledge that will help them navigate new and more complex texts.

Listen and understand

Students learn to listen and understand before they learn to read. By delivering knowledge through classroom read-alouds, Amplify CKLA teaches students the key comprehension skills they’ll use throughout their reading lives.

Emphasis on interactivity

Amplify CKLA prioritizes interactions between students, which challenge and encourage them to think about the material rather than simply receive it. Each lesson includes several opportunities and options for formative assessment and immediate adjustment to the needs of both the class and the individual students.

Assess what’s important

The end-of-domain digital assessments that follow Knowledge Domains are fully voice-acted, ensuring that each student’s comprehension skills are authentically tested. This not only builds students’ test-taking confidence, but gives you a more accurate picture of your class.

3–5 Integrated approach

By Grades 3–5, students have mastered the basics of decoding and are eager to use what they’ve learned to reach out to the world. Although read-alouds remain an important part of lessons, students are also encouraged to practice independent reading starting in Grade 3, developing their autonomy and confidence as readers alongside strong teacher support.

Writing and language

As students progress from K–2, writing activities start to emphasize analysis, creativity, and independent thinking about lesson materials.

Core Quests: Transforming the classroom

Each of the units in Grades 3–5 contain a Core Quest—a special unit in which all the rules of the classroom change as students engage with language in surprising new ways. In Grade 5, for example, students learn to love the dense Shakespearian language of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” through imagery, close reading, and performance.

Key CKLA features

Built out of the latest research in the Science of Reading, Amplify CKLA delivers explicit instruction in both foundational literacy skills (systematic phonics, decoding, and fluency) and background knowledge in Grades K–2, with an integrated approach to explicit instruction in Grades 3–5.

Review this Science of Reading Toolkit to learn more about the Science of Reading best practices integrated throughout CKLA.

Great reading instruction starts with great decoding skills. When students build a solid foundation of phonological awareness and phonics, reading the words on the page becomes automatic so that comprehension and critical thinking can happen.

Our instruction is supported by:

Step-by-step lessons with multisensory approaches, clear lesson objectives, and embedded formative assessments.
Unmatched, 100% decodable books and student readers that feature engaging plots and relatable characters.
An engaging sound library with fun songs and videos that develop phonological awareness.

Students build grade-appropriate subject-area knowledge and vocabulary in history, science, literature, and the arts while learning to read, write, and think creatively and for themselves.

Our instruction is supported by:

Knowledge builders that provide a quick overview of each domain with its key ideas.
Interactive read-alouds designed to build knowledge and vocabulary.
Content-rich anchor texts that support students as they tackle increasingly complex text and sharpen their analytical skills.

From the printed page to the screen, we bring foundational skills and knowledge of the world to your young learners, and make the transition from classroom to home learning seamless.

Download the Amplify CKLA Components Guide to see components by grade.

Amplify Caminos is an equitable Spanish language arts program for Grades K–5 that will engage your students and inspire them to become confident readers, writers, and thinkers.

Designed to support any biliteracy model (including ESL, transitional bilingual, dual language, and Spanish immersion), Amplify Caminos can be used in tandem with Amplify CKLA to provide a fully equitable, one-to-one English and Spanish solution.

Amplify ELA for Grade 6

Amplify ELA is a blended English language arts curriculum designed specifically to prepare middle school students for high school and beyond. This interactive core curriculum brings complex texts to life with lively classroom discussions and meaningful digital experiences in which students grapple with interesting ideas and find relevance for themselves.

Amplify ELA’s built-in 100-Day Pathway outlines required content for each grade level, while providing teachers time and space to teach the supplemental lessons and activities they love.

The program has received an all-green rating on EdReports—read the review.

Amplify ELA delivers:

A unique research-based approach designed to get all students reading grade-level text together.
An instructional design that inspires students to read more deeply, write more vividly, and think more critically.
A rich combination of dynamic texts, lively discussions, and interactive Quests that engages and inspires middle school students.

EdReports and Knowledge Matters Campaign

Amplify CKLA for Grades K–5 is among the few elementary core curricula to be both rated all green on EdReports (earning green scores across all gateways) and recognized by the Knowledge Matters Campaign for its excellence in intentionally building knowledge. Amplify ELA for grade 6 also earned all-green scores on EdReports.

Access FCPS reviewer platform

To experience Amplify’s K–6 ELA programs for FCPS, complete the following steps.

Access your teacher demo account:

Access the reviewer site.
Select Log in with Amplify.
Enter your teacher username: t1.fcps-demo@demo.tryamplify.net
Enter your password: Amplify1-fcps-demo

Access your student demo account:

Access the reviewer site.
Select Log in with Amplify.
Enter your student username: s1.fcps-demo@demo.tryamplify.net
Enter your password: Amplify1-fcps-demo

VA correlations

CKLA Kindergarten correlation
CKLA Grade 1 correlation
CKLA Grade 2 correlation
CKLA Grade 3 correlation
CKLA Grade 4 correlation
CKLA Grade 5 correlation

Additional reviewer resources

Amplify CKLA Program Guide (Grades K–5)
Amplify ELA Program Guide (Grade 6)
Amplify biliteracy and Science of Reading principles
Diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility
Text complexity
Trade books
Amplify CKLA meets Virginia Literacy Act (VLA) requirements

Get in touch

To learn more, contact Michael Kasloff at mkasloff@amplify.com.

Amplify K–3 CKLA resources for Georgia Department of Education

Next-generation speech recognition technology

Text Reading Online was created in partnership by Amplify and SoapBox Labs, a Dublin-based developer of accuracy and privacy driven voice technology for children. Text Reading Online represents the first literacy assessment of its kind to enable remote evaluation of reading accuracy, fluency, and comprehension.

Assess remotely with Text Reading Online

How it works

To perform the Text Reading Online assessment, students read two texts aloud. The first text is at the student’s grade level and the read-aloud is evaluated for reading accuracy and fluency through SoapBox Lab’s speech recognition technology.

Students then answer a set of text-dependent comprehension questions to evaluate their degree of understanding. This is repeated with the second text, which is adapted based on the student’s performance on the initial text, including their accuracy, fluency, and comprehension.

A digital reading comprehension activity shows a passage about a Texas heatwave and multiple-choice questions for students to answer, with an owl cartoon giving instructions.

Data from the oral reading fluency assessment, including reading rate and specific error types, provides educators with near-real-time feedback, which they can use to identify areas of focus and cater lessons to each student’s needs.

Learn about mCLASS

Text Reading Online is a measure available within mCLASS, a K–6 universal assessment, instruction, and intervention suite. To learn how to bring mCLASS to your school or district, visit this page to fill out a contact form.

Survey

We’re interested in learning more about you. Please fill out this survey!

Program overview

Boost Lectura is a high-quality, personalized Spanish literacy foundational skills program that complements Amplify Reading to build reading proficiency in both English and Spanish for grades K–2.

Student field study experience

Note: This is an early subset of the program experience. Some content may be appropriate for some students, but difficult for others. This is feedback we want to hear. The designs are also still in progress, with many aspects yet to be featured. Please email Aya Bukres with all suggestions!

Field study books and games

Below is a list of books and games (with associated skills) by grade level. Students will access these games and books through Quests.

Note: Books do not include voice-over at this time.

Kindergarten Books

¿Qué pasa con la gallina Tina?	¿Qué puedes hacer con los 5 sentidos?	¿Por qué croan las ranas?
Un festín de sabores	Un ¡pop! en tiempo	Los aluxes
El efecto mariposa	Las estaciones del año

Kindergarten Games

Game Name	Big Idea	Skill that will be practiced
Son sabrosón	Phonological Awareness	Rhyming
Alfa y beto	Phonological Awareness	Blending
Jugando ando	Phonological Awareness	Segmentation
Tragaletras exigentes	Phonics	Letter-sound correspondences
Tragaletras gruñones	Phonics	Letter combinations
Tragaletras comelones	Phonics	Review of letter-sound correspondences and letter combinations
Investiga la escena	Comprehension Processes	Gap-filling Inferences

Grade 1 Books

La leyenda de la colibrí	La capibara: Un animal amigable	Mi ruidoso cuerpo
El zorro y el huaychao	Deseos al sol

Grade 1 Games

Game Name	Big Idea	Skill that will be practiced
Alfa y beto	Phonological Awareness	Blending
Jugando ando	Phonological Awareness	Segmentation
Tragaletras exigentes	Phonics	Letter-sound correspondences
Tragaletras gruñones	Phonics	Letter combinations
Tragaletras comelones	Phonics	Review of letter-sound correspondences and letter combinations
Silabalón: la copa	Phonics	Syllable decoding
¿Aquí o alla?	Phonics & Word Recognition	Decoding words with y, g, and c
¿Esta o aquella?	Phonics & Word Recognition	Decoding words with different graphemes to represent the same phoneme
¡Abra palabra!	Phonics & Word Recognition	Decoding – syllable manipulation
Quita y pon	Phonics & Word Recognition	Decoding – syllable manipulation
¡Conéctalo!	Comprehension Processes	Using connectives
Investiga la escena	Comprehension Processes	Gap-filling inferences

Grade 2 Books

La despedida	La verdadera fortuna	La fascinante Ruta de la Seda
Bernardo de Gálvez	Hormigas amigas

Grade 2 Games

Game Name	Big Idea	Skill that will be practiced
¿Aquí o alla?	Phonics & Word Recognition	Decoding words with y, g, and c
¿Esta o aquella?	Phonics & Word Recognition	Decoding words with different graphemes to represent the same phoneme
¡Abra palabra!	Phonics & Word Recognition	Decoding – syllable manipulation
Quita y pon	Phonics & Word Recognition	Decoding – syllable manipulation
¡Conéctalo!	Comprehension Processes	Using connectives
Investiga la escena	Comprehension Processes	Gap-filling inferences

Consider using Boost Lectura during the following times:

Small group or center time
Choice time
During intervention blocks
After school
At home
Remote learning

Getting your students online

Amplify login page with options to log in using Google, Clever, Amplify, QR code, District SSO, or get help; a rocket illustration is on the left.

Instruct students to navigate to learning.amplify.com, and log in using the method you typically use when logging into Boost Reading.

A screen displays the question "Where are you headed?" with options "Reading" and "Lectura," and a purple "Go!" button at the bottom.

Find and click on the icon for Boost Lectura, as shown above.

At this time, students can begin playing games or reading books by clicking on “Iniciar.”

A large button labeled "INICIAR" is displayed in the center of a colorful, illustrated town map background.

Having students play games in Quests

Select a game from the list to play!

A woman smiles in a café with a blue creature beside her, a barista behind the counter, pastries on display, and three app icons with Spanish text on the right.

Students can play games in Quests by selecting the curioso icon.

A cartoon map shows various buildings, trees, and winding paths with a "Detour" sign and a blue character in the center marked by a location pin.

Students should hear quest narratives in Spanish.

The Automatic Placement Tool (APT)

The Automatic Placement Tool will be served when students first log in and choose the Lectura product. The Experience should take about 15–20 minutes total.

Students are greeted with a comical animation explaining we need their help with answering a few questions.

A concerned scientist stands in a control room surrounded by green goblin-like creatures, some using tools and wearing glasses, with a background of technological equipment.

Students are guided through a few short activities measuring different skills domains.

A digital quiz in Spanish asks, "¿Qué sílaba hace este sonido?" with a sound icon and three answer choices: "al," "en," and "ir.

Students receive closure to their experience via another short animation.

A scientist in a lab coat stands in a futuristic control room, surrounded by four small green creatures also wearing lab coats.

Troubleshooting guide

Please check to ensure “cookies” are accepted on your device.
If you still receive an error message or blank screen when accessing an Amplify page, please email Aya Bukres.

Please email Aya Bukres to confirm your login credentials.

What is Amplify CKLA?

Amplify CKLA is a core ELA program for grades PK–5 that delivers:

A unique research-based approach truly built on the Science of Reading.
A combination of explicit foundational skills with meaningful knowledge-building.
Embedded support and differentiation that gets all students reading grade-level texts together.
Opportunities for students to see the strengths and experiences that all people share while also celebrating each others’ unique identities and experiences.

A colorful rope diagram shows strands for language comprehension and word recognition, with images of reading and phonics materials near respective strands.

How does Amplify CKLA work?

Daily instruction

Grade PreK: Developmentally appropriate foundational knowledge

Our PreK program delivers developmentally appropriate instruction and activities that do more than lay the groundwork for foundational skills—they offer content knowledge, incorporating research that shows true literacy requires background knowledge in history, science, art, and literature. Amplify CKLA PreK easily fits into any class routine, with 45 minutes of interactive instruction designed to accommodate full-day or half-day schedules.

Grades K–2: Dedicated knowledge-building and explicit skills instruction
Every day, students in Grades K–2 complete one full lesson that explicitly and systematically builds foundational reading skills in the Skills Strand, as well as one full lesson that builds robust background knowledge to access complex text in the Knowledge Strand. Through learning in each of these strands, students develop the early literacy skills necessary to help them become confident readers and build the context to understand what they’re reading.

Grades 3–5: Integrated instruction
In Grades 3–5, Knowledge and Skills are integrated in one set of instructional materials. Lessons begin to combine skills and knowledge with increasingly complex texts, close reading, and a greater writing emphasis. Students can then use their skills to go on their own independent reading adventures.

Formative and summative assessments

A young boy in a light blue shirt writes in a notebook at his desk in a classroom, with other students working nearby.

Amplify CKLA features a progression of moment-by-moment assessments to benchmark assessments. Assessment and feedback give teachers the information they need to differentiate instruction effectively.

Checks for Understanding
Each lesson segment incorporates checks for understanding to increase engagement and to let teachers make real-time adjustments to their instruction.

Formative Assessment
Each lesson goal is tied to a formative assessment opportunity, allowing teachers to see which students need more support with a benchmark.

Mid- and End-of-Unit Assessments
Mid-Unit and End-of-Unit Assessments provide valuable information on the skills and content students have mastered. Digital end-of-unit assessments are available on a variety of platforms.

Benchmark and Placement Assessments
Benchmark and Placement Assessments help teachers set goals and monitor the growth of each student, providing a baseline at the beginning of the year and ensuring students are advancing toward grade-level objectives.

Download our CKLA Assessment Sampler

What makes Amplify CKLA different?

Integration with mCLASS DIBELS 8

Amplify CKLA is the only core ELA program that integrates with mCLASS DIBELS 8th Edition.

The CKLA Connect feature matches your students with targeted CKLA lessons based on their mCLASS DIBELS 8th Edition assessment data. In other words, it aligns your assessments more closely with your core curriculum while recommending effective differentiated instruction.

Download this guide to connecting mCLASS DIBELS 8 with Amplify CKLA

A digital dashboard displays lesson plans for CKLA Connect and a group labeled "Letter Sound Knowledge" with two students, showing progress and learning needs.

Built on the Science of Reading

Built out of the latest research in the Science of Reading, Amplify CKLA delivers explicit instruction in foundational knowledge in PreK, both foundational literacy skills (systematic phonics, decoding, and fluency) and background knowledge in grades K–2, and an integrated approach to explicit instruction in grades 3–5.

Review this Science of Reading toolkit to learn more about the Science of Reading best practices integrated throughout CKLA.

Explicit systematic skills instruction

Step-by-step lessons with multisensory approaches, clear lesson objectives, and embedded formative assessments.
Decodable books and student readers with ebook and audiobook versions that feature interesting plots and relatable characters.
An engaging sound library with fun songs and videos that develop phonological awareness.
An interactive Vocab App featuring engaging activities with immediate feedback and automated, customized instruction based on student performance.

Coherent knowledge instruction

Knowledge builders that provide a quick overview of each domain with its key ideas.
Interactive Read-Alouds designed to build knowledge and vocabulary.
Content-rich anchor texts that support students as they tackle increasingly complex text and sharpen their analytical skills.
Social and emotional learning paired with lessons in civic responsibility.

Illustration montage featuring scenes of learning: a cartoon character with books, two people shoveling snow under the stars, and an astronaut on a lunar landscape, with educational interfaces.

Embedded differentiation for all learners

Amplify CKLA provides built-in differentiation strategies in every lesson for all students, including supports for English language learners and Standard English learners.

Access supports for ELLs: Integrated ELD supports in each lesson segment for English learners and Standard English learners are specific to students’ mastery of the lesson’s objectives.
Support and Challenge for all learners: Lessons include Support and Challenge suggestions that provide assistance or opportunities for more advanced work toward the goal of the lesson. These supports are suitable for all learners, including ELLs.
30 minutes of Additional Support in every Skills lesson: In the Skills Strand, every lesson concludes with an Additional Support section of recommendations for 30 minutes of extended instruction and activities, directly aligned to the skills taught in the lesson to assist students who need more support in mastering the lesson’s objectives.
Intervention Toolkit: The Intervention Toolkit provides easy-to-use resources to assist teachers in filling gaps in students’ foundational skills. Teachers will find of hundreds of activities to support phonics, fluency, comprehension, handwriting, and other key skills.

Designated ELD with Language Studio

Amplify CKLA’s designated English Language Development (ELD) component—Language Studio—helps English learners preview and revisit key content within core instruction, building a foundation of academic vocabulary and background knowledge. Core instruction lessons include point-of-use supports for English learners and Support and Challenge strategies for all learners.

Young boy with his hands over his mouth, looking up in wonder, beside a diagram labeled "language studio" with educational elements.

This carefully developed program follows the CKLA Knowledge domains, previewing and reinforcing skills and content from core instruction using instruction specifically built for English learners. The program is also designed around frequent formative assessment, including assessment of language proficiency, giving you effective ways to guide and support your English learners.

Language Studio supports teachers and English learners through the following:

30 minutes of instruction with lesson segments are carefully designed around Content Knowledge, Meaning Making, Language Development, Effective Expression, and Foundational Skills.
Every Language Studio lesson accompanies a core lesson, helping English learners deepen domain and academic vocabulary that will help them access core content.
Culminating tasks support core projects and target the same skills as primary instruction.

Writing emphasis with Writing Studio

With Writing Studio, students in Grades K-5 focus deeply on the three key text types informative, narrative, and opinion–while applying both the skills and knowledge from the core program.

Writing Studio supports students through:

Expanding on core writing instruction to develop analytical thinking through writing.
Lessons that focus on writing standards, providing intensive focus and application to strengthen skills.
Opportunities to apply knowledge in new contexts and deepen comprehension through writing.
Scaffolded writing projects to help all students find success within the stages of the writing process.

Covers of four "Writing Studio Teacher Guide" books for different grades, featuring educational icons in orange, purple, blue, and teal color schemes.

Writing Studio lessons:

Allow teachers to differentiate through Support and Challenge prompts for students at all levels, and Access Supports for ELLs.
Spark creativity with authentic writing projects that call on students to engage deeply with rich topics and sources.
Implement careful design and provide rubrics so that students’ writing skills can visibly grow throughout the year.

A culminating project in each grade asks students to apply their knowledge and understanding of text types and to select the appropriate text type for a final piece of writing.

Personalized practice with Boost Reading

Boost Reading is the student-driven skill practice program within CKLA, providing differentiated, digital instruction in both foundational skills and comprehension strategies. Because Boost Reading is built on the same approach to reading as CKLA, students are able to extend their learning from the core program further, at their own pace.

Amplify CKLA and Boost Reading reinforce each other through:

An aligned scope and sequence and instructional approach: In both programs, students get instruction and practice in phonological awareness and phonics, with the most common, least ambiguous spellings first.
Consistent vocabulary words: Many Amplify CKLA words are taught and practiced in Boost Reading vocabulary games.
Complementary texts: Fiction and nonfiction books within Boost Reading reinforce Amplify CKLA knowledge domains.
Seamless integrations between platforms: Students can easily access Boost Reading directly from the Amplify CKLA Student Hub.

Educational website interface showing icons for theater, sounds, library, and activities with a greeting "hello student!" and a grade level indicator.

Ready-to-go slides and all-in-one platform

The slides-based Amplify CKLA digital experience enhances instruction while saving you time. Everything you need is all in one place, making it easier than ever to plan lessons, present digital content, and review student work.

Simplify planning and instruction: Teachers have access to ready-to-use and customizable lesson presentation slides, complete with all the prompts from the print Teacher Guide embedded in the teacher view. As teachers deliver each lesson, students can engage with the content in one cohesive
experience—through Activity Books, slides, digital components, videos, Student Readers, and more.
Interactive student activities: Through the Student Home, students can easily access digital lessons with slides, Activity Pages, ebooks, videos, and other interactive resources from one simple dashboard.
Your teacher command center: You’re provided with the tools you need to ensure a productive digital experience that’s personalized to meet your students’ needs. This includes a teacher home from which to launch and track lessons, LMS integrations such as Google Classroom and Microsoft Teams, and other customizations based on classroom needs.
Get real-time insights into your students’ work: The innovative live review tool enables you to keep an eye on students drawing, recording audio, uploading and capturing images, and typing or writing in pre-placed text boxes in their Activity Pages.

Navigating the program

Digital navigation walkthrough

Physical materials walkthrough

Sample materials

Knowledge Strand:

Skills Strand:

Knowledge Strand:

Skills Strand:

Integrated Strand

Demo access

Follow the instructions below to access your demo account.

Click the CKLA Demo button below.
- Go to learning.amplify.com
- Select Log in with Amplify
- To explore as a student, enter this username:
s1.mcps2024@demo.tryamplify.net
- Enter the password: Amplify1-mcps2024
- Click the desired program on the left side of the page.

Additional resources

Amplify CKLA review resources:

CKLA Program Guide for Grades K–5
CKLA Program Guide for PreK
Diversity, equity, and inclusion in CKLA
CKLA Culturally Responsive Curriculum Scorecard
CKLA Equity Guide for Grades K–5
CKLA and Social Emotional Competencies
Text complexity in CKLA
CKLA Caregiver Hub
CKLA Sample Caregiver Letters
Assessments in CKLA for Grades K–5
Assessments in CKLA PreK
Remote and hybrid learning with CKLA
Amplify CKLA Scopes and Sequences
- Grade K Skills and Knowledge
- Grade 1 Skills and Knowledge
- Grade 2 Skills and Knowledge
- Grade 3 Integrated
- Grade 4 Integrated
- Grade 5 Integrated

Amplify Caminos

Scope and Sequence for Lectoescritura

Amplify Caminos is grounded in the Science of Reading and offers a powerful, evidence-based instructional approach.

The new Lectoescritura Strand specifically teaches students the decoding skills needed for independent reading. Each lesson begins with a warm-up that reviews previously taught content in phonics, reading, grammar, writing, and spelling.

A diagram showing "Language comprehension" times "Word recognition" equals "Skilled reading," with headings in Spanish above each term.

Foundational skills year by year

By building a solid foundation of phonological awareness and phonics, students will learn the sounds of vowels and common consonants first, and blend them to form syllables. Syllables will also be blended to form words. Less frequent consonants and other complex elements of the Spanish language will be presented at a later stage of the program.

Kindergarten

In Kindergarten, students develop reading comprehension, writing, listening and speaking, language, and foundational skills in the following ways:

Reading comprehension: Students answer literal, evaluative, and inferential story questions. Halfway through Kindergarten, students move from whole class reading instruction in Big Books to teacher guided independent and partner reading in decodable Student Readers, still using the Big Book as a model and support.
Writing: As students learn new sounds, they will also learn the phoneme to grapheme correspondence of each. The embedded activities and Activity Book provide a daily opportunity to practice the formation of individual letters, syllables, words and eventually sentences that contain the sound being taught in each lesson. In later units, students are guided through the Plan-Draft-Edit writing process.
Listening and speaking: Students engage in a range of whole group, small group, and partner discussions about text and daily lesson content.
Language: Students receive explicit instruction that introduces vocabulary and common words, or palabras comunes, to support decoding. Instruction also includes attention to the conventions of Spanish, including the use of question words, prepositions and plural nouns in oral speech, as well as capitalization and end punctuation in writing.
Foundational skills: Students begin with awareness of vowels and the most frequent consonant sounds, then practice blending those sounds into syllables, then blend those syllables into words with the ultimate goal of reading multisyllabic (2-3) words and complete sentences.

Click to take a closer look at the Kindergarten Scope and Sequence.

Grade 1

In Grade 1, students develop reading comprehension, writing, listening and speaking, language, and foundational skills in the following ways:

Reading comprehension: Students answer literal, evaluative, and inferential questions, including textual citations, and read with increasing independence and expression of individual interpretation of text. Reading instruction utilizes both the Student Reader and Big Book until Unit 5 when students transition into solely using the Student Reader.
Listening and speaking: Students engage in a range of whole group, small group, and partner discussions about text and daily lesson content.
Language: Students receive explicit instruction that introduces vocabulary and common words, or palabras comunes, to support decoding. Students also work to increase the use of new vocabulary in their written responses. In addition, discussions require the use of words in context. Explicit grammar instruction includes using parts of speech, such as nouns and verbs, and different forms of sentences, tenses, and punctuation.
Foundational skills: Students review vowels and the most frequent consonant sounds and are introduced complications like multisyllabic words, digraphs, accents, diphthongs, and hiatus.

Click to take a closer look at the Grade 1 Scope and Sequence.

Grade 2

In Grade 2, students develop reading comprehension, writing, listening and speaking, language, and foundational skills in the following ways:

Listening and speaking: Students engage in a range of whole group, small group, and partner discussions about text and daily lesson content.
Language: Students receive explicit instruction that introduces vocabulary and common words, or palabras comunes, to support decoding. Students also work to increase the nuanced use of new vocabulary in their written responses. In addition, discussions require the use of words in context in a range of settings. Explicit grammar instruction includes subjects and predicates, sentence expansion with adjectives and adverbs, and more advanced punctuation.
Foundational skills: Students continue to learn additional spelling complications as well as the tools needed to decode more challenging multi-syllable words; increasing emphasis on developing fluency, automaticity, and prosody in reading more complex texts.

Click to take a closer look at the Grade 2 Scope and Sequence.

Welcome, Louisiana reviewers

mCLASS Intervention is an evidence-based program for helping struggling K-6 readers catch up to grade level. Importantly, it:

Uses data from the Louisiana state-approved early literacy screening assessment, DIBELS 8th Edition, when collected on the mCLASS platform.
Aligns with CKLA, a Tier 1 K–5 Core Curriculum reviewed by the Louisiana Department of Education that uses similar approaches to teach reading skills.
Gives teachers time back in the day by doing the heavy lifting of data analysis and lesson sequencing, helping make effective staff-led intervention a reality.

A collaboration between Amplify, classroom practitioners, and leading researchers including Dr. Catherine Snow, mCLASS Intervention offers Louisiana schools a standards-aligned program grounded in the science of reading. As a trusted partner across the state, we look forward to working with you to ensure teachers and students have access to high-quality instructional materials.

Program overview

mCLASS Intervention is a staff-led, supplemental Tier 2/3 intervention program that covers the five big ideas of reading, using the continuum illustrated below. Each hexagon represents a skill taught in mCLASS Intervention. Skills to the left are generally precursors to skills on the right.

The strength of mCLASS Intervention comes from its technology-powered algorithm. Using sophisticated software algorithms, mCLASS Intervention automatically:

Analyzes DIBELS 8th Edition and diagnostic measure results collected via the mCLASS platform.
Determines which skills each student already knows and which they are ready to learn next.
Puts students into small homogeneous groups of 4–6.
Compiles detailed lessons that target the specific needs of each group.

Here is a brief example of how mCLASS Intervention identifies the right target for each student. The image below shows the MOY Nonsense Word Fluency (NWF) results for two first-grade students—Student A and Student B.

They both scored 29, which is Well Below Benchmark for this time of year. In spite of the students having the same score, mCLASS Intervention employs automatic analysis of item-level responses to detect that they are actually at different points in the continuum. For Student A, mCLASS Intervention recommends a focus on letter-sound knowledge, and sounding out and blending. For Student B, mCLASS Intervention recommends a focus on Regular & Irregular Word recognition. (mCLASS Intervention spirals instruction by having students work in two strands at the same time.) Without mCLASS Intervention, this type of analysis would take educators hours to complete and, as a result, could only be completed sporadically. The automatic nature of mCLASS Intervention’s data analysis algorithm makes it possible for busy educators to complete this analysis regularly, which in turn enables them to continually target intervention instruction at students’ evolving needs, day after day.

The mCLASS Intervention algorithm not only determines the ideal instructional focus for each student, but also automatically forms small groups of 4–6 students who share the same instructional focus and builds a 10-day plan with detailed lessons that target the specific needs of each group.

Each 10-day plan systematically builds skills. For example, in the 10-day plan below, mCLASS Intervention has a particular group of students work on phonological awareness and letter sound knowledge. And within phonological awareness, mCLASS Intervention first introduces the group to phoneme segmentation; moves students through phoneme identification and substitution in subsequent days; then finishes with first, last, and middle sound segmentation.

This systematic move from less advanced to more advanced skills allows for spaced practice over time, which research has shown to have significant impact on student literacy growth.

In a Tier 2 intensity, mCLASS Intervention lessons last 30 minutes per day and are delivered daily in groups of 4–6 students. Each session has five activities and each activity is 5–8 minutes long. In a Tier 3 intensity, mCLASS Intervention lessons can be 30 or 60 minutes per day and are delivered daily in groups of 3–4 students.

Below is an example of a middle sound segmentation activity.

We want to highlight two things from this example: 1) The instructional approach is explicit, and 2) the guidance provided is very detailed.

Explicit instructional approach: All mCLASS Intervention activities begin with a Model (“I Do”) followed by a Practice (“You Do”). During the Model section, the instructor demonstrates how to do the activity. During the Practice section, the instructor has students practice. mCLASS Intervention uses subtle but impactful moves to maximize students’ independent thinking during the Practice portion of an activity. For example, in this activity, mCLASS Intervention has the instructor call on a student only after posing the question to all students in the group and giving the group 3–5 seconds of “think time.” This approach helps instructors keep all students mentally engaged because, should they take the opposite approach of calling on one student and then asking the question, the students who were not called on would tune out and inadvertently rob themselves of crucial practice opportunities they need to catch up to their grade-level peers.

Detailed guidance: Because mCLASS Intervention activities are detailed, both certified educators and paraprofessionals with little or no training in early elementary reading can deliver mCLASS Intervention with impact. This detailed guidance gives schools a range of options when it comes to staffing intervention, and that added flexibility is vital—especially for moderate and high need schools, which often struggle to provide intervention to all students in need.

Keep in mind that an activity such as the one above represents just 1/5th of a lesson. The additional four activities that round out a 30-minute intervention lesson are short (5–8 minutes each) and varied. Some cover one skill of focus, while others cover the other skill of focus. mCLASS Intervention also regularly incorporates game-based, kinesthetic, peer-to-peer approaches to further increase student engagement and, as a result, educators often report that mCLASS Intervention is their students’ favorite part of the day. We think this is because students get more attention in a small group; the instruction is targeted to their needs so they are neither bored nor overly frustrated; and the 30 minutes are filled with short, varying, fast-paced, high-energy activities.

The swift pace of mCLASS Intervention is present in the activities that older students work on as well. These students often work on fluency and comprehension at the same time. In the 10-day plan below, you can see how their lessons include the same structure of short and varying activities.

Program components

Site License

Each school needs a site license to the mCLASS Intervention software. This provides access to the tools interventionists use throughout the year, such as:

An assessment app for conducting progress monitoring.
A grouping tool that forms small groups of 4–6 students with similar skill profiles.
A lesson builder that delivers customized 10-day lesson plans for groups.

See sample 10-day lesson plans

Phonological Awareness and Letter Sounds Fluency and Comprehension Skills (4th Grade)

Analytical reports for reviewing progress.
A practice app for K–2 students to use outside of intervention time.

mCLASS Intervention Kit

mCLASS Intervention kits are recommended, but optional. These kits include the following materials that interventionists bring to lessons:

Picture cards
Letter cards
Regular word cards
Irregular word cards
Letter combination cards
Vocabulary cards
Fluency cards
Puppet
Resealable bags
Magnifying glass
Portable whiteboard
Dry-erase markers
Counting chips
Decoding assessment book
Vocabulary assessment books
Comprehension assessment book

We recommend one mCLASS Intervention kit per interventionist serving K–3 and one mCLASS Intervention kit per interventionist serving 4–6.

If a school is not able to purchase one kit per interventionist, educators can assemble the materials themselves using our directions here.

DIBELS 8th Edition Kit

Educators administer DIBELS 8th Edition and proprietary diagnostic probes to place intervention students into the program.

Schools can purchase DIBELS 8th Edition kits through Amplify or download forms from the University of Oregon’s site here.

For the proprietary diagnostic probes, educators can find the assessment forms in the mCLASS Intervention kit or download them from our teacher portal here.

Getting mCLASS Intervention up and running

We have step-by-step guides with training videos and detailed FAQs to help educators get mCLASS Intervention running smoothly in their schools.

Schools that screen with DIBELS via mCLASS follow these steps to get Intervention up and running.
Schools that screen with another reading assessment (e.g., paper/pencil DIBELS, iReady, NWEA MAP) follow these steps to get Intervention up and running.

Take a tour

Find step-by-step instructions for reviewing lessons and placement materials in our navigation guide.

This short video below shows you what those steps look like.

Professional development

For more than a decade, Amplify has provided high-quality customized professional development to meet the specific needs of educators at all levels and improve student outcomes across multiple schools, districts, and states. Our professional development opportunities extend beyond initial product trainings and are proven to leverage data to support effective implementation, consistent administration, focused progress monitoring, skill-focused data analysis, and instructional planning.

There are two distinct roles in mCLASS Intervention critical to ensuring its success at a school site. Professional development is designed to target these different roles:

Intervention Coordinator:
Oversees the mCLASS Intervention program, groups students, determines group assignments, adjusts schedules, and works closely with Interventionists.
Interventionists:
Instructors who deliver the daily mCLASS Intervention program to small groups of students and monitor students’ progress every two weeks.

We deliver professional development sessions through multiple formats, including:

Onsite:
Sessions are delivered in person (30 participants).
Virtual:
Sessions are delivered remotely through webinars (15 participants).
On demand:
Resources are posted on the training platform and can be accessed anytime (Individually).

We offer two types of training to support implementation of mCLASS Intervention: Initial Training Sessions and Coaching Sessions.

TRAINING TYPE	PURPOSE	DATE
Initial Training Sessions	Introduce all stakeholders to mCLASS Intervention and the responsibilities of their individual roles.	Beginning of year
Coaching Sessions	Support Intervention Coordinators with data management and fidelity, and support teachers with lesson delivery, progress monitoring, and data analysis.	As identified by school

Initial Training Sessions

Training title

Modality

Objectives

Comprehensive Initial Training

1.5 days

Hybrid model*

½-day remote webinar for Intervention Coordinators
1-day onsite training for Interventionists

Interventionist coordinator objectives:

Understand how mCLASS Intervention works and what is required to maximize student progress.
Learn how to optimize groups and staff schedules to serve all students in need of intervention.
Develop the implementation work plan for the school.

Interventionist objectives:

Learn how mCLASS Intervention works.
Deliver lessons that maximize student progress.
Improve lesson delivery, with feedback from certified trainer.
Monitor progress with Intervention measures.
Increase accuracy of administration of measures.

Comprehensive Initial Training

1.5 days

Remote model*

½-day remote webinar for Intervention Coordinators
1-day remote training for Interventionists

*Depending on your needs, Amplify can also deliver these sessions in a Training of Trainers (TOT) model, where sessions are delivered to select leaders from each school, and participants will turn-key training content to their colleagues.

Our Coaching Sessions are also offered in multiple formats, to include full- and half-day in-person sessions, and hourly remote sessions.

Coaching Sessions
Training title	Modality	Objectives
One-day Coaching	1-day onsite	Objectives for these sessions will depend on the content needs determined by the school. Topics can include but are not limited to: Observing Intervention lessons and providing feedback. Analyzing mCLASS Intervention data. Reviewing student progress, and planning next steps. Refining groups and schedules. Co-planning and modeling Intervention lessons.
Half-day Coaching	½-day onsite
Hourly Coaching	1-hour remote

FAQ’s

Do schools need to screen with mCLASS DIBELS 8th Edition to use mCLASS Intervention?

No. Amplify has an mCLASS Intervention offering designed for schools that use their own reading screener. These schools use the results from their own reading assessment to determine who’s at risk. Then they administer DIBELS 8th Edition and Amplify’s proprietary diagnostic measure via mCLASS to the students who will receive mCLASS Intervention. Of course, we highly recommend using mCLASS DIBELS 8th Edition for screening the entire class, as it would efficiently serve as both a screener and placement tool into mCLASS Intervention.

How does placement into mCLASS Intervention work?

You can learn on our teacher portal site. Here are the placement procedures for schools that:

Screen with mCLASS DIBELS 8

Screen with their own reading assessment

Does mCLASS Intervention teach skills that are taught in previous grades?

Yes, mCLASS Intervention was designed to detect students’ earliest skill gaps and provide teachers with high-quality resources for addressing them.

How do teachers set goals?

mCLASS Intervention comes with a goal-setting tool that helps educators choose goals for students. It does this by providing score ranges that represent average, above average, and well above average growth in the skills being worked on.

The Science of Reading and the power of knowledge

The Science of Reading has shown repeatedly and definitively that background knowledge is much more than a nice-to-have when it comes to literacy. In fact, it’s a must.

One recent independent study led by Sonia Q. Cabell, Ph.D., and Hyejin Hwang, Ph.D., conducted two trials of more than 1,200 kindergarten students. Reading comprehension tests revealed that students who used a knowledge-building curriculum, such as Amplify CKLA, showed statistically significant positive effects on both social studies knowledge and vocabulary, even over just one semester.

So here’s what teachers need to know about the knowledge-building students require, starting early, to develop foundational literacy skills for life.

The power of knowledge and language comprehension, in action

Read the following passage.

Start by putting your clay on the bat as close to the center as possible, then turn your wheel on at full speed. After adding water often enough to keep the clay glossy, adjust it until it’s barely wobbling, then cone it up and center it further. Cone down and then open the clay. Lower your wheel speed to halfway and start pulling the walls. Compress the floor, and then start shaping. When you’re happy with your shape, use your wire tool to remove it from the bat, and set it aside to start drying before you trim, glaze, and fire it.

If you were ever trained in pottery, you probably understood a lot of that. If you weren’t, you could likely read the words and sense the tone, but most of the content would not make sense (Cone up? Cone down?) or stick in your mind at all.

That’s exactly how background knowledge powers reading comprehension.

The knowledge gap

Elementary students confront disparities in their background knowledge every day. Some have houses full of books and summers full of trips. One kid has a pet turtle, another celebrates Diwali, another grew up in the family restaurant. As you can probably imagine, they’d all get and retain a wide range of understanding from passages about, say, amphibians, alfredo sauce, and the Alps.

Not all foundational literacy instruction is built to access the knowledge students bring to the classroom, or to grow the knowledge they need to understand what they’re reading.

What’s more, having less background knowledge is correlated with socioeconomic status, with students who come from lower income families generally having less background knowledge than those who come from higher-income families. That’s how we know that knowledge is also a matter of fairness.

The role of writing instruction

Writing instruction grounded in the content of a knowledge-based curriculum can be a crucial contributor to knowledge-building, according to Wexler. It can help teachers:

Identify which gaps in background knowledge are holding a given student back.
Instruct students at higher grade levels, even if students reach those levels with gaps in background knowledge.
Boost learning across subjects.
Improve the quality of student writing itself, because it’s grounded in a topic they can say something about.
Foster comprehension by familiarizing students with the complex syntax of written language in their own writing.

The power of knowledge to connect

Big picture: Connecting to a student’s background knowledge can help unlock their full potential as a reader, writer, and member of the classroom and school community.

Allison Rice, elementary ELA curriculum coach for Kansas City Kansas Public Schools, tells this story about a girl in her class: “All through Unit 1 and halfway through Unit 2, she had not really participated or spoken in class, until they got to the lesson on Diwali. She celebrates Diwali. And all of a sudden, she had 1,000 things to contribute. Then her parents came in, they had never been into the school, and they finally felt welcomed and comfortable enough to come in and share about their culture, and the whole grade level had a huge party.”

This student was able to use her culture—and her knowledge—to create community in her classroom. “Here’s this little girl,” says Rice, “who for the first time has felt seen and reflected.”

Literacy resources for teachers and more

Free digital download: Learn why and how to build background knowledge among your students
Science of Reading: The Symposium
Webinar series: The More They Know: How building knowledge powers reading success

The Science of Writing: Key to mastering reading

Book cover titled "Science of Writing: A Primer," with colorful scientific and handwriting illustrations in the background.

We know that “reading, writing, and ‘rithmetic” doesn’t cover all the core skills students must learn in school. Still, it’s easy to sense in our gut why reading and writing come first—and together. Reading and writing reinforce each other.

The way we now understand these two skills and how kids learn them is connected, too. That is, the Science of Reading and the Science of Writing are also linked, and invaluable. According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), only 27% of 12th graders achieved a proficient level in writing in 2011.

The key to unlocking literacy success resides not just in understanding the Science of Writing, but also in acknowledging its dynamic connection to the Science of Reading.

Connecting writing with literacy development

The Science of Reading refers to the vast collection of evidence-based practices that explore and explain how kids learn to read and form the foundation for literacy instruction that works. It emphasizes key components such as phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. It stipulates that—no matter what magical worlds reading unlocks—reading instruction must be systematic and intentional.

The Science of Reading clearly indicates how best to support students as they learn to read. But reading is only half of the literacy equation. What about writing?

Akin to the Science of Reading, the Science of Writing refers to the body of research that examines effective writing instruction and the processes involved in developing writing skills. It emphasizes explicit, systematic teaching of writing structures, strategies, and conventions—again, similar to the Science of Reading’s approach. This includes understanding the cognitive processes behind planning, drafting, revising, and editing, as well as the development of handwriting, grammar, and composition skills.

The Science of Writing also highlights the importance of integrating writing with reading instruction. It enhances comprehension and communication abilities by reinforcing language skills through practical application.

Using instruction based on the Science of Writing can transform student communication, making it clearer, more effective, and more creative—opening up new worlds of connection, expression, and opportunity. Indeed, the 2024 survey by The National Association of Colleges and Employers found that 73% of employers look for written communication skills when selecting candidates to hire.

Effective instruction: Why teach writing and reading in tandem

This doesn’t mean that we should use evidence-based methods to teach reading in the morning, and then evidence-based methods to teach writing in the afternoon.

An integrated approach to reading and writing isn’t just beneficial—it’s essential. These two facets of literacy are interwoven processes that enhance each other. The more students read, the more they know. And a robust knowledge base helps students become not only stronger readers, but also stronger writers.

When students read a variety of texts, they absorb different writing styles, sentence structures, and vocabularies, which can serve as models for their own writing. Reading instruction based in the Science of Reading can also help students address writing problems and challenges. And writing about what they read also helps students deepen their capacity for both comprehension and expression.

Explicit and structured writing instruction is necessary for all students to be successful writers, as well as successful readers. When students write, they employ the same comprehension skills they use in reading.

How to teach writing and reading together

Here are just a few strategies to consider:

Inspiration through imitation. Use reading materials as models for writing assignments. Encourage students to mimic sentence structures or vocabulary from texts they read.
Read and respond: After reading, have students engage in response writing. This practice not only sharpens writing skills, but also reinforces comprehension by encouraging reflection and analysis.
Instruct on structure. Introduce students to the writing process: prewriting/outlining, drafting, revising, and editing. These steps parallel the cognitive processes students use when understanding complex texts.

To learn more about reading, writing, and realizing every student’s full potential, check out:

mCLASS® Lectura for SFUSD

mCLASS^® Lectura is the brand-new Spanish-language counterpart to the mCLASS^® with DIBELS^® 8th Edition comprehensive diagnostic assessment system. Its screening, diagnostic assessment, and progress monitoring measures gauge student progress toward reading proficiency, and helps identify students who may be at risk of future reading difficulties such as dyslexia.

What is mCLASS?

mCLASS is a best-in-class assessment platform that houses a suite of proven, gold-standard assessment measures and tools that can be flexibly combined to meet the unique literacy needs of both teachers and students across grades K–6, including:

Universal screening
Diagnostic assessment
Text Reading and Comprehension (a.k.a. running records via Amplify Atlas Español)
Dyslexia screening
Progress monitoring
Dual language reporting
Targeted teacher-led instruction

What is the Lectura assessment?

The Lectura assessment is a brand-new interim and diagnostic assessment that consists of measures based on the latest research of how Spanish literacy develops.

Co-developed with the Center on Teaching and Learning at the University of Oregon (UO CTL) and validated in partnership with Dr. Lillian Durán, the Lectura assessment was created to provide educators with a high-quality, evidence-based tool to support understanding of Spanish-speaking students’ biliteracy development, specifically foundational Spanish reading skills, which includes measures of phonological awareness, alphabetic understanding and decoding, reading fluency, and reading comprehension.

The measures in Lectura were written from the ground-up to assess students’ literacy development based on how Spanish literacy develops. Measures explicitly account for the syllabic and morphological structures of Spanish, and connected text was written and calibrated with respect to syntactical, lexical, and grammatical rules of Spanish. For example, phonological awareness is measured using syllable segmentation, and letter sounds and syllable reading are included in the decoding subtests for greater face-validity (in lieu of pseudowords). Word choice reflects the multisyllabic word complexity and variety of Spanish, driven by how decoding skills develop in Spanish. As such, Lectura provides instructionally actionable data for all students, including those scoring below the benchmark and those who meet or exceed the benchmark.

The Lectura assessment measures were purposefully designed, developed, field tested, and evaluated to address limitations that educators of Spanish speaking students have experienced in assessments. Specifically in these ways:

Assessment measures based on current research on how Spanish literacy is developed
Culturally responsive word choice and content reflecting the regional diversity of Spanish
Technical adequacy established through rigorous study
A sample size and geographic diversity reflecting the broad population of Spanish speakers across the U.S.
Complete parity with English solutions (instructional tools, skill coverage)

Download research paper

Assessment measures by grade

Lectura measures at each grade level
Measure	Grade K	Grade 1	Grade 2	Grade 3	Grades 4–6
Fluidez en nombrar letras
Fluidez en la segmentación de sílabas
¿Qué queda?
Fluidez en los sonidos de letras
Fluidez en los sonidos de sílabas
Fluidez en las palabras
Fluidez en la lectura oral
¿Cuál palabra?
Amplify measures at each grade level
Oral Language Español
Vocabulario

Assessment measures sample videos

Please note that the videos below are intended for illustrative purposes only. Performance levels in mCLASS Lectura have yet to be finalized.

mCLASS Lectura measure: Fluidez en nombrar letras (FNL)

Students are asked to identify as many uppercase and lowercase letter names as they can in one minute.

mCLASS Lectura measure: Fluidez en los sonidos de letras (FSL)

Students are asked to identify the sounds of as many uppercase and lowercase letters as they can in one minute.

mCLASS Lectura measure: Fluidez en los sonidos de sílabas (LSS)

Students are presented with a page of printed orthographically regular Spanish syllables and asked to read as many syllables as they can in one minute.

mCLASS Lectura measure: Fluidez en la lectura oral (FLO)

Students are presented with an authentically written informational or narrative passage of Spanish connected text and asked to read as much of the passage as they can in one minute.

mCLASS Lectura measure: ¿Qué Queda? (QQ)

Students are presented with a word orally and then the examiner omits part of the word (i.e., compound word part, syllable, or phoneme). Students are asked to identify what word remains after the word part has been elided.

What makes mCLASS Lectura different?

mCLASS Lectura combines the power of the mCLASS assessment platform and the effectiveness of the Lectura assessment measures. As a result – educators are empowered with latest and greatest assessment tool.

More than a test, mCLASS Lectura is an integrated system that closes the knowing-doing gap by helping teachers take immediate instructional action that’s right for each and every student. What’s more, it addresses the classroom inequities Spanish-speaking students face along their early literacy journeys.

Spanish-speaking students have been underserved and misclassified for decades. With mCLASS Lectura, teachers of Spanish-speaking students finally have access to the same robust assessment tools that have been available to teachers of English-speaking students for years.

Plus! When mCLASS Lectura and DIBELS 8th Edition are used together, teachers are empowered with a more holistic view of their Spanish-speaking students abilities in both English and Spanish, making instructional next steps more targeted and effective.

What makes mCLASS Lectura different?

It gives teachers access to authentic Spanish measures. Amplify is the only provider of the Lectura assessment. Rather than a direct translation of an English assessment, our solution is the only one to provide teachers a research-based, authentic Spanish assessment that is both valid and reliable.
It makes it faster and easier to understand where every student is in their early literacy journey. By combining 1:1 observational diagnostic assessments, dyslexia screening, progress monitoring, instant scoring, rigorous reporting, automatic student grouping, and targeted instruction all in one place, it reduces the instructional delays associated with manual scoring, manual data analysis, and manual lesson planning.
It brings more equity to the classroom. When used in conjunction with mCLASS DIBELS 8th Edition, teachers have access to Dual Language Reports that highlight a students strengths and weaknesses in both English and Spanish.
It makes every instructional minute count. In addition to one-minute measures that quickly gauge student progress toward reading proficiency, it leverages a teacher’s most powerful instructional tool — their own 1:1 observations.
It drives growth more efficiently. Rather than relying on broad composite scores alone, granular data and in-depth insights for every student help teachers pinpoint exact skill gaps and areas of unfinished learning, making whole-group, small-group, and 1:1 instruction more targeted and effective.
It saves teachers time. Instant reports, automatic student groups, and ready-to-teach lessons mean teachers spend less time cobbling together materials and more time working directly with students and responding to their needs.

Assessment systems must enable and compel educators to answer not just the “What?” questions, but also the “So What?” and “Now What?” questions. These are the questions that are essential in transforming classroom instruction, and the questions that mCLASS Lectura helps teachers answer with confidence.

Download the mCLASS Program Guide

How does mCLASS Lectura support screening for dyslexia risk?

mCLASS Lectura subtests have been specifically designed and validated to screen for dyslexia risks.

mCLASS Lectura was specifically developed to ensure the measure is able to meet state-level screening requirements for both dyslexia and universal reading screening. The research and development of Lectura was designed with this use in mind to accurately identify reading difficulties, including difficulties related to risk for dyslexia.

How does mCLASS Lectura support the use of running records?

Track your students’ reading progress from every angle with the Text Reading and Comprehension (TRC) assessment. When TRC is paired with the Lectura assessment, classroom teachers unlock the ability to record reading behaviors through running digital records. Available in English and Spanish, it measures reading comprehension and provides insight into how each student finds meaning in text.

A digital interface showing a step-by-step guide in Spanish for a language and oral class. The guide includes sections on content and organization with expandable details for each step.

How does mCLASS Lectura turn data into instant action?

mCLASS Lectura gives you instant results and clear next steps for each student.

Quick and actionable reports provide detailed insight into students’ reading development across foundational literacy skills for teachers, specialists, administrators, and caregivers.

Screenshot of an educational software dashboard displaying student progress, with tabs for instruction and home connection in dual language.

Download the mCLASS Reporting Guide

Diagnostic assessment

mCLASS Lectura analyzes individual student response data through a proprietary scoring algorithm that pinpoints a student’s specific area(s) of growth and improvement, providing classroom teachers in-depth insight into a students’ instructional needs.

Ready-to-teach instruction

Immediately following the analysis of individual student responses, mCLASS Lectura provides an in-depth diagnostic report complete with suggested next steps, also known as “mCLASS Instruction.”

mCLASS Instruction evaluates each student’s responses on each individual subtest and instantly:

Provides a list of specific needs by student, such as struggling with medial vowel sounds or difficulty reading words with consonant blends.
Groups students automatically based on similar discrete skill needs, not simply composite scores like other assessment tools.
Recommends a variety of ready-to-teach lessons that specifically target each individual student’s areas of need or common areas of need for small-group instruction.

Classroom skill and benchmark summary

The Classroom Skill Summary report is a dashboard showing benchmark performance on each skill. Teachers can use it to determine which skill areas need instructional focus at a classroom level.

The Classroom Benchmark Summary report is a classroom-wide view of overall reading performance. Teachers can use this report to determine if composite scores improved, declined, or remained the same each semester.

Detailed benchmark performance

Teachers can see each student’s performance during the current school year, on each subtest as well as the overall composite. The benchmark goal displays below the subtest name when applicable. The ability to sort the columns in this report gives teachers more flexibility to analyze data the way they prefer.

Dual language reports

When mCLASS Lectura and mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition are used together, teachers will receive an asset-based picture of a student’s biliteracy and instructional guidance on how to leverage literacy skills in one language to support literacy skill development in the second language.

Side-by-side view of foundational literacy skills in English and Spanish
Explicit guidance to teachers to support asset-based instruction using cross-linguistic transfer strategies

Screenshot of a student's mCLASS Lectura literacy skills evaluation report detailing progress in English and Spanish reading abilities, with charts and textual information.

Progress monitoring summary

See which subtests have been assessed since the most recent benchmark assessment, how students performed on the three most recent progress monitoring assessments for each measure, and which students have not been progress monitored since the benchmark assessment.

Caregiver supports

The mCLASS Home Connect letter provides parent and caregivers information in English or Spanish about the student’s literacy and guidance on how to support their child at home.

Screenshot of a digital document showing a student's performance evaluation, with text, tables, and color-coded performance ratings.

Clickable demo

Our clickable demo is a great way to orient yourself to the organization of our mCLASS platform and the mCLASS Lectura assessment. Click the button below to get started.

Explore clickable demo

Here you will find 10 interactive screens:

Screen 2: Scroll down to the class list. Find Gabriel Archulata. Click on his score for “Decodificación”.
Screen 3: Explore Gabriel’s measure transcript. Then click on the gray arrow to the far right to advance to the next screen.
Screen 4: Click on the “Instruction” tab.
Screen 5: Scroll down to “Decoding Group 4” and click “See Activities”.
Screen 6: Click on the first activity called “Identificar y leer palabras con los dígrafos ch y ll.”
Screen 7: Click on the gray arrow to the far right to advance to the next screen.
Screen 8: Explore the detailed “Student” tab and then click the “Dual Language” tab.
Screen 9: Scroll down to the section about Gabriel’s phonological awareness skills. Click on the link called “Cross-Linguistic Transfer: Phonological Awareness”.
Screen 10: Click on the gray arrow to the far right to advance to the next screen. Explore the “Home Connect” letter.

Welcome to Amplify CKLA!

Welcome, Texas educators!

mCLASS® Texas Edition has been selected as the Texas Education Agency (TEA)–approved alternative free Reading Diagnostic Tool for Kindergarten and as one of the free options for grades 1–2, as legislated by HB3.

mCLASS Texas Edition provides a full K–6 assessment solution, enabling you to leverage and connect valuable student data from the beginning of their literacy journey to later grades, reflecting a reliable and valid view of every student’s progression.

Introducing mCLASS Lectura! This revolutionary Spanish assessment ensures complete parity between English and Spanish-speaking students.

*For mCLASS Texas Edition customers who have already opted into the program, please visit our onboarding site to learn how to get started.

A teacher sits at a table with three young students, holding a tablet. Phonetic symbols /r/, /d/, and /e/ appear around them.

Flowchart showing five components of a reading program: assessment suite, core instruction, skill boosting, intervention, and professional development, arranged in sequential steps.

What is mCLASS Texas Edition?

mCLASS Texas Edition is an integrated, gold standard literacy system that offers teacher-administered assessment and holistic instruction for grades K–6. Teachers often complain about the need to cobble together a number of different tools. They don’t trust their screener so they use something else to monitor progress.

The mCLASS comprehensive system includes efficient one-minute measures, a built-in dyslexia screener, teacher-led and student-driven instruction, intervention, and robust reports for teachers and administrators. It’s all you’ll need to monitor and support every type of student learner in your classroom.

We’re excited to introduce mCLASS Lectura! mCLASS Lectura works with mCLASS’s DIBELS 8th Edition to deliver universal and dyslexia screening in both languages. This powerful tool is the only assessment to offer a dual language instructional report that shows how a student is reading in each language.

Built for Texas educators

TEA has established a bold vision for teaching and learning by:

Enabling universal, multidimensional assessment.
Supporting differentiated instruction based on diagnostics.
Making the resulting data useful for teachers and parents.

mCLASS Texas Edition is built on decades of research at the Center on Teaching and Learning at the University of Oregon, a national center for early childhood assessment and instruction. The measures are already in use in hundreds of districts in Texas.

CLICK HERE to explore a walkthrough of mCLASS Texas Edition and mCLASS Lectura (or click the image to the right).

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Tablet displaying a student performance table. Columns for assessment times; rows for performance levels. Percentages and student counts are provided in each assessment area and level.

mCLASS^® Texas Edition and mCLASS Lectura Reporting

Quick and actionable reports provide detailed insight into students’ reading development across foundational literacy skills for classroom teachers and literacy specialists, principals and district leaders, and parents and guardians at home.

mCLASS Texas Edition gives you instant results and clear next steps for each student.

When mCLASS Texas Edition is used in tandem with the brand new, mCLASS Lectura, educators will have access to a dual language instructional report that shows how a student is reading in each language.

Larn more about mCLASS reporting features

Personalized learning for every student

Boost Reading (formerly Amplify Reading) is a K–8 student-driven literacy program that provides both remediation and enrichment for all students, leveraging the power of compelling storytelling to engage students in personalized reading instruction and practice.

At its heart, there are 3 main areas that make Boost Reading a unique supplemental learning program:

The program meets all students where they are with powerful individualized instruction and practice
Age-appropriate narratives create a learning experience that leaps off the screen
Research shows Boost Reading improves student performance–particularly among English Learners–reducing the overall percentage of students at risk of reading difficulty.

View Boost Reading TEKS alignment

A laptop screen displays a colorful cartoon map with various buildings and character icons, including a school, store, and several avatars on a green landscape.

A screen shows a syllable segmentation exercise for "húmedo," with a timer at the top reading 0:21 and a "Salir" button.

Introducing mCLASS Lectura: Dual Language assessment and instruction for K-6!

Here’s what mCLASS Lectura delivers to help teachers know what instruction to prioritize:

An authentic dual language assessment that works in tandem with mCLASS Texas Edition to deliver universal and dyslexia screening in both languages.
The only assessment to offer a dual language instructional report that shows how a student is reading in each language. This helps the teacher tailor instructional recommendations for each student based on the identified transferable skills from one language to another.
Complete parity between English and Spanish solutions at all levels, with full coverage of the key foundational skills required by Texas

Click here to learn more about mCLASS Lectura.

Dyslexia screening: Catch at-risk students early

Early intervention is critical. mCLASS Texas with DIBELS 8th Edition aligns to the state’s rigorous requirements around dyslexia screening as outlined in the Texas Dyslexia Handbook.

Check out mCLASS Texas measures for DIBELS and Lectura here.

Get universal and dyslexia screening in one single powerful tool—no additional assessment system required.

Emergency Rules Related to Dyslexia Screening are available that address the 2019-20 school year kindergarten end-of-year dyslexia screening and have implications for the 2020/2021 school year 1st grade BOY administration of Commissioner-approved or LEA designated reading instrument. This new screening requirement applies to 1st grade students who were not screened for dyslexia at EOY of their kindergarten year.

Download our dyslexia toolkit to learn more.

Download dyslexia toolkit

A smiling girl with dark hair in pigtails sits at a desk, looking to the side. She is wearing a light blue shirt and has an open book in front of her.

mCLASS Texas Alignment with the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS)

mCLASS Texas Edition includes multiple measures. In English, it includes DIBELS 8th Edition and screeners of vocabulary, spelling, and oral language. In Spanish, it includes IDEL, screeners of vocabulary, oral language, and spelling.

Curious about required kindergarten beginning-of-year measures for ECDS Texas? Check out more details here!

View TEKS alignment

Complete K–6 solution

Amplify also provides additional top-rated literacy programs that connect with mCLASS Texas Edition to give educators a robust, comprehensive package that covers all of their instructional needs.

mCLASS Intervention is a staff-led reading intervention for K–6 that performs data analysis and lesson sequencing with Tier 2 and Tier 3 small-group intervention to get struggling readers back on track.
Text Reading and Comprehension (TRC) for K–6 provides teachers with additional comprehension measures within the mCLASS platform, featuring a digital reading record and connected book sets.
mCLASS Math offers universal screening and progress monitoring with diagnostic interviews to provide a rich view of at-risk students and gauge the effectiveness of math instruction.

Learn more

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Yellow speech bubble with three dots inside, indicating a message or conversation in progress.

Frequently asked questions

Interested in learning more? Read this FAQ we’ve put together based on questions we’ve received about mCLASS Texas Edition.

Learn more

Remote and hybrid assessment and learning guide

mCLASS® Texas Edition has created a collection of resources to help users plan for a variety of scenarios for the 2020–2021 school year.

*The TEA has offered a a one-time waiver to school districts for the 2020-2021 school year. They continue to encourage LEAs to adopt a kindergarten screener, as districts will still need to meet dyslexia screening requirements for grades K and 1 for the 2020–21 school year.

Learn more

Cover of a remote and hybrid learning guide showing application icons, and images of diverse students engaged with digital devices.

Contact your Texas representative

Looking to speak directly with an mCLASS Texas Edition representative? Get in touch with the mCLASS Texas team to learn more about using the program:

Email: texas@amplify.com

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Raymundo Rodriguez, M.Ed.

Vice President, South Central

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Marty Pitts

Senior Account Executive

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Mindi Jones

District Manager, South Central

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Carla Small

Senior Account Executive

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Mary Brown

Senior Account Executive

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Katie Gentry-Funk

Senior Account Executive

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Hector Gomez

Account Executive

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Mark Ramos

Account Executive, Inside Sales

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Melanie Ferry

Senior Account Executive, Inside Sales

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Kelley Simpson

Account Executive, Inside Sales

Opt in today

Fill out the form to sign up for mCLASS/mCLASS Lectura! If you have any questions as you complete the form, you can reach our Texas team at texas@amplify.com.

Welcome to Boost Reading: Remote Learning Edition!

Amplify is committed to helping school and district partners make instructional resources like Boost Reading: Remote Edition available to students who may be unable to attend school.

This site contains all the resources you’ll need to get started using Boost Reading: Remote Edition with your students as soon as possible. We’re confident that as a community, we can continue to support learning to read remotely.

Are you an mCLASS^® user? Click here to get started.

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Getting started

What you need to know about Boost Reading

Boost Reading is a student-driven, digital literacy program that provides students with differentiated and adaptive practice in all key areas of literacy instruction. Teachers have access to rich data insights into student usage and progress they can use to inform remote instruction.

How does it work with other programs?

Boost Reading is a great complement to any core or assessment program, especially Amplify Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA) and mCLASS.

When and how to use Boost Reading

We recommend students use the program independently for 30-45 minutes a week. This implementation model has led to student growth, especially for dual language learners.

Students will need access to one of the following devices: Windows Devices with Windows 7+, Chromebooks with Chrome OS, and Mac devices with OS 10.11+ or iOS 11+.

How do I get started with Amplify Reading?

Good news! Amplify Reading has already been enabled within your mCLASS and Acadience Reading accounts. To get started with the program, you’ve got only two steps left: creating your class code and setting up your devices.

[Video] How to access Amplify Reading from within mCLASS and Acadience Reading
[Video] How to enable class login
[Video] How to create shortcuts on devices
[PDF] Amplify Reading launch packet

Note: Amplify Reading works on most classroom devices, including Windows Devices with Windows 7+, Chromebooks with Chrome OS, and Mac devices with OS 10.11+ or iOS 11+.

Digital progress report showing reading skills for Taylor in Grade 2. Trouble spots highlighted for decoding VC and CVC words. Progress bars and teacher options visible.

What else can you tell me about Amplify Reading?

As students engage in skill practice, their paths through the game world adapt to meet their unique learning needs. Amplify Reading includes more than 40 standards-aligned games that build language, foundational skills, and comprehension skills, while also developing:

Phonological awareness
Phonics
Vocabulary
Text analysis
Comprehension
Microcomprehension (i.e., the smaller aspects of comprehension that make up the reader’s mental model of a text)

Some additional resources that you might find helpful:

How do I get started with Boost Reading?

Good news! You and your students now have access to Boost Reading. To get started, you’ll need to sign in with your Amplify credentials at mclass.devamplify.wpengine.com. Next, you’ll want to distribute Boost Reading credentials to your students.

Where do I find my credentials?

You should have received an email from noreply@devamplify.wpengine.com with your new account information. If you do not see it in your inbox, please check your spam folder.

How to download and distribute student credentials:

How to support login at home:

You can direct parents to the following videos for an overview of the program and how to get started.

After students start playing, you can check in on their progress via your teacher dashboard.

[VIDEO] Boost Reading Dashboard Tour

Printable extension activities

Consider sending the following activities home with your students as part of their weekly Boost Reading routine. Each printable activity has instructions in both English and Spanish.

Packet 1

Activity Packet: Grade K | Grade 1 | Grade 2 | Grade 3 | Grade 4 | Grade 5
Answer Key: Grade 3 | Grade 4 | Grade 5

Access support

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Intercom chat

Our Intercom feature gives you the ability to chat with customer support, technical support, and pedagogical support teams in real time directly from the digital platform. This ensures that issues that arise in the classroom can be addressed as quickly as possible. Support teams can be reached from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. EDT, Monday through Friday.

Email

Our customer support, technical support, and pedagogical support teams can be reached by email at help@devamplify.wpengine.com from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. EDT, Monday through Friday.

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Learn more

Review the resources below to dive deeper into what makes Boost Reading unique.

Join our Facebook group Science of Reading: The Community to discuss the latest in reading research and instructional practices.

High-Quality Materials

Literacy

MATH

SCIENCE

Research

Blog and webinar library

Media & events

Day 1: What Is Reading Comprehension, Anyway?

Day 2: Comprehension and Knowledge Building: A Two-Way Street

Day 3: Where and How to Measure Comprehension to Drive Improvement

Day 4: Comprehension in Middle School: More Important Than Ever

Day 5: Finding the Missing Link in Reading Comprehension to Boost Literacy Success

More to explore:

Comprehension instruction: Breaking it down

Building mental models for new information

How background knowledge powers comprehension

Explore more

Why comprehension is both product and process

What comprehension processes look like

The role of knowledge and writing

Rethinking classroom practice

Want to dig deeper?

The role of comprehension in literacy instruction

Product vs. process: The missing link in comprehension

How background knowledge helps language comprehension

Comprehension instruction in the classroom

More to explore

Achieve life-changing results with theScience of Reading—we’ll show you how.

Exploring the Science of Writing

MTSS Playbook

The science of teaching reading, coupled with the art of change management

What is the Science of Reading?

Science of Reading starter kit for new teachers

The Simple View of Reading

The Reading Rope

Professional development to support your shift to the Science of Reading

The best investment you can make is in knowledge, and the returns are priceless.

Build your background knowledge of the Science of Reading.

New Science of Reading principles placemat!

Science of ReadingA Primer: Part 1

Science of ReadingA Primer: Part 2

Why undertake this crucial change?

You’ll change lives with literacy.

You’ll build a foundation with explicit, systematic skills instruction.

You’ll improve outcomes with knowledge building.

Science of Reading & Early Literacy Resources FAQ

What is the Reading Rope?

Why is the Reading Rope important for the Science of Reading?

How does the Simple View of Reading connect to the Reading Rope?

What are the strands of the Reading Rope?

How do the strands combine to form a process?

How does the Rope relate to the five foundational skills of reading?

Welcome, K–8 Program 1 reviewers!

Your review samples

Reviewer Binders (K–8)

Physical samples (K–5)

Digital samples (K–8)

Navigation tips

Category 1: English Language Arts (ELA) and English Language Development (ELD) Content/Alignment to Standards

Evaluation Criteria Map

ELA Standards Maps

Category 2: Program Organization

Program structure

Core literacy philosophy

Scope and sequence

Routines

Category 3: Assessments

Systematic MTSS alignment

Universal assessment system

Core instruction assessments

Performance Assessments

Progress monitoring

Diagnostic assessment

Category 4: Universal Access

Universal Design for Learning

Embedded differentiation

Assessment-driven MTSS resources

Category 5: Instructional Planning and Teacher Support

Implementation supports across K–8

Caregiver supports

**Why comprehension is both product and process**

Achieve life-changing results with the
Science of Reading—we’ll show you how.

Science of Reading
A Primer: Part 1

Science of Reading
A Primer: Part 2