The Decodable Text routine is a key part of daily phonics instruction. Students apply what they’ve learned in real reading, using texts that align with their current phonics skills. This daily practice helps build confidence, fluency, and a strong bridge between phonics instruction and authentic reading. On this page, you’ll find resources and tips to make the most of this important step.
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Connect letters to sounds.
Focus on spelling patterns.
Teach phonics explicitly
Use the HMH materials (high quality instructional materials).
Choose 1-2 reading strategies ( cloze, echo, partner, etc.) when reading the decodable text to scaffold appropriately for students.
Model and give immediate feedback.
Here are some recommendations for to do and what not to do in Decodable Text Fluency Practice.
Looking at pictures or context clues.
Whole word memorization.
Memorizing letters for spelling practice (rainbow writing, word searches, and writing words multiple times).
Use all reading strategies in one lesson.
Sustained Silent Reading.
Round Robin Reading.
Single Reads of text.
A decodable text routine provides structured practice for students to apply their phonics skills while reading connected text. This routine strengthens decoding, supports comprehension, and builds reading fluency in a systematic, predictable way.
Boost student participation and fluency with interactive reading techniques. This poster highlights cloze, echo, duet, choral, partner, and whisper reading—simple and effective ways to engage all voices in reading.
These evidence-based techniques—cloze, echo, duet, choral, partner, and whisper reading—support fluency, confidence, and active participation. Use this guide to explore how each strategy works and when to apply them during reading instruction.
K-2 Decodable Books
New Decodable books can be found on the HMH Ed platform.
These fluency sheets are available to support kindergartners with Letter Name Fluency. Attached is a google drive folder full of information.
This article, "10 Tips for Using Decodable Texts" by Dr. Maria Murray from The Reading League, offers practical, research-based guidance for effectively using decodable texts in early reading instruction. The tips help educators support beginning readers by aligning text use with phonics instruction, promoting confidence, and building foundational decoding skills. It's a great resource for teachers looking to make the most of decodable texts in a structured literacy classroom.
Use the Blend-It Books in addition to the one page decodable texts that are part of your daily Structured Literacy lessons.
Use the Blend-It Books in addition to the one page decodable texts that are part of your daily Structured Literacy lessons.
These slides were presented at Jennifer Throndsen's (USBE) Professional Development on different reading strategies that can be used in the classroom. It also talks about the importance of challenging students with on grade level text as well as the difference between decodable text and other types of text.
Honig, B., Diamond, L., & Gutlohn, L. (2018). Teaching reading sourcebook (Updated 3rd ed.). Arena Press.
Pages 235–239 of the Teaching Reading Sourcebook outline a structured instructional routine for teaching phonics and word recognition, emphasizing explicit, systematic instruction aligned with the science of reading.
Murray, M. (2024, September 24). Dr. Maria Murray’s 10 tips for using decodable texts. The Reading League. https://www.thereadingleague.org/media/maria-murrays-10-tips-for-using-decodable-texts/
In this article, Dr. Maria Murray offers 10 practical tips for effectively using decodable texts to support early reading. She emphasizes aligning texts with phonics instruction and ensuring students apply their decoding skills in meaningful ways.
Reading Fluency Instruction: Moving Beyond Accuracy, Automaticity, and Prosody - Rasinski - 2006 - The Reading Teacher - Wiley Online Library https://ila.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1598/RT.59.7.10 Date accessed June 4, 2025
Three key elements of reading fluency are accuracy in word decoding, automaticity in recognizing words, and appropriate use of prosody or meaningful oral expression while reading. These three components are a gateway to comprehension. Readers must be able to decode words correctly and effortlessly (automaticity) and then put them together into meaningful phrases with the appropriate expression to make sense of what they read.
The Reading League Ohio. (n.d.). Do this, not that: Decoding. Arena Press. https://www.sfdr-cisd.org/media/fxfbhu22/do-this-not-that-reading.pdf
The “Do This, Not That” article by The Reading League Ohio offers side-by-side comparisons of effective vs. outdated literacy practices across areas like decoding, vocabulary, comprehension, fluency, and assessment. It emphasizes explicit, systematic instruction aligned with the Science of Reading—highlighting the importance of phonics-based strategies, complex text exposure, meaningful vocabulary work, oral reading for fluency, and data-driven assessments—while discouraging leveled texts, memorization, and cueing systems.
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