Reading Levels

Reading is not only sounding out words correctly.  Nor is it reading through and saying the words aloud.  Reading occurs when a child uses all of their reading strategies to do the following:  decode the individual words, make meaning out of the words when they are read together, and read the print in a conversational manner.  For instance, if a child is stumbling along, reading staccato (kind of like a robot), reading too fast or slow, or not making meaning from the print, then it is not fluent reading.

My job is to assess where students are at any particular time in their reading skills, to read with them on their instructional level, and to ask them to practice their reading at their independent reading level. 

The books that I send home are books that are appropriate to their reading level  My intention is to have your child practice reading the book/s I send home for fluency.  That means that I want your child to read to you in a conversational, clear, smooth way.  I ask my students to practice reading the book as if they are reading aloud to the class, for others to enjoy listening to it.

If you would like to challenge your with other books, please feel free to find some books at the library that are more difficult for her to decode at this time. The children also tend to check out more difficult books when we go to library as a class on Wednesdays.  In kindergarten we will continue to send home books that are appropriate for the students’ reading levels.

For more information please visit these websites.

Read Alouds/Levels
Just Right Books
DRA Levels