Learning to Read with Emergent Readers

There are many benefits that come with learning to read with emergent readers. Not only is it a great way for young children to learn one of the most foundational skills in education but it also plays an important role in making learning to read fun. Below are various benefits and best practices for teaching early emergent readers as well as an extensive list of emergent reader books I’ve created for you to use with your young readers.

Benefits of Learning to Read with Emergent Readers

Emergent literacy helps teach children phonological awareness.

Phonemic awareness – the ability to work with sounds in a spoken language – is one of the most important reading skills new readers need to learn. Since these types of books do not have complex sentences, students can focus more on word sounds, word recognition, and word meanings. Early reading isn’t so much about being able to read long sentences and reading books more than sounding out and reading individual words and understanding what is being read.

Emergent readers are a great way to introduce sight words, CVC words, and high-frequency words.

It’s best to start young learners off with unique ways to learn words they will see in repetition. Being able to pick up a predictable pattern and repetitive texts will help them become fluent readers and prepare them for the next stage of development which often includes more lengthy written text and learning about sentence structure and story structure.

Using emergent readers helps students with literacy development.

Children are working on literacy development from a very young age. They are constantly surrounded by words being spoken so it’s natural to pick up on them. However, when it comes to learning how to read them, we then have a new level of reading instruction that comes into the picture. This form of literacy instruction uses emergent reading as a way to introduce the concept of reading while helping transitional readers learn more complex concepts.

Emergent readers help develop a love of reading.

While reading is an essential skill to learn, not all children truly enjoy it. Emergent readers can be used as a fun activity to make learning fun. Use them like new books and get excited when introducing them to your student. Incorporate them into your family life and read them beyond school time. Make reading them an exciting time as this will have a powerful impact on your child.

Printable Emergent Readers

As I mentioned before, I have created a variety of emergent readers that you can download, print, and use in your homeschool or classroom. These can be used for reading groups, individual practice, or to simply help create high interest in learning to read.

They will help with sight word practice, phonics instruction, and when looking for activities to write in your lesson plans. Each reader includes several different reading levels, single words, short sentences, tracing, and fill-in-the-blank. Enjoy!

• Verb Emergent Readers
• Lemonade Stand Emergent Readers
• Earth Day Emergent Readers
• Polar Bear Emergent Readers
• Columbus Emergent Readers
• Pirate Emergent Readers
• Johnny Appleseed
• Birdwatching
• Basketball
• Butterflies
• U.S. Presidents
• Valentine’s Day
• Groundhog Day
• Winter Activities
• Polar Express
• Whales
• Apple Life Cycle
• Bears
• Snakes
• Splish Splash
• Sea Turtles
• Salmon
• Platypus
• Cowboys
• Dung Beetle
• Cats
• Dogs
• Cinco de Mayo
• Three Little Pigs
• Chicken Life Cycle
• Ant Life Cycle
• The Woodlands
• Barn Owl
• Honey Bee

Final Thoughts

Be sure to grab a free emergent reader from the list above and use it in your homeschool or classroom. Your students are sure to enjoy the stories and doing them as a creative activity. In the meantime, share your favorite reading tip in the comments below!