With the introduction of systematic synthetic phonic programs in schools, it is essential to align training in sounding out or decoding with texts that allow students practice and success. These texts can be considered the 'trainer wheels' of reading and just like with early bike riding, some learners don't need the support, some need a bit of support, and some need a lot. We leave the trainer wheels on as long as necessary for wobbly bike-riders, and we need to do the same for struggling readers. However, it is equally important to remove the trainer wheels, or decodable texts in this case, as soon as skills are mastered so that the learner is free to ride, or in this case, to read the books they choose. Decodable reading series provide this important support for early learners of reading to train decoding skills and to allow students to experience an authentic sense of success - but no guessing!
LDA recently hosted a presentation by Dr Tanya Serry - it is well worth watching!
# decodables
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