How to Use Decodable Texts // Creating Lessons with Decodable Readers

>> Hey, everyone,
in today's video,

we are talking all about
decodable readers.

In this video, I'm
going to share

just a couple quick facts

about decodable readers.

I will share a few of
my favorite companies

that make great
decodable readers.

And then I have five

easy tips for you to think

about when you
are developing

lessons using
decodable readers.

Like many of you probably

watching decodable readers

weren't a staple in

my classroom a decade ago,

I really just didn't
have access to

many of them when I
started teaching,

we had a lot of
leveled readers,

and I do remember having
some, like, phonics,

like my first phonics
books from Scholastic.

And even so much

so we barely had any
of those, as well.

Finding access to these

phonics books was so
hard that I actually

created phonics poems
back in 2013, 2014.

It is one of my most

popular selling
things on TPT,

but they are
not decodable.

When I was writing
them, again,

decodable texts
weren't on my radar.

So the phonics poems,

while they
definitely focus

on a phonics pattern,

they aren't what you would

deem decodable by
many standards.

But creating
those was that

beginning step for
me to start to

incorporate more
phonics-based reading,

especially in small
group, with my students.

So in today's
video, I do want

to talk about what
decodable readers

are and really
just some ways to

use them most effectively
with your students.

So if you are ready,

give this video
eight thems up,

subscribe to my channel,

and let's get started.

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So quickly before
we dive in,

what is a
decodable reader?

A decodable reader is

either a passage or

a text that is
largely decodable,

meaning students
can decode

the words based on

a phonics pattern that
they are learning.

So a decodable reader will

be phonics-based
and it will

have a focus skill

that you are teaching
to your students,

and most of the words in

that text are going
to have that skill.

So students can decode it.

The other words
in the text,

not the phonics
skilled ones,

might be a little mix

of high frequency words,

there might be
some patterns

that students have
already learned before.

So if you are working

on consonant
blends, let's say,

beginning consonant
blends, you will

have plenty of other words

in that decodable text.

Most of them
will fall into

the category of
you've already

taught that
pattern before.

So just like the
phonics lessons

you're teaching in class,

the texts that you're

using to go
along with them,

these decodable
texts, they

should also be
sequential in nature.

So meaning they should
follow some sequence

that makes sense in terms

of the skills students
are learning.

In terms of what
percentage of

the words in the
text need to be

decodable in order
for it to count

as a decodable text, well,

experts vary on that,

but about 75-80%
seems to be

the most common answer
for that question.

So just to clarify,
that means that

75-80% of the words
in the decodable text

should be decodable
to students based on

either the phonic skill
that they're learning

or phonics skills that

they've learned
previously.

Another common
question asked is,

where can I find
decodable text?

So I wanted to share a
few of my favorites.

First, are Flyleaf
decodables.

These ones are
really engaging.

They have great
illustrations,

as well as great

photographs for
students to read.

And, of course,
they follow a

nice scope and sequence,

so you can work
along with that.

Just watch a school
board meeting

for my son's school,

where they go to school
and where I work,

and they just got approved
the funding to buy

a whole set of Flyleaf

decodables for
their classrooms.

So that's very exciting.
Some other options

are Bug Club Phonics.

These are by Pearson.

Here's a quick look at
what they look like.

But again, you are going

to want to use
your knowledge to

discern any
good decodables

by making sure
that they're

about 75-80% decodable and

make sure they are

engaging for
your students.

And lastly, there's

actually just
phonicbooks.com.

I know they
have a UK site,

but they also
have a US site,

so the spellings
will be consistent

with US spellings,
as well.

Now, I do want
to mention that

you can find plenty of

decodable texts and
passages over on TPT,

but you do want to
use your discretion.

Again, just like
when looking

at any other decodables,

you want to make sure
that they are engaging,

that they actually
are decodable.

So take a look at
some of the passages,

read them yourself,
and again,

use your own
discretion there.

But there are
some great ones.

Once you get your hands

on some good
decodable texts,

let's talk about how to
use them effectively.

First and foremost,

you're going
to want to use

these longer texts and

passages in small groups.

While we do a lot of
phonics instruction and

phonemic awareness
instruction whole group,

as we should,

these texts are
really going to be

most beneficial for
a targeted group of

students because
decodable texts

really focus on one
skill at a time,

and your students
are going to be

working at various levels.

And remember,
decodable means

that the students
will know how to

actually decode 80% of

the words based
on their level.

So what's decodable to

one student isn't
necessarily

going to be decodable
to another.

So once you've chosen

the correct
decodable text for

your small group based on

whatever pattern or skill

they are working on,

we can still do

some before reading
activities.

If you're used to
balance literacy,

a lot of the things
that we can work

on are going
to be similar,

so it's great to remember

that so you can pull
from those ideas.

Now, before you
hand over a

brand new decodable
text to your students,

the first step
is going to be

to review that
target skill.

Remember, each
decodable passage or

text has a skill that

is going to be
the focus there.

So you want to review that

explicitly with your
students first.

Get out a small
little whiteboard.

You might want to have
them have theirs, too.

And review what
the skill is.

If we're working on
beginning blends,

remind them we will
hear two sounds.

A blend still
has both sounds.

Let's pretend we're
working on L blends,

so that L will be
the second letter,

and then go ahead and
have students practice

decoding words
in isolation

that have that skill.

This is going to
be pretty quick,

you don't need to do this

for five, 10 minutes.

You just need to

practice a few
of those words,

remind students
of what they do

when they come
across those words,

and practice
blending them out.

This does not have
to take a long time,

but it is important to
warm up your students,

review the skill
explicitly,

and have them
practice actually

blending those
sounds together,

so they are prepared

to do this in their text.

Also before
reading the text,

you will want
to go ahead and

pre-teach some
of the words

that your
students may come

across that are just
a little too tricky.

You don't need
to pre-teach

every other word that
isn't decodable.

You can let students
try to figure it out.

It might give you
a little insight

on where they're at

with that type
of word pattern.

But if there's a word
in there that maybe

is like an R controlled
vowel and you just

haven't got there and you

don't need your
students to be stressed

out about that one word,

feel free to go ahead
and pre-teach it.

If it is a high
frequency word,

feel free to pre-teach it.

Of course, you'll always

read the decodable texts

before you give them
to your students.

So really think
about the group

you're working
with and pick out

a few words that
might need to be

pre-taught so you can

do that before they read.

So step 1 was before
they even have the book.

It was review the skill,

it was have them
practice decoding

that skill in isolation,

and go ahead and pre-teach

any words you think
are necessary.

Now, step 2 is going to be

very similar to
what we would

do if you were
doing balanced

literacy guided
reading groups.

You can actually
still have them

look at the cover,
make some predictions,

read the text,
read the title,

and ask them
some questions,

have them ask questions.

What do they think is

going to happen
in the story?

We still want to

activate any
prior knowledge,

we still want to go

ahead and see if they have

predictions and get

them asking
questions because,

again, reading isn't
just about decoding,

it's about
comprehension and

decoding is a means
to comprehending.

The questions you ask and

what conversations
may arise while

looking at the
book cover will

depend on each
individual book.

But go ahead and ask

students what
they're thinking.

Get them ready
for the text,

which moves us to
step number 3,

which is where
students are

going to read the text.

Now, just again, like

balanced literacy

with a guided
reading group,

you're going to want to do

this with your
small group,

and you can do this a
few different ways.

You can do a little
echo reading,

you can do a little
choral reading,

but you do want to make

sure that you're
listening to

each and every student in

that small group,
read the text.

Personally,

depending on the
length of the book,

I like to have
about one-third of

the text read orally,
so allowed together.

Sometimes we'll
do a little echo

reading if students
need that.

But I want to make
sure I can hear

all 4-5 students in

my group and offer

any feedback
directly as needed.

I want to offer that
feedback right away.

Based on that
initial, read

aloud and I'm
listening to them,

as long as we're not
getting too tripped up,

I then like to move
to whisper reading.

So everyone in
the group is

whisper reading and I

lean in and I'm
able to work

one on one within
my small groups.

And again, I can offer
feedback as needed.

So step number 4 is

after students have
read the text,

I like them to go
back into it and

highlight the
pattern that we

were working on,
the target skill.

If it's a paper
and pencil text,

we can actually
get a highlighter,

go back in and highlight

the words with
that pattern.

If it is a real book,

we can all work together

and point out the words,

and then I like to write

them on the whiteboard,

get a good handful
of them to practice.

Now, many teachers
like to do this

before they actually
read the text,

and I understand
why because

it helps students as

they come across
those words,

if they already
highlighted it,

they're like, oh,

that's the skill
we're working on.

These are beginning
blends, I know this,

we just reviewed this, let

me go ahead and
attack this word.

Which does make sense,

and it's a complete
preference.

I just don't especially

as the passages
get longer,

I might do that with
a shorter passage.

But as the passages
and texts get longer,

I don't love having them

sift through a whole text,

especially one that's

largely decodable and just

search for specific words

instead of attacking it,

instead of just
reading it and

diving into the story.

So again, personal
preference,

I'd love to know your
thoughts on that.

Let me know down
in the comments.

Do you usually
have them do

it before or after?

Do you have any ideas
around it? Let me know.

And last but not least,

step number 5 is to ask

questions and have them

put their books in
their bookbins.

Again,

decoding is just a
means to comprehension.

Learning to read
is so we can learn

the world around us

and understand
what's happening.

So we want to ask
good questions,

both higher level
and lower level

about the story we read
or about the passage.

That's really the
main reason these

decodable texts
might be only 75%

decodable because
we do need students

to engage with it that

needs to be
exciting to them.

It needs to have
some premise,

some questions that we can

ask instead of it being

100% decodable

and it doesn't
even make sense.

So make sure you're doing

a comprehension check and

then have students
put it in

their bookbins or
their book baggies,

so they have access
to that text.

Don't just take it
and put it away,

they should have it
for at least a week,

so during any independent
reading time,

they can feel
confident reading

that book over and

over and practice
their fluency.

So there you have
some of my tips

on how to use
decodable readers.

I hope this video
was helpful to you.

We talked a little
bit about what

decodable readers are,

I gave you some
examples of

some ones that I enjoy,

and then I shared five

steps to always
think about

or at least walk
through when

you're using decodables
with your students.

If you have any questions,

always drop it down
in the comments.

And as always, I do

hope you enjoyed
this video.

If so, please give it a
thumbs up, so I know.

Make sure you subscribe

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See you in the
next one. Bye.

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