TRT Podcast#41: Do’s and don’ts for using decodable books with beginning readers
For years I thought that decodable texts were a necessary evil … I thought they were boring, stilted, and nonsensical. Now I know that quality decodable books are vital for helping young learners build a strong foundation. The good news is that there are many wonderful decodable books, and more are being published all the time. Listen to find out my top tips for choosing and using decodable books.
Listen to the episode here
Full episode transcript
Link to original Facebook Live presentation
Related posts and episodes
- The ultimate guide to decodable books
- A Simple Look at How the Brain Learns to Read
- What The Science of Reading is Based On
- Spelphabet blog post – What is An Authentic Text
Recommended books
- Choosing and Using Decodable Texts, by Wiley Blevins
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Susan Cope
Hi! We work with monolingual and bilingual students. I know Spanish is a highly decodable language, so any thoughts on the place/need for decodable books for texts in Spanish? If so, any idea on good resources for this? Thank you!
Anna Geiger
Thank you for your question, Susan! I do not have experience teaching Spanish, so I don’t want to say too much here. But one thing I can say for certain is that you do not want your students to be solving words using context or picture clues; they should need to actually decode the words to read the text.
Christy Steffano
I’m loving this series! I have been using LLI for years and have been having the many of the same thoughts that you have mentioned. I do still believe in a balance, but I am starting to research more about quality decodable texts. What is your favorite Science of Reading professional book? Thanks so much!
Anna Geiger
Great question, Christy … I should really write a blog post about this! For me the best book to start with was Know Better Do Better (Liben) because it was a gentle introduction. Another gentle introduction for a balanced literacy teacher is Shifting the Balance (Burkins and Yates). A really good book for outlining the science in an easy to understand way is Kilpatrick’s Equipped for Reading Success.
Carol
Thanks for another great episode, Anna! I just love your enthusiasm as you talk about the different decodable books!
Anna Geiger
Thank you so much, Carol! :))