Use the Decodable Reader Tool
Books based on the Decodable Reader Template will show you the Decodable Reader tool.
At the top of the Decodable Reader Tool, the current stage is displayed. The text added to this book will be checked against the rules for that stage. The tool will show you a list of the letters that can be used in this stage.
As you use templates for later stages, the number of letters shown here increases, until in the last stage, in which all the letters and letter combinations are shown.
Use the Sample Words List
Under the heading Sample words in this stage, you will see a list of words that only contain the permitted letters. These are words from sample texts and word lists that the person setting up the templates supplied to Bloom. These are not all the decodable words in the language. That is why it is called a sample list. This list also includes any sight words that have been specified for this or earlier stages.
The list of words can be ordered alphabetically, by length, or by frequency. The frequency is based on how often the words occur in the sample texts supplied to Bloom.
Add Text to a Page
When we add text to a page, Bloom checks the words against the letters allowed in this stage as well as the list of sight words.
If you use a letter that has not yet been taught, and the word is not a sight word, Bloom will highlight the word in blue to tell you that the word is not decodable at this stage.
Any word that uses the permitted letters is allowed whether or not it is in the list of sample words. The sample words are there to give you ideas of words you could use to write your book for this stage.
Complete Your Decodable Reader
Continue writing your book. As long as no words in the book are highlighted in blue, you will know that all the words in the book are decodable at the given stage.
Everything else you do in a decodable book is the same as any other book—adding pages, adding pictures, customizing pages, etc. When you are done writing the book, you can publish it to a PDF and share it with others.