About this episode

Dr. Wiley Blevins discusses the effective use of decodable texts in phonics instruction and literacy development.

Decodable texts are an important tool for helping readers apply their phonics knowledge, but are we squeezing everything we can out of them? Dr. Wiley Blevins – longtime educator, researcher, author, and one of the most recognized voices in phonics instruction – shares all about choosing and using decodable texts. When it comes to choosing decodable texts, Wiley shares the prevailing thinking around how decodable a text actually needs to be. We also tackle a question that doesn't always have a neat answer: When are students ready for less-controlled text? Wiley shares what he's currently exploring in his research, why that transition may look different from student to student, and why we shouldn't confuse being able to read a pattern with truly mastering it for spelling. We also get into using decodable texts for all they’re worth. In fact, decodables certainly can go far beyond simply getting students to practice a target phonics pattern. Wiley shares how he uses decodable texts across multiple days and throughout the literacy block to build oral language, fluency, vocabulary, syntax, writing, knowledge-building, and of course, comprehension. He walks us through practical…

People in this episode

Host: Michelle Sullivan

Guest: Dr. Wiley Blevins

Topics covered

• decodable texts
• phonics instruction
• reading fluency
• vocabulary development
• differentiation
• literacy strategies

Keywords

• decodable texts
• phonics
• fluency
• vocabulary
• writing
• literacy
• differentiation

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Literacy in Color

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