What Does It Mean for a Book to be Decodable?: Recommendations for Reading with Your Beginning Readers

What types of books should beginning readers spend time reading? In this episode of Advancing Literacy Beyond the Classroom, we dive into decodable books — what they are, why they matter for beginning readers, and the research behind them. We'll break down the use of decodable books in plain language, share what makes a decodable book a good one, and give you practical tips for reading alongside your young learner. If your child is a beginning reader or if you just want to learn more and feel more confident with the support you provide, this one's for you.

Episode Resources and Book Recommendations:

• Supporting Your Beginning Reader Beyond the Classroom - color and black and white
• The Day the Books Disappeared by Joanna Ho and Caroline Kusin
• Ruthie Rose’s Big Idea by John Schu
• Plátanos are Love by Alyssa Reynoso-Morris
• Little Rebels by Yuyi Morales
• Why Do Elephants Have Big Ears? by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page
• How to Bird by Rasha Hamid

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The views expressed in this episode are solely those of the speaker to whom they are attributed. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the faculty, administration, staff or Trustees either of Teachers College or of Columbia University.