SPELD NSW, WA, QLD, and VIC recommend Decodable Readers for all students
A simple and effective tool for reading success
Children who struggle with reading need to spend dedicated time developing their phonics skills, and reading practice using decodable books is a simple and effective way to do so.
If you have used decodable readers with your children and students you’ll understand what a difference they can make. Learning to read isn’t always simple but decodable readers will help a struggling child.
What are decodable readers?
Decodable readers are books with simplified spelling patterns, which beginning readers can tackle independently with success. You can read more about Decodable Readers here.
Decodable books gradually build up the number of sounds/spelling combinations that are used in books in each series. The first few books might only use a handful of sounds (for example /s/, /a/, /t/, /i/ and /m/) and then as the books progress they will introduce more sounds/spelling combinations until they the books are using different vowel spellings and a range of prefixes and suffixes. Decodable books are written for students learning to read in the early years (such as the Dandelion Reader and Launcher series and the Little Learners Love Literacy books) or for older students who need more practice to develop decoding skills to learn to read (such as the Dandelion catch up reader series).
It’s important for all children to have access to decodable texts for learning to read.
Sarah Asome highlights the importance of PHONICS as part of the FIVE keys of early reading instruction and the impact on later reading skills.