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Reading at Home: Book Lists
Helping to Read Appropriate Books in the Classroom and at Home |
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Finding Appropriate Books at Home
Many of you have expressed an interest in receiving more information on how to find appropriate or "just right" books for your children to read at home. I have comprised some links to help guide you with search. Feel free to look up these popular titles at our local library.
For Red Books: Click here and look for GRL = L+
For Yellow Books: Click here and look at GRL = J-K
For Green Books: Click here and look at GRL = F-I
When Reading at Home
When reading at home with your child it is beneficial for them to be reading appropriate books. This happens when they read at their independent level, decoding 97% of the words in the book correctly. For more information on the different reading levels, please see the excerpt below. Also be sure that your child is comprehending the story beyond the literal level, which is the who, the when, and the what. These are basic details that come directly from the story. In second grade, we begin to promote comprehension at the inferential level. This is when students have to read "between the lines" to make connections with what is being read. This is often the "why" behind the details. For more information about making inferences, please visit the English Language Arts Highlights section of our website.
FINDING THE READING LEVEL
Most authorities define three reading levels. 1. Independent Reading Level. Easy reading. In oral reading, a child would have one or less word calling errors in 100 words of text, with 100 percent accuracy on comprehension questions about the story. A student could read it alone with ease. 2. Instructional Reading Level. This is the best level for learning new vocabulary. It requires the assistance of a teacher or tutor. The word error range allowed while reading orally to the teacher is from 2 to 5 word calling errors per 100 words of text (95% accuracy or better), with at least 80 percent comprehension on simple recall questions about the story. This is where the best progress is made in reading. Children who are forced or permitted to attempt reading beyond the 5-word error limit soon begin to feel frustration when in an instructional setting. 3. Frustration Reading Level. This is too hard for the reader. Word errors are over 5 per 100 words of text. Comprehension questions are below 70 percent accuracy. Unfortunately, teachers sometimes allow this to happen, especially when the words missed are basic vocabulary sight words, such as "was" for "saw" and "what/that." The practice of having young children work in frustration level reading materials is not professionally sound.
Our Classroom Library
In our classroom library, books are divided into three categories: red, yellow, and green. This helps students read books that are appropriate for them. I have included a list of books that exemplify each "color level." You can access these lists by clicking on the links below. If you are unsure of what "color level" your child is reading at, please let me know.
Miss Spucci's Class
Smithtown Central School District
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