Have you ever wondered how useful emergent reader texts are and how to best use them in your classroom? When used effectively, these mini-books can be a fantastic addition to your literacy routine, engaging young learners as they begin to develop their reading skills and decoding strategies. So, how can you incorporate them into your learning space? Here are a few easy activities to try!
Guided Reading Groups
Emergent reader texts are an excellent tool to use for guided reading groups. Students can follow along in their own copy of the text as you read to them, or they can take turns to read a page each. Then, as a group, you can discuss the text together.
Independent Reading Practice
Emergent reader texts offer an engaging way for students to practise reading independently too. They’re not as intimidating as most readers, due to their shorter length, and they often cover topics that are interesting to kids. They’ve also usually been carefully written specifically for early readers, so they’re accessible to students in the very beginning stages of reading.
Reading Buddies
Emergent reader texts can be fun to use when students are reading to a buddy. Their reading buddy could be a peer or an older student or sibling. By using a mini-book that is at just the right level for your early readers, you’re helping them gain the confidence to read aloud to others.
Word Hunts
Word hunts are a fun and engaging activity to keep students excited about reading. Emergent reader texts are perfect for this task because students can write directly on them.
To run a word hunt, challenge your students to find specific items as they read through the text. They might need to look for particular letters, certain sight words or key vocabulary. Then, they can highlight the words or record them as they read.
Book Making Literacy Station
Finally, you can use emergent reader texts to set up a book making literacy station. When students are doing literacy rotations in your classroom, include an activity where they create their own book. They can colour the pictures, highlight sight words or key words and then staple all the pages together to make their book. You can even ask them to design a special cover after they’ve read the text to show the main idea. This activity is not only fun but also reinforces their reading skills and creativity.
I hope that these ideas inspire you to try using emergent reader texts in your learning space!
To help you get started, you can find a copy of the Horses Emergent Reader pictured in this blog post at the following link: Horses Printable Emergent Reader Book. This printable book has been designed to be an easy ‘print and go’ resource that you can use to teach and review emergent reading skills with your students.
Grab your copy of the Horse Themed Printable Emergent Reader Book here.
Do you want some tips for teaching kids sight words while you’re here? Then have a read through my post on Teaching Kids Sight Words.
P.S. I love to hear how my tips and resources are helping you in your teaching, so leave a comment to let me know!
Have a question or a request? You can contact me at blueskydesignsbymrst@gmail.com.
The Musings of Mrs T 
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