Practice Readers Books | FAQs
How do I print my booklets?
With the exception of Word Work files, almost all booklet fold pdfs are designed for double sided printing, flipping on the short edge. Fold in half and staple on the folded side to secure the pages in place.
I ordered a book set download. Why did I only receive a single pdf file?
When book sets are sold together, they may be bundled sequentially in a single digital file for convenience. You can print the entire file at once, or select an individual book’s pages as you prefer.
How should I choose a book?
A good place to start is by reading our post on the phases of reading and spelling development. These will give you a good idea of the book series that will be most relevant to your child. Your child’s teacher may give you guidance on your child’s specific practice needs, or you may choose a book because you notice your child needs practice with a particular short vowel sound or letter combination. Don’t be afraid of practicing something your child has already learned, or to try something new. The important thing is to enjoy reading practice together while getting some practice in with key skills.
What is the skill sequence for your books?
Our book series are aligned with the phases of reading and spelling development. Unlike many decodable book series, however, the books avoid a sequential progression within the series and can be read in any order. The goal is to make them easy to use with a variety of effective instructional sequences and provide multiple options to practice target skills. Topic selection is intended to provide curricular relevant and intrinsically rewarding books to read, in addition to focused practice with specific phonics skills/spelling patterns (We’ve started with the earliest ones, but more books are on the way!). Check out our product guide to learn more.
Are texts 100% decodable.
Some texts are fully decodable at the level of the reader, and some texts are designed to be read by an adult. Keep an eye out for the Read to Me and Let Me Lead indicators on the front cover of a text. As a general rule, child read texts are controlled to be 85% or more decodable for the text series. High frequency sight words are progressively introduced throughout the series, and key terms that may not be fully decodable for the readers’ level do occasionally occur. Also keep in mind that the decodability of a text for a given reader is related to what reading skills they have learned, and the sequence of reading skill instruction in different schools does vary.
How many times should I read a text with my child?
I would gauge the number of readings on a child's comfort with the text. At least 2-3 readings are suggested spread over time. Suggested activities can be completed over time in the same way. Key words in each list can also be used for spelling word study.
Some of your books have challenging vocabulary compared to similar books I’ve seen.
Vocabulary selection was based both on word spelling and topic relevance, which means that some highly decodable words of longer length are included earlier than you may find in some book series for beginning readers.
Developing understanding: If you encounter a word your child may not understand, take the opportunity to ask them what they think it means and have a conversation about it. This is also a great opportunity to find another book on the topic to learn more, or model how to look up the meaning of a word in a dictionary or online for your child.
Sounding out longer words: As children transition from the full- to consolidated- alphabetic phase, developing the ability to read word ‘chunks,’ these longer words will become easier for them to read. In the meantime, you can support your child by covering parts of the word to help them sound out one syllable at a time. If your child is not yet ready for some of these longer words, books from the First Readers: Minis, Vowel Mysteries, or Fast Flips may be a better fit for the time being.
How does text complexity progress in the series?
Texts are organized by decodability, not complexity. Texts vary significantly within each collection in terms of complexity. Educators have many options for more predictable texts in their classrooms, and the Practice Readers Books texts are specifically designed to provide an alternative that limits predictability. The variability in text complexity creates rich opportunities for instruction on reading comprehension strategies.
How are sight words introduced in the series?
Words with unusual sound/spelling correspondences are introduced naturally within the series as their spellings are, rather than avoided entirely.
A small number of high frequency sight and decodable words are introduced very early due to their high utility. The following table highlights key words.
Key Words: I, are, be, me, is, go, do, find, kind, the, you, your, too
I’m looking for a print version of one of your books / a book focused on a spelling pattern I cannot find.
We’re just getting started. We would love to hear your requests!