“The magic for these kids was finding a series that they could decode, that could keep their interest, that motivated hard work, and that made them sound and feel like successful readers.” ~Brin Tucker Last year I was serving as an instructional coach, intern mentor, and also ran some intervention groups. Our intern, Amelia Fontein…
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What do we mean by “sound it out” and what does it entail? When a child gets stuck on a word we often remind them to “sound it out”. As fluent readers, we assume this is very straightforward. We recognise these words automatically and skip all the stages that beginner readers need to go through…
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How important is it to cultivate the love of reading in children? Decodable books are an essential part of a structured literacy approach, but they have a specific purpose. They are decodable exercises which students can use to practise the phonics skills they have learned. They are not designed to compete with the huge variety…
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During mental health week, we think it is important to highlight the link between mental health and illiteracy. Illiteracy causes poor life outcomes, poverty leading to crime, depression and poor health. The Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychological Therapies of the University of East Anglia (UEA) have just reported on the global problem of poor…
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Supporting structured linguistic literacy at home with games and decodable reading books – by Clair Wilson This article was originally published in the January 2023 issue of Dystinct Magazine. Click here for free access to this issue until December 2024. Reading is one of the most important skills we want our children to learn. We…
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Reading Specialist, Savannah Campbell from Campbell Creates Readers, provides a helpful reference guide to phonic acronyms. There are A LOT of acronyms in education. IEP, IDEA, NCLB, NRP. I could go on and on and on. If you are a teacher or parent, it can feel overwhelming! Today, I want to walk you through some…
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At Phonic Books, we know the importance of continuous and lifelong learning. We’re always delighted to hear from our customers, and feedback on our decodable books is especially welcome. Your comments help us to understand what we are doing right – as well as flagging up anything that could be improved. In this testimonial, Dyslexia…
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Emily Hanford’s thought-provoking podcast, “Sold a Story” has created quite a buzz in the education community. Reading specialist and SLP, Miriam Fein, has been listening: “It didn’t seem like they were teaching them to read. It seemed like they were teaching them to sound like they could read”. (A parent, in “Sold a…
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What’s the best way to organize your decodables? There are many different ways to go about this. Here, K-5 reading specialist, Savannah Campbell, shares some helpful tips and tricks to make your classroom library user friendly. Now that you have decodables, how do you organize them? I’m lucky to live in a district that…
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