Trip to Cactus Gulch 1 (The Step-up Team) Chapter Book

The DOG ON A LOG Book series helps kids, including kids with dyslexia, learn to read. They are sound out books that start with just a few phonics rules.  Each following Step of books adds a few more phonics rules and sight words. This gradual progression helps kids learn to read without feeling so overwhelmed. The word list below will help you decide where in the series your child should start. For added practice, free printable game boards, flashcards, handwriting sheets, and more can be downloaded from dogonalogbooks.com.

The (purple) Let's GO! books have less text for new or less confident readers. The (red) chapter books are longer for more reading practice. Kids enjoy these stories that get more complex and longer as more phonics are added throughout the series.

Books can be purchased individually or as collection volumes. This is an individual volume of  Step 9 Chapter Book.

Additional information on using this series is available in the e-book HOW TO USE DECODABLE BOOKS TO TEACH READING. It can also be read for free at dogonalogbooks.com/free.

DOG ON A LOG Books follow a structured literacy/Orton Gillingham phonics progression.

DOG ON A LOG "What Step Should We Start With?" Word List

Have your child read the following words. If they can’t read every word in a Step, that is probably the step they should start with. For some kids, you may want to start at an earlier Step so they can build confidence in their reading ability.

Step 1

fin, mash, sock, sub, cat, that, Dan’s

Step 2

less, bats, tell, mall, chips, whiff, falls

Step 3

bangs, dank, honk, pings, chunk, sink, gong, rungs

Step 4

silk, fluff, smash, krill, drop, slim, whisk

Step 5

hunch, crate, rake, tote, inch, mote, lime

Step 6

child, molts, fold, hind, jolt, post, colds

Step 7

strive, scrape, splint, twists, crunch, prints, blend

Step 8

finish, denim, within, bathtub, sunset, medic, habit

Step 9

hundred, goldfinch, free, wheat, inhale, play, Joe

Step 10

be, remake, spry, repeat, silo, sometime, pinwheel

Many early reader books or leveled books are written so they cannot be sounded out. Kids often struggle and grow frustrated when they can’t sound out the words. However, kids who have been taught the phonics in DOG ON A LOG Books can be proud when they are able to sound out and read almost every word.

Paper books have black and white images. The books are optimized for learners with dyslexia. They have cream colored paper and large Verdana font. Research has shown Verdana is one of the most dyslexia-friendly fonts.

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