Jj is for Jottings 80. Decodable Readers.
What are Decodable Readers?
As mentioned in the previous article (see here), decodable readers support the teaching of phonics in a cumulative manner. The rules and patterns of the English language are taught sequentially. As the student learns the rules, he practices using decodable readers. In this way there are no nasty surprises involving unknown words, because they know the rules and every word can be decoded. This gives the reader both skills and confidence, and makes learning to read much less of a challenge.
Most Children Learn to Read Without Decodable Readers, Don’t They?
Well, yes, most children do manage with some phonics and sight words. (Sight words occur frequently and the student begins to automatically recognise them on sight without having to sound out and blend the sounds together.) But this is not the optimum way to learn to read. The whole process could be quicker and much less hit and miss when a teacher uses a sequential and cumulative approach, supported by decodable readers.
But the 10% of Learners who are Dyslexic, or have Specific Learning Difficulties
… such as ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) or ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) find anything other than explicit systematic teaching of phonic rules a disaster. A dyslexic student who struggles with sound awareness, working memory (for an explanation, see here), and naming pictures/objects rapidly will fail in a system which does not teach them the rules of phonics explicitly and systematically. They will create false rules based on their own observations and so will be unable to progress to fluent reading. The stress and anxiety which result from this can lead to diagnosable anxiety-related conditions later on.
The general rule of thumb is that what is good for dyslexics is good for children who don’t have any challenges in reading/spelling.
Teaching the Code Leads to Confidence.
It is really just like learning anything in life – we would never expect a child to participate in a competitive sport without making sure they have the correct equipment and they know the rules for that level of competition. Decodable readers allow the child to read using the level of phonic code they already know. This brings confidence. The teacher then teaches more code explicitly and introduces new books. And so on. Logical, really, isn’t it?
I wonder if we’re still locked up because nobody taught us phonics rules or gave us decodable readers.
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