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Lindsay makes some wonderful selections for using decodables in the classroom. The predictable books need to be decodable. These books should have a letter sound correspondence and/or target a new skill. There must be a scope and sequence to the order the sounds are taught. The books we use for small groups should be 90% decodable. Please don’t teach the students to look at the pictures. Small group instruction can be phonics skill based with a text that aligns to the curriculum. Students should move from reading cvc, ccvc and cvcc to two syllable real words and then onto r controlled one and two syllable words. I love the diagram on page 87, where is shows/tells about what each person is doing at the table so you are listening to the other students read.

I want to implement the idea of the different people at the table doing something different while I listen to one person read. This could easily been transferred to the way I do my small groups. I pull out the Tier 3 students and some have a different need than others. I feel like the program I use already has a scope and sequence with printable readers which we color code and read multiple times.

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Create a decodable story and transform student ideas into engaging reading materials.

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Educators choose specific phonics skills for practice, students choose any topic they want (like really, anything), and Decodable Reads writes a high-quality story - in seconds!

Try for free - no credit card required

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Create custom decodable materials with your Science of Reading students

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The ultimate list of totally FREE decodable readers, books, e-books, and PDFs.

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This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. See our disclosure policy.

The ultimate list of totally FREE decodable readers, books, e-books and PDFs available online in 2023, all compiled in a simple list. Included are 15 direct links for easy access to hundreds of FREE decodable texts.

Free Decodable Resources

Current research supporting the Science of Reading (SOR) shows that decodable texts are needed to establish effective reading skills to reinforce the phonics skills taught. So we've been searching high and low to compile a list of totally free resources and want to share with you.

In recent years, many companies saw the need to release free resources to educators to help us do our jobs with research-based best practices in place. Many companies have continued (at least for now) sharing these resources, including decodable books, readers, passages, and e-books.

As educators, we spend so much of our own money purchasing items for our classrooms to use with our students. But some of those resources are just so expensive!

A motto our grandpa loved to share with us that we now greatly appreciate and value is: "If it's free, it's for me!"

SPELD SA

SPELD SA Decodable Readers are the top choice from the list below. And the best part is that they have released their sets of decodable readers online for free!

❤ Why We Love It

Each book can be used online in an HTML version OR downloaded as a free PDF that can be printed as an actual book. This resource is the most comprehensive and includes various formats, including special versions for ipads or tablets.

Worksheets and fluency charts accompany each book! There are ten total sets of readers with many books included in each set.

This is an excellent resource within the classroom or to share with parents for effective at-home learning! If you want to learn more about decodable readers, watch this webinar from SPELD SA to find out all you need to know.

Tips & Information

Remember that decodables are a valuable tool in your toolbox...but they're not the only tool. And if you're new to Science of Reading (SOR), you may be staring at your bookshelves filled with leveled readers and wondering what to do next.

If you're interested in learning about using decodable AND leveled readers appropriately, watch this informative webinar. Be assured, there is a place both types of texts within your classroom for your students!

The Free Resources

Below is the list of resources that include free decodable readers. We listed them in order of personal preference, but be sure to check them all out! Click the links for direct access to the free resources.

1. SPELD-SA (New Series)

2. SPELD-SA (Old Series)

3. Flyleaf (Available again for 2022-2023 school year)

4. Beyond Decodables

5. TN Dept. of Education

6. UFLI Decodable Passages

7. Teach My Kid To Read

8. Half-Pint Readers

9. Auburn University Free Decodable Books

10. Academic Success for All Learners

11. Core Knowledge

12. Success for All

13. Printable and Online Decodable Books

14. Sounds-Write (Requires you to create a free account to access)

15. Moon At Home Series (10 free books)

A big THANK YOU to all of the publishers and organizations listed above. You saw a great need to help teachers make the switch to practices that support the Science of Reading, and you stepped up to meet it.

We appreciate your hard work and dedication to ensuring literacy for ALL!

More Decoding Resources

We'd love to hear about your experience with decodable readers, especially those online! If you have any other suggestions, we'd love to hear from you. Please leave a comment below or tag us on Instagram @literacylearn.

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Hundreds of Free Decodable Readers, Books, PDFs, & eBooks (2023)

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The ultimate list of FREE decodable readers, books, e-books & PDFs available online in 2022, compiled in a list with direct links for access.

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Decodable Stories

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As students proceed through the lessons, more story groups are available for reading aloud. In the first story groups, the language is quite controlled

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Lindsay recommends using decodable texts in both small group and large group instruction. I found her idea of having every other student read very interesting and may try that. She also recommended using the whisper phones. I haven't used them in quite some time, but need to pull them out to use again. I agree with Lindsay when she talks about how she finds decodable texts to be more beneficial with small group instruction than with large group instruction. It is much easier to hear students read, be able to coach and differentiate for students.

I loved her reminder about decodable readers being temporary. They are a tool to help students become more accurate, fluent readers. We also need to remember to expose them to rich text.

My reading intervention program comes with printable decodable books. I would love to ask my principal if we have funds to purchase the color copies. There is just something about having a beautiful, colorful book in your hands that you can read!

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Some of the suggestions that Lindsay made that I will do immediately are, the ark method where she shows an ark with 1-5, having students 1, 3, & 5 read aloud, and then transition to students 2 and 4 to prevent echoing during choral reading. Which I see often, and I think this will be a great shake up for a positive result. Also, decodable books and building up this library of sorts to help with my new readers while giving my readers, who are higher an opportunity to read books that promote their ability level as well. I do use UFLI passages as a class and follow the scope and sequence, explicit instruction, but I am excited to use these 2 ideas first and see how they go in my 1st grade classroom.

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Lindsay suggests using decodables that follow the phonics skills students are currently working on using a scope and sequence format. The author also suggests using decodables that have cultural relevance and meaningful stories. However, the author states the importance of supplementing decodables with trade books and authentic texts in order to practice vocabulary and deepen comprehension. I plan to implement some of the formats used by the author including beginning with whole group discussion by introducing the target skill, displaying decodable sentences with the target skill, reading silently and then together as well as asking a comprehension question. I then plan to move to having students read on microphone individually while the others read on mute. This way, I can focus on what each individual student.

She mentioned getting a grant. I currently create my own decodables, but maybe I could get some more resources from the library and free online resources.

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This is awesome. I have bagged the predictable texts for beginning readers several years ago and appreciate how Lindsey continues to reinforce this practice.

I was meeting with a 3rd-5th-grade LBS1 teacher recently, as we were planning for phonics and application. She suggested more leveled readers, and I cringed. I promptly told her about the 7 Mighty Moves and copied this chapter for her. There are still so many teachers and practitioners who need to hear this message.

I especially appreciated the attention to Scope and Sequence when selecting decodable texts. It matters so much!! This might be my favorite chapter so far!

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Lindsay suggests that decodable readers be used to support beginning readers to practice applying the skills they have learned in their phonics lessons. Early on, the texts should follow the phonics scope and sequence as closely as possible because if it contains skills that have not been taught then the book becomes less decodable.

As students gain more skills, Lindsay suggests using books where the the percentage of decodable words in decodable books should vary in order to eventually transition students from decodable text to authentic text/trade books.

I am going to start looking closer at decodable books that match the scope and sequence of our core curriculum. Like Lindsay I have always been able find lots of printable decodable passages to support my students but they love to have a book in their hands and say, "I read that book." when they are done. There truly is something to be said for having actual books in the hands of our students and this chapter reignited the importance of making that happen for my students.

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Move 4 - Decodable Texts

I really like how Lindsay laid out a step by step process for using decodable texts. She suggested giving each student a copy, having them highlight the target skill words, reading those words together, then doing a choral read of the whole passage. After that, she recommends asking questions or having students retell the story. It's such a simple but effective routine that keeps students engaged.

I also appreciated her guidelines for knowing when students are ready to transition out of decodables - that's something I don't always think about. I like that she moapped out what to do before, during and after reading.

A lot of these ideas connect to what I'm already doing through UFLI Foundations, but I'll admit I haven't always been consistent about highlighting target word in the decodables. I'm planning to be more intentional about that - taking time to highlight and review those words before reading so students really see the connection between the skill and the text is important.

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Lindsay suggests using the decodable texts both in whole group and small group instruction and shares a lesson framework for each which is very helpful. I will be incorporating some of this into my intervention groups. I especially like the Error-Correction Procedure. In addition, I like how she utilizes staggered reading. I used to do this with my guided reading groups and leveled readers, but have gotten away from it in recent years. I plan to try it out again with the decodable texts.

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Some suggestions Lindsay makes for using decodable texts in the classroom are giving each student a copy of the decodable text, give them 1-2 minutes to highlight the target skill words in the text, have the students read the highlighted words with a partner or individually, choral read the entire passage together as a group or partner read it and ask questions about the passage or have the students retell it to a partner. I know that she uses this as whole-group instruction, but because I teach special education I feel this is something that I could utilize as a small group. I really wish that our reading interventionists would start to utilize decodable books. This also really got me thinking about our book room. If our school decides to go with UFLI for next year, our book room could use a makeover. As a school, we really need more decodable books for our teachers to check out and borrow. This could be something that I submit for grant money.

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Kemeny suggests several small group and whole group instruction.

Some that I felt like were interesting were:

Text transfer procedure - where students highlight target skill words, read them to a partner, choral read the passage together, and retell it or ask questions about it to a partner.   I like the partner work aspect of this activity.

Repurposing predicitable text to teach vocabulary, writing activities, and student interest sounds like a great idea. As a third grade teacher, I did not have many predictable texts in my room, but when I taught in Title we did.   I think we can find value in these books, I appreciated her insight in not to get rid of leveled texts, but to repurpose them.

Using whisper tubes - we called them whisper phones.   My third grade students did not like these, but they would record themselves reading on a IPAD.   I’ve been reading about whisper phone duets and fluency pairs, so I think perhaps those might be an option for older students.   Has anyone tried these options?

Areas to implement:

Working on getting better at giving immediate feedback in my groups is a goal for me.   I also love the idea for Book Bag Buddies.   Our local library in Indiana did something like this and I think families would enjoy it.  I’d likely piar the Book Bag Buddies with with opportunities to read with other adults in the building like the counselor, principal, or older students.  I’ve used the word detective strategy in my small groups, but I think I could transition that to independent work in a center using the highlighter method.

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LIndsay makes several suggestions for using decodable texts in the classroom. For small group reading she suggests “instead of organizing your students by guided reading levels, I suggest organizing them by phonics skills and giving them decodable text that align with those skills” (p. 86). When reading that text, evaluate the number of mistakes a student makes during their reading of the text to determine if the text is too difficult or if the teacher should select a different one. With my 1:1 students, I feel lucky that I can pair the texts and readability directly with the student. ONe of my students needs more frequent exposures and practices within a decodable pattern (building on known patterns or orthographic concepts) than another same-aged student. This helps when I am preparing the materials to increase the number of small texts I am selecting and ensuring I have several more on hand for the student who makes more mistakes. I am also prepared for the emotional impact that correcting mistakes will have. Over time, providing direct feedback and error correction support is more well received by students who put pressure on themselves to keep up with more advanced peers.

One before reading step I haven’t used is having students look for target words in the text (p. 87)t. I really like this idea because it will help teach the skill of scanning and pre-reading as well as make students aware where the new words we are working on are. I also like this for high frequency words because I know that I can use this to also help reinforce spelling patterns of those for students who know them in isolation and aren’t generalizing to other types of writing. I am going to share with my colleagues the during reading group  visual on page 87. We always have team meetings where they mention how hard it is to work with them all at once and developing a consistent routine of what to do. We only work small groups, so a lot of what is on the small group instruction pages is highly beneficial.

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Lindsay suggests that students need to start with decodable texts rather than predictable so teachers can get away from the cueing system. I like how she said she wanted her students to practice their letter sounds, use the individual sounds to make words, and then apply the phonemic awareness and phonics knowledge they have gained to be able to decode. That is the science of reading. I just wish decodable texts had better stories and ways to ask some good questions. The series we use at school is pretty horrible. I have been reading through other people's comments hoping to find something we could use that is more exciting and understandable. I always have the students highlight the focus sound in the reading like Lindsay suggests. I am glad she said to incorporate a multiple-text approach because I was wary of doing that.

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She gives strategies for using them in whole group instruction as well as small group; the main thing I took away from that is that during whole group instruction is maybe use some decodable sentences instead of decodable readers and save some of the more in-depth instruction for small group time. She also gave strategies for having everyone read during small group in a way that wouldn't be too noisy, which I found very helpful.

I plan to implement whisper phones more often. Hearing how she said have 1, 3, 5 read and then switch with 2 and 4 was something I really liked and is a way I think I could make whisper phones worked. I've always shyed away from them. I also like the "take home" book system and will try to implement that.

I'm blessed to have access to many decodables through IMSE and OG but I would like to look more at my classroom library - particularly my non-fiction section - and order it more into "expert" bins that might go along with different topics we read about in whole group reading so that I can utilize decodables and my other books in a more coherent way.

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Strategies suggested for using decodable texts in the classroom included using them during small group table instruction and occasional whole group instruction. She described ways of having the students preview the texts to first identify the targeted skill in words or reading a word list that contained the target skill and then whisper reading the text out loud, as a means of hearing themselves say the sounds. She also mentioned the take-home book system as a means of practicing decoding skills with their adults at home. I loved this idea because the books are targeted to the students’ instruction from school, they are required to read out loud, and the books rotate weekly, helping the students to feel like experts on the texts and acknowledge their advancement to the next set of texts. I also appreciated that she told us to repurpose old books for new skills and to organize books by topic, not level.

I plan on implementing the idea of highlighting words containing a particular sound in a text prior to reading it. This would push my students, fourth graders, to be responsible for sounds, not just letter organization in a word. For my students who really struggled with decoding, I also plan on using the coaching strategy suggested on page 92. I will need to spend more time with my students listening to them read, which can be difficult within our day, but I plan on incorporating these reading times during subjects like science and social studies and not limiting them only to our ELA time.

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My district requires students read in level text, so I try to switch between decodable text and level text to support my students. I think at times, this can be confusing for my students, but I have been trying to utilize the decoding strategies from Move 3. Also, I want to continue to research about decodable text. I found one great set of CVC books, but I haven't found great decodable books that focus on short vowels with 4-5 sounds.

One idea that I loved from the book was the small group instruction that students rotate reading activities to discourage echoing. I plan to try that this week in my classroom.