Use Phonics Books to Build Confident Readers

Do your students struggle with confidence when they sit down to read a passage? When our students are first learning how to read, it is so important to break down a phonics skill into simple and manageable steps. By focusing on just ONE phonics skill at a time, you will be able to prepare your students to feel confident reading a passage since they have been taught the skills in isolation first.

How to Structure Learning During Small Group Reading

In my classroom, I use Phonics Skills Books to make reading simple and fun!

Want to try out 3 free books with your students? Just fill out this form and I will send them right to you:

Here is the process I follow in my classroom during small group reading:

Introduce a New Phonics Skills

To introduce the focus phonics skill in each book, you will begin by having your students say the letter names, color the letters, and blend the sounds.

Then, your students will identify each picture by name and color the pictures containing the focus phonics skill (in this case -ag).

If you still need to determine the skill level of each of your students, then check out this post: Assess Your Students to Form Reading Small Groups

Read the Words in Isolation

Now that your students know the sound they are focusing on, it is time to practice reading words in isolation. This way, they will already have practiced the skill words that they will need to read in the passage at the end of the book.

Read the Words in a Sentence

Once your students can read each word in isolation, we turn the page and begin reading sentences. Before reading the sentence, have your students circle each word that contains the focus phonics skill. I always have my students read the words they circled, then read each sentence 3 times for practice.

Read the Words in a Passage

Now that we have practiced the phonics skill in a variety of ways, it is time for your students to read the words in a story!

First, your students will highlight each word from the phonics skill we are focusing on. Then, they will read the story 3 times.

To keep your students on track, have them color a star each time they read the passage.

Check For Understanding

Now that your students have read the passage at least 3 times, it is important to check for understanding through a comprehension activity. On the last page of the book, your students will draw a picture of what they read.

This is a great activity to have your students complete during an independent center rotation while you work with the next group!

Grab Books for the Year

If you want to make planning for small groups simple and easy this year, then check out my Phonics Skills Practice Books for 104 books that focus on a variety of kindergarten and first grade phonics skills! Once you give the phonics assessment, you can just print the books and be ready to teach! You can check it out here:

Have a wonderful day reading a book with your little learners!

This post may contain Amazon affiliate links. I earn a small commission each time someone makes a purchase through one of my affiliate links, which helps to support The Primary Brain blog. As always, I only recommend products that I love and all ideas shared are my own.

Written on July 16th, 2024 by Laurin Brainard