I hope you find our reading page helpful. You will find information about what books at the different levels (A through J/18) look like and how to best help your child when reading at these levels at home. I have also included a leveled list of books that you should be able to find at the library or a bookstore to help build a library at home that supports your child’s reading level.
Remember to let your child see and hear you reading. It’s one of the first keys to being good readers themselves and in building the motivation and desire to learn to read. ENJOY!
What does level A / 1 or B / 2 look like?
Remember to let your child see and hear you reading. It’s one of the first keys to being good readers themselves and in building the motivation and desire to learn to read. ENJOY!
What does level A / 1 or B / 2 look like?
- The story has one
idea or a simple story line.
- The words and
pictures are directly
related.
- The actual
placement of the words on each page is consistent.
- There is more
space between words to encourage and support one-to-one word matching and to
provide opportunities to notice and use known but commonly confused words (
in/on, I/A, the/a, me/my, it/is/in, etc.)
- High-frequency
words, or sight words, are used and repeated often.
One example of a level B book is Cat and Mouse by Beverley Randall. In this story the cat is chasing the mouse through a shed or garage. They go over and under different things. The text on one page says:
“Mouse ran under the ladder.
Cat ran under the ladder.”
And the picture shows a mouse and a cat running under the ladder.
Common Errors:
What if your child says “run” instead of “ran”?
This is where you can reinforce correct language and structure. You can ask, “Does that sound right?” or “Is that the way we say that?” or “How should you say that?”, and repeat what your child said.
What if your child is mixing up “over” and “under”?
This is a perfect opportunity to practice using meaning and visual – or actual text – cues. You can direct your child to the picture and say, “Does it make sense to say that the mouse ran over the ladder when you look at the picture?” Also, instead of using the good ol’ “sound it out” we want to encourage them at this level to get the word started. Remember, these are beginning, inexperienced readers – a little at a time J.
Instead, say “Look at the beginning of that word. What sound should your mouth make?” or “You said _______. Can that word be _______? How do you know?” or any combination or variation of the two. We want them to use, at least, the initial sound (get the word started), the picture (make it make sense), and language (make it sound right).
What does level C / 3-4 look like? - The story is still
simple and the subject will be familiar.
- The book may be a
little longer and have a few more words, but there are still only a few lines
of text.
- The pictures are
very supportive.
- Patterned and
repeated text with more high-frequency / sight words.
- There is more
variety in the language used to provide opportunities to attend more to the
print.
An example of a level C book is The Bus Ride. In this story, different animals got on a bus that went fast until a bee got on, and then all the animals got off. The text from one page says:
“The hippopotamus got on the bus.
Then the bus went fast.”
A number of high-frequency words are included in the text, and the picture shows a hippopotamus getting on the bus. The same sentence is repeated throughout the book until the end when all of the animals get off the bus. A reader still has the support of the picture and a repetitive text, but he or she must also be noticing the actual text more and more as well as thinking about meaning – what would make sense.
Common Errors:
What if your child says “hippo” instead of “hippopotamus”?
This is when you want to encourage your child to look through the word and think about what the word would look like – “What else do you know or would you see in that word?”. We, again, don’t want them to “sound it out” but rather to think about what we would expect to see at the end of “hippo” or the other letter sounds we would make if we see the word “hippopotamus” and if the word in the book could be that word or if we have to try something else. We still want them to use the initial sound, but we want them thinking and looking beyond that.
What does a level D / 5-6 look like?
(This is the goal level for the end of the 1st 9-weeks grading period.) - The stories are
slightly more complex but still simple to understand.
- The pictures
continue to be supportive, but more attention to the print is required. (For example:
puppy/dog; kitten/cat; house/home)
- A few more lines
of print (2 to 6), more words, and longer sentences. Longer sentences will encourage and develop
phrasing, expression, and fluency during re-reading when the book has become
familiar.
- More endings to
words (-s, -ing, -ed) to further develop looking through words (For
example: paint/painting; come/comes) and
correct language structure.
- There is still
sufficient space between the words that we want to begin
moving away from pointing to the words.
Using a finger is still useful when encountering a “tricky” word – it
helps focus the eyes the look for familiar parts and chunks.
What does level E / 7-8 look like? - The amount of
text continues to increase (3-8 lines).
- Stories are more
complex and require connecting to prior knowledge and experiences.
- The pictures
support the story but provide more details.
A word usually cannot be easily figured out just by looking at the
picture and getting the word started.
- The text drives
the story. All reading cues (meaning:
does the word make sense?, visual: does the word look right?, structure: does
the word sound right?) are needed to figure out new words.
- There is
increased vocabulary, longer words, and more endings on words (-s, -ing, -ed,
-er, -est).
- Taking words
apart and using analogies to figure out new words is emphasized. For example:
seeing “go” and “ing” in the word “going”, “can” or “and” in “candy”, or
“see” in “seeds” would be taking a word apart.
Analogies would be using “day”
to help figure out “away” or “cat” to figure out “catch”.
An example of a level E book is The Foot Book by Dr. Seuss. On one page the text says”
“Left foot, left foot, Right foot, right.
Feet in the morning, feet at night.”
Common Errors:
How would I use taking apart a word?
Take the word “morning”. The little word “or” is in the word. Ask your child what little word he or she sees and what part, or chunk, he or she knows (-ing). Then have him or her get the word started and put it with the little word and the ending. This may take some modeling by you and talking out loud about how you would figure out the word.
How would I use making an analogy?
In this particular example, you would show your child how if he or she knows “right”, then he or she knows “night”. After reading, you could also show how this can also lead to “light”, “fight”, “sight”, “tight”, “bright”, etc.
We also want to notice and encourage cross-checking. This means using a different reading cue to check if they have figured out the word correctly. Using the second example, visual cues (what the word looks like) were used to figure out the word. You could then encourage your child to check the picture (a meaning cue) to check if he or she is indeed correct. If the picture supports that it is at night, then visual cues were used to figure out the word, and meaning cues were used to “cross-check.”
Remember to give wait time to your child. You don’t want to jump in immediately after an error. Give your child a chance to self-correct, or to notice on his or her own that something isn’t quite right.
What does a level F / 9-10 look like?
This is the goal for the end of the 2nd 9-weeks. - The stories are
slightly longer that level E and the print is smaller.
- The pictures
continue to be supportive, but the text carries the meaning.
- The stories have
more events, more character development, a beginning-middle-end, and a greater
variety of dialogue that is presented in different ways (jokes, enlarged print,
text or talking bubbles, exclamations such as “Oh”, “Uh-oh” or “Ha”).
- Even more
opportunities for word analysis by taking words apart, making analogies, and looking
for chunks or parts.
An example of a level F book is Cookie’s Week by Cindy Ward. In this story, Cookie the cat gets into some kind of mischief every day of the week. One page reads:
“On Tuesday, Cookie upset the trash can and garbage went everywhere.”
Common Errors:
How would I help my child with “upset” since it is not a word we typically use?
This would be a perfect example of taking a word apart and possible even using an analogy. You would ask your child what word he or she sees. You may also find that you need to help him or her with “set”. You could use the analogy of “get” (not “git” as we typically say) or “let” to get to “set”. Then put the two words together. This can also lead to a discussion of how book language is sometimes different than the way we talk.
How would I help my child figure out “garbage” if he or she keeps saying “trash”?
First, you would have them go back and read and get the word started. “Trash” cannot start with the /g/ sound. Second, -ar is a chunk, or part, that we work on. You may find it necessary to make an analogy to “car” to help him or her get to “gar”. Then, have your child go back and read again, getting that first part “gar” started and think about what would make sense.
On another page, the text reads:
“Maybe Cookie will rest.”
Again, you could use an analogy to go from “day” (a previous spelling word) to “may” and the word “be” would be a little word that your child knows.
What does a level G / 11-12 look like? - The ideas in
books at this level continue to be more challenging and complex and expand a
reader’s experiences.
- New vocabulary
continues to be introduced and also becomes more challenging.
- Repetition is
found occasionally. Stories have more
events and are typically getting longer, so the repetition can offer some
support while reading.
What does a level H / 13-14 look like?
This is the goal for the end of the 3rd 9 weeks. - There is not a
tremendous amount of difference in these levels.
- Language and
vocabulary continue to become more complex.
- Stories and
sentences are longer, and there is little – if any – repetition.
Because these stories are getting longer and more challenging, you may find that your child begins to get tired. You may notice towards the end of a book that there are more errors and errors on words that YOU KNOW THEY KNOW!
When this happens, take a break. Remember, there’s a lot of stuff going on in those minds! You may even want to split the book into two parts from the beginning. Also, just because your child brings home 4 or 5 books in the Reading Folder, it doesn’t mean all of them have to be read in one night.
Gradually, we should begin to see improvements in the length of time the reading can be done. No more pointing at each word while reading, and try to let them read silently from time to time with familiar books.
PRACTICE! PRACTICE! PRACTICE!