Reading in the Classroom and at Home: Book Lists
Helping to Read Appropriate Books in the Classroom and at Home
Our Classroom Library: Reading Genres
This year I have divided our classroom library up into various reading genres. The students have practice determining the genre of various books they have read. They are encouraged to read different types of books during Reader's Workshop. This is monitored by our interactive bulletin board, "Unlock the Door to the World of Reading." For more information about this bulletin board, visit our Interactive Literacy Bulletin Board page. Use the poster below as a reference if you'd like to reinforce reading genres at home. If you need another copy of this sheet, please let me know.
Our Classroom Library: Book Levels
In our classroom library, books are divided into four leveled categories: red, yellow, green and blue. This helps students read books that are appropriate for them. The students have a card on their book box that reminds them the color of the books they should be reading. Red cards can read red, yellow, green and blue. Yellow cards can read yellow, green and blue and green cards can read green and blue.
Occasionally when I send home Scholastic Book Orders, I will attach a sheet that tells you your child's color level. I will also suggest some titles included on the order form to help in your selection from the local library. For how to order from Scholastic Book Clubs, click here.
Below are general lists 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.
Reading "Just Right" Books in the Classroom
We spend a lot of time in our classroom going over the process of choosing "just right" books. Students are expected to be able to choose books that are appropriate to their reading levels. Since book leveling is not an exact science, there needs to be a way for students to know when a book is not a good fit for them. While the color levels can help them, it is not always accurate. Two books could have the same reading level and be very different dependent upon sentence length and the amount of dialogue used. Because of this, students use the five finger rule to help them.
5 Finger Rule
1. Open to a page of the book. 2. Begin reading. 3. Each time you come to a word you don’t know, hold up 1 finger. 4. After you finish reading the page, check to see how many fingers you are holding up.
Finding Appropriate Books to Read at Home Reading is a stimulus-response process. Fluent readers decode 6.67 words per second. If this process is not automatic, short term memory can break down. In order to increase this automaticity, students needs to read thousands and thousands of words.
Students are required to read for at least 20 minutes every night. This time is integral to their success as readers this year. Students in fourth grade, on average, should be reading 105 words per minute.
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.
Need to know the level of a book your child is reading? Use the Scholastic Book Wizard below!
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