A Problem with Decodable Books and a Solution from Lexile

-

 
 
 
One of the problems with decodable books is that what is decodable for one student or classroom isn't yet decodable for another student or classroom. You must match a decodable book to the scope and sequence of instruction. Struggling readers especially need to be matched with a decodable book according to the skills they have and what they need to practice.

This isn't easy. There have been barriers to finding the right decodable books for students at the various stages of reading instruction. 

The easiest thing to do is to use only books and passages that are provided with reading curriculum, but the choices are often limited.

You can get your hands on the actual book and look through each page while thinking through what skills are covered and when the book will fit your scope and sequence. That requires the funds to purchase books, often in sets, that you may never use and lots of time to carefully analyze books. 

You can also obtain scope and sequences from publishers and authors. Depending on their idea of what a decodable book should look like, you may still end up with a book that isn't what you need it to be.  

I often see social media posts asking for help finding decodable books. This is helpful in finding publishers and authors, but you still have the problems listed above.

You can write your own decodable books and passages, but I know from experience that isn't always so easy. It takes a lot of time and work.

I have often dreamed of something better. I am not the only one. I am honored to have been a small part of a project led by Neena Saha, Ph.D., Vice-President, Science of Reading of Metametrics,which is the creator of Lexile®. I contributed about a dozen decodable reading passages to Lexile® Decodable Passages. Metametrics is also releasing their new tool, Lexile® Find a Decodable Book. This is the tool I've been waiting for. This tool will be a go-to tool to help us search for decodable books for our students. I can't wait.

Find out more on Metametrics' blog.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

It's Arrived! A New Way to Find Decodable Books

-
Image
Three things: 1. Thank you, Lexile Find a Decodable Book . Thank you. Thank you. Being able to see a decodable book in this new way will be so helpful to teachers, parents, tutors, and educators. 2. Check out Decodable Adventures through the lens of Lexile Find a Decodable Book chapter by chapter.  The Black Silk Path The Hunt for R. L. Nox The Path's End 3. There is a second new tool on the Lexile Hub. Check out my decodable passages on Lexile Decodable Passages . (Subscribe or sign in to the Lexile Hub.)   I'm am now going to go turn on some happy music and dance a happy dance. Lexile Find a Decodable Book and Lexile Decodable Passages are finally here.
Read more

Can ChatGPT Write Decodable Text?

-
Image
 Today I took my first crack at seeing how ChatGPT does writing decodable text. I can see how it is useful in writing sentences with target spellings and sounds. I had some success with writing sentences even though I had to correct ChatGPT over several steps. (New, shines, and bark are not CVC words ChatGPT. It agreed and eventually ended up with a sentence with CVC words.)  From there, I asked it to write a paragraph. I found that ChatGPT does not like to follow a scope and sequence. The closer it got to the scope I gave it, the more awkward it got. Wait, aren’t human-written decodables often “awkward?” Not when compared to ChatGPT’s level of awkward. It sounds like…a robot. Hmm. Go figure. I guess there isn’t enough decodable text it can mine from on the web.  On a separate try, I gave it a few syllable types plus a list of words it could use and asked for a mystery story. Again, ChatGPT was struggling to follow the scope I gave it. I tried to explain the scope several times while a
Read more

It's Here! Totally RAD Phonics Level C: Ed and Mel’s Exploration of Fluency and Syntax–A Companion to The Black Silk Path

-
Image
        It took awhile to settle on what I wanted The Black Silk Path companion book to look like. It finally took shape as a "used textbook" that exists within the story The Black Silk Path . In that story, Ed and Mel Davis have to study to regain their language which was stolen by R.L Nox's magic spell. They carry a book to help them study in their backpacks. If you peeked into one of their backpacks, you would see Totally RAD Phonics Level C . Ed and Mel wrote notes in this used textbook. Some of them are related to their studies. Others are related to their journey in as described in The Black Silk Path . Students can study along with Ed and Mel and read their notes. They can connect the notes to what is happening in The Black Silk Path. Each "Lesson" in Totally RAD Phonics Level C matches up with a chapter in The Black Silk Path . It follows the same scope and sequence as The Black Silk Path which covers closed syllables. Totally RAD Phonics Level C pro
Read more