For years, I taught beginning readers with predictable leveled books.
I had a whole system.
Running records to determine levels, predictable little books that made my students look like readers, and a whole classroom library organized by reading levels A-Z.
And I thought I was doing it right. I was teaching phonics every day. Most of my students were moving through levels. Parents were happy. Administrators were happy.
What I didn't see was that my phonics lessons and my students' reading material had nothing to do with each other. I was teaching them to decode — and then handing them books that didn't require it.
It's what my latest video is all about.
I walk through the difference between leveled and decodable books — what each type is designed to do, what the research tells us, and how I think about text selection for beginning readers now.
We are currently rebranding from The Measured Mom, which was our business name for 13 years.
Because of that, you will still see themeasuredmom.com on many of our resources.
We hope to complete the entire transition by the end of 2026.
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