Reading Elephant offers printable phonics books for struggling readers. K-1 kids who struggle need phonics books that are uniquely designed with the science of reading in mind.
Struggling readers need a systematic phonics book series.
Kids should learn one sound at a time and have ample practice before moving on to another sound. Reading Elephant printable phonics books introduce one phonics sound in each set. Kids get to practice the new sound across several books.
k-1 students need a phonics book series that incorporates constant review.
Many phonics books “highlight” one phonics sound, like/ee/, and call it an /ee/ book. Yet, they are not conscious of the sounds the child has already learned. Nor do they attempt to incorporate the new phonics sound, like /ee/, in future books.
Kids need to gradually build their phonics knowledge. In addition, they need constant review. Reading Elephant printable phonics books allow kids to review old phonics sounds while mastering new phonics sounds.
If old phonics sounds are dropped, the child will become weak in past sounds. Reading Elephant phonics book series was written methodically to allow children to continue to practice old sounds, so they don’t “forget” or become weak in past phonics units.
Phonics books for struggling readers should not offer “crutches.” For example, the child should not be able to guess based on the pictures. Nor should she guess based on repetitive text.
Effective phonics books build real, transferable decoding skills. If a child can read the short o book “Tom,” then she can transfer her reading skills to the real world. For example, she can read the word “pop” on the candy bag “Pop Rocks.”
Pictures and repetitive text do not allow a child to build decoding skills. They simply teach the student erroneous, harmful messages about read that are untrue. She may begin to think that good readers guess. She may begin to believe that all books are repetitive: “The rose is red. The brick is red. The car is red.” However, we experienced readers know that repetitive texts are very rare, largely only found in poorly written books or elementary poetry. A child needs to read books that are NOT repetitive. She needs to be able to DECODE.
Effective phonics books encourage kids to read sound-by-sound. With this sound-by-sound decoding method, the child can crack the whole book. Furthermore, she, over time, builds fluency, and as she gains speed this sound-by-sound reading quickens and eventually isn’t even perceptible. Beginning readers need to read slowly, sound-by-sound, and they need to learn the code.
Reading Elephant phonics books are systematic, include constant review, and do NOT allow beginners to develop bad reading habits, like leaning on pictures and repetitive texts. Our printable phonics books for struggling readers are in our shop.
Useful and relevant materials. Thank you.