What is leveling?

• “…Matching books to students according to reading levels ensuring that students will have an easier time selecting books that they will be able to read without feeling frustrated” (Dzaldov, Peterson, 2005).

• Progression of simple texts to more complex and challenging texts (Clay in Cunningham, et. al., 2005)

How are books separated into levels?

• Grade levels (ie. Accelerated Reader)– 3.2 would be third grade, second month

• Letters (Fountas and Pinnell)– A-Z, K-7

• Numbers (Reading Recovery, DRA, Lexile)– Numbers do not correspond to grade level

number• Typically, there is a formula is used to assign a

level of readability (i.e. Fry, Flesch-Kincaid)

What is the criteria?

• Text and print features• Vocabulary• Sentence complexity• Content• Text structure• Language and literacy features• Themes(Brabham, Villaume, 2002)

How does leveling books benefit my students?

• Progression from simple to more complex and challenging texts

• Easy to choose “just right books”• Helps to differentiate instruction• Assessment tool based on appropriate levels• Allows teachers to be more selective when teaching books• Leveled texts can nurture the development of skillful

readers• Students can monitor their progress• Students can monitor their reading at a level that is

appropriate for them• (Brabham, Villaume, 2002)

When does leveling not work for my students?

• Get into "leveling mania“– obsession with appropriate levels– Different leveling criteria– Assessing reading=higher levels– Comprehension is not often checked

• Teachers rely on leveling rather than instruction• Limits children’s book choice and exposure• Does not always fit children’s needs• Not focusing on reading strategy, more on reading selection• Focuses on patterned words, phonetic literature• Are students reading to learn or learning to read?• Teachers believe all lists are accurate because it is printed• Hard to find leveled materials for content area• Background knowledge is not accounted for in leveling of content area texts• (Brabham, Villaume, 2002), (Cunningham, et. al., 2005)