Teaching with Decodable Books: A Step-by-Step Guide
Decodable books are an essential part of explicit, systematic phonics instruction. They give students purposeful opportunities to apply the phonics skills they have been taught as they read connected text. Just as important as selecting high-quality decodable books is how they are used. Intentional instruction before, during, and after reading helps students strengthen decoding, build fluency, and transfer their growing phonics knowledge to reading and writing.
Follow these steps to make decodable text an intentional and effective part of your phonics instruction:
Choose the Right Books
Select a high-quality decodable book that aligns with a phonics scope and sequence, provides ample practice with the target skill, includes previously taught phonics patterns, and thoughtfully incorporates high-frequency words.
Teach the Phonics Skill Prior to Reading
Before introducing the decodable book, explicitly teach the targeted phonics skill. This prepares students to apply what they have learned as they encounter the skill in connected text. Your phonics lesson may include:
- Both decoding and encoding (writing) instruction
- Teaching letter-sound correspondences
- Blending and segmenting activities that target the phonics skill highlighted in the book
- Multisensory activities bridging the phoneme to the grapheme
Introduce the Book
Give students a brief introduction to build interest and provide any background knowledge needed for understanding—but don’t give too much away!
Locate Words Containing the Phonics Skill
Have students locate a few decodable words in the book that contain the target phonic element. Students can then practice the new skills they have learned by reading these words in isolation before encountering them in connected text.
One way to do this is by having students use their fingers to make a frame around the letters that spell the target sound in a word. For example, the target sound in the word mud is short u, so the students would use their index fingers to frame the letter u in the word. Then have them remove the frame and read the word.
Explicitly Teach High-Frequency Words
Select one or two high-frequency words from the text that require instruction, and explicitly teach them using phoneme-grapheme mapping.
| TIP: MyCodables and InfoCodables decodable books include a helpful chart at the back of the book with the knowledge-building and high-frequency words in the text, along with all the words containing the phonics skill. |
For a closer look at bringing these first steps to life, check out Session 1 of our free three-part webinar series, Foundations That Inspire: A Three-Part Webinar Series on Unlocking the Full Power of Decodable Books. In this session, our literacy specialists walk through: why quality decodable books matter, what makes a quality decodable book, how to calculate decodability, and how to align decodable books with a systematic scope and sequence. They also share high-impact routines for building fluency.
Watch Session 1: Unlock the Code—Using Decodable Books to Strengthen Phonics Skills
Support Students as They Read
As students read, listen closely and provide timely corrective feedback when needed. Encourage students to attend to the letters in the word and apply the phonics skills they have learned. Ask questions about the text to support meaning and comprehension. After reading, have students locate and reread words containing the target phonic element.
(You may even want to offer a plush companion to make students feel more comfortable!)
Decodable books can deliver double the mileage on the road to lifelong literacy success when comprehension and motivation join decoding. In Session 2 of our free three-part webinar series, Foundations That Inspire: A Three-Part Webinar Series on Unlocking the Full Power of Decodable Books, our literacy specialists dive into how familiar characters and engaging storylines drive motivation while informational decodables build content knowledge and vocabulary.
Watch Session 2: Beyond the Words—Fostering Motivation, Comprehension, and Knowledge
Transfer Learning to Writing
After reading, provide opportunities for students to apply the target phonics skill through encoding. Have students write words containing the target phonic element, then dictate a sentence that includes words with the target skill and previously taught high-frequency words.
This reading-writing connection is exactly what Session 3 of our webinar series, Foundations That Inspire: A Three-Part Webinar Series on Unlocking the Full Power of Decodable Books, is built around—showing how decodable texts can inspire purposeful, phonics-aligned writing and support early composition.
Watch Session 3: From Sounds to Sentences—Using Decodable Texts to Support Writing
Set Aside a Time for Students to Reread the Book
Rereading builds fluency, provides repeated practice with words containing the target phonic element, and strengthens students’ ability to apply their phonics knowledge in connected text.
Provide opportunities for rereading, such as:
- During independent reading time
- During literacy centers with a partner
- At home aloud to a friend or caregiver
Looking to build out your decodable library? Look no further than Pioneer Valley Books!
Discover beautifully designed decodable books that do more than teach phonics—they inspire confidence, curiosity, and joyful reading. Whether you’re building foundational skills or exploring fascinating nonfiction topics, our collections—MyCodables, Phonics Storybooks, and InfoCodables—provide engaging, systematic support every step of the way.
Go deeper with our free webinar series: Foundations That Inspire: A Three-Part Webinar Series on Unlocking the Full Power of Decodable Books
In our engaging and practical three-part webinar series, our literacy specialists go beyond how to choose decodable books and show you how decodable texts can build confident, joyful, and capable readers and writers. Whether you’re a classroom teacher, literacy coach, or curriculum leader, this series offers evidence-aligned strategies to help you make the most of decodable books across your instruction.
Session 1: Unlock the Code—Using Decodable Books to Strengthen Phonics Skills
Watch the recording
Session 2: Beyond the Words—Fostering Motivation, Comprehension, and Knowledge
Watch the recording
Session 3: From Sounds to Sentences—Using Decodable Texts to Support Writing
Watch the recording
