Discover the new way to teach guided reading, grab some free decodable books, and learn all about how the science of reading is changing the way teachers and students approach the wonderful world of reading!

Free Decodable Books

Hey, teacher friend!  Let’s cut right to the chase…you are probably here for the free decodable books, right?  I get it and you are my kind of teacher!  I love that you are on the hunt for great materials for your little learners!  You may not have time to read a ginormous blog post right now and there is NO.SHAME.IN.THAT.  Raise your hand if you have a life and responsibilities outside of the internet!  (raises two hands very high in the air)

Scroll right on down to the bottom and you’ll find the free decodable books you came here for!   Feel free to pin a picture or two as you go and save this post for later.  It is packed full of quality ideas and easy-to-implement practices that will give your guided reading routine a nice little 180 and change the lives of your precious little learners. Happy teaching!

What to Teach During Guided Reading (Hint: The Science of Reading)

Literacy impacts all aspects of our lives.  It affords us access to incredible ideas, self-expression, a massive variety of opportunity, and pure literary enjoyment and fulfillment.  It is essential that we do our very best to help our students learn to read, write, and speak confidently so that they are able to harness these benefits for themselves and be able to participate fully and happily in society.  Recent brain research gathered from a variety of fields (psychology, special education, etc.) is coming together to show us exactly what needs to happen in order for students to become proficient at reading.  This convergence of research and ideas is what is being termed….wait for it…. the science of reading.

The science of reading is based on thousands of studies across many related disciplines.  While it is definitely something of a buzz phrase amongst teachers right now, the research proves its effectiveness and, I’ll venture, it’s longevity.  It literally predicts that, when the science of reading teaching principles are executed well, at least 95% of our kids can successfully be taught to read by the end of first grade. NINETY-FIVE PERCENT!  This astonishing success rate is inspiring teachers all over the world (myself included). We are figuring out how to quickly adapt, learn, improve, and change.  There is a NEW way to teach young students to read and we are totally here for it! And p.s., the free decodable books at the end of this post are really gonna help!

The science of reading calls for systematic and explicit instruction of the seven building blocks of literacy: oral language, phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, comprehension, and writing.  Each of these components can be taught in a variety of formats, but there is no doubt that a small group setting is one of the most effective means. 

Teachers should identify a specific objective (i.e., “today we will learn what sound the digraph ‘ch’ makes and practice it in a text”) and break the information into manageable chunks. They should model with clear explanations, verbalize the thinking process, and provide many opportunities for students to practice the lesson target without error.  Repetition and immediate feedback are key here…..hence, guided reading!  The small group instruction format is PERFECT for this. While it may look a little bit different than guided reading has in the past, it is going to have SUCH a positive impact!

Prep for Phonics-Based Guided Reading

Okay, let’s gather a few things together before we dive into our guided reading instruction.  I wanted to share a few of the items that I have found to be super helpful as I have started to embrace this new way of teaching guided reading.  First of all, I love having a binder to house my lesson plans, notes and data. I also love having a basket of materials on hand such as sticky notes, markers, crayons, a highlighter, etc.

I also love to have a FUN bin on hand for when I need to spice up my guided reading routine. My students especially love fun pointers (like these finger lights, eye rings, highlighter window strips, and echo phones.  Also, I’ll let you in on a little secret.  Keeping a jar of Skittles (or other tiny treat) nearby doesn’t hurt your guided reading one bit!  I love to surprise my readers occasionally with a Skittle or two for great guided reading behavior and effort!

Because the science of reading method of teaching guided reading has an emphasis on explicit and systematic phonics instruction, you will need some great phonics materials.  My decodable readers packets have fabulous mini-posters that emphasize various word families and phonics skills that you will be targeting.  You can see how I display the ab word family mini-poster on my guided reading mini-easel.  I also display/reference the matching sound-spelling cards for whatever our lesson focus is.  A few more handy things you may want: magnetic chips for putting in sound boxes, magnetic letters (I love these ones), mini whiteboards, dry erase markers, and erasers for your students.

Decodable Books

Hands down, the most important thing that you’ll need is a variety of quality decodable readers.  This was a big change for me.  I have oodles of leveled readers that my students have been using (and loving) for years.  Mrs. Wishy Washy (remember her?!) is near and dear to my heart!  These books still do have a place, but they don’t lend themselves as well to helping students practice targeted phonics concepts.  Remember, the science of reading indicates that students need A LOT of targeted and basically perfect practice for a phonics skill to be learned and internalized.  Enter, decodable readers!

Decodable readers should have mostly decodable words (i.e., not a lot of tricky rule-breaker words…we are aiming for words that students can easily segment and blend). They should have a handful of mostly familiar sight words. And they should have an occasional rule-breaker/new vocabulary word to help with book interest and plot.  These kinds of books can be difficult (and expensive!) to get your hands on. This is especially the case if you are looking for multiple copies that you can pass out to students. 

I’ve been wracking my brain on this issue recently and ultimately decided to create my own.  I’ve been teaching first grade for ten years (time flies!) and I have a fairly good idea about the levels and complexity of text that our kiddos need.  I’m hard at work creating a comprehensive bundle of decodables that can be used throughout the year.  You can check out my newly-completed Short A Decodable bundle HERE or watch this quick video about it!

In an effort to suit everyone’s needs and hopefully make your teacher life a bit easier, my decodable readers come in six different formats…yep, SIX.  Each title is included in a printable large full-color version, large black/white version (I love to save ink!), a small full-color version, and a small black/white version.  You can just print, cut, and staple! Additionally, the same titles are available digitally via Google Slides or with the included bonus Boom Cards access.  More on those later!

How to Teach Guided Reading These Days

Okay, let me be a little bit vulnerable here for a minute.  Last year my first graders STRUGGLED to progress in their reading. The whole idea of actually meeting the district-given reading benchmarks per usual was, unfortunately, almost laughable.  Blame it on distance learning, a crazy Covid-impacted school year, or something else entirely…it doesn’t really matter.  Ever since we began to catch a glimpse of how impacted our first graders might be from their roller coaster ride of a school experience thus far, I set out to improve my reading instruction.  I bought A LOT of books and did A LOT of research. I also participated in A LOT of professional development, all based on the newest research and the science of reading.

Fortunately I discovered that the best ways to teach reading are not as complicated and scary as I initially anticipated.  Science of reading instruction is actually quite simple, straightforward, and relies a lot on consistency, routine, and practice.  Something to keep in mind is that you should keep it fast, active, and engaging. Here is the simple and straightforward lesson plan format that I use for my small group reading instruction:

1. Warm-Up/Reread: Have your students reread a decodable text that they have worked on previously.  Provide support as needed. You could also do the fluency warm-up pages found HERE, do some quick phonemic awareness activities, or practice necessary sight words.
2. Introduce the Pattern:  Explain the graphemes (letters) and corresponding phonemes (sounds) that we are focusing on today.  Display a sound card featuring the letter(s), a picture, and the word.  For example, if you are focusing on the “sh” digraph you could write sh on your whiteboard, draw a quick sheep, and write the word sheep beneath.  You may want to underline the phonics focus and have your students brainstorm other words with that focus.
3. Word Building: Say words aloud with the phonics focus and practice segmenting and blending them.  Model first and then have students do it along with you.  You may also consider using sound boxes and magnetic chips. Students should place the chips for each distinct sound heard in the given word.  It is also a great idea to have students build the focus words using letter tiles or magnetic letters.
4. Apply to Text: Give students a decodable book or passage so that they can explicitly practice what they have just learned with lots of repetition and lots of accuracy.  Perfect practice = perfect!  Have them read it a few times.  You may want to throw in some fun incentives here and let them read with finger lights, pointers, etc.  I highly suggest letting your students keep them book in their own personal book bag for at least a week so that they can practice it again and again.
5. Dictate and Write:  Dictate a sentence that features the phonics focus and sight words that your students have already mastered.  For example, if my lesson focus is “ab” I might have the students write: I can gab in the cab.  Try to use vocabulary that they just observed in the decodable text.

Extend Your Guided Reading Lesson for Engagement

I touched on this a bit before, but it is so important I am going to say it again.  Don’t just hand your students a decodable book and then steal it back from them after they have read it twice.  Let them hang onto it for at least a week.  I have my students keep them in a little book bag (I use gallon size zip-loc baggies) and they pull it out as a fast finisher.  There is serious magic in repetitive reading my friends.  Your students are 900x more likely to remember what you taught them if they revisit the concept consistently….okay, I made that up, but based on my teaching experience I’m sure it is pretty true!

Another great way to extend your guided reading lesson is to go digital.  For better or worse, students are instantly engaged and interested when a screen is involved.  My decodable texts come in a Google Slides version (complete with several comprehension fill-in-the-blanks slides). They also come in a fabulous comprehensive and interactive Boom Cards version.  New to the wonderful world of Boom Cards?  You can learn more about them HERE or take a gander at my Boom Cards library to try out a few free decks!  The Boom Cards versions of my decodable readers are a perfect way for your students to reading and responding to a text!

HERE are the Free Decodable Books!

Okay, you made it to the end!  There is nothing I love more than sharing teaching goodies so I am super excited that you found these!  This download of free decodable books includes FIVE brand new decodable readers in an easy-to-use printable format.  The books focus on each of the five short vowels.  All you need to do is print them out (I love to use colorful paper for this), staple them together, and get them into the hands of your little readers!  

Teacher friend, I wish you the very best of luck on your guided reading and science of reading journey!  It is my hope that these free decodable readers can be helpful to you as you strive to help your little learners thrive.  If you have any questions don’t hesitate to reach out to me at shipshapeelementary@gmail.com.  Helping teachers is my jam!  Also, if you liked this post, don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter or leave a comment below and let me know your thoughts.  Happy teaching!

p.s. I’m going to be sharing a few more fabulous blog posts from other teachers that you may be interested in for some additional reading. For starters, check out THIS blog post from Kayse Morris, and keep an eye out for more coming soon!