STAGES The Pals’ Playtime

An engaging and motivating decodable children’s book about a group of pals and their silly adventures! The book moves through four difficulty levels by each chapter adding a few new sounds and high-frequency words. These sounds/words were chosen based on research of scope and sequences of 21 literacy curricula, and on the Science of Reading theory of introducing phonics skills from simplest to most complex.

What does “decodable” mean?

A decodable book is one that a child can read with relative ease based on the phonics skills and high-frequency words they have learned.

What phonics skills does a child need to read this book?  

Chapter 1 – Story 1 – Fox Hid

Consonants: f, x, h, d, s, n, t, b, g, v, r, m, p, y

Short Vowels: a, o, i, u, e

High-Frequency Words: the, no, ha

Chapter 2 – Story 2 – The Box– Add:

Letter Patterns: All Consonants, Double Consonants, K sound spelled “CK”

High-Frequency Words: what, to, with, find

Word Ending: -s

     A “double consonant” is when a consonant is doubled, but only makes one sounds. For example, SS, LL, FF.

Chapter 3 – Story 3 – Stuck! – Add:

Letter Patterns: Digraphs, Beginning and Ending Blends, CV words

High-Frequency Words: you, out

     A “digraph” is two letters that when put together make a whole new sound. For example, SH, TH, CH, WH.

          A “blend” is two consonants that are next to each other and the sounds blend together. For example, beginning blends BL, CR, SW or ending blends NK, NG, FT.

     A “CV” word is a consonant-vowel word, where the vowel is long. For example, me, be, he.

Chapter 4 – Story 4 – Dress-Up Time – Add:

Letter Patterns: R-Controlled Vowels, Silent E

Word Ending: -ed, -ing, -es

High-Frequency Words: do, one, party

     An “r-controlled vowel” is when the vowel is next to an “r”, and the “r” makes it say a new sound. For example, OR, AR, IR, UR, ER.

     A “Silent E” word is when a word has a vowel-consonant-E letter pattern at the end of the word. The “e” is silent and makes the vowel in the word long. For example, bike, hole, or stone.

What age is this book suited for?

Children near the end of Kindergarten and through First Grade will have typically learned the phonics skills and high-frequency words to read the first story.

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