Ruth first came across Phonic Books in a specialist teaching role in a special school where they had already established the books as a reading intervention program. She saw the benefit of using them with struggling readers both at primary and secondary level.
“I’ve been lucky enough to have used a lot of your series from Dandelion Readers, Moon Dogs, That Dog!, Alba, Totem, and Talisman, as well as your free online resources which are great for supporting learners."
I’m a big advocate for Phonic Books because I know it works.
“I have run interventions for both younger and older students using Phonic Books books. what I particularly like about the decodable readers are the graphics; they’re really suitable for older students. It both motivates and builds their confidence to provide them with resources that are age-appropriate and not viewed as ‘baby-ish’. I’ve had students come and say, “Can I get the next book? Can I get the next one?” They were so eager to find out what happened next.
“Sometimes children with severe dyslexia don’t make accelerated progress so I have used parallel sets to practice the same phonics skills. It’s so helpful to have multiple sets with the same phonics focus. I love that the books are so structured. Within the texts, this structured approach means that the students are successful in their reading and therefore create a shift from students saying, “I can’t read” to becoming engaged readers. When you’re tackling decoding, these books really do what they say. They’re my go-to resource. ”
...this structured approach means that the students are successful in their reading and therefore create a shift from students saying, “I can’t read” to becoming engaged readers.
Ruth uses the books, card games, and activity books. She will play the stepping stone game or the four-in-a-row game with her students after practicing the vocabulary first. She will then do an activity such as ‘find what word means x’ before moving onto reading the decodable book so that the children have warmed up the text with the key vocabulary. Together, they look at the words at the bottom of the page which are going to appear in the text and then they’ll decode. Once the student has successfully read the page, Ruth will build for fluency and intonation and then ask questions to check comprehension. She stressed the importance of repeated reading for these students and letting children take the books home with them to read with their parents. Having games, like the Talisman Card Game, also helps her teaching as children don’t realize they are learning because they have so much fun playing.
“For me, having the activity books alongside the actual texts is key. They’re brilliant resources and they’re easy to use. You don’t have to have technology or anything else. I love that if you’re reading That Dog!, you can extend the lesson by using the activities from the activity book. When I’m doing my one-to-one intervention, I might only see the child once a week and the activities are something I can easily set up with the Teaching Assistant to work on with them two to three times a week. You can see the accelerated progress the students make when they get to do the activities and revisit the words regularly, and when you have a resource that’s scaffolded for success. The students know they can read the text, they feel successful and next time they will be willing to take on a challenge because they see themselves as successful readers.
“I think my students have made accelerated progress with Phonic Books. For me, it’s always about confidence, feeling successful and increasing enjoyment of reading, so that they see themselves as readers and they look forward to reading.”