Find teaching resources
Last updated: 14 November 2024
Implementing a structured literacy approach also requires a set of resources, such as games and manipulatives. Here are a selection of NZ based businesses selling resources to complement a structured literacy approach. These may also include online systematic structured synthetic phonics apps. See our separate entry on decodable readers for a list of suppliers of those.
Please note that we do no endorse any of the suppliers listed here. We are merely providing these details as a starting point for your own evaluation of teaching resources.
Note that the Ministry of Education also provides free to all schools the Phonics Plus Ready to Read series of teaching resources, including the decodable book series, sound cards, video guides and supporting games. Copies may be ordered from Ministry of Education Customer Services, online at www.thechair.co.nz; by email: orders@thechair.minedu.govt.nz; or freephone 0800 660 662.
Agility with Sound and Wordchain Apps
Love Literacy Mount Maunganui - Yeet card games plus other free activities and games
Mahi by Mahi - Te Reo Māori structured literacy resources, including kāri and decodable pukapuka.
Ōhinerangi Rauemi Reo Māori - Te Reo Māori structured sentence builders.
J and J Literacy - sell selected litreacy teaching resources/books and children’s picture books. The only official distributor of Heggerty books and teaching resources in New Zealand.
Sound Foundations for Literacy
Spellcaster - online systematic synthetics phonics platform tailored for upper primary and lower secondary students. Provides fully customisable lesson plans.
StepsWeb - online systematic synthetic phonics platform.
Sunshine Books - Sunshine Books has a core structured literacy programme for years 0-3 consisting of 180 decodable books (both fiction and non-fiction). This is available in print and also digitally, from 2025, in the Sunshine Online programme (which consists of two libraries – the Decodable Library and a Levelled Library). Grants for Sunshine Online are available to New Zealand schools from the Pye Foundation enabling them to access Sunshine Online for free. Sunshine Online has been assessed by Safer Technologies for Schools. Sunshine Books’ programme also contains teachers books and plenty of free resources, including a free assessment kit. They also have decodable books for both struggling older readers (Reading Road series) and for confident older readers who have completed a structured literacy programme (Next Steps Decodables series).
UFLI Foundations - The UFLI Foundations Toolbox is free and contains all the lesson resources to accompany the lesson plans provided in the UFLI Foundations manual. Foundations is an explicit and systematic phonics programme. Every lesson has companion resources that will help you implement the lessons efficiently, effectively, and consistently. Some of the companion lesson resources include: lesson slide decks (in PowerPoint and Google Slide formats); decodable passages; homework sheets; games and activities for additional practice.
