What are decodable books?
Decodable books are books that are written with content words that only cover certain vowel correspondences and function words to produce a cohesive text. For example, a short a decodable book would include sentences such as "This is a hat. The hat is black." These books are especially important for beginning reading students to practice with because the stories will be developmentally appropriate. However, sometimes these stories could potentially be less engaging for students due to the simple language and sentence structure. Click here to go to How to introduce a new book.
How to introduce a new book
Booktalks are a great way to introduce a new book to a child. In a booktalk, the speaker presents an introduction to the story and continues through the plotline up to the main problem or event. Then leave students with a cliffhanger, to spark their interest in a story. Be sure to flip through pictures as you are talking to hook the student. Click the video to the left to see an example of a effective booktalk.