Like me, do you struggle to find books at the emergent reading level that your students actually engage in? I cannot tell you how many hours I have spent searching for relevant and engaging emergent reader books, especially for older students who do not communicate verbally.
Over the years I have had countless students working on concepts about print and early reading skills. For over 10 years my students have worked on these skills and are now so disengaged from the available reading material that doing any 1:1 reading intervention is met with disinterest or worse, hostility. If you can relate to this, then let me save you some time by sharing what I’ve learnt about emergent reading and how to choose the best books for emergent readers.
What is emergent reading?
If you’re wondering “what is emergent reading?” or “how do I know if my students are emergent readers?”, let me quickly fill you in. Students at the emergent reading level are often developing core literacy skills, including print motivation, vocabulary, print awareness (concepts about print), narrative skills, letter skills and phonological and phonemic awareness. These skills are typically developed quite early, even before beginning school. For my students however who have significant and/or multiple disabilities, they are working on these skills even as teenagers.
These emergent reading skills are at the core of reading and as such are crucial for the understanding of language and communication (both written and spoken). Regardless of the age of the student or if you’ve been told “they should already know that” or “if they don’t know it by now then they never will”, if your students do not yet have these skills, it is important to continually work on developing them. You can read more about these emergent literacy skills and the stages of literacy development here. You can also find out about some easy emergent reader strategies in this blog post here.
What to avoid when choosing books for the emergent reading level
As we know, emergent readers are developing the concepts about print, the different parts that make up a book and how they can get joy and meaning from books. These students don’t need the books to teach them about a topic, to provide detailed sentences or information about curriculum content that they can’t relate to. There is a time and place for these types of texts and during reading intervention is not one of them.
During an emergent reading intervention, avoid books with:
- Large paragraphs of text
- Vocabulary that is unfamiliar to the student
- Too many pages (more than 10)
- Limited photos and images
- Clipart that is not in a realistic style (students need to easily identify what an image is. A sun with eyes and a mouth isn’t accurate and may confuse students with disabilities)
Important features of emergent level reading books
At the emergent reading level the main focus is developing basic reading behaviours. A book needs to be simple, follow a familiar format and be relatable to their life experiences. When choosing a book for emergent reading, look for ones with the following features:
➼ Only 1 simple repeated sentence per page
The goal of the emergent reading level is for students to achieve success and develop basic emergent reading skills. For some students at this level they may be able to decode familiar words using the image on the page and beginning phonological awareness (yay! This is a great achievement for emergent readers), however not all will have these skills. Therefore to give students the best chance at being able to engage with the book is to make it easy and predictable for them. Emergent reading books with a single repeated sentence, where only 1 or 2 words change each page is ideal.
Take this Ocean Animals book for example, each sentence begins with the sight words ‘I see the’, the only word that changes on each page is the noun (the animal name) that is shown in the photo. Even students at the early stages of the emergent reading level can pick up on this repetition. After a few pages they can even join in on the reading of the sentences.
➼ Images (ideally photos) are the feature of each page
You know the saying “a picture says a thousand words”? Well in the mind of a struggling emergent reader, this cannot be more true. Possibly one of the most important features of an emergent reading book is the image. Images are likely the main (if not only) way the student is going to gain meaning from the text. If students are unaware words have meaning and they’re printed on pages you turn, having a recognisable image is crucial.
Although any image (e.g. clipart or icon) is better than none, photos are by far the best way to capture the attention of emergent readers. For example, this emergent level reading book is about Bowling, and on one of the pages it refers to the “pins”. This word on it’s own without an image isn’t likely to bring meaning to the student. If the word was then paired with the image of a pin, students understanding of the word increases.
It is also important to note though that clipart can still be quite abstract for some students. A photo of bowling pins in the context of bowling (on the lane all set up) provides students with a clear image they can see and draw from previous experiences to understand. This is why photos in emergent reading books are so beneficial. They create the best opportunities for the student to make a connection between the words, images and the real world.
When searching online for books at the emergent reading level, I struggled to find this feature. There were so many printable emergent reader books that had the simple and repetitive sentence format yet featured cute clipart. Now don’t get me wrong, these books are nice and would definitely engage young learners. The issue was they may not be the best way to teach teenage emergent readers who need less abstract visuals.
➼ Topics the student can relate to
At this point I feel like a broken record, but I’ll say it one more time. At the emergent reading level, we want our students to engage with and make connections with the text. The best way to do this is with topics they can relate to. If your student has never seen or been on a train before, a book about trains, although having some educational benefits, does not offer the best opportunity for the student to learn that words and images have meaning.
Reading about a familiar topic they find interesting increases engagement with the text while developing emergent reading skills. This point is important, particularly when the emergent readers you are working with are older students with disabilities like mine. My students don’t want to read about “Dress Ups” or “The Princess” (actually, some may not hate these kindergarten targeted books, but for teenagers we should be offering them a variety of age-appropriate books and topics).
➼ No more than 10 pages
Learners at the emergent reading level often need short and simple activities to not get overwhelmed with information or get bored. Emergent reading books with up to 10 pages is enough to capture the students attention. Ten pages gives them practice at reading behaviours (e.g. turning the page, pointing to words left to right) without creating a boring experience they will try to avoid in future. Remember for emergent readers we’re developing print motivation (the desire to read) and print awareness (concepts about print). Our priority is making the reading session fun and achievable so they will want to come back again.
➼ No unnecessary distractions on the page
Students need to be drawn to the important features on the page when developing emergent reading skills. And I’m sorry to say but this means no pretty borders, clipart and cute font with swirly bits. They do not teach the behaviours of reading, and they do not highlight the images and words on a page. Yes, they may add flair, but they are not necessary in emergent reading books and can distract emergent readers from what is important on the page. Make it easy for your emergent readers by keeping pages simple. Look for books with easy to read fonts, and no unnecessary borders or clipart.
➼ Age-appropriate and appealing design
Similar to the topics needing to be age appropriate to the students, the style of the book should also reflect and be appealing to the age of the emergent reader. This includes the style of any clipart or images used as well as the overall design of the emergent reading book. Has anyone else had students completely reject reading because the “book was for babies”? Well I have, and it was one of the main reasons I spent so much time trying to find an alternative. I empathised with my discouraged and bored students reading books meant for much younger children.
Look for emergent level reading books that have a simple design that doesn’t scream ‘kindergarten’, and also looks comparable to books made for their age group. This includes avoiding cutesy clipart, especially when featuring young children. If you’re looking for emergent reading books with photos (as suggested earlier), then this is universally age-appropriate for most students. For example, the style of the book Weather is simple, yet has design features you would find on texts for older students (“cool” font, colourful and simple chevron pattern).
Where to find the best books at the emergent reading level
So if you’ve read up until now, I bet you’re thinking “well that’s great, but where do I find emergent level reading books that have all these important features”. Don’t worry, I’ve compiled a list of some great sources of emergent reading books. Your students will definitely enjoy these books.
My Special Edventures- Emergent readers and supplementary activities
I’m probably biased, but I absolutely love my series of printable emergent reader books. At the time of writing this, there are 10 books available. I think the topics and style of the emergent reading books are simple and age-appropriate for older students. My favourite thing about these books are the many emergent reader activities that come with each book to further support students at the emergent reading level. These books are available individually or as a bundle. Check them out in the My Special Edventures TpT store now.
A Special Kind of English- Interactive Books
The thing that makes these emergent reading books unique is the use of symbol supported text (Wigit symbols), which can help some students with decoding and comprehension. Referred to as interactive books, these adapted style emergent reading books are designed to be laminated and have moveable parts for students to move and ‘interact’ with the book. Click here for a closer look at these symbol supported emergent readers.
Tween Emergent Reader Libraries- Boxed Set
Are you looking for a published emergent level reading books and money to spend for your school’s home reading collection? Then look no further than this Go! Emerge series, a new emergent reader series specifically designed for tweens.
Tara West- Differentiated Non-fiction Readers
These non-fiction easy readers have high quality photos and a simple design. There are also many books available covering curriculum topics such as Trees, Plants and Space. Each book comes with different levels of differentiation, allowing you to read the same book with your whole class. To see if these emergent reader books are right for you students, click here.
Want to learn more? Here are some great articles.
Emergent Readers: Look! That’s My Letter– Reading Rockets
3 Ways to use Age-appropriate Resources for Teens with Disabilities– My Special Edventures
The Special Education Adapted Books That You’ll Love– My Special Edventures
Teaching Emergent Readers: 14 Tips to Ensure Success– Education to the Core
One last thought…
Catering for the various needs in a special needs classroom although rewarding, is difficult, time consuming and sometimes overwhelming. Being informed and prepared are key components of confident and effective teaching, which is why writing this brings me so much joy. It is my hope that this information saves you the hours of frustration that I spent over the years searching for appropriate emergent reading books, and to give you more time doing the things you love. Teaching students at the emergent reading level is my passion, so thank you for sticking with me and trusting me to share what I know.