Implementation Support
Welcome to the Pearson Canada Implementation Support Website. Here you’ll find everything you need to receive, unpack, organize, and get started using your new resources.
Saxon Reading Foundations
Join our Implementation Support Office Hours to get the most out of your new resources! Whether you're using or have recently acquired our materials, we're here to help.
If you have any questions or need clarification on how to effectively utilize our resources, this is your chance to speak directly with a Pearson representative.
Our Office Hours sessions are designed for our valued literacy customers to learn more about the resources they have invested in and achieve the greatest possible impact using them. If you have a specific question, book a personal 15 minute session with our Implementation Manager below. Please be sure to mention the specific resources you would like support with.
Saxon Office Hours
Download essential resources to help you seamlessly introduce and implement Saxon in your classroom.
Purchasing & Program Requirements
Schools need all three components per grade level:
- Teacher Resource Package (per classroom/teacher – one time purchase)
- Student Resource Package (per student, per school year – consumable)
- Classroom Resource Package (per classroom/teacher – one time purchase)
To see what is included in each package, view the components list.
Digital access is available through the Flight platform. There are numerous teacher support videos which Lorna Simmons, author of Saxon, created in conjunction with learning experience designers. There are also classroom modeling videos so teachers can see the program in action, providing additional implementation support and PD opportunities to build teacher capacity. You’ll also find digital instructional materials, projectable review decks and wall cards to enhance classroom engagement and interactivity.
No. Student workbooks are not sold individually. They are only available as part of the Student Resource Package. To support additional students, schools purchase additional Student Resource Packages.
You scale the program by student count:
- One Student Resource Package = one student
- If enrollment increases or students join mid-year, order additional Student Resource Packages
- Teacher and classroom materials do not need to be repurchased when student numbers increase
Best Practice and Support
For best results with Saxon Reading Foundations, we recommend that teachers implement the program with fidelity, following the scope and sequence as written. This provides the highest efficacy and best results for student outcomes. If a teacher does use Saxon for differentiated support for striving readers, however, they can use Saxon to provide additional support and reinforcement of skills that have already been taught at least once before.
Saxon features support for multilingual learners embedded into every lesson. Teachers have targeted support within each lesson, within the front matter, and the teacher resource guides. There's also a guide on supporting multilingual learners that includes an overview on working with multilingual learners as well as targeted tips for instruction utilizing best practices and leveraging students’ home languages.
Lorna Simmons (author of Saxon) is Orton-Gillingham trained, and the entire program is based on the Orton-Gillingham approach. The Orton-Gillingham approach to teaching reading, writing, and spelling focuses on direct, explicit, multisensory, structured, and sequential instruction centered on the needs of individual students, rather than being a set of standards or a curriculum. Saxon Reading Foundations provides explicit, systematic phonics instruction with continual application, practice, and review. All three elements of the Orton-Gillingham language triangle—auditory, visual, and kinesthetic learning—are incorporated into Saxon Reading Foundations through a variety of multisensory activities and instruction. For example, students hear the sound as a teacher says it during instruction; they see the letters on the Review Deck card; and they say and write the sounds/letters during the course of their lessons and review.
Yes, Saxon can be used as an intervention resource and is written to support Tier 1, 2, and 3 classrooms. The program is designed for whole class instruction—that could be a classroom, it could be a Special Ed class, or it could be tier class. You don't necessarily need to pull out Tier 2 and Tier 3 students in order to use it, but if they do need additional intensive practice, with Saxon all the review resources are at the teacher’s disposal.
Decodable Readers are controlled texts designed to help children practice target phonics skills using only those letter/letter clusters, sounds, and sight words they have learned. The emphasis is on decoding words and practicing phonics, and they are meant for use in 1:1 instruction so teachers can ensure students are in fact decoding the words. Fluency Readers on the other hand provide practice for fluency skills. Fluency is the ability to read quickly, accurately, and expressively, a necessary skill for developing reading comprehension.
The Fluency Readers are designed to help students practice the skills necessary to become fluent readers, such as reading at an appropriate pace, attending to punctuation, grouping words into meaningful phrases, and reading with prosody. These readers are meant for repeated reading, as this is shown to build fluency, and can be used in small-group or whole class instruction. Separating Decodable Readers and Fluency Readers ensures students get the right kinds of practice with each skill. The Saxon Fluency Readers are broken up into three levels—A, B, and C—to best match a student’s abilities. These levels do not correspond to the F&P or other leveling systems but are meant to help teachers best match a reader to their students skill levels, since students need to practice at their own level to build fluency.