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Why are books leveled?
When I was a kid, the difficulty of a text was determined by how easy or hard the words were to read. For most of my schooling, this is how my teachers determined whether I was progressing as a reader. Then, about twenty-five years ago, educators and researchers determined that books become progressively more difficult in several more specific ways. The first is, of course, that the text becomes more difficult to read. Books with mostly sight words, give way to books with more pattern-based and decodable words, finally yielding to texts that require some background knowledge or context to determine meaning. Vocabulary usage becomes more important as well.
Books also become more difficult because of sentence structure. Simple sentences become compound sentences and those become complex. Readers need more knowledge of syntax and language conventions to read more complicated text.
Finally, as books become more difficult the plot becomes more complex. Books at lower levels are fairly simple. Then, texts begin to deal with problems and predictable solutions. As text becomes more difficult, characters approach an array of more complicated problems and must rely on growth and change to tackle them. In upper grades, books deal with mature themes such as historical or fantastical conflicts that deal with issues of morality.
So, in a nutshell, books are leveled because readers need different, more increasingly complex levels of work and teaching in order to fully understand the text.
What levels should my child be reading?
Depending on which grade your child is in, there is a range that represent appropriate reading levels. It is important to note that these are ranges - every child is different.
Kindergarten ~ Yellow/Green, A/B/C/D, Emergent Story Books
First Grade - Blue, E/F/G/H/I/J
Second Grade - Red, K/L/M
Third Grade - White, N/O/P
Fourth Grade - Black, Q/R/S
Fifth Grade - Orange, T/U/V
Sixth Grade - Purple W/X/Y
As you can see, there are a range of levels across grades Your child may read from a range of levels at any given point in the year. What is important is your child's interest, comfort level with the content, AND an appropriate complexity of the text. You may also notice that students move through levels much quicker in the lower grades - this is because the differences between the levels are more discreet when students are beginning readers. It is also worth pointing out that your child may be slightly below or above what these ranges represent. All of this is part of normal reading growth and development, and is also part of your communication with your child's teacher.
At WIS, what do the levels mean?
Books at Red, Levels K/L/M….
Have one main problem and one clear solution or resolution.
Contain lots of dialogue between characters.
Characters don’t change much from the beginning to the end.
Characters have a few dominant traits.
Character feelings change through the story, but their traits do not.
Have more multi-syllabic words to tackle.
Require the reader to hold on to the important events of the story from the beginning to the end.
Books at White, Levels N/O/P
Characters encounter multiple, complicated problems.
Stories may contain a main plot and a few subplots along the way.
Characters face inner conflict.
Character wants are complicated.
Character traits change from the beginning to the end, usually as a result of the conflict or another character.
Reader must evaluate why a character does, says, or thinks the way they do.
Authors use figurative language that matters, readers need to know how to handle this.
Readers need to be able to re-evaluate interpretations or theories that later details disprove.
Books at Black, Levels Q/R/S
Stories are layered with meaning.
Problems are big and complicated – not all will be solved.
Characters change and learn in response to multiple problems.
Characters aren’t one way – they are both good and bad, etc. This is the result of complex internal emotions.
Minor characters become important. Reader must understand how these characters influence and teach the reader about the main character.
Now, there are also tricky chapters. The reader may not always know exactly what’s going on. They must tolerate some ambiguity and read on, expecting to understand more.
Settings become much more important, almost as another character.
Historical Fiction books contain content the reader must learn in order to fully understand the book.
Books at Orange, Levels T/U/V
Contain multiple plotlines.
Characters are increasingly more complex.
Characters are often teenagers! If a reader isn’t also a teenager it can be difficult to empathize with the characters and readers can therefore miss out on a huge part of the story.
Readers must understand the point of view of each character, not just the main character.
Time shifts – backstory is important and not always told through flashback.
More books with multiple voices or narrators.
Symbolism and Theme are increasingly more important. Stories are often statements about the world and life and the social issues they carry.
What If I'm Not Happy With The Level My Child is Reading?
The best, most important way for your child to move levels is to read a lot of books at their just-right reading level. If this is a goal for you or your child, it might be a good idea to talk to them about some ways for that to happen. Some suggestions for your discussion could be:
Where in your home can your child get a lot of focused reading done? It is difficult for many children to do their reading on the bus or in a car with other kids (i.e. a carpool).
When in the day is the best time to get a lot of focused reading done? Many students are busy, but if reading and reading improvement are a priority, creative problem solving may need to happen. Some readers value time to sink into a good book just before bed, others the minute they get home from school, while still others are so busy they need to get up earlier in the morning to read before getting ready for school.
How and when can you build in time to discuss your child's reading with them? At the dinner table? At the breakfast table? In the car on the way to soccer practice? When settling down for bedtime?
Your support and help at home is critical for your child's reading growth. In other words, we need you! Thank you for valuing this work as our partners.
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