Oxton House Publishers, LLC

Reading in Context

As developing readers begin to master the necessary decoding skills, they should have ample opportunities to read words in meaningful, interesting contexts. Focusing on meaning gives them an incentive to become automatic at decoding and makes reading attractive. The key to this step is controlled vocabulary. In the early stages of learning to read, this means that most of the word patterns in the text should match the skills that the students are learning or have mastered.

Once students are comfortable with all the basic decoding skills, controlled vocabulary materials assist them in building their word mastery by emphasizing “families” of words with the same orthographic structure. Such materials also make it easier for them to focus on the meaning of what they read by limiting the types of new words they encounter.

Our controlled vocabulary publications make it easy for you to build you students’ vocabulary and comprehension skills at any level of their development. All of these publications are compatible with virtually any phonics-based reading program.

Stories from Somerville — 75 self-contained, interconnected, decodable stories to interest developing readers as they learn fundamental skills. Follow the adventures of Sam, Ace, June, and their pals at home, school, band contests, dances, and more! Realistic personal interactions captivate readers and open doors for rich class discussions. Comprehension exercises for each story are available in workbook form.

Chapter Books by Dion — Have you taught lots of decoding skills, but your intermediate and middle school students still don’t want to read books? Try Fishing with Balloons and Chess with Butterflies, two phonetically controlled chapter books by a talented author who is also an experienced teacher! The text is less crowded and advanced skills are introduced systematically.

Teaching Comprehension: Strategies for Stories — A lucid, detailed, carefully crafted manual for teaching reading comprehension by Dr. Phyllis E. Fischer, the creator of Concept Phonics™. This compact, 64-page handbook is designed to help you give your students with powerful strategies for comprehending and remembering stories.

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