Decodables are books that are simplified to just include (or mostly 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 spring themed decodables, as well as printable books for spring holidays and events such as St. Patricks Day and Easter that occur in March, April, or May.
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:
- Highlight or underline words your child can't read yet, and let your child know you'll read the underlined/highlighted words.
- Go over the words beforehand and show the parts they can read, and the irregular or advanced parts.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
THE DECODABLES
CVC Words (like cat, dog, sit, etc.)
- Jenny's Bunny by Natalie Lynn Kindergarten
- Multiple leveled versions of the same decodable are included. This is the first one, labeled for Beginning CVC words, and the second, labeled for CVC Words.
- Beginning CVC Words Version: Includes a, can*
- CVC Words Version: Includes the, a, can,* is
Digraphs (th, sh, ch)
- Jenny's Bunny by Natalie Lynn Kindergarten
- Multiple leveled versions of the same decodable are included. This is third, labeled Digraphs.
- Includes: the, a, can,* is
- (Easter) Hop by The Parkie Teacher
- Focus: digraphs, simple plural (adding s)
- Includes plural s, two syllable word (rabbit), eggs, the, is, and, to, of, he, for
- Earth Day by Top 10 Tips Scienc of Reading Resources
- Focus: th
- Includes the, blends, oo
Consonant Blends (CVCC, CCVC, etc.)
- Lucky the Leprechaun by Reading With Dwyer
- Includes: Lucky, quick, you, time, is, digraphs
- Jenny's Bunny by Natalie Lynn Kindergarten
- Multiple leveled versions of the same decodable are included. This is the fourth, labeled Beginning Blends, and the 6th (which has more other advanced concepts) labeled ending blend.
- Beginning Blends Includes: will, the, a, can,* is
- Ending Blends Includes: CVC words (including "likes"), to, her, 2 syllable words (including -ed and -ing words), will, off, the, a, can,* is
- (Bunny) Do Not Quit Pip by Sarah Guy (Teach With Results)
- FOCUS: quit, when, do
- Includes quit, when, our, oh, no, do, is, she, her, said, you
- (Easter) Hop by The Parkie Teacher
- Focus: digraphs, simple plural (adding s)
- Includes digraphs, two syllable word (rabbit), eggs, the, is, to, of, he, for
- (Easter) Various Stories by Dyslexia Decoded Solutions
- This resource includes several stories, listed separately below
- FOCUS WORDS (across all stories): the, a, was, said, egg
- Ben's Big Egg Hung
- Includes the, a, to, was, said
- Meg and the Egg
- Includes the, a, one, said, saw
- Zak and the Egg Trap
- a, the, was, by, said
- Earth Day by Top 10 Tips Scienc of Reading Resources
- Focus: th
- Includes the, blends, oo
Open Syllables - 1 Syllable Words (he, she, no, go)
- Who Has the Easter Eggs by Koffee and Kinders
- FOCUS: Open syllable -e words (he, she, we), has, egg
- Includes: a, are, the, has, have, of, digraph th ch, -ck, rabbit,
Find Gold Rule (long sound of o and i before some consonant blends)
- (St Patrick's Day) Lep's Luck by Reading With Mrs. Richards
- Includes: ol words, -ck words, the, of, a, from (underlined for emphasis)
R-Controlled (ar, or, er, ur, ir)
- Jenny's Bunny by Natalie Lynn Kindergarten
- Multiple leveled versions of the same decodable are included. This is the seventh, labeled R-Controlled.
- Includes: VCE words, to, 2 syllable words (including -ed words), wh- words, can,*
- Decodable Readers by Illustrated Decodables
- This resource includes multiple decodables (the relevant one listed below)
- The Farm (pg 94)
- Focus: -ar (also includes er)
- Includes two syllable words, ending y (long e), ee, -ook, -ing/ng, -ed, open syllables, come, ready, flowers, days, work, come, was, to, large (soft g), day
- The Bird's First Worm ( pg 109)
- Focus: er, ir, ur (also includes or, ar)
- Includes two syllable words, -ing/ng, -ed, open syllables, silent e, vowel teams (ee, -ook, ea, ou, ie, ei), ending y (long e), would, could, saw, stay, all, bright, enough, thought, other, were, give, because, either, from, saw, -tch, again, have, friend
- Has "glid" as a past tense of glide, which I don't think is correct
- (Easter) Catch the Rabbit! by Alabaster Education
- This includes several version of the same story, at different levels. There are also several other books in this resource, but I only included the Easter one.
- Regular Version
- FOCUS: look, ee , there/where/here
- Includes: 2 syl, ee, -er, -ed, look, to, he, there, where, here, down, out, are
- Harder Version
- FOCUS: look, ee , there/where/here
- Includes: 2 syl, any, -er, -ed, the, to, there, where, here, saw, now, down, burrow, you, he, again, okay, out, think, gone, anymore, Easter, are
- Fern the Bird by Miss Becca's Classroom
- Focus: er, ir, ur,
- Includes: -ng, she (open syllable), was, to, come, saw
VCE (silent e)
- (St. Patrick's Day) Shake Shack by Little Minds and Work
- Part of a collection of St. Patricks Day decodables
- Includes: cupcake, little, see, look, the, said, can*, from
- Jenny's Bunny by Natalie Lynn Kindergarten
- Multiple leveled versions of the same decodable are included. This is the fifth and sixth, labeled CVCe Words and Ending Blends.
- CVCe Words Includes: tired, will, the, a, can,* is
- Ending Blends Includes: likes, to, her, 2 syllable words (including -ed and -ing words), will, off, the, a, can,* is
- The White Rabbit by Reading with Mrs. Richards
- FOCUS: words that end in double letters, there, rabbit
- Includes rabbit, wh- (white), th, does, live, some, there, for, to
- The Earth Day Plan by Crafty Ally
- Includes open syl, two syl, ee, oo, -ng, ea, ie, er, ay, ending y (i), to, the, want
- (Mother's Day) What Is a Mom by Reading With Mrs. Richards
- FOCUS: vowel team ea, VCE words, your/our
- Includes: multi-syllable words, vowel teams (ea, ee, ay) , -ay words, , -ing suffix, our, your, someone, have, love, give, care, -er,
- (Mother's Day) A Gift For Mom by Reading With Mrs. Richards
- Includes: have, some, one, cupcake (compound word), to, for, icing (2nd sound of c), white (wh), said, smiled.
EE Vowel Team
- (St. Patrick's Day) Pin and Pix and Look at It by Little Minds and Work
- Focus Word: see
- Part of a collection of St. Patricks Day decodables
- Pin and Pix includes: see, look, the, do, said, can*
- Look at It includes: I, a, look
- (Easter) Catch the Rabbit! by Alabaster Education
- This includes several version of the same story, at different levels. What's cool is if there's a few words you want to skip, you can just use the pages from an easier version, but use the harder version where you can. Since it's in speech bubbles, you can also have a child read only one character's part (I did not parse parts below). There are also several other books in this resource. I only included the relevant ones below.
- Easier Version
- FOCUS: look, ee
- Includes: digraph th, look, I, to, the, a
- Regular Version
- FOCUS: look, ee , there/where/here
- Includes: 2 syl, ee, -er, -ed, look, to, he, there, where, here, down, out, are
- Harder Version
- FOCUS: look, ee , there/where/here
- Includes: 2 syl, any, -er, -ed, the, to, there, where, here, saw, now, down, burrow, you, he, again, okay, out, think, gone, anymore, Easter, are
OO Vowel Team
- (St. Patrick's Day) Pin and Pix and Look at It by Little Minds and Work
- Focus Word: look
- Part of a collection of St. Patricks Day decodables
- Pin and Pix includes: see, the, do, said, can*
- Look at It includes: I, a, the, see
Vowel Teams and Dipthongs
Books that just have oo or ee are listed in their own categories earlier
- (Mother's Day) What Is a Mom by Reading With Mrs. Richards
- FOCUS: vowel team ea, VCE words, your/our
- Includes: VCE words, r-controlled, multi syllable words, -ay words, ee words, -ing suffix, our, your, someone, have, love, give, care,
- The Last Week of School by Reading With Mrs. Richards
- Vowel Teams: ee, ea, ai, ui, ay
- Includes: suffixes -ing and -y, VCE words, open syllable words, friends, there, want, of, from said, are, for, have, come, light, my, Ms.
- Jenny's Bunny by Natalie Lynn Kindergarten
- Multiple leveled versions of the same decodable are included. This is the eighth and ninth. labeled Vowel Teams and Dipthongs
- Vowel Teams Book includes: vowel teams ee, ay, ea, ai, and VCE words,to, her, 2 syllable words (including -ed, -ing words), can,*
- Dipthongs Book includes vowel teams/dipthongs ou, ew, oi, aw, ee, ea, (great), VCE words, r-controlled (including floor), two syllable words (including -ed, -ing, -y words)
- Happy Earth Day by Playful Minds Bilingüe
- An English and Spanish version is included. This just includes concepts for the English version.
- FOCUS: Vowel team ea (pronunciations: short e, long e, and er [Earth, learn])
- Includes many other concepts...too many to list. This is more for kids who are starting to read independently but still weak on the ea and ear phonics concepts.
- Decodable Readers by Illustrated Decodables
- This resource includes multiple decodables (the relevant ones listed below)
- Toad Saves a Goat (pg 67)
- Vowel Teams: oa, ee, ay, ai, ea (long e)
- Includes simple two syllable word, -ing/ng, -er, -ed, open syllables, saw, by, little, to, other, water, could, was, her
Short Vowel -VE words (V doesn't end words. Example give, have, love.)
- (Mother's Day) What Is a Mom by Reading With Mrs. Richards
- FOCUS: vowel team ea, VCE words, your/our
- Includes: vowel teams (ea, ee, ay), r-controlled, multi syllable words, ay words, -ing suffix, our, your, someone, care
Closed Syllables (2 Syllable Words)
- My Rabbit by Kinder Keepsakes
- FOCUS HFW: My
- Includes: brown, likes
*The word "can" (as in "I can do it") is a tricky word in some regions of the US, where it is not pronounced with a regular short a.
Advanced Easy Readers
While still in the easy reader category, these less controlled texts have more multi-syllable words and harder concepts, and I am not attempting to list all the concepts. Some of these may focus on certain skills (which I will note), while others will not have a clear focus. I suggest reading over these texts before your child reads them and going over words you think your child may have difficulty with.
- The True Story of St. Patricks Day (Religious) by Gretchen Stevens
- Aligned to Barton Level 4
- Has many concepts (including vowel teams, r-controlled, multi-syllable words), but avoids using past tense with ed (a tricky concept many programs teach later).
Do you know of a decodable book that should be on this list? Please share it in a comment below!
