This is a set of SIX decodable books that focus on closed, short vowel words with floss words (ff, ll, ss, zz), the /all/ sound, suffix -s, and suffix -es. Your students will love being the readers AND the illustrators of these adorable decodables! The format of these books require students to focus on what we want them to focus on- the graphemes on the page- not the pictures, as they decode text. Click here to check out the preview file. Teachers who have embarked on a journey into the science of reading are making exciting, positive changes within their classrooms! As a fellow lifelong learner, I applaud your bravery and courage to continue to seek out resources and instructional strategies that will best meet the needs of the readers within your classroom. Moving away from instructional strategies and materials that utilize the three-cueing systems is a vital step teachers need to take in order to put the science of reading research into practice. As a reading teacher and literacy coach, I have a lot of students who come to me with a habit of relying heavily on pictures to decode unknown words. While pictures are certainly important in books, I found myself covering them up so that students would stop guessing unknown words! When it comes to learning how to read, we want students to focus on connecting their understanding of sounds to the written letters on the page in order to decipher unknown words. With this need in mind, the decode and draw series was born! These simple, short printable books help students concentrate on the words first. After they practice reading the text, they can illustrate each page within the book. The final page of each book contains word work practice. The result is an interactive decodable book that boosts word recognition, comprehension, fluency, and word mapping skills. I hope you and your students enjoy these books just as much as mine have! "Tell me more about these decodable books. What makes them different than typical decodable books?" Each of the six decodable books contains five pages of controlled text. One book for each of the following phonics skills has been written: three books that focus on floss words (ff, ll, ss, zz), one /all/ book, one suffix -s book (with the /s/ and /z/ sound), and one suffix -es book. A complete list of the titles, phonics focus, and the high-frequency words that are found within each book are also included in the preview file and in the overview file of the purchased download. The text in these books are controlled. The only patterns or sounds you will find in the books are words with the current phonics focus, or words previously introduced in my previously released Decode & Draw Series: CVC WORDS and DIGRAPHS. The final page (which is on the back of each book) contains a word work component. Students will say each picture and touch the sound boxes to tap out the sounds in the words. Students will then spell and write the words on the lines. The word mapping page follows the targeted phonics skill that the book featured. The word work page helps students make the connection between reading the words and writing the words with the targeted phonics skill. "Who are these books for?" Use these decodables with any student who is ready to begin blending and reading closed, short vowel floss words, /all/ words, and short vowel words with suffix -s and suffix -es. "When and how can I best use these decodable books in my classroom?" The preview page will give you a big list of ideas, but the possibilities are endless! These books can be used at the small group table, as a whole-group phonics activity while reading each page together, or as independent work. Personally, it is the independent practice that I struggle with this year in my classroom. Finding independent work that is meaningful can be challenging. These books are PERFECT for this! After your students have started practicing digraphs with you explicitly, they can apply their reading skills by reading and illustrating one page at a time. Being able to check their picture on each page provides you with comprehension accountability and the perfect way to jump into a discussion with students. "Are the books difficult to assemble? One of my biggest hurdles as a teacher is TIME!" (Raises hand) Fellow reading teacher, here! I get it. One of the reasons I don't use the printable decodable books on some other commercial websites is because I cannot figure them out ha! I've made these books super simple to put together, and they are all printer-friendly. They don't even use a lot of ink because your students are the ones who will become the illustrators of these books! Talk about ownership and meaningful reading! I hope you love this new reading resource as much as I do! Miss DeCarbo Copyright 2022 All Rights Reserved