Many schools that use the Bookworms Curriculum are looking for ways to give students more opportunities to apply the phonics skills they’re learning. That’s where Daffodil Hill Press books fit in. Designed by teachers for easy use, our decodable collections pair beautifully with Bookworms, offering meaningful, connected practice that helps students bridge phonics instruction and real reading.
How can schools using Daffodil Hill Press Decodables within the Bookworms curriculum?
Daffodil Hill Press books align closely with Bookworms curricular structures and offer a practical pathway to get high-quality decodable texts into students’ hands during instruction and practice opportunities. Here's how:
➊ Use DHP Bit by Bit Instructional Decodables During Differentiated Instruction (DI Block) for Small-Group, Skill-Based Instruction
If you are using the models found within the Bookworms Differentiated Instruction Block, Daffodil Hill Bit by Bit Instructional Decodables provide an excellent way to support skill-based grouping—and, in fact, an entire system to help students move through single-syllable word reading patterns.
Phonics concepts in DHP books align well with the Informal Decoding Inventory and can support both Phonemic Awareness and Word Recognition (PAWR) and Word Recognition and Fluency (WRAF) groups. Across Collections 1-3, you’ll receive books that focus on:
- CVC (15 titles)
- Digraphs (15 titles)
- Blends (15 titles)
- Silent E (15 titles)
- R-Controlled Vowels (10 titles)
- Long Vowel Teams (10 titles)
- Advanced Vowel Patterns (10 titles)
Daffodil Hill’s Bit by Bit small-group lesson plans mirror the structures found in the Bookworms Differentiated Instruction lesson scripts. Each Bit by Bit Decodable Text includes a complete lesson plan and blending line materials that provide up-front phonics instruction—including Blending Lines!
In addition:
- Instead of reading short decodable passages, students can enjoy meaningful, engaging short books. (In fact, in the original iteration of the DI Block, teachers were encouraged to use real books—it was just hard to find the right ones!)
- Lessons go beyond word reading by including comprehension support. Each DHP lesson offers a text introduction and a higher-level vocabulary word to support thinking and discussion about the text.
- Bit by Bit lessons are intentionally brief, allowing the full lesson to be taught within 15 minutes—fitting perfectly within DI Block timing.
Bit by Bit classroom sets include ten copies of each book to align with Bookworms DI Block group size recommendations—unlike many other sets that offer fewer copies.
➋ Use DHP Purposeful Practice Decodable Texts for Practice During Differentiated Instruction (DI Block) for Students Not Working with the Teacher
If you are using the Bookworms Differentiated Instruction Skills Block model, DHP Purposeful Practice books and task cards provide high-quality materials for students working independently or in partners while the teacher is working with a small group. These resources help students build word reading automaticity and reading fluency through engaging, meaningful practice.
Each Purposeful Practice text includes a blending line on the inside front cover, requires no book introduction, and comes with task cards that offer partner or solo activities in phonics, oral language, and writing.We recommend students work with phonics concepts they have already mastered based on the IDI or DI assessments. For example, students who have exited the Blends and Digraphs group can continue to build fluency by using Purposeful Practice books that reinforce CVC and Blends and Digraphs patterns during independent time.
➌ Use DHP Bit by Bit or Purposeful Practice Decodables Alongside Shared Reading Phonics Instruction
Daffodil Hill Press books also align well with the Shared Reading portion of the Bookworms curriculum. In this structure, teachers can use Bit by Bit and Purposeful Practice collections to reinforce the phonics skills taught during shared reading, providing students with additional, connected opportunities to apply their phonics learning in context. Teachers might do a quick read at another time of day with the whole class to support transfer of the whole-class phonics content into reading, or offer texts for practice during other times of the day or to foster a home-school connection.
Does your school use Bookworms? Check out this printable alignment doc with ordering guidance to help you get started.