Scholastic Education Solutions Announces New Collection, Our Stories Decodables, for Early Reading Instruction
Twenty-Four Engaging, Culturally-Affirming Books Written to Increase Representation among Young Readers
New York, NY – May 8, 2024 – Today, Scholastic, the global children’s publishing, education, and media company, announced the pre-order of Our Stories Decodables, a collection of 24 culturally affirming decodable books designed for young readers. The collection, which will be available for classrooms in September, supports children in grades K-2 who are learning the foundations of sounds and spelling, as well as students who need additional support through grades 3-5. To ensure the collection represents diverse children and their families, the titles were written by authors representing various backgrounds including first-time writers responding to a call for entries from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).
Learn more about Our Stories Decodables here: www.scholastic.com/ourstories.
The Scholastic Kids and Family Reading Report™ found that nearly half of children who are Black or Hispanic have a difficult time finding books with characters who are like them, and over half of Black and Hispanic children age nine or older wish there were more books with diversity available. Our Stories Decodables aims to bridge this gap for teachers and students, particularly for early readers as they begin their literacy journeys. Grounded in the Science of Reading, the series was designed to support young readers develop the essential skills they need to learn to read and read to learn.
“Now more than ever, children need to see themselves in literature from a young age as the American literacy crisis continues with students of color being disproportionately affected,” said Dr. Amanda Alexander, Chief Academic Officer, Scholastic. “Our Stories Decodables was born out of a need for culturally affirming phonics materials while also helping children see themselves through engaging stories. By forging partnerships with students and alumni from HBCUs and diverse colleges and universities, we hope the collection will provide students of color with decodable stories on a variety of topics and genres that will authentically represent their lived experiences.”
The Our Stories Decodables collection includes 24 student books written by students and alumni from Clark Atlanta University, Howard University, Spelman College, Texas A&M University, and the University of Oregon alongside Scholastic editors. In addition, the collection provides 18 decodable student texts, six review books, a teacher’s guide, oral reading rubric, and downloadable take-home books. Through these texts and resources, students are able to practice sounds and spellings, recognize themselves in the stories, and increase confidence in their reading capabilities.
The collection shares stories from cultures including Jamaican Creole, Karuk and Spanish. Educators can use the collection as a supplement to a comprehensive phonics program and aligns with all Scholastic Ready4Reading™ modules. The scope and sequence of this collection is based on the Ready4Reading™ Scope & Sequence developed in collaboration with Dr. Anne Cunningham, Professor of Learning Sciences and Human Development in the Berkeley School of Education, and Linda Gutlohn, a Science of Reading product consultant and editorial director and co-author of the CORE’s Teaching Reading Sourcebook.
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