In the world of reading, decodable books go hand-in-hand with the effective application of phonics concepts. Unfortunately, there’s no real “standard” for what makes a decodable book high-quality. As a result, various publishing companies have created their own versions with a wide array of differences.
But how can you know which decodable books are right for your students? In today’s modern world, decodable books need to meet the needs of students, aligning with their current phonics skills. But they also need to provide them with scaffolding opportunities to increase vocabulary and high-frequency word knowledge, all while building confidence and a love of reading.
Here are 5 key considerations when choosing the best decodable books for your classroom:
1 – Think outside the box.
Are your decodable book boxes collecting dust on your windowsill? While these grade-level sets should contain an entire phonetic scope & sequence of books, they typically need more when it comes to direct application. Why? Because there is only one book per concept, not one per student.
Teachers should have enough books for everyone to practice the same concept at the same time, or at least enough for small-group practice. This allows for the direct application of phonetic concepts at the whole-class level. This is where digital books excel – everyone can check out the same book at the same time (López-Escribano, et. al., 2021). And, when paired with a complete reading intervention system like MindPlay Reading Studio, each student can directly apply the latest phonetic skill they’ve acquired for immediate practice.
And it saves money! Instead of purchasing a one-shot grade-level box, Studio’s Personalized Library affords all students access to over 300 decodable books…at the same time, with or without internet access!
Think outside the box – and move towards eBooks that increase accessibility for your students.
The MindPlay Decodable Book Collection corresponds with the scope & sequence of what the on-screen Speech Language Pathologists teach in MindPlay Reading Studio, allowing for direct application of phonics skills.
2 – Pump up the Vocab.
Have you ever been overwhelmed with heart words or sick of too many sight words? Traditional decodable books can be unpredictable when it comes to the amount of sight or heart words included, with no consistency from one book to the next. Or they may fall victim to a parallel structure that just repeats the same pattern, like “Mat sat. Bat sat. Pat sat.” We hear all too often from teachers that too many unknown heart or sight words frustrate their students to the point where they won’t read at all. And without the ability to preteach with word lists, covers are grumpily shut, and books go back in the box.
That’s where word lists come into play for more modern decodable books. Focus concept words should still be the backbone of a decodable book to support the direct application of learned skills. But familiarizing students with novel words that scaffold towards future concepts or sight words they haven’t seen yet can allow decodable books to be more approachable (Mesmer, 2005; Wright & Neuman, 2013). Including word lists easily gives teachers the tools they need to preview and preteach per book. This is especially important for sight words, which kids must be repeatedly exposed to in order to develop automaticity. Then, as the books move through the scope & sequence, more words can be added for increased sentence complexity.
3 – Amp up the story.
Tired of giving students single-note, barely-there plots? Or maybe your storylines seem stale due to concept constraints or the age of the collection? Traditional decodable books usually focus on a single phonetic concept or review of concepts, usually with simplistic sentence structure. Or the stories just land dull when the concept words restrict creativity. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
Shying away from engaging content at the risk of adherence to strict phonetic principles limits creativity. Instead, providing word lists that include scaffolded future phonetic concepts or novel vocabulary with more advanced sight words allows teachers to prep students for more complex vocabulary that expands the storyline. The inclusion of a few new words to expand the storyline can activate and enhance background knowledge while giving students the power to “know a big word.” (We call them “SuperStar” words in our MindPlay Decodable Book Collection!) For example, what would a book about Apollo 11 be without the word “moon”? Conceptual vocabulary supports student growth and scaffolds toward upcoming phonetic concepts within creative plots fueled by charismatic characters. While directly applying phonics skills, students can still revel in new worlds with creative stories in fiction, non-fiction, and poetry selections (Storch & Whitehurst, 2002).
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SuperStar words scaffold to future phonetic concepts, pushing decodable poetry out of this world!
4 – Do a double-take on illustrations.
We say not to judge a book by its cover, but we can surely engage with cover art! The first glimpse of a decodable book should draw a student in with vibrant art without giving away too much detail. Traditionally, decodable books tend to include artwork by one artist, with common characters appearing across the entire series. Most often, these range from stick shape figures to cartoon characters with minimal color. And depending on the age of the books, some may still promote the older cueing method, encouraging students to guess words based on illustrations.
At MindPlay, we know students benefit from a wide variety of illustrations to expose them to new artistic styles and pique their interest. Decodable books also need “snapshot” photos that hint at the content on the page, but do not provide visual cues. Including diverse characters in engaging fiction and nonfiction storylines invite students to enter a new world with each book. It builds foundational background knowledge while supporting imaginative supposition and exposition (Schiefele, et. al., 2012). Kids should see themselves in these books as well as the world around them.
5 – Play with your words.
How do we keep students engaged with decodable books? Decodable does not equal boring or stale. We want students to have the ability to play with language. Too often, traditional decodable books base their structure on repetition and concept vocabulary at the expense of interest. As a result, many parents and teachers have seen students memorizing content instead of applying their decoding skills.
Let’s encourage students to play with the language in our decodable books. While the main focus is always the application of the new phonics lesson, the names of characters can be “nonsense” words, storylines can be hilarious, bats can be named “Cat,” and poetry can reinforce rhyming skills. Decodable books can continue to develop automaticity by including words from previous lessons, as well as increase the quantity of sight words while still pulling students in with fun (Ehri, 2001).
Playing with words and having fun engages students while reinforcing phonics skills.
A Decodable Book Checklist
To stay relevant, fresh, and aligned to state standards, the MindPlay Decodable Book Collection ranges from fiction to nonfiction, to poetry and beyond. Our content not only focuses on phonics instruction, but also pushes students beyond – into relevant vocabulary within worlds of imagination and wordplay. Developing a creative world for students with engaging storylines and slide-of-action illustrations foster a love of reading in all students. And don’t forget the confidence they build when being able to read each and every book they encounter. Paired with on-screen Speech Language Pathologists in MindPlay Reading Coach, the MindPlay Decodable Book Collection offers the breadth and depth to support personalized student learning and allows teachers to see the joy of reading in their classrooms (Ehri, et.al., 2001).
And we won’t leave you hanging. For a quick way to assess decodable books for your classroom, download our quick Decodable Book Checklist!
Resources Cited:
Ehri, L. C., Nunes, S. R., Stahl, S. A., & Willows, D. M. (2001). Systematic phonics instruction helps students learn to read: Evidence from the National Reading Panel’s meta-analysis. Review of Educational Research, 71(3), 393-447. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543071003393
Ehri, L. C., Nunes, S. R., Willows, D. M., Schuster, B. V., Yaghoub-Zadeh, Z., & Shanahan, T. (2001). Phonemic awareness instruction helps children learn to read: Evidence from the National Reading Panel’s meta-analysis. Reading Research Quarterly, 36(3), 250–287. https://doi.org/10.1598/RRQ.36.3.2
López-Escribano, C., Valverde-Montesino, S., & García-Ortega, V. (2021). The Impact of E-Book Reading on Young Children’s Emergent Literacy Skills: An Analytical Review. International journal of environmental research and public health, 18(12), 6510. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18126510
Messmer, H.A.E. (2005). Text decodability and the first-grade reader. Reading & Writing Quarterly, 21(1), 61-86. https://doi.org/10.1080/10573560690623667
Schiefele, U., Schaffner, E., Möller, J., & Wigfield, A. (2012) Dimensions of reading motivation and their relation to reading behavior and competence. Reading Research Quarterly, 47(4), 427-463. https://doi.org/10.1002/RRQ.030
Storch, S. A., & Whitehurst, G. J. (2002). Oral language and code-related precursors to reading: Evidence from a longitudinal structural model. Developmental Psychology, 38(6), 934–947. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.38.6.934
Wright, T.S., & Neuman, S.B. (2013). Vocabulary instruction in commonly used kindergarten core reading curricula. The Elementary School Journal, 113(3), 386-408. https://doi.org/10.1086/668766