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Using Decodables with Older Readers: Strategies to Build Confidence and Fluency
Tuesday, September 23, 2025 @ 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm EDT
Presented by Angela Báez, Lead Writer and Editor, The Reading & Writing Project at Mossflower; and Elizabeth Franco, Editorial Director and Designer, The Reading & Writing Project at Mossflower
Sponsored by The Reading & Writing Project at Mossflower
Learn more about viewing the live presentation and the recording, earning your CE certificate, and using our new accessibility features.
Many upper elementary and middle school students still struggle with foundational decoding skills, making it difficult for them to fully access grade-level texts. This edWebinar explores how to use decodable texts effectively with older readers to build confidence, strengthen phonics skills, and foster a love of reading—even for students who have long felt stuck.
The presenters share practical strategies for selecting and integrating decodables into classroom routines, small-group instruction, and intervention settings without making students feel like they’re “back in kindergarten.” Learn how high-interest, decodable stories can motivate readers and provide them with the scaffolding they need to experience success with print and build a ramp toward trade books.
Whether you’re a classroom teacher, literacy coach, or interventionist, you leave with actionable ideas for meeting the needs of striving readers while honoring their developmental stage and interests.
Finally, you get a firsthand look at a few of The Reading & Writing Project at Mossflower’s favorite decodable series, including Jump Rope Readers and the Moonlit Mountain Readers—a brand-new fantasy collection designed to captivate and inspire.
About the Presenters
Angela Báez is the Lead Writer and Editor for The Reading & Writing Project at Mossflower. Her deep knowledge of phonics and her delight in storytelling and writing all come together when she authors books for the Moonlit Mountain Readers and Jump Rope Readers decodable series. Angela is an expert in early childhood development, including early literacy assessment and oral language development, and supports staff developers in bringing research to classroom practice. She is passionate about the need for all children to see themselves in the books they read and has brought this commitment to all her work with The Reading & Writing Project at Mossflower.
Elizabeth Franco is the Editorial Director and Designer for The Reading & Writing Project at Mossflower. She is the co-author of numerous titles across the Units of Study series. She has also authored several stories across the Jump Rope Readers and Moonlit Mountain Readers decodable series, as well as the picture book Ocean Clean-Up Crew, inspired by her own children. Before joining RWP-M, Liz served as a general and special education teacher in NYC classrooms and holds a master’s in literacy from Teachers College, Columbia University. Across her career, Liz has become especially known for her state-of-the-art work developing lessons and tools that motivate children to work with independence and zeal. She is a firm believer in the power of learning through play and has a passion for finding ways to make reading and writing both joyful and rigorous.
Learn more about viewing the live presentation and the recording, earning your CE certificate, and using our new accessibility features.
Join the Empowering Struggling Readers community to network with educators, participate in online discussions, receive invitations to upcoming edWebinars, and view recordings of previous programs to earn CE certificates.
The Reading & Writing Project at Mossflower was created out of the pioneering work that Lucy Calkins began over 40 years ago. Inspired by her research, she developed innovative curricula and methods that transformed the way children learned to write. For decades since, she has worked with educators to help students become what she always knew them to be: proficient and enthusiastic writers, readers, and thinkers.
Today, RWP-M remains deeply rooted in this experience, while also holding true to this a spirit of innovation and continuous learning. Lucy Calkins and her team author the Units of Study in Reading, Writing, and Phonics and several series of engaging decodable texts. More than authors of curricula, at its core, RWP-M is a community of practice, a think tank, and a professional development organization dedicated to transforming the way students learn to read, write, and think.
