When it comes to teaching children how to read, the type of text they are exposed to plays a crucial role in their development. Two widely used approaches—decodable texts and leveled readers—offer different strategies for early literacy instruction. Understanding their differences can help educators and parents make informed decisions to support young readers effectively.
Decodable Texts: A Foundation for Phonics-Based Reading
Decodable texts are designed to align with systematic phonics instruction. They allow beginning and struggling readers to practice reading using letter-sound correspondences and skills that have been explicitly taught. This method supports the development of essential decoding skills, such as segmenting and blending sounds to read words accurately. Key characteristics of decodable texts include:
- Words that can be decoded using phonics knowledge
- Inclusion of high-frequency words that have been explicitly taught
- Progression that follows a structured scope and sequence of instruction
- Limited reliance on pictures to support word identification
- Used primarily in the early stages of reading instruction
Repeated reading of decodable texts strengthens fluency, leading to improved automaticity—where words are recognized quickly and effortlessly. This, in turn, enhances reading comprehension as students expend less cognitive effort on word recognition and more on understanding the text.
Leveled Readers: An Alternative Approach with Limitations
Leveled readers, on the other hand, are commonly associated with the three-cueing system, which encourages students to use meaning (context), syntax (sentence structure), and visual cues (such as the first letter of a word) to identify words. These texts are often predictable and repetitive, relying heavily on illustrations to aid comprehension. However, research has shown that guessing words based on patterns and pictures is a habit of poor readers rather than an effective reading strategy.
Additional concerns with leveled readers include:
- Words are identified using “clues” rather than decoding skills
- Difficulty levels are often arbitrarily assigned
- Heavy reliance on pictures to support reading
- Lack of standardization in leveling systems, making reliability and validity inconsistent (Spector, 2005; Nilsson, 2008; Nilsson, 2013 as cited in Buckingham, 2022)
Because leveled readers do not systematically build decoding skills, they may not provide the foundational support that struggling readers need to become proficient.
Balancing Decodable Texts and Rich Literature for Comprehension
Ultimately, the goal of reading instruction is to develop comprehension—the ability to gain meaning from written text. This aligns with Gough and Tunmer’s Simple View of Reading, which emphasizes that both decoding skills and language comprehension are essential for reading success
Decodable texts serve as an instructional tool for independent reading practice, reinforcing decoding strategies that build fluency and confidence. However, exposure to a wide range of literature, including complex vocabulary and sentence structures, is also crucial. Students should not be only exposed to decodable texts. Read-alouds and discussions around rich, content-based texts help develop vocabulary and syntax knowledge, supporting language comprehension.
By combining decodable passages for independent practice with high-quality literature for broader language exposure, we can foster strong, capable readers who not only decode effectively but also understand and engage with diverse texts. Over time, as children’s decoding skills strengthen, all books will become decodable to them—unlocking the joy of reading for a lifetime.
