Decodable Readers Grade One | 20 Stories with Word Work & Comprehension | Grade 1

Decodable Readers Grade One is a set of 20 original decodable stories for Grade 1: a 60-page classroom material set and a 12-page teacher guide. Each story comes as three pages: the story, a word work page and a comprehension page. The words in each story can be read with the sound-spelling patterns taught up to that point. Students blend the sounds to get to the word instead of guessing from pictures.

The stories follow a fixed order of spelling patterns. The first five use short vowels, and the titles show it: Sam and the Cat, Kim and the Pin, Tom and the Dog, Gus and the Bug and Ben and the Hen. Stories 6 to 10, such as Pack a Bag, The Camp Lamp and The Flag, bring in consonant blends. Fish in a Dish, Chips at Camp, This and That and A Song focus on sounds spelled with two letters. The last group, with A Cape for Sam, A Bike Ride, Cake at Home and The Cube and the Tube, moves to silent e words, and the set closes with A Picnic at the Lake. After reading, students turn to Word work, where they blend words and pay attention to every grapheme. On the Read and understand page they answer questions and use evidence from the story. Each lesson ties decoding to meaning, so students read for sense as well as for accuracy.

What's Included

• Classroom Material: 60 pages (PDF)
• Teacher Guide: 12 pages (PDF)
• 72 pages in total
• Editable DOCX text version (pagination may differ)
• Editable PowerPoint presentation (PPTX, editable text)
• Print-ready A4 PDF that prints on US Letter with fit-to-page

The 20 Stories at a Glance

• Stories 1–5: Short vowels. Sam and the Cat, Kim and the Pin, Tom and the Dog, Gus and the Bug, Ben and the Hen.
• Stories 6–10: Consonant blends. Pack a Bag, The Camp Lamp, The Flag, A Cup of Milk, The Mud Pen.
• Stories 11–15: Two letters, one sound. Fish in a Dish, Chips at Camp, This and That, A Song, A Lost Sock.
• Stories 16–20: Silent e and review. A Cape for Sam, A Bike Ride, Cake at Home, The Cube and the Tube, A Picnic at the Lake.
• For every story. One story page, one Word work page and one Read and understand page.

Students Will Learn To

• Decode words using taught short vowel, blend, digraph and silent e patterns
• Blend sounds and attend to every grapheme in a word
• Read short connected text with growing accuracy
• Answer questions about a story and point to evidence in the text
• Spell words that use the patterns they have practiced

Perfect For

• Grade 1 phonics lessons and guided reading groups
• Small-group intervention for students who need more decodable text
• Kindergarten students who are ready to read connected text in the spring
• Take-home reading practice that matches what was taught in class
• Homeschool families working through a phonics sequence
• UK and Australia: roughly maps to Year 2 in England and Year 1 in Australia

Why Teachers Choose This Unit

• A scope and sequence page helps you match each reader to your current phonics teaching.
• The guide lists exceptional words and the cumulative scope, so you can teach unknown elements before students read.
• A complete reading lesson shows how to combine decoding, word work and comprehension in one session.
• Answer keys for all 20 stories, with the note to accept equivalent wording.
• A reading and spelling record helps you observe accuracy and choose the next step.
• Differentiation and family practice notes keep the decoding target clear at school and at home.

Created with AI assistance. Texts and illustrations were generated with AI support and edited for classroom use; sources and production notes are at the end of the teacher guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

What grade and standards does this fit?

It is written for Grade 1. The set sits closest to Common Core RF.1.3 (phonics and word recognition) and RF.1.4 (fluency), and its comprehension pages to RL.1.1 (asking and answering questions about key details). No alignment or endorsement is claimed.

Do the stories follow a particular phonics program?

No. They follow a common order: short vowels, blends, digraphs, then silent e. The teacher guide includes a scope and sequence so you can check each story against what you have taught and reorder if needed.

What if a story has a word my students can't decode yet?

The guide lists the exceptional words for each part of the sequence. It recommends teaching these elements explicitly before students read, so they don't fall back on guessing.

Are answer keys included?

Yes. The teacher guide has answer keys for all 20 stories, grouped in sets of five. The answers are explicit, and the guide says to accept equivalent wording from students.