Twila Joiner’s first grade classroom at Parkway Elementary found new curiosity and success in reading thanks to an LEF grant during the 2024-2025 school year.
“These decodables were strategically integrated into daily reading instruction, providing all students with texts aligned to their phonics instruction and supporting the development of decoding, fluency, and comprehension,” Joiner said.
Previously, Parkway first grade teachers printed decodable reading materials. This was time-consuming for teachers and lacked visual interest for young readers, often leading to students becoming unengaged in reading lessons. Joiner noted that their new decodables helped teachers to be more efficient, increased student engagement, and led to measurable improvement among students.
“The impact on learning was significant,” Joiner said. “Students demonstrated increased confidence and independence in reading, particularly in applying phonics patterns to unfamiliar words. Teachers observed improved engagement during small-group instruction and stronger reading fluency across the grade level.”
The new decodable reading materials, vividly illustrated, keep the attention of Joiner’s young readers and allow them to practice a variety of skills to gain independent reading abilities. Joiner noted clear success that will benefit her students as they continue learning, thanks in large part to the LEF grant she received.
“Overall, the grant-funded decodables played a key role in reinforcing evidence-based reading instruction and contributed to measurable growth in early literacy skills,” Joiner said.
