Using Decodable Books Effectively
Even though I’m now a literacy coach, I too have been caught teaching with leveled readers! In my first-grade classroom, when my students came across an unknown word, I’d have them guess by looking at the picture or even skipping the word. I was simply creating a classroom full of great guessers - not great readers. But as we always say here at Literacy Edventures - when you know better, you do better!
I had a hunch this wasn’t the best approach, but I also didn’t know what else to do. That’s when these decodables entered my life and saved the day! Today, we’re going to chat about decodable books, what they are, who needs them, and how best to utilize them in the classroom.
What are decodable books?
Decodable books are carefully chosen and controlled by phonics skills that have been previously taught on a scope and sequence. Decodable bookss grow with your students as their knowledge of phonics grows.
Characteristics of a decodable text:
Phonics alignment: The words in decodable texts adhere to specific phonics patterns and rules being taught in a structured literacy program. For example, if students are learning short vowel sounds, the text will mainly contain words with those particular vowel sounds.
Controlled vocabulary: Decodables focus on words that can be easily decoded based on the phonics skills the students have acquired. The goal is to offer manageable challenges and build reading confidence.
Sequential progression: Decodables are often organized sequentially, gradually introducing new phonics patterns while reinforcing previously learned ones. This progression supports a systematic approach to reading instruction.
Support for decoding skills: These texts help students practice applying their decoding skills in context. As they encounter words that follow the phonetic rules they’ve learned, they reinforce their understanding and application of those rules.
Phonemic awareness reinforcement: Decodable texts support the development of phonemic awareness by highlighting the relationship between sounds and letters, aiding in the recognition and decoding of words.
Decodable books are like those helpful stepping stones as you cross a river - each one gets you closer to the other side where students become true, confident readers.
I always like to tell students that decodables are their “sidekicks” on their reading adventures. Eventually, though, we want our students to move away from this type of text and into authentic ones.
Who needs decodable books?
Students who have had direct, explicit letter-sound instruction and ample time to build automaticity with letter sounds as well as practice with decoding are ready to use decodable books.
We need to ensure these texts align with the phonics skills we are currently teaching or have previously taught.
We want to use decodables right after we have taught a decoding lesson. This strategy allows students to immediately apply their knowledge in context.
What are some routines for using decodable books?
When we prepare a decodable lesson, we must break it down into three main components:
The Warm-Up: Before diving into reading, we want to warm up our students with a quick phoneme-grapheme practice, review high-frequency words, and introduce new vocabulary.
My fiction passages and brand new nonfiction decodable series both have these components built in to save you time!
Time in Text: This is where we practice reading in context. We do this by reading the decodable more than once (yes, we should do this, as it helps build fluency!)
I particularly enjoy choral or echo reading the text the first time with my students, pausing to give feedback, and discuss the text.
Then, I ask the students to “whisper read” the text a second time. This is when I can listen in on kids and deliver immediate feedback to them individually. If a student misses a word, I stop the student, point to the word, and ask them to read this word one more time. After this, they re-read the sentence.
Follow-Up: This is the time when we pull in some comprehension after students have completed a second read.
Pulling in comprehension with decodable books should not replace the daily read alouds you do with your class to help strengthen language comprehension. This time is so important because we want students to have strong language comprehension skills when we take the “decodable training wheels” off.
Keep in Mind
Science tells us that in order to have strong readers, we must have students who are able to decode and comprehend. When we provide students with a strong background in phonics, we are building an indestructible foundation for these kids.
Decodable books are temporary, yet critical in our students’ literacy journey.
Embracing the power of decodable books will help create successful and confident readers for years to come!
