Home Reading
QUICK LEVELING GUIDELINES
Annoyingly, there are several different numbers and letters to denote reading levels. Here are the different levels for grade 5. Remember, these are guidelines only. Of course, you can read above or below these levels for interest, but these are the levels for these grades. ReadTheory is a free site that will give you a general idea of your reading level (in lexile) note: it will take several rounds to get an idea
Grade 5: T, U, V or 875-950+ lexile
If you are ready and have your book, you can start this whenever you want! Make sure your book has been cleared with Mr. J (email if you're not sure) if your book has your age or grade 5 (or higher) listed on Novelist, then we're good to go! If you're only finding lexile, I'm saying minimum 800 lexile.
In the past, I have had mixed results with home reading programs. Many kids have enjoyed keeping things like reading logs and meeting specific timelines for reading each week, etc. Usually, I find that the kids who love to read already meet the expectations and the kids who really need the practice I need to chase all year.
I am excited to try something different this year that a colleague has suggested that centers around Book Talks.
Rather than having minimum numbers of minutes to read a week, etc., we will focus on finding the right texts for students to read and report back to the class on. I am not a book snob! I am happy to meet students where they are - perhaps it's a novel they want to read, perhaps it's a non-fiction text. Maybe's it a series of comic books they want to read and compare to a movie they have seen.
We will work through a book talk together in class before this home reading program starts so that expectations are clear. Students will be required to complete a certain number of talks over the course of the year.
More information will be added here as we work through our goals together.
I've attached a bare-bones sample, as well as the project and success criteria as a checklist. These will be shared in google classroom as well for students to reference.
