Do you ever wish you had decodable phonics passages that would help your students practice individual phonics skills while also working on reading fluency and comprehension? Well now you do, and all in resource! In this post, I’ve shared free decodable phonics passages and engaging ways you can use them to teach other reading skills.
What are decodable phonics passages?
Phonics-based reading passages are short decodable texts or stories that contain repeated practice with a specific phonics pattern or phonics skill. They contain words with the corresponding phonemes the student has been taught. Decodable passages are an effective way to help develop strong decoding skills while also building encoding, fluency and comprehension.
Skills to teach using the free decodable phonics passages
Segmenting and blending
After being introduced to a phonics pattern and decoding words in isolation, using decodable phonics passages is a good next step for student to read target woeds in context. Passages that target specific phonics patterns are an effective way to provide repeated practice with segmenting, blending, and decoding words and applying the skill being taught. When reading decodable passages, the goal is accuracy rather than speed.
Phonemic awareness
When using decodable passages, select words in the text and ask students questions to practice phoneme manipulation, phoneme substitution, and deletion.
- Phoneme deletion – If we delete the ___ sound from this word what is left?
- Phoneme manipulation (sound substitution) – Change the ___ to a ____. What is the new word?
For students that have difficulty, take a more concrete approach, use letter tiles or letter cards (get free printable letter tiles here) to physically manipulate the letters and sounds. Phonics word ladders are another good way for students to practice phoneme manipulation.
Reading comprehension
Have students answer written comprehension questions to not only go back into the passage to locate answers to questions, but to apply their phonics skills to their writing. Choose questions where the answer will include words in the target phonics pattern or skill students are working on so they can write them in context.
Vocabulary and grammar instruction
Short, phonics reading passages with comprehension questions can serve as quick comprehension checks and an easy way to review learned phonics skills, but they are also a good way to build vocabulary and grammar skills. After reading, you might ask your students:
- Which words are nouns/verbs/adjectives?
- Which word rhymes with ____?
- Which word is a synonym/antonym of _____?
- Which words have two/three syllables?
- Which word means _____?
- Can you use two of these words in the same sentence?
- Which words are homonyms?
- Which word has multiple meanings?
- Which words have a prefix/suffix?
Free Decodable Phonics Passages
Practice alphabetical order
These free, four-in-one phonics mats include a space for students to write the target words in alphabetical order. Easily differentiate by skipping the ABC order part and having students simply generate a list of the words they highlighted in the passage.
How do decodable passage booklets build reading skills?
In summary, the benefits of using decodable phonics passages are:
- Students practice several skills in one activity: alphabetical order/comprehension/decoding/phonemic awareness/spelling
- Students practice targeted phonics skills while building fluency.
- Students practice targeted patterns in the context of reading.
- Passages support comprehension by having students locate answers to questions in the text.
- Students gain writing practice by restating the question, then writing answers in a complete sentence.
FREE Decodable Phonics Passages
Help your students turn isolated phonics skills into reading text as they practice decoding, fluency, and comprehension all in one resource!
When should I use these free decodable phonics passages? Phonics-based reading passages lend themselves well to use in small group instruction and in your intervention groups. These free decodable phonics passages also make an easy, no-prep literacy center to practice reading fluency. Simply add a pair of dice for students to a play the roll and read game.
A quick choice for additional phonics practice, homework, or to leave for a substitute teacher, I hope your students enjoy them and they make your planning easeir!
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