Advice For Teachers

Children in a classroom

At Phonic Books, we create, design and publish decodable books to help beginner readers and older, struggling or reluctant readers.

What are decodable books?

Decodable books are books a child can read independently once they have been taught the phonics at that level. Visit the About Our Books page to find out more.

Why should your pupils read decodable books?

Decodable books consolidate the phonics taught in your classroom. With step-by-step progression, the pupil succeeds at each level while learning the phonics needed to become a fluent reader. This approach develops confident readers with reliable reading strategies.

How do I choose the right books for my pupil?

The level of your pupil’s reading and his/her age will determine which books are suitable for him/her. Our general guidelines are:

Book Category Reader Age
Dandelion Launchers Beginner Readers 3 to 6 years
Dandelion Readers Beginner Readers 5 to 8 years
Moon Dog, Magic Belt, That Dog!, Alba, Totem, Rescue, Talisman and Titans Gauntlets Series Older, Struggling and Reluctant Readers 8 to 14 years

To see how children should progress through our books please look at our Phonic Progression Chart.

How can I use the books in my class?

Decodable books are used as part of a reading programme in schools. Our books are suitable to use with any phonics programme to offer reading practice and can be used in a number of ways:

  1. Whole class: decodable books can be part of the phonics lesson providing a book for each child or pair of children to read together.
  2. Group work: children reading in groups as part of guided reading.
  3. 1:1 reading support with the teacher, teaching assistant or parent.

For a child to succeed, you will need to ensure that he/she knows that target phoneme at each stage. This is explained in the ‘How to use’ page of every book.

Each book in our Dandelion series also includes a game. This helps to practise and consolidate the learning in a fun way.

Do I need the workbooks?

The workbooks complement the reading books with a variety of activities some of which precede reading the books and others directly linked to the stories. They offer exercises which develop reading, spelling, writing and comprehension. A great supplementary resource for children who need further support.

UK schools & organisations wishing to order by invoice, please read the information regarding our new process. Dismiss