Classroom Implications

Children need opportunities to practice accurate and fluent reading in decodable stories.  The words in decodable stories do emphasize the sound-letter relationships the children are learning. While many predictable and patterned books provide children with engaging language and print experiences, these books may not be based on the sound-letter relationships the children are learning.    Decodable stories provide children with the opportunity to practice what they are learning about letters and sounds. 

A child's first reading materials should feature a high proportion of new words that use the letter-sound relationships they have been taught. It makes no sense to teach decoding strategies and then have children read materials in which these strategies won't work.

Research asserts that most children benefit from direct instruction in decoding, complemented by practice with simply written decodable stories. For some children this sort of systematic approach is critical. Stories should "fit" the child's reading level. Beginning readers should be able to read easily 90% or more of the words in a story, and after practice should be able to do so quickly, accurately, and effortlessly.

Children need opportunities to learn decoding strategies. Efficient decoding strategies permit readers to quickly and automatically translate the letters or spelling patterns of written words into speech sounds so that they can identify words and gain rapid access to their meanings. Children must learn to identify words quickly and effortlessly, so that they can focus on the meaning of what they are reading. It is important that children learn effective sounding-out strategies that will allow them to decode words they have never seen in print. Some strategies of decoding instruction focus primarily on the relationships between sounds and letters; others combine letter-sound practice with word families, with word parts (e.g. onsets and rimes), and with blending activities. More advanced decoding strategies focus on structural analysis, the identification of root words, and prefixes and suffixes.  Instruction should introduce "irregular" words in a reasonable sequence and use these words in the program's reading materials.   

Children learn blending and other decoding strategies that permit them to sound out new words and identify them quickly.

Children read words, sentences, and stories that contain the sound-letter relationships they are learning, as well as some "sight" words. Because fluent reading is essential to comprehension, children should practice both oral and silent reading. Children should have easy access to an array of story books and other reading materials that they can read on their own and with others.

Use connected, decodable text for children to practice the sound-spelling relationships they learn. Children need extensive practice applying their knowledge of sound-spelling relationships to the task of reading as they are learning them. This integration of phonics and reading can only occur with the use of decodable text.  Predictable text gives a motivating success, but children need to practice the sound-spellings they have learned as well.