Providing plenty of practice is vital for all new readers. Decodable text allows you to give targeted practice on the phonetic concepts you are teaching. I love to use pages of sentences in every lesson. I also send them home for extra practice.
These are some of my favorite ways to use the pages of sentences.
Check for any words that may not be familiar and discuss them before reading.
Review any high-frequency words that may cause trouble.
You may wish to ask students to find and underline words with the target sound before reading.
Some students benefit from reading all underlined words in isolation first and then going back and reading the sentences.
Use word sort templates and have the students highlight words with target sounds and then write them in the proper columns.
Repeat readings are great for fluency. Save sheets and read them again for practice. Send the sentence sheets home and ask students to read them to their parents.
Partner students and ask them to take turns reading the sentences while their partner follows along.
Pick a word or two from the page and ID syllable types, divide multisyllabic words into syllables or discuss morphemes.
Use some of these sentences for dictation.
Ask students to expand a sentence or two. Can they add an extra detail?
Pick a sentence and ask the students to change it into a different type. For example, change a statement into a question or change a question into a command. These exercises can be done orally or written.
I often have students divide words into syllables, circle affixes, or scoop for phrasing on the sheets. I love being able to mark up the sheets in ways that would not be practical if they were reading from a book.
I have a number of decodable sentence packets in my TpT shop. They are a convenient, affordable way to add extra practice to your structured literacy lessons.
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Decodable-Sentences-for-Reading-Practice-Bundle-5233075
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