How do you incorporate decodable text into daily instruction? Check out my tips below to confidently choose the perfect decodable text for your daily reading lessons.
Connect the decodable text to your whole group phonics instruction
To begin, you can add decodable text into your whole group phonics instruction. Most phonics programs teach spelling skills by introducing letters and sounds in a very systematic, explicit way. Decodable text help students connect encoding (spelling) to decoding (reading). First, choose a decodable reader that features the phonics pattern that you are teaching. For instance, if students are working on ink, ank, unk, and onk, then a decodable reader that features these sounds would be a great choice for whole group instruction or even in small groups.
I love to use the digital version of these decodable passages found in my tpt store.
After you choose a passage, book, or even a few sentences, project it for all the students to see. Additionally, you could give all students a copy of the text. If you do this option, it can be added to a familiar reading binder or book bin. Ideally, the text would be on the student’s instructional or independent reading level. However, there is a pretty good chance, that any text you choose may not be the perfect level for all the students in your class.
If the reading level is above the student’s current reading level, support and scaffold as needed.
- The teacher might read a sentence aloud. Then, students can read with the teacher, and last students can read without the teacher.
- After hearing the sentence or passage, students can find words with the targeted phonics skill
Connect the decodable text to your small groups
Next, when choosing a reader for your daily small groups, decodable readers can be perfect. If you have a group of students who are on grade level or above with their reading and phonics skills, then it might be great to match the decodable reader to your phonics instruction in a small group as well. However, if a student is reading below grade level, it might be a great idea to use a decodable text that features the skill that they are needed additional support with.
Connect the decodable text to interventions
To wrap things up, you can incorporate decodable readers into your intervention time, often students will need intervention and reteaching on previously taught phonics skills. This is a great place to use decodable text as well. For instance, if students are having difficulty with b and d reveals, decodable text that features b and d can be very helpful. If your schedule has time for reteaching built in that is super! If not, you might incorporate some of this reteaching into small group time.
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Don’t miss out on these freebies from my tpt store!
Decodable Text Mega Bundle in my TPT store
Free Level 1 Passages
Free Level 2 Passages
Free Level 1 Book
Here are some other options that I have used:
- Reading A-Z has a whole library of decodable text. Occasionally, I have difficulty matching it to my readers, but it was still a great resource. They offer a 15-day free trial that would definitely let you try their books out.
- Fly Leaf is offering ALL of their decodable texts for free at the time of this writing (11/23/2020). I like this company as well for students who have mastered consonants, short vowels, and some blends and phonics chunks.
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