As the Science of Reading has shown us, decoding skills are a fundamental aspect of the reading process. To read with fluency and comprehension, children must be able to accurately and quickly decode words through the use of letter-sound relationships. That’s where decodable passages come in! By providing consistent and controlled exposure to letters and sounds, decodable passages effectively help children develop these essential skills. 

In this blog post, I’m breaking down what to look for when choosing strong decodable passages for your readers. 

Why decodable passages?

So, why are decodable passages so effective? The Science of Reading emphasizes the use of phonics to help students read unknown words and become better readers overall. By connecting phonemes (the sounds in words) to graphemes (the letter representations of those sounds), students can quickly and easily learn to read and sound out new words. Passages that are specifically designed and sequenced to focus on one pho...