Decodable Readers for students with dyslexia - nonfiction
Jennifer Merino
ID-2603
School Name:Educational Pathways Academy - Naples
Grant Request Grade:K-5
Grant Request Subject:Special Needs Students
Additional Details
Educational Pathways Academy (EPA) is a school that specializes in educating students with language-based learning disabilities, primarily dyslexia. Our academic program is intentionally designed for students who learn differently, providing evidence-based literacy intervention alongside a comprehensive educational experience. A cornerstone of our literacy program is explicit, systematic, multisensory reading instruction based on the Orton-Gillingham approach and the Science of Reading.
The goal of this project is to give our students access to new and interesting reading material that focuses on high-interest nonfiction topics. The Institute for Multi-Sensory Education (IMSE) has released a new set of nonfiction decodable readers that will provide students with engaging, age-appropriate reading materials that directly align with the phonics skills they are learning in the classroom. These carefully controlled texts allow students to practice previously taught phonics patterns and irregular “red words,” eliminating the need to guess at unfamiliar words and helping students develop accurate decoding skills, automaticity, fluency, and confidence.
For students with dyslexia, controlling the complexity of text is particularly important. IMSE decodable readers introduce phonetic concepts systematically, allowing students to strengthen one skill at a time without becoming overwhelmed by text containing patterns they have not yet learned. This approach supports proper orthographic mapping and helps students become increasingly accurate, confident, and independent readers.
The nonfiction format provides an additional benefit by allowing students to build background knowledge and academic vocabulary across content areas while practicing essential literacy skills. Providing students with opportunities to successfully apply their reading instruction to interesting, real-world topics helps build reading confidence while enhancing learning in science, social studies, and other academic subjects. Ultimately, this project will strengthen foundational literacy skills while giving students greater access to learning across the curriculum.
Students will use the IMSE nonfiction decodable readers as part of their daily literacy instruction, providing meaningful opportunities to apply the phonics and decoding skills they are learning through EPA’s multisensory approach. While reading a physical book is primarily a visual task, these readers are designed to integrate with the hands-on, multisensory strategies already used throughout a comprehensive IMSE reading lesson.
Before reading, students will participate in “Get Ready to Read” activities, reviewing and decoding target words and phrases before encountering them within full sentences and connected text. Students will also use familiar multisensory strategies, such as highlighting targeted phonics concepts and color-coding irregular “red words,” reinforcing the connection between sounds, letters, words, and meaning.
As students progress through each book, teachers will incorporate reading aloud, repeated reading, comprehension questions, discussion, and writing prompts. These activities will allow students to practice decoding, fluency, vocabulary, reading comprehension, and written expression while reinforcing skills taught during direct literacy instruction.
Because the decodable readers feature nonfiction topics, students will simultaneously gain background knowledge and vocabulary that support learning across content areas. The books will be incorporated into daily lessons, allowing students to move from explicitly learning a literacy skill to successfully applying that skill in authentic text. This connection between direct instruction and successful independent reading is especially important for students with dyslexia as they build greater accuracy, fluency, independence, and confidence as readers.
Students are expected to demonstrate measurable growth in decoding, reading fluency, and reading comprehension as they use the IMSE nonfiction decodable readers as part of their daily literacy instruction. Regular practice with text that aligns directly with previously taught phonics concepts will give students opportunities to apply their skills successfully, build automaticity, and become more confident and independent readers. The nonfiction content will also strengthen vocabulary and background knowledge across academic subject areas.
Student progress will be measured through weekly benchmark assessments, including timed readings that track words read correctly per minute using decodable text. This will allow teachers to monitor individual growth in fluency and determine whether students are successfully applying the decoding skills taught during instruction.
Evidence of impact will include weekly benchmark assessment results, frequent teacher progress monitoring and observation, student performance during daily reading activities, and anecdotal feedback from parents. Together, these measures will provide both quantitative and qualitative evidence of students’ growth in reading skills, independence, and confidence.
Grant funds will be used to purchase Decodable Nonfiction Readers, Sets A, B, and C, providing each of eight students with access to all three reading levels. Each set costs $68, for a total of $204 per student. The total cost for eight students is $1,632 ($204 × 8 students).
