Life Among Animals Around the World

From Thailand to Lapland the animal characters in Series 4 navigate their way through daily life. The global stories continue in the same playful, engaging and funny way that Youkan Reading Decodable Books are known for. Series 4 introduces multisyllabic closed syllable words (VC/CV; VC/V) and incorporates schwa and suffix endings (i.e., -ed, -est, -ing, ness, -s). There are four stories that are appropriate for early elementary students and 80 pages of decoding application. The content of Series 4 emphasizes global awareness; the settings are regions around the world and the fictional characters reflect native species of a particular region. As a preface to each story, there is a short background information paragraph that provides an overview, including a photograph, of the main animal character. (e.g., goldfish, reindeer, bumblebee bat, gibbon). The teacher or instructor may want to read the background information out loud to the student and engage in conversation about the animal(s), regions, and/or peoples. Youkan Reading decodable books are designed for young children with dyslexia, or children who may benefit from additional decoding support. Series 1, 2, 3, and 4 all follow a structured phonics scope and sequence, yet use a chapter book format with illustrations. While reading Youkan Reading decodable books, students simultaneously supplement and support their day-to-day intervention program while reading for enjoyment and meaning. A Sounds and Concepts Chart is provided at the beginning of each story or chapter. Students may refer to the chart to identify the readability of each story or chapter. We recommend that a trained adult in the area of teaching literacy to students with reading difficulties provide guidance while a student reads a decodable book. Once a student has successfully decoded a story out loud, the student may then be encouraged to read the story independently.