These are the questions I asked myself when I made the switch. I also wanted to move away from the idea of “leveling kids”. All kids have skills so it’s just about finding their skill group and putting our instructional focus there.

If you are asking the same questions, check out my FREE GUIDE on making the switch from Leveled Readers to Decodables.

It can also be tricky to navigate whether or not books are truly decodable. Here are some things I look for.

1. Do the books follow a scope and sequence? This is important because as we are teaching our kids skills, the text they read should be reinforcing those skills.
2. Is the text predictable? You want to avoid predictable text whenever possible. Check out this video for more info!
3. Which high frequency words are included? As often as possible, you want to avoid having kids memorize words just to read a passage. Science shows us that memorization is not an effective or efficient way to learn words. You will want to map the high frequency words before reading if possible.

Units 1-5 are available now.  Each unit includes word lists, activity pages, decodable passages, and a book for each skill.

I have also included assessments to make it easier for you to know what skills your students have & what skills you should focus on. Check out the shop for all these resources and more!