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The intended audience for this blog is classroom teachers and small-group interventionists.

Sponsored blog content does not necessarily represent the views of the Reading Recovery Community leadership. 

by Michèle Dufresne

Decodable books provide students with valuable opportunities to practice new phonics skills and build on previous knowledge. Multiple studies demonstrate that students benefit from opportunities to practice new phonics skills by reading text that includes the skills they have just learned (Blevins, 2016; Duke & Mesmer, 2019; Ehri, 2020).

But decodable books should not be the only type of text early readers encounter.

Due to the constraints of writing such tightly controlled text, decodable books are limited in what kinds of stories and language they can feature. Leveled books can help bridge these gaps by offering richer narratives and vocabulary to enhance students’ language exposure.

That’s why I suggest using both decodable books and leveled books in your reading lessons to develop well-rounded readers. With this approach, you can be sure that your students are receiving instruction and practice with diverse books to meet their literacy needs.

The Benefits of Pairing Texts

Research supports providing students with diverse reading material for the acquisition of reading skills. Children are best served when they read a combination of text types (Pugh & Hiebert, 2023). All students need daily opportunities to read and discuss complex text that is engaging and authentic, which provides development in academic language and knowledge about the world (Shanahan et al., 2010).

Students benefit from frequent opportunities to read and discuss a variety of texts (Duke et al., 2021). Reading diverse texts builds students’:

• Vocabulary
• Fluency
• Comprehension
• Background knowledge

Experts agree: Literacy researcher Tim Shanahan says, “It is so important that we not overly constrain the decodability of the texts that young children read, and why I recommend using a combination of both highly decodable texts and controlled vocabulary readers.” Champion of phonics Wiley Blevins says, “At least half of phonics should be applying the skills to authentic reading and writing.”

How to Pair Leveled and Decodable Books

Now that you understand the purpose of pairing texts, it’s time to make a match! Look through multiple lenses to pair books. You may decide to pair books based on their use of the target phonic element, by theme or character, or a combination of these characteristics.

To best support your phonics instruction, use the scope and sequence to look for:

• Target phonic element(s)
• Previously taught phonic elements
• New sight words
• Previously taught sight words

For example, Mylo Moose’s Loose Tooth and Space Fairy would be an excellent pairing for students working on the oo sound. Plus, the content will be familiar to students since both books feature the theme of losing a tooth.
To aid in comprehension and engagement, students may benefit from reading a leveled text that features the same characters or topic as the decodable text. Students love reading stories about Bella and Rosie, so consider pairing the decodable book Mud Fun for Bella and Rosie with the leveled book Bella and Rosie at the Beach.

How to Teach with Paired Texts

Incorporate these text pairs into classroom or small-group instruction with this sample lesson plan.

1. Assess your students

Determine student gaps with a phonics assessment and look for patterns. You may notice, for example, that a majority of students struggle with the silent –e rule.

2. Explicit phonics lesson

Informed by student data, select the phonic element to teach explicitly. An explicit phonics lesson may include activities like:

• Making Words
• Sound Boxes
• Breaking Words
• Analogy Charts

Your silent –e instruction may look something like this:

3. Decodable book

Give students the opportunity to apply the phonics skill they have just learned by reading a decodable book. Follow best practices for teaching with decodable books by giving a brief introduction, locating words with the target phonic element, and supporting students as they read. Consider having students read A Bike for Little Knight to use the silent –e rule.

4. Paired leveled text

Now have students read the leveled text you paired with your decodable book. Encourage students to look for similarities between the leveled book and the decodable book and use the phonics skills they’ve learned. A Bike Ride for Jack provides practice with the silent –e rule and continues the theme of bikes.

5. Writing

Applying skills to writing is an essential part of any reading lesson. Dictate a sentence for students to write that includes the target phonic element and other skills they have learned.

The dictated sentence should include:

• Sight words you have taught
• Phonic elements you have taught that day
• Previously taught phonics skills
• New words with easy-to-hear sounds

For silent –e practice, you could dictate the sentence:

Jack is not brave. He does not want to go for a bike ride.

I hope that these tools will help you powerfully pair texts to strengthen your literacy instruction. I believe there’s room on the bookshelf for all types of texts, and they can all make an impact in building lifelong readers and learners.

References

Blevins, W. (2016). A fresh look at phonics, grades k–2: Common causes of failure and 7 ingredients for success. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

Duke, N. K., & Mesmer, H. A. E. (2019). Phonics faux pas: Avoiding instructional missteps in teaching letter-sound relationships. American Educator, 42(4), 12–16. www.aft.org/ae/winter2018-2019/duke_mesmer 

Ehri, L. C. (2020). The science of learning to read words: A case for systematic phonics instruction. Reading Research Quarterly, 55(S1), S45–S60. doi.org/10.1002/rrq.334

Pugh, A., Kearns, D.M. and Hiebert, E.H. (2023), Text Types and Their Relation to Efficacy in Beginning Reading Interventions. Reading Research Quarterly, 58: 710-732. https://doi.org/10.1002/rrq.513 

Shanahan, T., et al. (2010). Improving reading comprehension in kindergarten through 3rd grade: A practice guide (NCEE 2010-4038). Washington, DC: National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED512029.pdf 

Michèle Dufresne‘s career in education began in the elementary school classroom. Later she became a reading specialist, Title I Director, and Reading Recovery Teacher Leader. Although now retired from teaching, Michèle continues to work with children learning to read as a consultant in school districts across the nation. She holds a doctorate in education from the University of Massachusetts.

Michèle is the author of several professional resources for teachers including The Next Step Forward in Word Study and Phonics co-authored with Jan Richardson, and numerous children’s book series, including Bella & Rosie, Jack & Daisy, Marshmallow the Pony, and dozens of nonfiction texts, all published by Pioneer Valley Books, the company she and husband Robert Dufresne founded. Pioneer Valley Books is dedicated to providing educators with high-quality print and digital resources for comprehensive literacy instruction.

Pioneer Valley Books is the Platinum Partner of the Reading Recovery Council of North America.

Sponsored blog content does not represent the views of the Reading Recovery Community leadership. Reading Recovery Teachers are encouraged to contact their Teacher Leader with any questions.

That back-to-school feeling is here and teachers are thinking about the new school year and ways to inspire and be inspired.  I like to go to places where I find words that are encouraging to me.  It may be a poem, a song, a piece of art, a conversation with a colleague, or a quote I have noted along my journey as a teacher.  P. David Pearson and Rob Tierney have written a new and useful book for literacy teachers in these challenging times I love it, but a quote from Pearson that I read many years ago comes to my mind.

“A teacher’s job is always to bridge from the known to the new.  Because there really is no other choice. Kids are who they are.  They know what they know. They bring what they bring. Our job is not to wish that students knew more or knew differently.  Our job is to turn each student’s knowledge, along with the diversity of knowledge we will encounter in a classroom of learners, into a curricular strength rather than an instructional inconvenience.” – P.  David Pearson, 1997

I liked it because it fit my way of thinking.  It matched my reality in teaching.  Everyone needs to be valued in the work that they do. 

In the movie “The Help” (2011), Aibileen Clack reminds the child in her care, “You is kind. You is smart. You is important.” These words of encouragement are a gift and a reinforcement to the child who faces criticism from her mother.  One can only imagine the relationship that small girl has with Aibileen and how that relationship allows her to trust adults.

I want to remind Reading Recovery educators that they too are kind, smart, and important.  Social and mainstream media cruelly deliver much criticism of the teaching profession and the expertise and practice of Reading Recovery teachers.  This can begin to erode one’s sense of efficacy in being able to design and deliver individualized lessons for children having the most difficulty making the transition to literacy.  Maybe we should call up Aibileen’s words every day before we begin our work.  I want to remind Reading Recovery educators of their value.

You is kind.

Clay’s design of roaming around the known when the child learns that you are on his side. You create an environment of trust by starting with what the child knows.  By beginning here, the child’s body of knowledge about talking, reading, and writing is valued.  The teacher is delighted by any new capabilities, no matter how small, the child has taken on.  The child realizes that you are listening and will engage in conversation that meets them where they are comfortable.  You will share the tasks by doing for the child what they cannot do for themself.  You will praise their efforts, strengthen what they have shown they can do, and develop ways of interacting that are useful to the child and you. The child leaves their lessons feeling competent, and content in what they understand and in the relationship with a teacher who is clearly their advocate.  It is a source of pride for them.

You is smart.

It is almost impossible to put into words how smart Reading Recovery teachers are.  While teaching children how to engage in the complex thinking involved in reading and writing, you fend off practices that you know will limit or slow down the child’s amazing capacity to think. The “superbly sensitive observations” made during the first survey, are deepened and noted during lessons in the known, and recorded in ways that allow you to see the complexity of thought on the part of another. This is remarkable. 

“…all our children need to believe they have something interesting to say.  Literature plays a key role in helping children’s voices take the floor.  Literature triggers thoughts, unlocks memories, and helps create the kind of community in which it’s safe to tell our stories.” – Shelley Harwayne

By working with reading and writing text you have opportunities to make lessons enjoyable and informative so that the next lesson is fine-tuned and just right for this child, at this time.  No published scripts or manuals can do that!

You is important.

Clay tells us, “In the first three years of school educators have their only chance to upset the correlation between initial progress and later progress.” You are working with children who need you the most.  The learners are diverse in their strengths and current challenges.  They have the most difficulty learning in groups.  You are changing their lives.  The school system can’t do it without you. The children need you and your strong belief that they can and will become literate.

“Curriculum and standards must first connect with the lives and spirits of our children if we’re to have any lasting success. Unless we reach into our students’ hearts, we have no entry into their minds. We can get students to pass tests and complete assignments. But there is a price to pay. We will never inspire our students to learn for their own sake and to love coming to school.” – Regie Routman

I admire and cherish Reading Recovery teachers. You are on the side of the child and you begin each lesson series by teaching from your heart to their heart. That is exactly how it should be. You know how to teach children to read and to write. Do that! You don’t need to say the words “Reading Recovery,” just do what you know is right.  Every day you will work to foster the relationship between teacher and child.  You can do the same thing with their parents who may be anxious about their child’s progress and determining the right path.  Engage in those important relationships for the students and their families who need a knowledgeable teacher the most.

You notice what you are looking for. Think about it. You buy a new car and then see the same car in the same color everywhere you look. You hadn’t noticed it before, but now that you are aware, you can see it. It’s the same as what you notice when you observe children. If you are looking for what students can do, you’ll see it. If you are looking for what they can’t do, you’ll see that, too. This is why it is so important that we take time to consider children from multiple viewpoints.

The parable about the Blind Man and the Elephant is an old story that addresses a similar point. It’s the story of a group of blind men who happen upon an elephant, and each man can feel only one part of the elephant. They talk about the elephant based on their limited vantage point. As you can imagine, their viewpoints are vastly different. The story’s moral is that we see only what we know to be true or understand. The parable encourages us to look beyond our initial understanding to learn what else we can discover to form a more complete picture.

Throughout this blog, we will highlight seven components to ponder as you consider a range of important aspects of the whole child. Be sure to read part one, where we delved into Summative Assessment, Formative Assessment, and Differentiated Instruction.

This list is by no means complete or comprehensive. Are we challenging ourselves to learn more about each child? How might that support our understanding of each child and how we plan learning opportunities? As we share the points about the child, we invite you to think about the parable and contemplate how each part of the elephant is necessary to make the elephant complete or whole.

Inclusivity

“Teachers can change what they do in their classrooms. One way to respect this awesome power is to be a reflective practitioner.  This means continuously examining your beliefs to see how they align with your school’s culture, and how they influence the resources and instruction in your classroom” (Briceno, A., & Rodriguez-Mojica, C., 2022, p. 8).

Does the school culture meet the needs of a diverse student population?  Are classroom environments, materials, and instruction aligning to meet the needs of all students, particularly children of color, multilingual students, and of varying socio-economic backgrounds?  As you reflect on these questions, examine your beliefs and how you can become an agent of change as a Reading Recovery teacher in your school or district; think of your other roles across the day as well.

Examining the books you select for individual Reading Recovery students is a good place to begin. Are you picking books you like or what the students are interested in? Can students see themselves in these books?  Can they relate to the storyline or content? Do these books spur conversation, which leads to writing? What books do students enjoy reading over and over again?  What did you discover about your students when you provided books that were culturally relevant to them? How can you help classroom teachers expand and diversify their classroom book collections? Books are a powerful instrument in the landscape of literacy learning, especially when they are personal and celebrate students’ identities. 

I am reminded of one of my students from the past, who was new to the country.  He was from Vietnam and did not speak any English.  At that time, my book collection in my classroom was not very diverse.  One day, his backpack seemed heavy.  After inquiring, I noticed he was carrying books from Vietnam to show me.  The books were written in Vietnamese.  Although I could not read or understand the language, he could read them to me. It was a beautiful moment that brought us together with a newfound appreciation for each other.  He felt included and valued, and I found a way to connect with him. That student brought those same books to school every day until the end of the school year.  And I made it a daily priority to listen to him read his favorite books in his primary language. This experience reinforced “that the child’s ultimate resource for learning to read and write is spoken language: all his new learning becomes linked in his brain with what he has already learned about the language he speaks” (Clay, 2016, p. 24).

Imagine creating a school setting where students learn about cultural differences, which becomes the norm and is embedded in the curriculum, school activities, and community events. Cultivating inclusion and community takes intentional planning. As adults, we all want to be heard, seen, respected, and included, as do our students.  Our privilege and responsibility is to accept, love, nurture, grow, and include ALL children in experiencing an equitable and accessible education.

Social and Emotional Learning

Just as adults go through a range of emotions on any given day, the same is true for students.  The difference is adults know how to self-regulate and manage their emotions. However, children need to learn to recognize and constructively express their feelings. As educators, we nurture, support, and model different social and emotional learning aspects.

The environment children learn in each, and every day is a critical piece to fostering social and emotional learning. The teacher has a lot to do with creating conditions for learning, including how the classroom is arranged, how the learning community is shaped, and how relationships are fostered.  According to the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning, “When students have supportive relationships and opportunities to develop and practice social, emotional, and cognitive skills across many different contexts, academic learning accelerates.” In other words, academic achievement will be hindered without including and developing social and emotional learning, and students will not reach their full learning potential.

Human behavior is complex, and students need a guide, their teacher, to help them navigate the choppy and smooth waters they will encounter as they grow and move through the education system and life outside of school.  Rita F. Pierson reminds us, “Every child deserves a champion- an adult who will never give up on them, who understands the power of connection and insists that they become the best that they can possibly be.”

Outside Interests

The concept of school is made up of four walls and a playground.  Students’ interests inside and outside school are important to note and consider.  Often, daily instruction does not match up with students’ outside interests or hobbies, which affects engagement and motivation. As practitioners, we are responsible for getting to know our students and their families.  If our sole focus is academics, we miss getting to know the whole child.  When we take the time to get to know each student, we build rapport, trust, and connection.

Establishing relationships with students takes time, but it is worth the investment.  Marie Clay knew this well, as she brilliantly designed the Roaming Around the Known sessions and the importance of getting to know the child.  You will discover things about your students that astonish and surprise you.  For instance, I once had a student who knew all about dressmaking.  She had assisted her mom in their family-owned dress shop since she was little.  She knew about different types of fabric, measurements, and fashion.  I just discovered this tidbit of information as we designed puppets for a school play.  The student became the expert in the room when it came to costume design.  Her skill set and experience were appreciated and celebrated in the classroom.  This student felt valued and connected to her peers.  As the teacher, I stumbled upon a hidden talent, which enhanced our relationship and provided me with information for future teaching and learning.

Getting to know your students as individuals does not take a lot of time and effort. Schedule frequent times to talk with each student in your class.  Find out what they like to do in their free time, what piques their interest, and what hobbies they enjoy. Another way to get to know your students is through what they write about and what books they select to read.  Share your interests and hobbies as well to build connections with your students.  There are countless ways to get to know your students and their families. Jeff Lair sums it up well: “Children are not things to be molded but are people to be unfolded.”

Teacher’s Theory and Practice

Stephen Covey said, “We see the world, not as it is, but as we are – or as we are conditioned to see it. When we open our mouths to describe what we see, we in effect describe ourselves, our perceptions, our paradigms.” The teacher’s theory of learning and their hypothesis about a learner impacts what is observed. If a teacher feels like a student is accelerating, the teaching and prompting often look different than when they feel a child is struggling. Yes, there are different needs, but the interactions and tone are often markedly different. That explains why, when going on coaching visits and demonstrating something during the lesson, the teacher would say, “I didn’t know they could do that.” As an outsider, the response was, “I didn’t know they couldn’t.” Providing an opportunity for students to demonstrate what they know allows the teacher to observe new learning and still move along the scale of help if needed. Responsive teachers adjust when and where they enter a teaching interaction. Your actions and words telegraph to the child what you believe is possible. As thoughtful practitioners, we need to reflect on whether our theory and practice align and if they support student learning and agency.

Conclusion

Consider the seven components described above in relation to the parable of The Blind Man and the Elephant. The men described the parts of the elephant from only one vantage point, which was an incomplete view of the whole beast.  We used the parable to challenge your thinking about which data is important to gather to form a more complete understanding of the child. If individual aspects of students are valued over others, perceptions are limited which may blind us to other strengths and funds of knowledge they bring to their learning. In turn, this places parameters around our teaching and stifles learning possibilities and growth.  Let us all commit to learning more about our students and considering the many components that make up each student we interact with daily. 

References:

Briceno, A. & Rodriguez-Mojica, C. (2022). Conscious classrooms using diverse texts for inclusions, equity, and justice. Benchmark Education Company

Clay, M. M. (2019). An observation survey of early literacy achievement. Heinemann.

Clay, M. M. (2016).  Literacy lessons designed for individuals. Heinemann

Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning. Fundamentals of SEL. https://casel.org/fundamentals-of-sel/

Johnson, A. P. (2022). The human dimension in education: Essential learning theories and their impact on teaching and learning. Rowman & Littlefield.

You notice what you are looking for. Think about it. You buy a new car and then see the same car in the same color everywhere you look. You hadn’t noticed it before, but now that you are aware, you can see it. It’s the same as what you notice when you observe children. If you are looking for what students can do, you’ll see it. If you are looking for what they can’t do, you’ll see that, too. This is why it is so important that we take time to consider children from multiple viewpoints.

The parable about the Blind Man and the Elephant is an old story that addresses a similar point. It’s the story of a group of blind men who happen upon an elephant, and each man can feel only one part of the elephant. They talk about the elephant based on their limited vantage point. As you can imagine, their viewpoints are vastly different. The story’s moral is that we see only what we know to be true or understand. The parable encourages us to look beyond our initial understanding to learn what else we can discover to form a more complete picture.

Throughout this blog, we will highlight three of seven components to ponder as you consider a range of important aspects of the whole child. Check back next week for the next four components.

This list is by no means complete or comprehensive. Are we challenging ourselves to learn more about each child? How might that support our understanding of each child and how we plan learning opportunities? As we share the points about the child, we invite you to think about the parable and contemplate how each part of the elephant is necessary to make the elephant complete or whole.

Summative Assessment

Summative assessments provide some insight as to what a student knows. Summative assessments are given to evaluate how much has been learned. For example, a test at the end of a math unit is used to check whether the information has been learned.  Another type of summative assessment is the standardized test. Standardized tests are given to large groups of students. The results can be compared for groups of students to indicate trends in learning in a school or district across time. In addition, information can be gleaned from standardized tests that identify student strengths and weaknesses that may allow teachers to group students for further support or individualized attention. For some standardized tests, data is available in a few days. Other standardized tests may take longer or be at the end of the year, and the information gained is not available to guide instruction. Whether or not one agrees with standardized tests, they provide another data point to consider.

Formative Assessment

As educators, we can use formative assessments to monitor student growth and guide instruction. Classroom teachers have writing samples, conference notes, observations, records of oral reading, teacher-created assessments, etc. All this data helps a teacher plan learning opportunities to meet the needs of the whole group, small groups, and individual students.

Reading Recovery teachers administer the Observation Survey of Early Literacy Achievement (OSELA) before starting lessons. The six tasks in the OSELA invite us to observe the child as they are reading and writing.  Are you really observing, or are you checking and scoring the results? We must notice and record what the child did toward an accurate, self-corrected, or inaccurate response. Clay called this tool an OBSERVATION survey for a reason. It’s not just about scores. How quickly did the child respond? Did they talk through their thinking? What self-corrections were made? How did they initiate problem-solving? What was easy for them? Many of these observations are recorded on a record of oral reading, but are they included across the tasks? The tasks are grouped together to form a cohesive picture of the child, but the child is more than scores.

In addition, Reading Recovery teachers also have daily records of oral reading, writing samples, and lesson records to support planning and instruction. It’s important that Reading Recovery teachers also collaborate with classroom teachers to set goals together and to notice whether learning is transferring from one setting to another. In The Human Dimension in Education (2022), Andy Johnson wrote, “If students cannot use their learning outside of a school context, it is of little use” (p. 129). The same is true if the learning isn’t transferred from one classroom to another.

Differentiated Instruction

A classroom is a sanctuary of learning where students can be part of a shared community with diverse strengths and needs.  If the instruction is limited to whole-group teaching, students have little opportunity to interact with peers. Students need a tiered approach to instruction and intervention. By design, differentiated instruction helps magnify individual differences.

Language and literacy learning are two peas in a pod.  Students develop their literacy systems as they learn language and vice versa.  Creating classrooms with lots and lots of meaningful talk can occur throughout the instructional day in whole group, small group, and one-on-one tutoring structures.  Conversing is learning; we need more of it in our classrooms today!  Also, consider who is doing the talking; the student needs to be encouraged to talk. Learning is social and one of the best driving forces propelling student engagement, joy, and achievement. Differentiating instruction, which includes small group instruction and one-on-one conferring, is critical for student growth in all content areas.

 A supportive environment with a noticing teacher is especially critical for the continued development of Reading Recovery students. Reading Recovery students are often viewed as low achieving, and that label stays with them.  Our job as Reading Recovery educators is to be proactive and help change that perception by working strategically with our students to transfer what they do well in daily lessons to classroom instruction.  We cannot achieve this goal without regular interactions with the classroom teacher and being in tune with what is happening regarding grade-level expectations and assessments.

Our students have a myriad of strengths, interests, talents, and dreams that they can discover with appropriate learning opportunities and teacher guidance. As practitioners, we need to be flexible, tentative, and reflective in our teaching structures, methodology, and belief systems to meet individual students’ needs and as a part of the collective classroom learning community. 

Check back next week for part two, where we delve into additional components to consider while working with students as you start the school year.

References:

Briceno, A. & Rodriguez-Mojica, C. (2022). Conscious classrooms using diverse texts for inclusions, equity, and justice. Benchmark Education Company

Clay, M. M. (2019). An observation survey of early literacy achievement. Heinemann.

Clay, M. M. (2016).  Literacy lessons designed for individuals. Heinemann

Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning. Fundamentals of SEL. https://casel.org/fundamentals-of-sel/

Johnson, A. P. (2022). The human dimension in education: Essential learning theories and their impact on teaching and learning. Rowman & Littlefield.