UFLI Foundations provides FREE decodable texts that follow over 100 phonics skills on their website! UFLI is a phonics program that takes only 30 minutes a day! It is compatible with other ELAR programs for kindergarten, first grade, and second grade. By using the decodable passages found on their website, you can provide students with practice that increases their decoding ability and reading fluency!
Check out the 5 activities below that you can do with decodable readers with NO PREP!
1. Highlight the Rule
A good decodable text will center around a primary phonics pattern. Before reading, direct students to use a highlighter to identify words that follow the decodable pattern. The teacher can guide students through this activity, or the students can work to highlight these words on their own. In my classroom, I like to have students read just the highlighted words as a long list before reading the passage, which helps prime the brain for fluent reading.
2. Practice Irregular Heart Words
Students need time to practice orthographic mapping of irregular words. We no longer teach students that we must memorize the entire word in the absence of phonics patterns. It is essential to teach phonemes through practice segmenting and blending the decodable and undecodable parts. Students will mark up and discuss the Heart Words before reading.
3. Make Meaning
Decodable passages are not meant to practice comprehension. However, reading connected text allows for students to not only decode but to make meaning of what they are reading! Here are some tips for no-prep practice:
Have students verbally answer who, when, where, what, why, and how questions. They could sound like this: "Who are the characters in this text?" "What are they doing?" "Where are they?" "How did they solve their problem?"
Have students illustrate the decodable passage in the box provided. Teachers can look at the illustration to get some insight into the student's understanding of the passage.
Pre-teach tricky vocabulary that can trip up English Language Learners (ELL, ESL, EB). I have some great slides available here with pictures of the words cot, pen, pal, glum, and HUNDREDS MORE! (Important note: Do not use visuals during the passage reading as a crutch for guessing the word.)
4. Practice Fluency
Time students on their first, second, and third reading of the decodable passage. They will gain confidence as they see INSTANT PROGRESS! Remind them that good readers read texts more than once to increase understanding. This would be a great independent center activity as the teacher is pulling small groups for reteaching.
5. Use as Homework
After practicing in the classroom, send the decodable passage home for additional practice. These texts are extremely useful for parents to see what their children are learning and how well their child is progressing with their decoding ability! You can assign the student to illustrate the passage as homework, which increases accountability.
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