Nonfiction decodable texts can be a springboard to reading for students who are early on in their decoding progressions. Students love interesting content and engaging illustrations and photographs, which can make nonfiction decodables extra appealing to early readers. Additionally, nonfiction decodables support comprehension by offering opportunities for students to use and grow background knowledge and vocabulary alongside phonics practice. At Daffodil Hill Press, our nonfiction decodable books are designed to engage students while building phonics, vocabulary, and comprehension. Before reading any nonfiction decodable text with children, it’s important to make sure that text is worth reading and discussing. The first section of this post includes Look Fors to help you select high-quality nonfiction decodables. The second portion of this post dives into kinds of questions worth asking while reading nonfiction decodable texts with children.
First: Check Your Texts
Look for nonfiction decodable texts that include accurate and engaging information.
Inside of nonfiction decodables, facts should be correct, and content should align with what students can understand. Some texts that are labeled as nonfiction decodable texts don’t really teach information; check that yours do! Having photographs does not make a text nonfiction. Texts that read, “This is a cat. The cat sits. Look at the dog. A dog can sit,” aren’t really teaching interesting and meaningful information! Even decodables focused on early phonics can and should teach information. Want to see an example? Check out Moths, an early decodable focusing on short vowel words, below.
Look for nonfiction decodable texts that are actually decodable based on the stated target and review phonics concepts.
The text should use targeted phonics patterns appropriate for the student’s skill level. Unless the text is meant to be read with lots of adult scaffolding, it should include mostly decodable words. For example, the word chrysalis wouldn’t appear in a decodable book!
Look for nonfiction decodable texts that have meaningful structures.
The text should have a logical flow–introduction, facts, and often a conclusion. A nonfiction decodable text may also use headings, captions, or labels where appropriate to support understanding and vocabulary.
Look for nonfiction decodable texts that have engaging visuals.
You can check to ensure that illustrations or photographs reinforce information in the text, and also teach information. Visuals can support vocabulary and understanding of nonfiction concepts.
Look for nonfiction decodable texts that support vocabulary breadth and depth.
Even simple decodable words can have unfamiliar meanings for students (for example: cud, gills, glide, leap, snatch). Key terms can be repeated within or across books. The best texts offer context for these words–in illustrations, photographs, explanatory sentences, or even provide definitions. When decodable texts are authored with an eye toward vocabulary, students not only have the opportunity to practice decoding, but also to learn and use new vocabulary words.
At Daffodil Hill Press, the nonfiction decodable books found in our Purposeful Practice collections are designed to engage students with accurate, age-appropriate information while supporting phonics, vocabulary, and comprehension in a single short text.
Questions to Ask Kids Before, During, and After Reading Nonfiction Decodable Texts
Nonfiction decodable texts aren’t just for phonics practice! When we add opportunities to discuss the text and topic before, during, and after reading, we make the reading experience more meaningful. Through opportunities for discussion and questioning, students learn that texts are read for the purpose of meaning-making. Students come to understand that their background knowledge matters. They think more deeply about the topic, the text, and portions of the text more deeply. Along the way, they grow their vocabulary knowledge and their oral language abilities.
Before Reading:
- What do you already think you know about this topic?
- Do you feel like an expert on this topic—someone who knows a lot—or more of a novice, just starting to learn?
- What related topics do you already know about?
- What do you think the author might teach in this book?
- How excited are you to read this book? What makes you feel that way?
During Reading:
- How does this part of the text connect to what you already know?
- Are there any words that are tricky to decode? How can you figure them out?
- What do the pictures, diagrams, or captions help you understand about the topic?
- Is there anything surprising or interesting in this part of the text?
After Reading:
- What is the most important fact or idea you learned?
- Which page in this text is the best and why?
- Can you explain what you learned to someone else using your own words?
- Did you notice any words or sounds you want to practice again?
- What are some important words to use when you talk about this topic? Why?
- How did this text change or add to what you knew before reading?
- Would you like to read more books on this topic? Why or why not?
The Better the Decodable, the Better the Conversation
Strong and well-designed nonfiction decodable texts balance phonics, comprehension, and content knowledge. When nonfiction decodable texts are high quality, meaningful questions and conversations that happen before, during, and after reading can provide engaging reading experiences for newer readers.
Learn more about our Purposeful Practice nonfiction decodables.