Monday, September 1, 2025

Free Fall Decodable Readers

Decodables are books that are simplified to mainly include words with phonics concepts your child has already learned, and irregular words that have already been covered.   The best decodables are of course the one that come with the reading curriculum you use, as they will meet your child just where they are and allow them to practice the skills they've just learned.

But sometimes it's nice to have something to read related to specific seasons or holidays.   Below is a list of free printable decodables from various sources, including general autumn themed decodables, as well as printable books for fall holidays and events such as Thanksgiving, Halloween, and more.  

To make it easier to align these to the skills your child is learning, I've organized these by phonics concept, and noted other concepts included in the decodables, since not all programs teach concepts in the same order (sometimes I will just list the word with that concept if there's only one or two words that use that concept).    However, since nearly all programs start with CVC words, digraphs th, sh, ch and/or blends, I don't usually list these in later concepts.  I also only usually list "a," words ending in double letters,  and words that end in an s sound but say "zzz" in the CVC, Digraphs, and Blends sections as these concepts tend to be learned fairly early.   

Some books include a "FOCUS."  This is a concept or word that is used frequently in the book, or highlighted by underlining or in some other way.  Assume if a book is listed under a certain concept, that that concept is a focus of the book even if it's not listed as such.   

TIP:  If a decodable has a few words with concepts your child hasn't learned, here are a few ways to handle that:

  1. Highlight or underline words your child can't read yet, and let your child know you'll read the underlined/highlighted words.
  2. Go over the words beforehand and show the parts they can read, and the irregular or advanced parts.
  3. Let them read it, and when they do, ask if it sounds close to any words they know.   For example, in the word "was" the "a" has an "uh" sound, but a child might be able to figure out the real word even if they pronounce it with a short a, as it's spelled.  So you can ask, is that close to a word that would make sense here?   This strategy is called set for variability.    I don't suggest this strategy for kids in the earliest stages of reading, where they are still mastering sounding out basic CVC words and blends, but once that is solid, this can be a valuable strategy to teach kids. 
  4. If a book contains multi syllable words and your child hasn't learned to read those yet, you can help them by drawing lines to divide the syllables for them.  
  5. Sometimes, with printables, you can just skip a page.   In some of these books, not all the pages are necessary to the story, and if the harder words are on such a page, it can be easy to just remove it.


CVC

  • Halloween - The Literacy Party
    • Multi-book resource.   
    • BOOK 1 - Early CVC:   
      • Focus:  I
      • Includes I, the, see, a
    • BOOK 2 - CVC
      • Includes -ll, the, a, we, can*, and, see, go, is, I
  • A Witch (Halloween) - 
    • The first half of this book is mostly CVC words, and the last has more advanced words, but just using the first half (the bottom four squares) could make a fun story about a cat and a potion, without including the rest.   Below shows just the words for that half.
    • Bottom 4 Squares: 
      • Includes:  a, the, is, and
  • Pip the Pig (farm) by LAPREA Education
    • Part of a large set (free samples of a decodable set)
    • Includes:  qu-, ending s, 's, and he to from the

Digraphs

  • Halloween - The Literacy Party
    • Multi-book resource.   
    • BOOK 3 - Digraphs
      • Digraphs th, wh, sh, -ck, ch
      • Includes:  blends (plural s), -ll, all, we, is, see, the
  • Halloween - Reading With Mrs. Richards
    • Focus HFW:  want
    • Includes:  want, Halloween, treat, candy (with picture prompt), to, a, going, -ck, bring, look, all (some of these can be omitted by skipping some pages, as some pages could be omitted without changing the story much). 

Consonant Blends

  • Corn Cob Husks - Andrea Bruesch
    • Has same passage at different levels.   This is the page 3 passage.
    • Includes simple 2 and 3 syllable words, do, you, like, use, for, or, a, the, we, see, can*
  • Halloween - The Literacy Party
    • Multi-book resource.   
    • BOOK 4 - Blends
      • 2nd Focus:  Open Syllable Words
      • Includes:  digraphs (ch, wh, -ck), open syllable words, the, Halloween, to, do, have, for, said
  • Halloween - Reading With Mrs. Richards
    • Focus HFW:  want
    • Includes:  want, Halloween, treat, candy (with picture prompt), to, a, going, -ck, bring, look, all (some of these can be omitted by skipping some pages, as some pages could be omitted without changing the story much). 
  • The Map by LAPREA Education
    • Part of a large set (free samples of a decodable set)
    • Includes:  a, do, have, me, to, are, from, I, see, was



Open Syllable Words (One Syllable:  me, go, hi)
  • Halloween - The Literacy Party
    • Multi-book resource.   
    • BOOK 4 - Blends
      • Includes:  digraphs, open syllable words, the, Halloween, to, do, have, for, said

R-controlled (ar, or, er, ir, ur)

  • Veterans Day (Nov 11) - Reading With Mrs. Richards
    • Focus:  Er words (multi-syllable), one or word
    • Includes: multi-syllable words, VCE words, -y suffix, vowel teams, country, sea, lived, some, our
  • Corn Cob Husks - Andrea Bruesch
    • Has same passage at different levels.   This is the page 2 passage.
    • Includes 1 -ed word, many 2 and 3 syllable words,  silent e words, people, do, you,  use, for, or, many, have, we, see, can*
  • Halloween - The Literacy Party
    • Multi-book resource.   
    • BOOK 5 - CVCe
      • Includes ir, ar, or, er
      • Includes:  Open syllable words, 3 letter blends, 2 Syllable words,  wh-, -ed, Halloween, to, have, for, or, said, can*
VCE (silent e)

  • Corn Cob Husks - Andrea Bruesch
    • Has same passage at different levels.   This is the page 2 passage.
    • Includes 1 -ed word, simple 2 and 3 syllable words, do, you, for, or, many, have, we,  wrap, can*
  • Halloween - The Literacy Party
    • Multi-book resource.   
    • BOOK 5 - CVCe
      • Includes:  Open syllable words, 3 letter blends, 2 Syllable words,  wh-, -ed, Halloween, to, have, for, or, said, can*
  • Time to Vote - Reading With Mrs. Richards
    • Includes several more difficult multi-syllable words, but also includes a pictorial guide for these words.
    • Includes:  to, her, for, walks, the, said, she, -er suffix, -ck
  • Veterans Day (Nov 11) - Reading With Mrs. Richards
    • Includes: r-controlled syllables, multi-syllable words, -y suffix, vowel teams, country, sea, lived, some, our

Vowel Teams and Diphthongs (ee, oo, ea, ai, oi, ou, ow, ay, etc.)

  • The Big Game (Football) by Learning a Latte In First
    • INCLUDES: ee, oo, ea, ie, ey (they), oi
    • Also included:  silent e, r-controlled, -all words, are, to
  • Apples Please (farm) by LAPREA Education
    • Part of a large set (free samples of a decodable set)
    • Vowel Teams/Dipthongs: (ui, ow, ee, ea, ou, oo, oy)
    • Focus:  Prefix -y (long e) , two syllable words
    • Includes:  -y (long e), two-syllable words, VCE, -CLE r-cont, your, of, some, answer, people, one, once, four
  • Halloween - The Literacy Party
    • Multi-book resource. 
    • BOOK 7 - Vowel Teams
      • Vowel Teams:  (focus ea) ay, oo, ea, ee, ue, oa, ai
      • Includes:  open syllables, silent e, r-controlled (ir, ar, or) two syllable words, -ed, -y ending (ee), wh-, Halloween, to, have, for, my, said
    • BOOK 8 - Dipthongs
      • Vowel Teams:   ay, oo, ea, ee, ue, oa, ai
      • Dipthong: ou
      • Includes:   open syllables, silent e, r-controlled (ir, ar, or) two syllable words, -ed, -y ending (ee), wh-, Halloween, to, have, for, my, said
  • A Witch (Halloween) - 
      • Vowel Teams: ea, oo
      • Diphthongs: ow
      • Includes:  a, the, is, and, witch
R- Controlled
  • Halloween - The Literacy Party
    • Multi-book resource.   
    • BOOK 6 - R-controlled
      • Includes:  open syllables, two syllable words, -ed, -y ending (ee), wh-, Halloween, have, for, or, you, your, said





OTHER SEASONS

Winter Decodables (Coming This Winter)





*Some words that are irregular in some regions.

Header graphic courtesy of Pixabay.


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