New York K–5 Literacy and Math Resources: Phonics, Handwriting, Fluency and Grade 3–4 Math
New York K–5 Literacy and Math Resources: Phonics, Handwriting, Fluency and Grade 3–4 Math
Governor Hochul's Back to Basics reading plan, enacted in the FY2025 State Budget in 2024, required New York districts to certify by September 2025 that their reading curricula are evidence-based. The Board of Regents adopted the implementing regulations in December 2024. Most K–3 classrooms now teach sounds and decoding explicitly, and the practical need is enough good practice material. The eight units below cover sounds, decoding, handwriting, fluency and Grade 3–4 math. The New York overview lists our other resources for the state.
Browse the K–5 ELA resources →Resources that fit
Eight units for New York K–5 classrooms
Each unit has a classroom PDF, a teacher guide, an editable DOCX and PowerPoint. They are supplements for US grades and can be used alongside the curriculum your New York district runs.
Phonemic Awareness Daily Routines | 36 Weeks of Oral Sound Routines | Kindergarten
36 weeks of oral sound routines; children answer with sounds, not letters.
Decodable Readers Grade One | 20 Stories with Word Work & Comprehension | Grade 1
20 stories using only taught patterns, each with word work and comprehension.
Heart Words | 100 High-Frequency Words with Sound Mapping | Grade 1
100 high-frequency words mapped sound by sound, with a key for each.
Manuscript Handwriting | Basic Strokes & A–Z Letter Practice | Grades K–1
Basic strokes, then A–Z upper and lowercase with a stroke model per letter.
Cursive Writing | Strokes, Letters a–z & Joining Words | Grades 2–3
Lowercase letters by stroke family, a page per letter and joining words.
Reading Fluency Passages | 24 Original Passages with Meaning Checks | Grade 4
24 passages, each with a meaning check, so speed is never the only goal.
Multiplication Fact Fluency | Strategies, Fact Families & Array Labs | Grade 3
Strategy lessons, fact family pages and array labs for the Grade 3 facts.
Multi-Digit Multiplication and Division | Area Model, Partial Products & Partial Quotients | Grade 4
Area model and partial products, then a bridge to the standard algorithm.
The state picture
Back to Basics and what it means for practice
Back to Basics asks districts to use reading curricula built on the research about how children learn to read. For a teacher, that means explicit work on sounds, sound-spelling patterns and decoding, with less time spent on guessing strategies. The units here are practice material in that same spirit. Phonemic Awareness Daily Routines keeps Kindergarten sound work oral for 36 weeks, from rhyme to changing a single sound in a four-sound word. Decodable Readers Grade One gives Grade 1 students twenty stories built from patterns already taught. Heart Words maps 100 high-frequency words sound by sound and marks only the part that does not yet follow a known pattern.
Your certified curriculum stays the core.
Grade by grade
Which unit goes with which grade
Each unit by the grade it was written for, with a note for New York classrooms. Place students by what they can do, not by the cover.
| Grade | Focus | Resource | New York note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kindergarten | Sounds; first letters | Phonemic Awareness, Manuscript | Oral sound work next to your certified curriculum |
| Grade 1 | Decoding; high-frequency words | Decodable Readers, Heart Words | Decodable practice in small groups |
| Grades 2–3 | Cursive letters and joins | Cursive Writing | Cursive is a district decision |
| Grade 3 | Multiplication facts | Fact Fluency | First year of the state tests |
| Grade 4 | Fluency; multi-digit operations | Fluency Passages, Multi-Digit | Fluency and multi-digit work |
| Grades 3–5 | Long words, struggling readers | Multisyllabic Decoding, Reading Support Pack | Small-group intervention for older readers |
Handwriting
Handwriting without a statewide cursive rule
New York had no statewide cursive requirement as of March 2026. A bill to add cursive to the Education Law was still in the Senate Education Committee then, so check its current status and your district's handwriting requirement before you plan. Many New York schools teach cursive anyway, often in Grade 2 or 3. Cursive Writing Grades 2–3 teaches lowercase letters by stroke family, then joins and capitals, in ten lessons. Before that, Manuscript Handwriting K–1 covers basic strokes and every print letter, which most K–1 classrooms need regardless of what happens with cursive.
Fluency and tested grades
Fluency and the tested grades
From Grade 3, New York students take the state ELA and math tests. Two gaps show up again and again: reading that is accurate but too slow or flat to hold the meaning, and multiplication facts that are not automatic. Reading Fluency Passages Grade 4 gives you 24 passages with a meaning check after each, so phrasing and understanding are practiced together. Multiplication Fact Fluency teaches the Grade 3 facts through strategies and arrays, and Multi-Digit Multiplication and Division takes Grade 4 students from the area model to partial quotients and then to the standard algorithm.
How to use it
A practical order for the year
- Start with sounds.One oral routine a day, five to eight minutes, in Kindergarten.
- Follow your phonics sequence.Hand out a decodable story only after its pattern has been taught.
- Make handwriting daily.Ten minutes, four or five days a week. Manuscript in K–1; cursive if your district teaches it, usually Grade 2 or 3.
- Pair fluency with meaning.Partners read a passage twice, then complete the meaning check.
- Facts before multi-digit work.Teach the Grade 3 strategy lessons in order; later facts build on the tens.
Questions teachers ask
Frequently asked questions
Are these resources aligned with the New York standards?
We do not claim alignment, approval or endorsement by New York or any district. Each unit sits closest to the skills its US grade usually covers, so compare the lesson list with your own standards.
Do these count as evidence-based curriculum under Back to Basics?
No. Districts certify their core curricula, and these units are supplements. They follow the same basic approach, sounds first and decoding with taught patterns, so they can sit next to most certified programs.
Is cursive required in New York?
As of March 2026 there was no statewide requirement, and a bill was still in committee. Check the current status and your district's handwriting requirement. The cursive unit works whether cursive is required or chosen locally.
Can I use the decodable stories with multilingual learners?
Yes. The vocabulary is controlled and each story has a word work page. Pre-teach a few content words so students can focus on decoding.
Will the PDFs print on US Letter?
Yes. They are A4 and print on US Letter with fit-to-page. Each unit also has an editable DOCX and PowerPoint.
Plan your New York K–5 year
Pick one reading unit and one math unit for your grade and try them for two weeks. The state overview lists the rest.
Go to the New York overview →