Selecting "Just Right" Books for Reading at Home and School
Irene Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell created the text level gradient, or text levels as a tool for helping teachers make good text decisions to support the progress of readers. As the text levels became woven into the fabric of our classrooms they took on a life of their own, one that can be damaging to the reading lives and self-esteem of our young readers. Recently, Irene Fountas wrote two very poignant blog posts about the issues surrounding letter levels in classrooms.
Just as the letter levels are not fool-proof, neither are any of the methods I will explain below. I still find myself talking with students about their choices, and I'd encourage you to have these discussions at home too. The more practice our children have in selecting books and talking about their choices, the better they will become at independently making good reading choices. The skill of selecting JUST RIGHT books is one that needs to be nurtured and practiced at home and at school.
The Goldilocks Principle
It is important for readers to understand what kinds of books feel like a good fit for their individual strengths. We ask students to "try on" a book, just as Goldilocks tried out the bowls of porridge, chairs, and beds in the home of the Three Bears.
The 5 Finger Rule: We have been practicing this strategy in class.
Step 1: Select a book
Step 2: Open the book to any page in the middle of the book (must contain a fair amount of text, avoid pages with mostly pictures).
Step 3: Have the child read the page from top to bottom.
Step 4: As the child reads, ask him/her to hold up one finder for each tricky words on the page. A tricky word can be a word that is difficult to decode OR a word that is unfamiliar and the child doesn't understand the meaning.
Step 5: At the end of the page, determine how many tricky words were on the page by counting the number of fingers the child is holding up.
0-1 Easy
2-4 Just Right
5 Challenging
When a student is honest about the number of tricky words he/she encounters, this strategy can be a great tool for determining the purpose for books. I don't ever like to make book "off limits" to kids, instead we give each of the categories a purpose.
Easy Books can be used as a warm up to practice fluency or to read to a younger sibling.
Challenging Books can be saved for later in the year (it's good to have goals) or could be a family read aloud.
Just Right Books are the books that will help a reader grow the most.
Focus on Comprehension
The purpose of reading is to make meaning. A large portion of the instruction in kindergarten and first grade focuses on decoding skills (word solving) to help student unlock the door to reading. However, once a student has a good handle on decoding strategies it doesn't mean he/she understands the text.
As readers ourself, we have had the experience of reading a text, stopping, and thinking What did I just read? Then we go back to reread with our minds more aware of the content. Young readers haven't developed this awareness and need support to develop the habits of mindful readers. Below are some of the Retelling Strategies that we have introduced in class to support students in thinking about the text while reading.
Reading is a highly social activity. Readers are often attracted to popular books, thicker chapter books, or books that an older sibling or neighbor might be reading. When this happens, often times students end up with texts that contain mature content. A good rule of thumb in selecting Just Right books is if the main character is 2-3 years older than the reader, know that the book may contain mature themes and content such as romance, death, puberty, and other complex issues. Most children might find it difficult to identify with a character's actions and motives when they haven't had similar life experiences.
De-emphasizing Levels
Try not to put to much emphasis on "levels." This can be confusing for readers. When a student is told she is reading at a Level M, it gives her the false impression that she can only read books with a M on the cover. Levels can also put pressure on a reader and force comparisons with others. In reality, we already know that comparisons are happening in classrooms but with less emphasis on letter levels, we aren't adding to this negative social dynamic.
Rather than focusing on letter levels, I suggest focusing on a reader's interests and abilities. Our talks about books could include our interests, our life experiences, the genres we prefer, authors or series we enjoy, characters we love, books that have been read to us, family/friend recommendations, etc...
Remember, our ultimate goal is to foster a lifelong love of reading. We want reading to become something that students WANT to do and not a chore. By helping our young readers find books that appeal to their interests and abilities, we move closer to meeting that goal.
Sources:
Selecting Just Right Texts for Your Reader At Home by Nicole Clevenger
Text Levels-Tool or Trouble? by Irene Fountas
More on Text Levels: Confronting the Issues by Irene Fountas
Irene Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell created the text level gradient, or text levels as a tool for helping teachers make good text decisions to support the progress of readers. As the text levels became woven into the fabric of our classrooms they took on a life of their own, one that can be damaging to the reading lives and self-esteem of our young readers. Recently, Irene Fountas wrote two very poignant blog posts about the issues surrounding letter levels in classrooms.
- Text Levels-Tool or Trouble?
- "With every good intention, the levels may have been applied by professionals in ways we would not have intended. We did not intend for levels to become a label for children that would take us back to the days of the bluebirds and the blackbirds or the jets and the piper cubs."
- More On Text Levels: Confronting the Issues
- "Of course, children should read the books they want to read—those that engage their interests and that will bring them enjoyment throughout their lives. Levels are simply not for children and should not serve as another means of labeling them and damaging their self-esteem. Nor do they belong on books in libraries or on report cards."
Just as the letter levels are not fool-proof, neither are any of the methods I will explain below. I still find myself talking with students about their choices, and I'd encourage you to have these discussions at home too. The more practice our children have in selecting books and talking about their choices, the better they will become at independently making good reading choices. The skill of selecting JUST RIGHT books is one that needs to be nurtured and practiced at home and at school.
The Goldilocks Principle
It is important for readers to understand what kinds of books feel like a good fit for their individual strengths. We ask students to "try on" a book, just as Goldilocks tried out the bowls of porridge, chairs, and beds in the home of the Three Bears.
- Books that are too easy will not allow a reader to try new skills or strategies but they are a great warm up for fluency practice. A reader might have a book or two on hand that feels very easy to read at the beginning of a reading time to get them ready for more challenging texts.
- Books that are too challenging can lead to frustration or, worse yet, leave the reader with a very limited understanding of the text...and after all, reading is all about the THINKING that happens before, during, and after reading.
- When readers find books that are JUST RIGHT they can practice and effectively apply reading strategies independently.
The 5 Finger Rule: We have been practicing this strategy in class.
Step 1: Select a book
Step 2: Open the book to any page in the middle of the book (must contain a fair amount of text, avoid pages with mostly pictures).
Step 3: Have the child read the page from top to bottom.
Step 4: As the child reads, ask him/her to hold up one finder for each tricky words on the page. A tricky word can be a word that is difficult to decode OR a word that is unfamiliar and the child doesn't understand the meaning.
Step 5: At the end of the page, determine how many tricky words were on the page by counting the number of fingers the child is holding up.
0-1 Easy
2-4 Just Right
5 Challenging
When a student is honest about the number of tricky words he/she encounters, this strategy can be a great tool for determining the purpose for books. I don't ever like to make book "off limits" to kids, instead we give each of the categories a purpose.
Easy Books can be used as a warm up to practice fluency or to read to a younger sibling.
Challenging Books can be saved for later in the year (it's good to have goals) or could be a family read aloud.
Just Right Books are the books that will help a reader grow the most.
Focus on Comprehension
The purpose of reading is to make meaning. A large portion of the instruction in kindergarten and first grade focuses on decoding skills (word solving) to help student unlock the door to reading. However, once a student has a good handle on decoding strategies it doesn't mean he/she understands the text.
As readers ourself, we have had the experience of reading a text, stopping, and thinking What did I just read? Then we go back to reread with our minds more aware of the content. Young readers haven't developed this awareness and need support to develop the habits of mindful readers. Below are some of the Retelling Strategies that we have introduced in class to support students in thinking about the text while reading.
- Retelling the Story Across Your Hand: Thumb-In the beginning..... Middle three fingers...Next...., Then...., Suddenly.... and then Pinky-Finally....
- SWBS: Somebody (main character(s)), Wanted (goal), But (problem), So (solution)
- Retelling Rope: Setting, Character, Problem, BME (Beginning, Middle, End), Solution
- Stop and Jot: At the end of every chapter, stop and jot the big ideas. (Like Hansel and Gretel dropped breadcrumbs to find their way home, the post it notes will help a reader recount a longer text).
Reading is a highly social activity. Readers are often attracted to popular books, thicker chapter books, or books that an older sibling or neighbor might be reading. When this happens, often times students end up with texts that contain mature content. A good rule of thumb in selecting Just Right books is if the main character is 2-3 years older than the reader, know that the book may contain mature themes and content such as romance, death, puberty, and other complex issues. Most children might find it difficult to identify with a character's actions and motives when they haven't had similar life experiences.
De-emphasizing Levels
Try not to put to much emphasis on "levels." This can be confusing for readers. When a student is told she is reading at a Level M, it gives her the false impression that she can only read books with a M on the cover. Levels can also put pressure on a reader and force comparisons with others. In reality, we already know that comparisons are happening in classrooms but with less emphasis on letter levels, we aren't adding to this negative social dynamic.
Rather than focusing on letter levels, I suggest focusing on a reader's interests and abilities. Our talks about books could include our interests, our life experiences, the genres we prefer, authors or series we enjoy, characters we love, books that have been read to us, family/friend recommendations, etc...
Remember, our ultimate goal is to foster a lifelong love of reading. We want reading to become something that students WANT to do and not a chore. By helping our young readers find books that appeal to their interests and abilities, we move closer to meeting that goal.
Sources:
Selecting Just Right Texts for Your Reader At Home by Nicole Clevenger
Text Levels-Tool or Trouble? by Irene Fountas
More on Text Levels: Confronting the Issues by Irene Fountas