SOUND CITY READING
  • A Sequential Phonics Program
    • How To Navigate This Site
    • How To Get Started
    • Deciding Which Books To Use >
      • Level 4 - Phonics Patterns
    • Understanding Vowels
    • Understanding Consonants
    • Lesson Outlines >
      • Basic Phonics Patterns Lesson Outline
    • Printing Recommendations >
      • Doing Your Own Printing
      • Using A Print Shop
    • Other Recommended Sites
  • Overview
    • Overview Of All Of The Phonics Books
    • Sound Story Overview
    • Phonemic Awareness Picture Pages Overview
    • Level 1. Learning The Alphabet Overview
    • Level 2. Exploring Sounds In Words Overview
    • Level 3. Short Vowels Overview
    • Level 4. Phonics Patterns Overview >
      • Phonetic Words And Stories, 1-8
      • Basic Phonics Patterns, 1-8
      • Know The Phonetic Code, 1-3
      • Color-Coded Phonetic Lists
    • Level 5. Advanced Phonics Patterns Overview
    • Handwriting Books Overview
    • Charts, Cards, And Games Overview
    • Wall Charts Overview >
      • Current Wall Charts
      • Previous Wall Charts
  • PDF Files
    • How To Work With PDF Files
    • PDF File For Baseline Assessment
    • PDF File For Sequence Charts And Lesson Plans
    • PDF File For A Sound Story About Audrey And Brad
    • PDF File For Phonemic Awareness Picture Pages
    • PDF Files For Handwriting >
      • PDF Files For Manuscript Handwriting Books
      • PDF Files For Cursive Handwriting Books
    • PDF Files - Phonics Books Listed By Level >
      • PDF Files For Level 1 - Learning The Alphabet
      • PDF Files For Level 2 - Exploring Sounds In Words
      • PDF Files For Level 3 - Short Vowels
      • PDF Files For Level 4 - Phonics Patterns Books 1-8
      • PDF Files For Level 5 - Advanced Phonics Patterns
    • PDF Files For Wall Charts
    • PDF Files For Flashcards
    • PDF Files For Activities And Games
    • Older PDF Files
  • Picture Files
    • Sound Story Pictures
    • Keyword/Sound Chart Pictures
    • Level 1 And 2 Pictures
    • Level 3 Pictures
    • Level 4 Pictures
    • Consonant Blends
    • Level 5 Pictures
  • Audio
    • Sound Story >
      • Sound Story Borders Part 1
      • Sound Story Borders Part 2
      • Sound Story, Small, Part 1
    • Sound Pictures >
      • Sound Pictures Pt 1
      • Sound Pictures Pt 2
    • Letter Sounds >
      • Alphabet Sounds
      • More Letter Sounds
    • Sound Charts >
      • Learning The Alphabet And Exploring Sounds In Words Charts
      • Rhyming Short Vowel Words And Sentences Sound Charts
      • Mixed Short Vowel Words And Sentences Sound Charts
      • Book 1 Sound Charts
      • Book 2 Sound Charts
    • Sound Blending >
      • Rhyming Short Vowel Words And Sentences Sd Bl
    • Picture/Word Pages >
      • Rhyming Short Vowel Words And Sentences P/W Pages
  • Video
    • Sound Story Part 1 Videos
    • Book 2 Long A Patterns
    • Advanced Sound Charts
  • Reading Street
    • Reading Street Stories
    • Reading Street Tests
    • Spelling Worksheets For Reading Street
    • Decoding Practice Pages To Use With Reading Street
    • Word Cards And Phonogram Cards
  • Blog
    • Read My Blog
    • Contact Me
    • Share Your Experience
    • Take This Expanded Survey

Printing Recommendations


Doing Your Own Printing

I'm providing information on printers, paper, and other equipment that that will provide very nice printed books from the Sound City Reading PDF files, in case you are interested.  The items listed below are what I have used to make reading materials for my students for many years.  I'm sharing them because it has taken me considerable time and effort to find the best materials to use when printing Sound City Reading books.  I hope these recommendations will help you find what you need, either the items that I use or something similar. ​
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 I am not employed by any of the  companies listed below and do not receive compensation from them. ​ You may be able to find other printers and paper that also work very well.  IMPORTANT - Always check your printer manual to make sure that the paper and cover stock that you are printing is compatible with the printer!

Copyright Information​ - The Sound City Reading materials are copyrighted, but I give permission to parents, teachers, and tutors to download, save, and print them for their own students or children.  School wide and system wide use is permitted.  All other uses are prohibited.

Choosing A Printer
If you want to print your own materials, you will need to decide if you want to print and use the Sound City Reading books that have all black print or if you want to use the books with color-coded print.  Any good quality printer that will print on both sides will work for printing books that have all black print.  If you want to print books with color-coded print you may want to consider a Ricoh color laser printer, since those are the ones I've used to set up and print the color-coded books. Using Ricoh printers should ensure that the vowel colors print fairly accurately.  Ricoh color laser printers are available that will print on letter and legal sized paper, and they have larger printers available that will also print on ledger sized paper.  The toner for these printers is costly but it lasts a long time.  The printers are fast and, for the most part, have been trouble free for me for many years.  I have found them to be worth the investment.  Unfortunately, it appears that the Ricoh printers I have used are no longer available from online retailers other than Ricoh.  I've updated the link below to connect to their site. 

Other brands of printers won't necessarily print the same exact vowel colors form the PDF files.  If you are thinking about buying another type of color printer, I would recommend printing a few pages with color-coded text to see if the various vowel colors can be clearly distinguished before ordering one.  

If you are a school or school system and will be printing large numbers of books, docucopies.com prints the color-coded books with very accurate colors.  The minimum order is two of each book.  The cost is high when ordering smaller amounts, but it is very reasonable when ordering larger amounts. 


Click the green bar to see the printer that I am currently using.  It is a Ricoh SP C840 DN.  It is a color laser printer and it will print on both sides of the page.  I ordered it from printershowcase.com, but it is no longer available at that site.  I have searched for other suppliers online and could only find it on the Ricoh site.  I have not been able to get this printer to print using a USB cord.  I connect it with an ethernet cord and that works well.  
ricoh-usa.com

Choosing Paper
        Be sure to choose heavy weight paper that is as opaque as possible.  The print in the Sound City Reading books is large, and there are many pictures.  If you use regular weight copy paper the print and pictures on the back of the page will show through.  This would be a considerable distraction for beginning readers.  
        The paper that I have found that works the best for me is Staples Premium Bright White Inkjet & Laser Paper.  The specifications are 98 Bright, 28 LB., 106 g/m2.  The paper is opaque enough without being too thick and bulky.       

Click the green bar to see the paper that I use to print Sound City Reading books.
Staples Premium Bright White Inkjet & Laser Paper

Choosing Cover Stock
For years I printed the front and back covers of the reading books on the same paper used for the rest of the book, and added clear plastic covers to protect them.  Now I print the covers on Mohawk Color Copy 98 card stock and omit the clear plastic covers.  It is 100 lb cover, 270 gsm.  It is a heavy white cover stock with a smooth finish.  To me, these covers look nicer than the clear plastic cover sheets.  I previously recommended a glossy 100 lb cover called Mohawk Color Copy Gloss.  I switched away from the glossy cover stock because of concerns about its compatibility with different types of printers.        

Click the green bar to see the white cover stock that I currently use to print the front and back covers of the reading books.  Please check your printer to be sure it will feed 100 lb card stock.
Mohawk Color Copy 98 - The PAPERMILL Store

Click the green bar to see the previous white gloss cover stock that I used to use for the front and back covers of the reading books.  To my knowledge, this is not compatible with all printers.
Mohawk Color Copy Gloss - The PAPERMILL Store

Binding The Books
        Binding the books can be as simple as punching the pages with a heavy duty three-hole punch and placing them in a three-ring binder.  The reading pages can be used while still in the binder and they open flat, which is very helpful when working with younger students.  They don't have to constantly hold the book to keep it open.  Workbook pages can be removed from the binder to be completed. 
        For years I used plastic combs to bind the books for the students in my classroom, and these worked well.  The books open flat and are relatively secure.  I eventually switched to spiral coil binding, and I like this finish even better.  The binding is secure and not only do the books open flat, they can also be folded all the way around so that students see just one page at a time, if desired.  One drawback with spiral binding is that the bent tips of the coils will sometimes catch each other when the books are stacked up.  I did not find this to be a deal breaker for me.  I have had good luck and excellent service ordering binding equipment and coils from MyBinding.com.     

Click the green bar to see binding machines and binding coils available from mybinding.com.
MyBinding.com

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Sound City Reading

All Materials Copyright 2018 by Kathryn J. Davis
All Rights Reserved
Teachers, parents, tutors, and schools may download and print PDF files to use with the students they teach. Under no circumstances are they to make a profit from distributing the materials.
​Teaching videos are free to watch, and they may be downloaded for personal use, at home or in the classroom. 
​All other uses of these materials are prohibited.
​You can contact me at kathjdavis@gmail.com.
  • A Sequential Phonics Program
    • How To Navigate This Site
    • How To Get Started
    • Deciding Which Books To Use >
      • Level 4 - Phonics Patterns
    • Understanding Vowels
    • Understanding Consonants
    • Lesson Outlines >
      • Basic Phonics Patterns Lesson Outline
    • Printing Recommendations >
      • Doing Your Own Printing
      • Using A Print Shop
    • Other Recommended Sites
  • Overview
    • Overview Of All Of The Phonics Books
    • Sound Story Overview
    • Phonemic Awareness Picture Pages Overview
    • Level 1. Learning The Alphabet Overview
    • Level 2. Exploring Sounds In Words Overview
    • Level 3. Short Vowels Overview
    • Level 4. Phonics Patterns Overview >
      • Phonetic Words And Stories, 1-8
      • Basic Phonics Patterns, 1-8
      • Know The Phonetic Code, 1-3
      • Color-Coded Phonetic Lists
    • Level 5. Advanced Phonics Patterns Overview
    • Handwriting Books Overview
    • Charts, Cards, And Games Overview
    • Wall Charts Overview >
      • Current Wall Charts
      • Previous Wall Charts
  • PDF Files
    • How To Work With PDF Files
    • PDF File For Baseline Assessment
    • PDF File For Sequence Charts And Lesson Plans
    • PDF File For A Sound Story About Audrey And Brad
    • PDF File For Phonemic Awareness Picture Pages
    • PDF Files For Handwriting >
      • PDF Files For Manuscript Handwriting Books
      • PDF Files For Cursive Handwriting Books
    • PDF Files - Phonics Books Listed By Level >
      • PDF Files For Level 1 - Learning The Alphabet
      • PDF Files For Level 2 - Exploring Sounds In Words
      • PDF Files For Level 3 - Short Vowels
      • PDF Files For Level 4 - Phonics Patterns Books 1-8
      • PDF Files For Level 5 - Advanced Phonics Patterns
    • PDF Files For Wall Charts
    • PDF Files For Flashcards
    • PDF Files For Activities And Games
    • Older PDF Files
  • Picture Files
    • Sound Story Pictures
    • Keyword/Sound Chart Pictures
    • Level 1 And 2 Pictures
    • Level 3 Pictures
    • Level 4 Pictures
    • Consonant Blends
    • Level 5 Pictures
  • Audio
    • Sound Story >
      • Sound Story Borders Part 1
      • Sound Story Borders Part 2
      • Sound Story, Small, Part 1
    • Sound Pictures >
      • Sound Pictures Pt 1
      • Sound Pictures Pt 2
    • Letter Sounds >
      • Alphabet Sounds
      • More Letter Sounds
    • Sound Charts >
      • Learning The Alphabet And Exploring Sounds In Words Charts
      • Rhyming Short Vowel Words And Sentences Sound Charts
      • Mixed Short Vowel Words And Sentences Sound Charts
      • Book 1 Sound Charts
      • Book 2 Sound Charts
    • Sound Blending >
      • Rhyming Short Vowel Words And Sentences Sd Bl
    • Picture/Word Pages >
      • Rhyming Short Vowel Words And Sentences P/W Pages
  • Video
    • Sound Story Part 1 Videos
    • Book 2 Long A Patterns
    • Advanced Sound Charts
  • Reading Street
    • Reading Street Stories
    • Reading Street Tests
    • Spelling Worksheets For Reading Street
    • Decoding Practice Pages To Use With Reading Street
    • Word Cards And Phonogram Cards
  • Blog
    • Read My Blog
    • Contact Me
    • Share Your Experience
    • Take This Expanded Survey