One avenue for improving reading outcomes is to ensure children who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) enter school with the foundational skills needed to learn to read. Our research team developed an early literacy curriculum specifically for DHH children. Teachers use Foundations for Literacy (FFL) in a one-hour literacy block for the school year. Student learning objectives include improving spoken phonological awareness, alphabetic knowledge, word reading, vocabulary, and narrative. FFL is more systematic, and its instruction is more explicit, multi-modal, and intensive than might be used with children who have typical hearing. Much of the instruction is embedded in language-rich activities. Differentiation of instruction to the wide variation of language and phonological processing skills observed for children who are DHH is integral to the design. Results from multiple studies, including a randomized-control trial, indicates that FFL is an effective intervention for young DHH students.