Lori Towles

Decodable Text Reading Science 👇🏼 “There's really never a time that kids should be limited to only decodable text, and certainly not after they have learned all the most basic grapheme-phoneme correspondences. The research on decodable texts is extremely thin, and the few studies that have compared using decodables to using other texts have either non-significant or very modest outcomes. Keep in mind that we don't read decodable text so that we can read more decodable text. We read decodable text to practice what we've been learning in our phonics instruction so that we can read ANY text. My main reason for wanting kids to be reading less controlled text is for their statistical learning. Decodables by their very nature skew the probabilities that a particular grapheme will represent a particular phoneme. So, for example, I may read one decodable text designed to practice the /ē/ sound for EA and another designed to practice the /ĕ/ sound. If I never have opportunities to read uncontrolled text, I may think these grapheme-phoneme correspondences occur with similar frequency, when /ē/ is FAR more common. Part of learning to decode is learning which correspondence is most likely to help me successfully decode a word. In the case of EA, I'd be much better off trying /ē/ before /ĕ/. A teacher may explicitly state which one is more common, but extensive experience encountering the grapheme in authentically structured text is what really helps solidify those understandings. So, all this is to say that decodable texts are terrific for practicing new GPCs, but uncontrolled text also provides important practice opportunities. If you want kids to be able to read ANY text, you can't restrict them to only practicing with decodable text.” ~ Dr. Holly Lane – at Manhattan, NY