Phonic Books Ltd

Phonic Books Ltd Decodable books for beginner and catch-up readers. Phonic reading books for beginner and 'catch-up' readers
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What is dictation and how can we use it in the classroom? 💭Dictation is a great way to get children to link reading and ...
09/07/2024

What is dictation and how can we use it in the classroom? 💭

Dictation is a great way to get children to link reading and spelling in a controlled activity. It is an encoding exercise that encourages learners to translate the sounds they can hear into the symbols they have learnt to associate with those sounds. As they do this, they learn that letters spell sounds in words (the Alphabetic Principle). To run a dictation activity:

1) Ask the child to listen to the sentence read from the list and repeat it, before writing it down.
2) Break the sentence into smaller chunks if required.
3) Take note of words with dots and dashes - these are high-frequency words that may require more support.
4) Check what the learner has written and show them how the sound and letters correspond.

For some sentences to practise with, take a look at our free, downloadable resource:
🌍: https://ow.ly/Qebv50SwKhI
🇺🇸: https://ow.ly/J4YZ50SwKhA

Last week, we had the pleasure of attending nasen LIVE, where we met so many brilliant educators who are passionate abou...
08/07/2024

Last week, we had the pleasure of attending nasen LIVE, where we met so many brilliant educators who are passionate about improving literacy and discussed how Phonic Books can support them. 📚

The theme of this year's conference was 'Inclusive Practice in Action'. If you also attended, we would love to hear your key takeaways and which learnings you will be implementing in your classroom!

What makes a book dyslexia friendly? 💭Many dyslexic students struggle in class for some time before they receive the sup...
04/07/2024

What makes a book dyslexia friendly? 💭

Many dyslexic students struggle in class for some time before they receive the support they need, which can create negative associations towards reading. Phonic Books was founded by dyslexia-trained teachers who recognised a need for more engaging, supportive and structured reading materials to help motivate struggling students to embark on the journey to literacy.

In our latest blog, we explore what makes a book dyslexia friendly, as well as tips for supporting dyslexic students:
🌎: https://ow.ly/yceS50SuoQR
🇺🇸: https://ow.ly/ZG7f50SuoQS

✨ We’re excited to be attending nasen LIVE 2024 in Birmingham this week, where we’ll be joining reading specialists, edu...
03/07/2024

✨ We’re excited to be attending nasen LIVE 2024 in Birmingham this week, where we’ll be joining reading specialists, educators, and advocates to explore the future of SEND education - and sharing how Phonic Books can help!

If you’re also attending, we’d love to say hello; join us at stand 46 to learn more about our resources to support beginner and struggling readers.

✍️ A step-by-step guide to using a word chain…Word chains are a great teaching resource to help beginner readers practis...
02/07/2024

✍️ A step-by-step guide to using a word chain…

Word chains are a great teaching resource to help beginner readers practise their blending, segmenting and phoneme manipulation skills. To get started:

1) Place the letters needed for the word chain activity on a white board
2) Ask the learner to build the first word in the word chain, e.g, ‘chip’
3) Ask the learner to blend and read the word
4) Now ask the learner to change the word to the next word in the chain, e.g. ‘change the word to ‘chimp’’
5) Ask the learner to identify where the change has occurred
6) Ask the learner to make the change, blend and read this word
7) Repeat all the way down the chain

Take a look at our website for some free, downloadable word chains, covering CVC words and consonant diagraphs:

🌍: https://ow.ly/Xb3m50SrQBq
🇺🇸: https://ow.ly/18mx50SrQBs

How do you store your Phonic Books? 📚We had to share this lovely photo from St George’s Primary Battersea, London, and t...
01/07/2024

How do you store your Phonic Books? 📚

We had to share this lovely photo from St George’s Primary Battersea, London, and their impressive Phonic Books box collection! We’re so glad to see our books bringing so much joy to the classroom.

Spot a series that’s missing from your collection? Take a look at our full book offering via our website:
🌍: https://ow.ly/Uvbs50SrQhh
🇺🇸: https://ow.ly/ut0650SrQhk

📚 What are the benefits of using decodable books?Decodable books form an essential part of consolidating and building on...
28/06/2024

📚 What are the benefits of using decodable books?

Decodable books form an essential part of consolidating and building on the existing knowledge of beginner readers, allowing them to develop phonemic awareness in a structured, sequential manner. They play a vital role in:

✔️ Developing good reading strategies
✔️ Providing a purpose to reading
✔️ Encouraging independent reading
✔️ Creating motivation through experiences of success

In our latest free poster download, we outline the top benefits to teaching children with decodable books, creating a handy teaching guide for those new to a phonics-based approach that can also be sent home to parents:
🌍: https://ow.ly/8aSl50SoflS
🇺🇸: https://ow.ly/JFR850SoflO

👀 Sneak peek - meet the characters of our latest decodable fiction series, Pet Sitters!Coming just in the time for the n...
27/06/2024

👀 Sneak peek - meet the characters of our latest decodable fiction series, Pet Sitters!

Coming just in the time for the new school year, Pet Sitters is a decodable series for older readers which starts at CVC level and progresses through adjacent consonants, consonant digraphs and alternative vowel spellings. Following the same scope and sequence as our Alba and Totem series, these 10 exciting books allow readers to follow the pet sitters on their hair-raising escapades across the globe whilst practising decoding skills.

Keep an eye out for more sneak peeks in the run-up to the next term… 🐶

✨ Is your school implementing a new phonics programme?Last week it was announced by the Victorian Government, Australia,...
26/06/2024

✨ Is your school implementing a new phonics programme?

Last week it was announced by the Victorian Government, Australia, that all students from prep to grade 2 will be taught using structured phonics, with a minimum of 25 minutes of daily explicit teaching of phonics and phonemic awareness.

We're proud to be a trusted partner in teaching phonics-based reading across Australian schools. If your school is prepping for the new reading programme, take a look at our website for a variety of beginner and catch-up decodable books, free classroom resources, and Science-of-Reading structured teaching advice: https://ow.ly/WXcu50SoeRN

Join phonics expert and one of our founders, Tami Reis-Frankfort, for her Accelerate Literacy Summit talk tomorrow, wher...
25/06/2024

Join phonics expert and one of our founders, Tami Reis-Frankfort, for her Accelerate Literacy Summit talk tomorrow, where she’ll be sharing how to use decodable books as a bridge between beginner decoding skills and grade level texts.

Register for free and join us online at 6.00pm BST: https://ow.ly/rMZR50Soewb

📣 Calling all New York City teachers - you can now shop for Phonic Books on ShopDOE/FAMIS! We’re thrilled to share that ...
24/06/2024

📣 Calling all New York City teachers - you can now shop for Phonic Books on ShopDOE/FAMIS!

We’re thrilled to share that our series are now available to purchase on the ShopDOE portal, making it easier than ever to supply your school with specialist decodable books for beginner and catch-up readers.

You can view the books currently available via your ShopDOE account.

How many different vowel spellings of /ee/ can you list?As part of our ongoing series to support your teaching of vowel ...
20/06/2024

How many different vowel spellings of /ee/ can you list?

As part of our ongoing series to support your teaching of vowel spellings, we’re spotlighting our beginner-friendly Dandelion Readers to familiarise your learners with the different ways of spelling /ee/. These decodable readers cover up to four different variations, from ‘ee’ and ‘e’, to ‘ea’ and ‘y’.

Take a look at the full series:
🌍: https://ow.ly/X33Q50Sk5nV
🇺🇸: https://ow.ly/IfPM50Sk5nT

Free teaching resource: CVC word list! 🗒️In phonics lessons, it is useful to have a pre-prepared list of words to hand f...
19/06/2024

Free teaching resource: CVC word list! 🗒️

In phonics lessons, it is useful to have a pre-prepared list of words to hand for teaching examples, word-building practice and dictation activities with your students.

Our latest word list focuses on CVC words, which form an essential part of teaching blending skills. Download the poster and print out as a reference tool for classroom activities:

🇺🇸: https://ow.ly/Miaw50Sk59A
🌍: https://ow.ly/MyIt50Sk59E

📣 We’re thrilled to share that our co-founder Tami will be speaking at the upcoming Accelerate Literacy: A Structured Li...
18/06/2024

📣 We’re thrilled to share that our co-founder Tami will be speaking at the upcoming Accelerate Literacy: A Structured Linguistic Literacy Summit!

Her free online talk, 'Decodable books - a Bridge to Grade Level Reading', will explore how beginner readers can experience reading a text with only a partial knowledge of letter/sound correspondences, and how decodable books can bridge the gap between beginner decoding skills and grade-level texts.

If you’re interested in getting the most out of your decodable books in the classroom, register and join us on 25 June, 6.00pm BST: https://ow.ly/7u2J50Sk4VA

Which sound has the most spellings? ✍️Last week, we challenged Melbourne’s National Education Summit attendees to name t...
17/06/2024

Which sound has the most spellings? ✍️

Last week, we challenged Melbourne’s National Education Summit attendees to name the sound with the most spellings to win a decodable book - and today we’re revealing the answer for those of you who guessed along at home!

The sound with the most spellings is /aw/, which can be spelled: or, aw, ore, a, au, our, ar, oor, al, ough, augh, oar, aur, oa, aul, awe, ure, AND oore!

Congratulations to all those who got the answer right; it was great to see so many of you at the summit and discuss all things phonics. Keep your eyes peeled for more competitions in the future… ✨

📣 Competition announcement! If you’re attending the National Education Summit in Melbourne and want to win a free decoda...
13/06/2024

📣 Competition announcement!

If you’re attending the National Education Summit in Melbourne and want to win a free decodable book for your classroom, you’re in luck. Simply share the answer to the following question with our friendly team at Booth C10, and if you’re right, claim your prize:

👉 The question is: “which sound has the most spellings?”

We’ll also be sharing the answer across our socials next week, so feel free to guess along at home but for those of you who are attending, we look forward to seeing you soon!



[T&Cs: https://ow.ly/ePla50ScSzi]

We're getting ready for the National Education Summit in Melbourne with our Dandelion Readers! 🇦🇺Covering spellings for ...
12/06/2024

We're getting ready for the National Education Summit in Melbourne with our Dandelion Readers! 🇦🇺

Covering spellings for 'o' and the extended phonics code, 'Australia' is a fun, fictional adventure to practise this sound and build reading fluency in learners at the early stages of reading.

Are you also attending the National Education Summit? Watch this space for an exciting announcement tomorrow! In the meantime, you can view our full range of Dandelion Readers series here: https://ow.ly/Cc8250ScS9f

“They’re”, “their” and “there” - it’s a common spelling mix-up that even confuses adults sometimes! ✍️Our latest free cl...
11/06/2024

“They’re”, “their” and “there” - it’s a common spelling mix-up that even confuses adults sometimes! ✍️

Our latest free classroom resource is here to unpack the difference and help your students tackle these tricky homonyms:

1) They’re = is a contraction of ‘they are’.
2) Their = is the possessive form of ‘they’.
3) There = an adverb that means ‘in or to a place’.

Download the poster for free below:
🌍: https://ow.ly/TZIM50ScRQJ
🇺🇸: https://ow.ly/Zleo50ScRQI

Come say hello to the Phonic Books team at the National Education Summit Melbourne! ✨We’re excited to be exhibiting in A...
10/06/2024

Come say hello to the Phonic Books team at the National Education Summit Melbourne! ✨

We’re excited to be exhibiting in Australia at this week’s National Education Summit, 14-15 June. Stop by Booth C10 to learn all about our exciting phonics resources, engaging decodable series for beginner and catch-up readers, and maybe even win a free book…

We’ll be announcing an exclusive competition for attendees later this week, so watch this space!

This weekend is  ! 🌊If you’re looking for fun classroom activities, our Dandelion World non-fiction series contains a ra...
06/06/2024

This weekend is ! 🌊

If you’re looking for fun classroom activities, our Dandelion World non-fiction series contains a range of decodable readers focusing on all things oceans - from creatures of the deep to environmental issues!

Designed for beginner readers, the series introduces the sounds of the alphabet and progresses to suffixes and simple two-syllable words. Each book also contains a special knowledge builder page with more information on the topic to strengthen students' understanding of both the text and the world around them.

Take a look:
🇬🇧🇦🇺: https://ow.ly/nZbX50S6A6n
🇺🇸: https://ow.ly/BM0050S6A6m

Introducing vowel spellings: the /oo/ sound! As part of our latest series, we’re spotlighting beginner-friendly decodabl...
05/06/2024

Introducing vowel spellings: the /oo/ sound!

As part of our latest series, we’re spotlighting beginner-friendly decodable readers to help introduce different vowel spellings to your learners.

These books from our Dandelion Readers series focus on /oo/, progressing from one spelling variation (‘oo’) all the way to four ('oo' 'ew' 'ue' and 'u-e'). Swipe through the gallery to take a look…

☀️ Top tips to motivate your students to read over summer… For struggling readers, it can be difficult to find the motiv...
04/06/2024

☀️ Top tips to motivate your students to read over summer…

For struggling readers, it can be difficult to find the motivation to pick up a book over the school holidays, particularly if they have associations of shame, low self-esteem, or helplessness with reading! Some simple ways to combat this include:

📚 Ensuring book recommendations are age-appropriate - even if the text is at a beginner level, the story should avoid being ‘babyish’ to keep the reader engaged.
📚 Hooking them with an extended plot - many of our series introduce an adventure or quest in book 1 that concludes only in book 10, meaning readers must progress through the whole series to find out how the story ends.
📚 Creating a sense of accomplishment - struggling readers need evidence that learning to read is worth their effort. Make a point of celebrating small successes to maintain motivation.

How do you keep your readers motivated? If you’re looking for a place to start, our catch-up series have a wide range of engaging stories pitched for older learners and designed to build confidence:

🇬🇧🇦🇺: https://ow.ly/hWRz50S6zGh
🇺🇸: https://ow.ly/HLHl50S6zGg

Which sound connects these homophones: “hi” vs “high”, “tied” vs “tide”, and “write” vs “right”? 💭The answer is /ie/! We...
03/06/2024

Which sound connects these homophones: “hi” vs “high”, “tied” vs “tide”, and “write” vs “right”? 💭

The answer is /ie/! We’re sharing our free teaching resource designed to help children practise these tricky spellings. Why not cover up the words and encourage your learners to test each other, hang up the resource as a classroom poster, or even adapt the sheet into a fun game?

You can download the resource for free below:
🇬🇧🇦🇺: https://ow.ly/VwPx50S6ztB
🇺🇸: https://ow.ly/b1Of50S6ztC

Resources to support teaching vowel spellings ✍️We're spotlighting Dandelion Readers, beginner-friendly decodable books ...
31/05/2024

Resources to support teaching vowel spellings ✍️

We're spotlighting Dandelion Readers, beginner-friendly decodable books to help introduce different vowel spellings to your learners, starting with /oi/!

Take a look at this tailored selection, designed to build confidence and consolidate the phonics skill taught for your readers, and let us know what vowel spelling you’d like to see covered next…

30/05/2024

What activities do you use to strengthen and reinforce your students’ phonics skills? ✍️

If you’re looking for complementary resources, there is an accompanying activity book available for all of our decodable series with photocopiable activities to correspond with the phonics taught in each individual book.

Covering writing, spelling, comprehension, word-building and more, these engaging activity books are the perfect resource to deepen your learners’ understanding of the text while boosting their confidence and ensuring they comprehend the story.

Make lesson planning easy and take a look at the full collection via our website!

📝 Top tips to prevent the summer reading slide… Countless research has shown that without regular reading practice, chil...
29/05/2024

📝 Top tips to prevent the summer reading slide…

Countless research has shown that without regular reading practice, children struggle to maintain their reading speed and accuracy (Alexander, Entwisle, & Olson, 2007), leading to a loss in reading fluency and comprehension, widening attainment gaps, and vocabulary regression.

With the summer rapidly approaching, it’s vital to ensure that students continue to read for pleasure throughout the school holidays - but how? Take a look through the gallery for our tips, and share your strategies below! ☀️

✨ Kick off the next academic year with our brand new phonics series!This August, get ready for Pet Sitters, a brand-new ...
28/05/2024

✨ Kick off the next academic year with our brand new phonics series!

This August, get ready for Pet Sitters, a brand-new decodable series which follows the same scope and sequence as our Alba and Totem books, starting at CVC level and progressing through adjacent consonants, consonant digraphs and alternative vowel spellings.

Coming to your classroom just in time for school to start again, this series is specially designed to re-engage older readers with age-appropriate illustrations and story lines that will keep students wanting to turn the pages while practising their phonics skills.

We can't wait for you to join the pet sitters around the world on their exciting adventures and hair-raising escapades! In the meantime, keep an eye out for upcoming sneak peeks…

What is the difference between ‘compare’ and ‘contrast’? 💭The verb ‘compare’ means to look for similarities and differen...
27/05/2024

What is the difference between ‘compare’ and ‘contrast’? 💭

The verb ‘compare’ means to look for similarities and differences between things, whereas the verb ‘contrast’ means to find what is different between things.

In our latest free teaching resource, we’re guiding students through identifying and avoiding common classroom word mix-ups such as this! Download the poster, which includes a step-by-step guide to teaching these verbs using a Science of Reading-based approach:

🇬🇧🇦🇺: https://ow.ly/i11A50RUcoq
🇺🇲: https://ow.ly/UahE50RUcon

Why are non-fiction books so important? 📚All too often, our classroom libraries offer a wonderful selection of fiction b...
22/05/2024

Why are non-fiction books so important? 📚

All too often, our classroom libraries offer a wonderful selection of fiction but only a limited amount of non-fiction. Yet non-fiction books are essential to foster curiosity, learning, and support reading comprehension in young learners!
In our blog, we explore some of the top benefits reading non-fiction books in class: https://ow.ly/XjgV50RN2rl

Looking for a place to start? Our decodable Dandelion World series is designed to improve literacy while simultaneously engaging readers with the world around them. Take a look via our website and let us know your favourite non-fiction class recommendations below.

📣 New series announcement: get ready to explore the stars with Mel on Mars!If you're looking for some fun phonics fictio...
21/05/2024

📣 New series announcement: get ready to explore the stars with Mel on Mars!

If you're looking for some fun phonics fiction to read with your learners, you’re in luck. This summer, meet Mel on Mars, a brand-new decodable series following the same phonics progression as our That Dog and Magic Belt books, taking readers through from CVC and CVCC words to adjacent consonants, consonant digraphs, and -ed and -ing suffixes!

Mel on Mars is specially designed with older learners in mind, including age-appropriate illustrations and storylines to keep students motivated. Re-engage older students who need extra phonics practice and consolidation as they join Mel on an action-packed adventure in August 2024 everywhere outside of North America, and September 2024 for North America!

In the meantime, watch this space for an upcoming sneak peek... 🚀

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One Embassy Gardens, 8 Viaduct Gardens
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Our Story

Phonic Books Ltd is a small company specialising in publishing decodable books for beginner and catch-up readers.

The company was founded in 2006 by Wendy Tweedie, Tami Reis-Frankfort and Clair Baker, three special needs teachers passionate about teaching all children to read. Using their expertise they set about developing phonic reading books for young children and older, struggling readers.

Following demand from customers, the range has extended from the initial 10 titles to over 298 today and is continuing to grow. The range of books caters for pupils in Nursery and Foundation Stage to Age 14+ reluctant readers in secondary school.


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