Free Beginning Reading Program, Sam Books

One of the things I’ve been doing  since returning from our trip is to continue planning for our homeschool.  I came across an email from ReadingTeacher.com.

[Added in 9 months Later: These are no longer available for free from ReadingTeacher. Instead I wound up visiting Dr. Mariott’s website and downloaded them from there. We wound up using all 52 of these readers with ED, my youngest. They really worked well for her because they progressed very slowly adding just a couple of words in each new book. We generally read one new book per day.]

They developed an online set of the Sam Book readers for kids who are learning to read. This beginning reading program was developed in 1977 and since it was federally funded, federal law requires that the program be placed in the public domain.  These are a set of 52 books for beginning readers.

SamBooks-FreeReadingProgram

I was excited to see they also have the Sam Books available to print.  I much prefer to have ED on my lap as she works on her reading.  We usually work about 5-10 minutes a day on reading together (though we’re busy with summer camps and activities the next couple of weeks, so we’re not in our normal routine). We’ll use these to supplement the Bob Books.

I joined ReadingTeacher.com (free) and printed off the first eight books.  I’ll give you a few pictures so you can get a feel for whether it might be right for your child.  My daughter is just on the cusp of learning to read so this fits in perfectly for us.

P1200620ISeeSamHere’s Book 2 before I folded the pages and stapled the book together:

P1200621SeeSamAnd here are the titles of the first eight readers I printed out:

P1200696SamBooksSo again, your child can listen to these stories or read the stories themselves online, plus there are various activities to go along with that.  You’ll also find the printables at ReadingTeacher.com. (Again, I wound up visiting Dr. Mariott’s website and downloaded them free from there.)

As I said, I’ve also used the Bob Books with all three of my kids. You can see the post about the free worksheets I created to go along with those at this post: Beginning Reader Worksheet Pack to Accompany the Bob Books.

BobBkWkshPack

I’ll be sharing a new set of worksheets I made to go along with Bob Books Set 2 (Advanced Beginner) sometime in June 2013. Stay tuned! (Update: Here they are!!)

BobBook2-Worksheets-Free

At some point soon I’ll highlight a couple other resources I’ve used as my kids learned to read. Stay tuned!

You might also like this free file folder game I made: Barn Game Sight Word Matching – File Folder Game
FreeFileFolderGame-2-Letter-Words-BarnGame

You May Be Interested In These Related Posts:

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10 Responses

  1. viv Aziz says:

    i love those found them like you few weeks ago , great resources .
    viv

  2. viv Aziz says:

    i love those found them like you few weeks ago , great resources .
    viv

  3. Josephine says:

    Fantastic! I love how they have lessons showing how to teach the sounds. I have printed out lessons in the Teacher/Parent section, it has all the resources to teach the different sounds.

  4. Josephine says:

    Fantastic! I love how they have lessons showing how to teach the sounds. I have printed out lessons in the Teacher/Parent section, it has all the resources to teach the different sounds.

  5. Kimberly says:

    Thanks for sharing this resource. I wish I had found this just a bit sooner. I may not have shelled out the $$ for Reading Eggs. 🙂 My daughters have been saying they want to sing more. I like how this includes songs that showcase specific sounds. I think they will enjoy this addition to our lessons.

  6. Kimberly says:

    Thanks for sharing this resource. I wish I had found this just a bit sooner. I may not have shelled out the $$ for Reading Eggs. 🙂 My daughters have been saying they want to sing more. I like how this includes songs that showcase specific sounds. I think they will enjoy this addition to our lessons.

  7. Nikki Kratzer says:

    reading teacher is no longer free –that is how I stumbled upon your blog –looking for a way to finish without the fees –I did find out how to print them free and that may be my only way to finish –my son really misses the animations an quizzes though 🙁

    • Liesl Den says:

      Oh–that’s too bad! Thanks for letting everyone know. I know they don’t own the copyright to the Sam Books (I believe they are in the public domain), so if I come across the readers somewhere else I’ll let everyone know.

      A little later–If you’re interested in the readers themselves they are available at http://www.marriottmd.com/sam/index.html and also they seem to be available at http://readinglessons.com/ (but you have to register (free) first, though)

  8. Nikki Kratzer says:

    reading teacher is no longer free –that is how I stumbled upon your blog –looking for a way to finish without the fees –I did find out how to print them free and that may be my only way to finish –my son really misses the animations an quizzes though 🙁

    • Liesl Den says:

      Oh–that’s too bad! Thanks for letting everyone know. I know they don’t own the copyright to the Sam Books (I believe they are in the public domain), so if I come across the readers somewhere else I’ll let everyone know.

      A little later–If you’re interested in the readers themselves they are available at http://www.marriottmd.com/sam/index.html and also they seem to be available at http://readinglessons.com/ (but you have to register (free) first, though)

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