Science of Reading Intervention Materials for Tweens & Teens
Saddleback has spent over 40 years building high-interest, age-respectful books for students who read below grade level. Today, that same approach lines up directly with what the Science of Reading tells us older students need: systematic, explicit phonics instruction delivered in materials that don't feel babyish. This page brings together our decodable and phonics-based libraries, organized around the research, so you can find the right intervention tool for a specific student or classroom.
Why Older Students Need Decodables
Most decodable readers are built for six-year-olds: short, simple, and about topics that don't interest a twelve- or sixteen-year-old. That mismatch is a real barrier to Tier 2 and Tier 3 intervention at the secondary level, where a student may decode at a first- or second-grade level but think and socialize like a teenager. Saddleback's decodable libraries (TwERL for grades 4–8, TERL for grades 9–12) are written to close that gap: controlled phonics progressions (CVC words through multisyllabic words, consonant digraphs, and vowel diphthongs) wrapped in content built for an older reader, not a young child.
Bridging the Gap: Phonics for Adolescents
Systematic phonics instruction doesn't stop mattering after third grade. Adolescent striving readers, English Language Learners, Newcomers, and students with IEPs often need the same explicit decoding instruction as a younger reader, just delivered differently: faster-paced, more mature subject matter, and built for classroom or small-group intervention rather than a picture-book format. Saddleback's phonics-based solutions are structured around orthographic mapping and systematic phonics practice, so students build automatic word recognition instead of relying on guessing strategies.
How Our Hi-Lo Books Align with SoR
Hi-Lo isn't a substitute for Science of Reading, it's a delivery format for it. Our books pair the decoding practice SoR calls for with the high-interest, low-readability content that keeps an older struggling reader engaged long enough to build fluency and comprehension. That combination, explicit phonics plus age-respectful content, is what lets a Tier 2 or Tier 3 intervention actually get used, rather than sitting on a shelf because students refuse to read it.
Tween Emergent Reader Libraries® Phonics (Grades 4-8)
Three leveled sets (Decode, Develop, Discover) that carry students from CVC words through multisyllabic words, using full-color, tween-centric stories instead of babyish content. Includes teacher's guides with lesson plans and reproducible phonics activities.
Teen Emergent Reader Libraries® Phonics (Grades 9-12)
The same systematic phonics progression as Tween Emergent Reader Libraries, built for teens with teen-centric storylines.
Phonics Decodable Readers (Grades 6-12)
Six 10-book sets, each targeting a specific skill, prefixes, suffixes, homophones, challenging spelling patterns, or combined patterns, so teachers can pinpoint exactly the phonics gap a student needs to close. Every title includes a glossary, and the nonfiction books add built-in technical vocabulary support.
Decode Phonics Teaching Cards™
A standalone, flashcard-based way to teach and drill letter-sound patterns and decoding skills, no reader sets required, built for whole-class instruction or small-group intervention.