Document Type
Article
Publication Date
Summer 2025
Abstract
Young children often receive time to read independently at school, so they can practice and apply the skills they are learning in the classroom to connected texts. It is important to be mindful of the types of books available to students during independent reading to ensure the books provide the proper amount of support for reading success and achievement. Most classrooms are filled with traditional books, which offer a wide range of text complexity, but decodable books, books that follow a phonetic scope and sequence, are being used now more than ever before, as teachers work to more closely align student practice to what is being taught in the classroom. This paper aims to explore the use of decodable texts as practice tools for independent reading and their effects on students' reading accuracy. After a comprehensive literature review on independent reading, text complexity, decodable books, and reading achievement; an analysis of five years of data on the reading accuracy of 87 first-grade students; and a review of one-on-one interviews providing insight into students’ feelings about reading and the resources they use for reading activities, the research indicates that using decodable books in conjunction with traditional books increases reading accuracy and overall enjoyment of reading more than relying solely on decodable texts for reading practice. The outcome of this study emphasizes the importance of providing a wide range of literature to students to both support varied reading levels and abilities, as well as to increase student engagement and motivation.