Reading Levels (A - F)
Below, is a description of the text characteristics in each of the reading levels. Also, listed are skills and strategies that you want to see your child using consistently when reading books within that level.
Level A
Books at this level are designed to assist children in looking at print and matching the words that they read with the words on the page. That is, the child learns to say one word as she points to one word. Often the child knows what the page says because the text is patterned. Also, the words are supported by the picture, so the reader‘s job is one-to-one match, not decoding text. The books are highly predictable, and children benefit from knowing the title and using this plus the cover of the book to get the "big idea" of what the book will be about. In most cases, the pattern on the first page will be repeated throughout the book. This provides enough support so that the child can do the job of matching the sentence of text to the picture and the spoken words to the written ones. The text is most often comprised of one-syllable words to avoid added difficulty with one-to-one matching. If there is a multisyllabic word, it‘s usually at the end of a sentence of text.
Level A- Behaviors/Skills/Strategies
Uses the cover (title, illustrations, a look at some of the pictures in the book, etc.) to get ready to read. Students form a general idea of what the book is about using this information.
Matches spoken words to printed words.
If the text says, "I see a plant," and the child reads, "I see a flower," matching words correctly, she has met the criteria at this level. We will deal with the mismatch of letter-sound in the next group of books.
Moves from left to right when reading.
Use the illustration and the story as a source of information.
Locates known word(s) in text.
Reads with fluency?
Reading with fluency is not an issue at early levels. We expect quick, crisp pointing and quick recognition of high frequency words with repeated reading of the same books.
Matches spoken words to printed words.
If the text says, "I see a plant," and the child reads, "I see a flower," matching words correctly, she has met the criteria at this level. We will deal with the mismatch of letter-sound in the next group of books.
Moves from left to right when reading.
Use the illustration and the story as a source of information.
Locates known word(s) in text.
Reads with fluency?
Reading with fluency is not an issue at early levels. We expect quick, crisp pointing and quick recognition of high frequency words with repeated reading of the same books.
Level B
Books at this level continue to assist children in refining their skills of looking at print and matching the words that they read with the words on the page. That is, the child learns to say one word as he/she points to one word. The repeated pattern in the text continues to support the reader as well as the fact that the unknown content words are supported by the picture. The reader‘s job continues to be one-to-one matching, recognizing known words, using the story and illustrations for meaning. The student still is not required to decode text using letter sound relationships. The books continue to be highly predictable, and children should be encouraged to continue using the title plus the cover of the book to get the "big idea" of what the book will be about. In most cases, the pattern on the first page will be repeated throughout the book, but there is often a slight pattern change at the end of Level B books. Most often the sentence structure for this change in pattern begins with known high frequency words. Two big changes occur in Level B books. Often there are two (sometimes three) lines of text, requiring the student to make a return sweep to the beginning of the line. In addition, multiple syllable words often occur in the middle of a sentence requiring the student to hold his/her finger on the word until he/she says the whole word. If not, one-to-one matching is often incorrect. It is more critical than ever to make sure the student is pointing under the words and noticing the words he/she knows in Level B books.
Level B-Behaviors/Skills/Strategies
Children reading Level B books need to learn and consistently use the following strategies, skills, and behaviors:
Uses the cover (title, illustrations, a look at some of the pictures in the book, etc.) to get ready to read.
Students form a general idea of what the book is about using this information. After reading the entire book, a student should be able to retell the events in the book, and talk about the general idea of what the book was about.
Matches spoken words to printed words.
In Best Friends the text says, "We like to slide," and the child reads, "We like to hug," matching words correctly, she has met the criteria at this level—the boys in the illustration are hugging. We will deal with the mismatch of letter-sound in the next group of books.
Moves from left to right when reading.
Mastering this behavior often requires a student to make a return sweep to the beginning of the next line in Level B book, because they may have two or more lines of print.
Use the illustration and the story as a source of information.
Locates known word(s) in text.
Reads with fluency?
Reading with fluency is not an issue at early levels. We expect quick, crisp pointing and quick recognition of high frequency words with repeated reading of the same books
Uses the cover (title, illustrations, a look at some of the pictures in the book, etc.) to get ready to read.
Students form a general idea of what the book is about using this information. After reading the entire book, a student should be able to retell the events in the book, and talk about the general idea of what the book was about.
Matches spoken words to printed words.
In Best Friends the text says, "We like to slide," and the child reads, "We like to hug," matching words correctly, she has met the criteria at this level—the boys in the illustration are hugging. We will deal with the mismatch of letter-sound in the next group of books.
Moves from left to right when reading.
Mastering this behavior often requires a student to make a return sweep to the beginning of the next line in Level B book, because they may have two or more lines of print.
Use the illustration and the story as a source of information.
Locates known word(s) in text.
Reads with fluency?
Reading with fluency is not an issue at early levels. We expect quick, crisp pointing and quick recognition of high frequency words with repeated reading of the same books
Level C
Books in Level A and B have already enabled the children to learn to look at print and match what they are reading to the words on the page. Books in Level C are designed to require children to begin using graphophonic (letter/sound) sources of information along with the attention to meaning that was fostered by the teaching in Level A-B books and the other components of the balanced literacy program. The reason children need to rely on letters to help them discern what a word says is because the pictures are less supportive, the stories and sentences become more complex, and the text is formatted in different places on the page. It is very important to make sure the students are pointing under words, shifts to pointing under the word, and under the beginning letter to assure that they will attend to graphophonic/visual features in the word. Eventually, the students‟ will slide their finger under the word to check the beginning and ending letters while attending to the story, illustrations and what they know about the topic they are reading. This orchestration of behaviors leads them to integrate sources of information. These books also demand that children have a small set of known words that assist them in reading across a longer sentence.
Level C -Behaviors/Skills/Strategies
Children reading Level C need to learn and consistently use the following strategies, skills, and behaviors:
Use the some of the letters in a word (moving toward using the final letter) along with meaning and word order sources of information. The child first attends to beginning letter and then progresses to using final letter.
Make return sweep on more than one line of print.
Read known words in text automatically.
Uses the pattern of the text as a source of information to assist in reading the book.
Begin to integrate sources of information: making sure it makes sense, sounds right, and looks right.
Retells the story, keeping story events in order, making inferences about story happenings when possible.
Use the some of the letters in a word (moving toward using the final letter) along with meaning and word order sources of information. The child first attends to beginning letter and then progresses to using final letter.
Make return sweep on more than one line of print.
Read known words in text automatically.
Uses the pattern of the text as a source of information to assist in reading the book.
Begin to integrate sources of information: making sure it makes sense, sounds right, and looks right.
Retells the story, keeping story events in order, making inferences about story happenings when possible.
Level D
Books in A-B have already enabled the children to look at print and match what they are reading to the words on the page. Books in Level D are designed to require children to begin using graphophonic (letter/sound) sources of information at the beginning and endings of words. The books in Level D continue to have a pattern with more changes possibly after the first page and on the last page with the internal part of the book having the same pattern. Words with consonant blends and digraphs are added to the processing required of the student.
Therefore, the teacher needs to assess whether her students knows the sounds for consonant blends (i.e. br, cl, etc.) and diagraphs (sh, ch, etc.). Inflectional endings are common. Students may have been reading –s at the end of words in earlier books, but these types of endings become very common in Level E and onward. Then, she can hold them accountable for checking the beginning and ending of words in Level D books.
Therefore, the teacher needs to assess whether her students knows the sounds for consonant blends (i.e. br, cl, etc.) and diagraphs (sh, ch, etc.). Inflectional endings are common. Students may have been reading –s at the end of words in earlier books, but these types of endings become very common in Level E and onward. Then, she can hold them accountable for checking the beginning and ending of words in Level D books.
Level D -Behaviors/Skills/Strategies
Children reading Level D books need to learn and consistently use the following strategies, skills, and behaviors:
Use the some of the letter(s) of a word (including some of the final letters) along with meaning and word order sources of information. The child first attends to beginning letter(s) and then progresses to using final letter(s)
If a child reads, "I slam a goal," in the book I Play Soccer instead of "I score a goal," his reading would be acceptable because you are teaching for matching first letter(s) and the student is not noticing the "sc" blend. Later, you would not accept this reading and teach him also to check the final letter(s), too. Students are held accountable for inflectional endings on words (-s, -ed, -ing).
Make return sweep on more than one line of print.
Read known words in text automatically.
Begin to integrate sources of information: making sure it makes sense, sounds right and looks right.
On page five of My Cat Muffin (Scholastic), the text reads, "My cat Muffin is smart." The student read, "My cat Muffin is smiling." The student‘s prediction of the word smiling makes sense with the picture—the cat‘s mouth is formed into a smile. He is using structure/syntax, because the word "smiling" fits into the order of words in the sentence. But, the word does not "look right" because it does not match the graphophonic/visual information at the end of the word. A teacher could prompt two ways: the word "art" is at the end of "smart." Art is a word that is in vocabulary of most primary students. She could also ask the student to blend the "rt" letters into an ending sound, getting the student to notice that the cat is reading a book. A cat that can read is "smart."
Analyzes story to comment on events or characters and make inferences.
In I Play Soccer, the student comments that the red team is happy because they won the game, but the blue team is not happy because they lost.
Use the some of the letter(s) of a word (including some of the final letters) along with meaning and word order sources of information. The child first attends to beginning letter(s) and then progresses to using final letter(s)
If a child reads, "I slam a goal," in the book I Play Soccer instead of "I score a goal," his reading would be acceptable because you are teaching for matching first letter(s) and the student is not noticing the "sc" blend. Later, you would not accept this reading and teach him also to check the final letter(s), too. Students are held accountable for inflectional endings on words (-s, -ed, -ing).
Make return sweep on more than one line of print.
Read known words in text automatically.
Begin to integrate sources of information: making sure it makes sense, sounds right and looks right.
On page five of My Cat Muffin (Scholastic), the text reads, "My cat Muffin is smart." The student read, "My cat Muffin is smiling." The student‘s prediction of the word smiling makes sense with the picture—the cat‘s mouth is formed into a smile. He is using structure/syntax, because the word "smiling" fits into the order of words in the sentence. But, the word does not "look right" because it does not match the graphophonic/visual information at the end of the word. A teacher could prompt two ways: the word "art" is at the end of "smart." Art is a word that is in vocabulary of most primary students. She could also ask the student to blend the "rt" letters into an ending sound, getting the student to notice that the cat is reading a book. A cat that can read is "smart."
Analyzes story to comment on events or characters and make inferences.
In I Play Soccer, the student comments that the red team is happy because they won the game, but the blue team is not happy because they lost.
Level E
Books at this level are designed to require children to orchestrate their strategies using all the sources of information, graphophonic, meaning, and syntax (word order). The challenges of Level E books are that the illustrations are less supportive, the sentences are more complex, and book (literary) language is more prevalent, such as dialogue statements, unusual language structures, and shifts from the predictable patterns that were so common at the earlier levels. Often these pattern shifts and story endings communicate a subtle meaning that must be interpreted from the story. Word work at Level E requires students to be skilled at checking beginnings and endings of words and they should be beginning to look at internal parts of words. A good way to teach for this shift is to teach students to check the consonant letter(s) plus the next two letters. When blocked on the word ―loose,‖a student would check the (l+oo). The /oo/ sound from the word ―too‖or ―boo‖plus the /l/ would get the student saying /loo/. If they add this to the meaning from the story, that character has a loose tooth, they can problem solve the word by monitoring for all sources of information.
Level E -Behaviors/Skills/Strategies
Children reading Level F books need to learn and consistently use the following strategies, skills, and behaviors:
Notice errors and cross-checks with unused source of information.
Monitor for all sources of information: checking to make sure what has been read makes sense, sounds right, and looks right
Track print with eyes, and uses finger only at points of difficulty.
Retells and summarizes, making inferences, and commenting on story.
Begins to read with fluency and phrasing on repeated readings of the same text.
Notice errors and cross-checks with unused source of information.
Monitor for all sources of information: checking to make sure what has been read makes sense, sounds right, and looks right
Track print with eyes, and uses finger only at points of difficulty.
Retells and summarizes, making inferences, and commenting on story.
Begins to read with fluency and phrasing on repeated readings of the same text.
Level F
Level F books require children to integrate all sources of information while reading to understand the author‘s story or message. These books have minimal repetition of familiar sentence patterns requiring children to attend to more complex story patterns with more difficult vocabulary and story elements. For example, stories have multiple episodes that students must recall and blend together when retelling the sequence of events. These events must be compared and contrasted to get the big idea of what is happening in the story. Thus, characters are more developed and more inferences must be made about story content. For example, on page 12 of Car Wash, students must infer why the car wash attendant is shocked to see the family coming back to have their car washed a second time. Texts contain more literary language—long dialogue statements that are often split by containing the speaker identification in the middle of the statement made by the speaker. Syntactically sentences are longer and more complex. Some sentences have two clauses conjoined by and with embedded prepositional phrases, adjectives. In word work, students must continue to deal with internal parts of words and are becoming aware of irregular spelling patterns (-ight in right), inflectional endings, plurals, contractions, and possessives. Pronoun reference and identification of demonstrative words (here, there, etc.) should be under control.
Level F -Behaviors/Skills/Strategies
Children reading Level F books need to learn and consistently use the following strategies, skills, and behaviors:
Read increasingly more difficult words, letter by word part.
Use parts from known words to read unknown words.
Students use the sound of /ow/ in know to read blow.
Begin to monitor, cross-check sources of information and self-correct at the point of error. Some rereading or skipping to go on may be necessary.
As children read more difficult texts, their self-corrections should occur closer and closer to the point of error. So in Level F we are not concerned if the child must sometimes reread to self-correct. We do, however, expect self-corrections to begin happening at or near the point of error.
Integrate sources of information: Monitoring--checking to make sure what has been read makes sense and sounds right as well as looks right
The child matches the letter sound patterns in words.
Retells and summarizes keeping story events in order to analyze story content and make inferences.
After reading Ruby's Whistle, the student infers that the bird really didn‘t teach Ruby to whistle. She practiced whistling so much with her father, her mother and herself that she finally was able to whistle.
Read with more fluency and phrasing on repeated readings of the same text.
Read increasingly more difficult words, letter by word part.
Use parts from known words to read unknown words.
Students use the sound of /ow/ in know to read blow.
Begin to monitor, cross-check sources of information and self-correct at the point of error. Some rereading or skipping to go on may be necessary.
As children read more difficult texts, their self-corrections should occur closer and closer to the point of error. So in Level F we are not concerned if the child must sometimes reread to self-correct. We do, however, expect self-corrections to begin happening at or near the point of error.
Integrate sources of information: Monitoring--checking to make sure what has been read makes sense and sounds right as well as looks right
The child matches the letter sound patterns in words.
Retells and summarizes keeping story events in order to analyze story content and make inferences.
After reading Ruby's Whistle, the student infers that the bird really didn‘t teach Ruby to whistle. She practiced whistling so much with her father, her mother and herself that she finally was able to whistle.
Read with more fluency and phrasing on repeated readings of the same text.