Decodable books aren’t as widely spoken about as standard readers, as they’re most commonly used for those still learning how to read. Although decodable books aren’t as prevalent as regular books, they play a pivotal role in literacy development.
Decodable books are readers that contain specific phonetic codes that the person is already familiar with. For example, if the person only knows the vowels “a” and “e”, the book would likely contain words mainly with those vowels so that they’re easily decodable.
If you were unsure what decodable books entail, I’ll elaborate further on what they entail and how one can benefit from them. Keep reading to learn more about decodable books!
How Decodable Books are Structured
Decodable books give learners the opportunity to strengthen and develop their existing reading skills. These types of books allow the learner to voice out words or sounds they’re familiar with. For example, if they’re familiar with the sound of “a”, the book will contain words like “mat” and “cat.”
Fully decodable books are written and structured in a way that every word can be decoded by the reader while remaining coherent. By giving a learner a decodable book that contains all the phonetic codes they’re familiar with, they’re less likely to become frustrated and discouraged if they come across a word/s they can’t voice out.
The Benefits of Decodable Books
There are several benefits of decodable books besides improving the person’s literacy skills. Although literacy development is one of the primary functions of decodable books, there are a handful of additional advantages.
Decodable Books Improve Confidence
Decodable books improve the learner’s confidence by giving them content they know they’ll understand. If you give a learner material they can’t understand or follow, it’s likely that they’ll want to give up on trying.
By giving a learner a decodable book, they’ll become more confident in their literacy abilities, and this confidence has a high likelihood of seeping into other areas of life. The learner will begin to trust their reading abilities and develop the capacity to take on more complicated texts as time passes.
They Build Independence
Although you may need to guide the learner through specific texts or sentences they might struggle with, decodable books give them the autonomy to figure out and strengthen their understanding of words or phrases they’re already familiar with on their own.
Decodable books allow the learner not to depend too much on others to help them, as they won’t be working with words and phonetic codes they don’t know yet. If the decodable book doesn’t contain pictures that match the word/s, it can take them one step further in their independence since it’s up to them to decode the content.
Decodable Books Support Effective Literacy Development
Not only do decodable books allow the learner to enhance their reading skills, but they also create room for an improved reading pace and fluency. Being consistent with reading decodable texts or books allows the learner to recognise words easily without spending too much time on one word or sentence.
There is a range of Decodable Books Available
The great thing about decodable books is that there isn’t only one type. Fully decodable books contain only words that the learner can voice out, whereas highly decodable books have specific phonetic codes that can be voiced, but there are a handful of words that can’t. Highly decodable books are perfect if you feel the learner is ready for more challenging texts.
Final Thoughts
Although learning to read fluently can be a challenge, decodable books can greatly help anyone who needs more support regarding literacy!
