When I worked as a reading interventionist, I was baffled to find how few resources are available for k-2 struggling readers. As I taught kids that were far below grade level in reading, I realized there were not enough phonics books for my students. I taught Jeremiah, a 2nd grader that read at the early Kindergarten level. He’d gone through Bob books multiple times, had memorized them (memorizing is not beneficial), and there were no additional phonics materials that were easily accessible. Many supposed phonics books were not systematic. Jeremiah needed a phonics practice book beginner pdf. He needed something like this:
Many kids need systematic phonics books to learn to read.
I was a reading interventionist, knew how to design systematic phonics lessons, yet I struggled to find phonics books for my k-2 students. Kids with significant reading struggles, including dyslexic kids, need leveled phonics books to practice sound-by-sound reading and build fluency (reading speed). I began writing phonics books to help my students. Jeremiah, like many of my students, gradually progressed through my phonics books sets. Eventually, I made my phonics books available in the Reading Elephant online shop.
Word lists are not enough.
Many kids learn how to read with word lists. Decontextualized lists are a critical part of research-based phonics lessons. However, lists of words are not enough to build a fluent reader. To learn to read, kids need books. Beginning readers need carefully crafted phonics books with limited sound patterns. For example, in the short a book, kids only need to know short a words like, “Sam Cat.” Next, in the short i book, kids can read a sentence like, “Pig can tag Sam.” As the child moves through our series, the language gets more complex, as books gradually add more phonics sounds.
Tips for walking your student through a phonics practice book beginner pdf:
-Don’t read the text before your student. Allow your student to make errors. Help her through errors after her first attempt.
-Encourage your beginner to say the sounds slowly on the first attempt. For example, she should read “Sam” as “Ssssaaaammmm” and “top” as “toooop.” She should hold continuous sounds and clip stop sounds.
-Next, have her go back and blend the words. You say, “Blend.” Your students says, “Sam.”
-Lastly, after she finishes one sentences say, “From the beginning.” Have her go to the beginning of the sentence and read a bit more fluently.
-Gradually, as your student becomes more fluent, you can drop these cues.
Reading Elephant offers phonics books designed for struggling readers in our shop.
Leave a Reply