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FAQs ABOUT READING LEVELS Back to All Pages »

Questions and Answers

What are “book levels”?          

        There are different systems for leveling books.  We use a system developed by Fountas & Pinnell.  Books are leveled based on many factors such as difficulty of vocabulary, sentence length, repetitive language patterns, subject matter, etc.  It is not a precise set of books that a student goes through.  It is a way to give students reading material that they are able to be successful on with teacher support.  The goal then is for them to become independent on that level in order to move to more challenging books at the next level.  The main thing to remember is that when we put a reading level on a report card, it simply means the student is able to read books within that level independently, with good accuracy and comprehension with very little teacher support.

Why do teachers use leveled books?

      Books are leveled so that teachers can match their students’ reading ability with the right books.  Teachers use them to teach the reading behaviors and comprehension strategies that are necessary for success at each level.  The goal is to have students reading books that are on or above their grade level expectations.  It can also show continuous progress over time.  But to get there, we sometimes have to start at a lower level book in order to build those skills, behaviors and strategies.  Using leveled books allows teachers to meet each child’s individual reading needs.

My child is reading all the words right.    

Why aren’t they moving through the book levels faster?

     Reading is not just about the accuracy of reading at that level (how many words are correct), but it is also about comprehension, fluent and phrased reading and reading behaviors necessary to be successful on the leveled books and on other assessments such as benchmark tests.  There are raised expectations on all of these aspects of reading and we have to be sure that our students are going beyond just reading accurately.  There must be in-depth comprehension for them to progress.

                                                  

My child’s reading level is already above grade level expectations, but why aren’t they continuing to move to higher and higher levels?       
 
If your child is reading above grade level expectations, then you probably will not see as much movement up in levels as you will more extensive comprehension work within that level.  They will be challenged to go above and beyond in their comprehension instead of just going to harder and harder text that might not be appropriate for them.  Going up to books that are leveled more than about a year beyond your child’s grade is often not appropriate because of subject matter, complexity of plot and language, and other factors.  Just because they can read it doesn’t necessarily mean they should read it.         
          

 

         “The point is not simply to move up the gradient (book levels) but to expand the students’ breadth of experience with different types of texts and a range of content, authors, formats, and genres.”       from Leveled Books by Fountas & Pinnell