Struggling readers? Decodable texts for older students may help

It’s no secret that an alarming portion of students struggle to read. And while experts place a lot of attention on ensuring literacy instruction aligns to the science of reading, some older students continue to fall behind. 

Increased emphasis on phonics instruction at the elementary level and a renewed focus on reading comprehension development as students’ proficiency progresses are both foundational elements to supporting skilled readers. But some older students still lack the basic decoding skills necessary for reading, even when they have memorized and appear to “read” common words. 

Creating opportunities for foundational literacy skills practice with materials like decodable texts for older students can be one building block to help nurture more confident, independent readers.

• Why do some older students need more than just reading comprehension support?
• What are decodable texts?
• Why are decodable texts an important support element for struggling older readers?
• How can secondary teachers best support students with decoding practice?

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[Why do some older students need more than just reading comprehension support?](id-support)

When it comes to helping readers learn word recognition and language comprehension, experts have identified five core pillars of the science of reading:

• Phonemic awareness: The ability to identify and manipulate phonemes in spoken words
• Phonics: Learning the alphabetic system—which is the relationship between letters and sounds and how they correspond to spelling patterns—and using that knowledge to decode words
• Fluency: The ability to read text aloud accurately, quickly, and expressively
• Vocabulary: Identifying word meanings individually and in the context of a text
• Comprehension: The ability to understand what you hear and read

For some struggling readers, the challenge extends beyond reading comprehension. Studies indicate that many of the students who fall into the “Below Basic” level of reading proficiency on NAEP’s assessment may have lower fluency and decoding skills than their peers. 

What is decoding, and why does it matter?

Decoding is the ability to translate a word from print to speech by employing knowledge of sound-symbol correspondences. In other words, decoding is sounding out a new word to decipher it.

Elementary teachers may be much more familiar with decoding than middle or high school teachers. Students typically learn decoding at the elementary level when they’re building phonemic awareness and phonics mastery. Effective decoding enables students to recognize words quickly and confidently, laying the groundwork for reading fluency and comprehension. 

Explicit decoding instruction–where the teacher defines and teaches decoding skills, models the decoding process, and guides students through its application–and decoding practice are less common at the secondary level. Only about a quarter of secondary ELA teachers provide regular phonics or phonemic awareness instruction today.

This lack of decoding instruction and practice leaves a gap in support for some of our most struggling secondary readers. Some students may face significant challenges in decoding at the basic level, and without practice opportunities, they’ll continue to struggle in mastering the skills. 

Furthermore, there’s not enough support for multisyllabic decoding. As a result, students’ struggles to decode and comprehend multisyllabic words may persist. Without this mastery, students will likely struggle to reach grade-level reading proficiency.

[What are decodable texts?](id-what)

Decodable texts are highly controlled texts designed to allow students to practice phonics in context. 

A majority of words in decodable texts include only sound-spelling correspondences taught within a phonics scope and sequence. They provide opportunities for readers to identify the phonemic pattern (e.g., /ch/) and see examples of it used in a variety of words. These texts are typically designed for younger elementary students and should always be connected with phonics instruction.

Through decoding practice, students can begin to read and comprehend increasingly complex words with confidence.

[Why are decodable texts an important support element for some struggling older readers?](id-why)

Teachers may notice students skipping certain words when reading aloud instead of sounding them out, or students who have poor spelling compared to their peers. In either scenario, students may struggle particularly with more complex or multisyllabic words. These could be indicators of challenges with fluency and decoding.

Decodable texts are a way for students to practice those critical decoding skills. They’re structured opportunities to practice phonics patterns. They could also provide structured opportunities for practicing m‍orphemes (prefixes, suffixes, and root words) in context. 

Repeated exposure strengthens phonemic awareness, orthographic mapping, and morphological awareness, leading to improved word recognition, fluency, and reading confidence. 

“No matter how old students are, if they are still learning to master the basics of decoding, they may benefit from opportunities to read decodable texts along with explicit, systematic phonics instruction,” says literacy expert Dr. Julia Lindsey, PhD.

Why don’t educators use decodable texts more often to support older students?

Typically, phonics instruction happens early in literacy education, but due to several factors, including the pandemic, not all students have mastered decoding, even by the time they’re in middle or high school.  

Because of this, it can be challenging for secondary teachers to find developmentally appropriate content, both from a topic and word complexity standpoint. Older readers need practice decoding multisyllabic words and could benefit from repeated decoding instruction, exposure, and practice.

[How can secondary teachers best support students with decoding practice?](id-how)

When it comes to decoding support, students need both explicit instruction and opportunities for in-context practice. Decodable texts provide those practice opportunities. Ensuring those texts are relevant to what students are learning in their regular lessons contextualizes the skills and helps them stick.

Providing age-appropriate decodable texts can also help older students avoid feelings of isolation or embarrassment that can come with struggling to read.

“We have to consider the fact that these are older students, and we have to be attentive to supporting their motivation. Which means that we shouldn’t be using texts that feel too juvenile or disconnected from the content they are learning. The texts should ideally be connected to meaning-making, supporting knowledge and vocabulary. And research shows that, at this age, a multicomponent approach is likely the most supportive approach,” shares Dr. Lindsey.

In other words, students should have content-rich instruction and regular exposure to a variety of texts, at grade level in addition to scaffolded text, to continue building word recognition and language comprehension.

Coming soon! Empower student practice with decodable texts in Newsela ELA

Finding age-appropriate, high-quality decodable texts can be a challenge for teachers as students move into upper elementary, middle, and high school. 

Newsela ELA’s collection of decodables for older readers provides opportunities to practice decoding with texts that align with topics and themes typically found in middle and high school curricula. This collection will be available to Newsela ELA users by back-to-school season.