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I plan to study the effects that a leveled classroom library might have on the reading development of my first grade students. I wish to find out if having access to a variety of “just right texts” throughout the school year will cause an increase in the reading levels of my students. This action research project will help me better understand my students as readers and literacy development as a whole.

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First grade students are expected to make at least five levels of growth in reading to reach end-of-year expectations.

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Booksource Reading Level Correlation Chart

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See how common reading level systems correlate to one another and select books at the right reading levels for your students with the Booksource Reading Level Chart.

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Teachers use a dot sticker code to level their books. Students are each assigned to a specific color that is "just right" for them.

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Below are the best children's books, organized by Guided Reading Levels (Fountas & Pinnell). We've scoured the bookstore shelves, talked to teachers, read a lot of online reviews, even surveyed children...and in the end we've come up with what we think is the best children's books for each of the Fountas & Pinnell Guided Reading Levels.

We sincerely hope these lists will be a helpful resource for teachers in need of guided reading books or for parents looking for books for their own children to read. And if we've left your favorite off our lists, please do let us know! We love book recommendations.

the best books sorted by guided reading levels

Level Y books

Level Z books

What are "Guided Reading Levels"? An explanation for parents:

To break the daunting task of learning to read into smaller, developmental steps, school use leveling systems to describe where children are at on the reading spectrum and what books are most appropriate for each step in the process. One of the most popular systems of leveling is "Guided Reading Levels", developed in the 1990s by Irene Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell.

If your child's school uses this system, here's how it works: Your child's teacher will regularly read with your child to determine three important components of literacy:

1. accuracy -- how many words they can read correctly
(The ideal range is 90-95% of words read correctly. If a child reads more than 95 out of every 100 words correctly, the book may be too easy and the child may be ready to move up to the next level (assuming they do well on fluency and comprehension). Conversely, if the child reads less than 90 out of every 100 words correctly, the book may be too difficult. Teachers call this "frustration level", for obvious reasons.)

2. fluency -- how many words they read per minute
(The ideal range varies by reading level. Note: This is less important at the early stages (A-E). In fact, many districts do not consider reading speed/fluency until level F.

3. comprehension -- do they understand what they have just read
(The depth of understanding required varies according to reading level -- from simply recalling the facts of the story in the lower levels to more in-depth discussions / insights at the upper levels)

Once the 'test' is given, the teacher will then use the above criteria to determine which of the Guided Reading Levels best fits your child's current reading ability. The levels range from A to Z, with children generally starting at A in Kindergarten and, ideally, progressing through the levels of the alphabet to level Z by middle school.

How often these test are given varies per child. Once a month is a good range, but children who seem to be ready are often tested earlier so that they don't stay on one level if they are ready for a more challenging one. And sometimes, with holidays and events and how busy a classroom can get, tests can be given at intervals longer than a month. So...it varies. Sorry we can't be more specific than that. :)

Then, in addition to determining children's reading levels, books are leveled as well. There are many, many factors that go into how books are leveled. The important thing to know is that the reading level for many popular children's books have been determined, using the same A-Z Guided Reading Levels system developed by Fountas & Pinnell.

The result of all this leveling is that children can be given books that exactly match their current reading ability. This is crucial to reading success!!!

If books are too hard, kids can easily get frustrated and confused. Text structures might be too complex. Unfamiliar types of spelling patterns, punctuation, or words can cause children to question what they already "know". Comprehension definitely suffers.

If books are too easy, the lack of challenge and interest often means kids don't make the progress they should...and they can eventually find reading boring.

Children who read books that 'fit' their current guided reading level (teachers call these "good fit books") make much greater improvements in reading ability and reading enjoyment! Daily reading of on-level books is crucial for reading success!

Hopefully this brief explanation of Guided Reading Levels has been more helpful than confusing. One last note: We encourage parents to keep in mind that learning to read is a long process that can include leaps and bounds at one point and slow and steady progress at other points. Progress is what we are all shooting for, and half the battle with reading is whether the student thinks he or she is successful at reading. Keeping a positive, encouraging, and upbeat tone is truly an important part of a child's literacy success. :)

Enjoy the books!

Betsy, Cindy, and Virginia
(the teachers/sisters behind this website)

If this list was helpful, please press
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about cute book-related activities:

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Books by Guided Reading Levels -- Teacher's Picks for Best Leveled Books

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Below are the best children's books, organized by Guided Reading Levels (Fountas & Pinnell). We've scoured the bookstore shelves, talked to teachers, read a lot of online reviews, even surveyed children...and in the end we've come up with what we think is the best children's books for each of the Fountas & Pinnell Guided Reading Levels.

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The leveled library will be implemented into the Daily Five literacy program.

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Selecting "Just Right" Books for Independent Reading - The National Institute for Professional Practice

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"Primary and elementary school ages are critical periods in the development of reading skill and the formation of lifelong reading habits" (Cullinan, 2000). Choosing books that are just right for students and teaching them how to choose for themselves is an essential piece of a successful reading program.

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Know the specifics of guided reading to lead your child to the best books for their development.

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The Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA) is an individually administered assessment of a child's reading capabilities. It is a tool to be used by instructors to identify a students reading level, accuracy, fluency, and comprehension. Once levels are identified, an instructor can use this information for instructional planning purposes.

DRA Testing
The DRA test is traditionally administered on an annual or semi-annual basis. The test measures nine categories of reading behavior and six types of errors. It was developed in 1986 (and revised in both 2000 and 2003) by a committee of educators and is intended to evaluate certain aspects of your child's reading level.

How DRA Levels and Testing Work Together
Tasks measured by the DRA test are divided into several skill sets. Rhyming, alliteration, segmentation, and phonemic awareness are tested in thephonemic awareness section. Letter naming, word-list reading, spelling, decoding, analogies, structural analysis, and syllabication are tested in the alphabetic principle/phonics portions. Oral reading fluency or words per minute for contextual reading are tested under fluency. Vocabulary, comprehension, and reading engagement skills are also measured in the test.

After the test is evaluated and scored, your child is assigned a numeric (or alphanumeric for very early readers) DRA level A1 through 80. Children with stronger reading abilities yield higher numbers. Teachers are easily able to give children books they can read by choosing a text with the corresponding DRA level.

How to Find Books on Your Child's Level
Once your teacher gives you your child's level, you can search for books at a particular DRA level onScholastic's Book Wizard. By providing your child with books on his or her level at home, you are ensuring reading advancement and success with materials that will not cause your child stress or discouragement.

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The Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA) is an individually administered assessment of a child's reading capabilities. It is a tool to be used by instructors to identify a students reading level, accuracy, fluency, and comprehension. Once levels are identified, an instructor can use this information for instructional planning purposes.

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The library and reading area is an essential part of any classroom. Especially in kindergarten and the younger grades. This is the time when a love for words, books, and reading is sparked in children. This is a comprehensive guide to classroom library organization. It will help you create an organized, functional space with bright colors and clear labels that is fun and accessible to all students (and the teacher too!)

This post contains affiliate links. I earn a small commission each time someone makes a purchase through one of my links, which helps to support the blog.

Today I invite you on a tour of my classroom library! I will show you how I organize my books, share links for purchasing materials and furniture that I used when I set up my library and even tell you about my Classroom Library Labels. I have so much to share so let's jump right in to classroom library organization 101.

Most teachers have a system in place for organizing their classroom library. Like so many others, my own library contains bins for a variety of reading levels, as well as bins for a variety of seasons, holidays, and themes.

While most teachers are organized, the pitfall of most libraries is a lack of cohesion. Nothing can visually derail a functional library like a mismatched set of bins in a variety of sizes, colors, and styles. My own library contains several kinds of containers (in a few different colors and sizes), but it's the careful and deliberate placement of each item in the library that makes it stand out and create a jaw-dropping effect.

Notice that each row of shelves contains the same type of box across each shelf. It created a lot of clean lines to draw in they eye and eliminate clutter.

The longest shelf in my library contains larger baskets to hold books. There were a few categories of books in which I had an ABUNDANCE of reading materials. They simply could not fit into one of the tall skinny boxes. I added the larger baskets but made sure to use the same color scheme that already existed on the bottom shelf to reduce any unnecessary visual distractions.

Student book boxes are on the top shelf. These are all the same color (green) to add an element of simplicity. Student book bins were purchased at Really Good Stuff. Sets of 12 bins can be purchased in a single color from their online store. They are a great tool for classroom library organization.

I turned all of my bins from Really Good Stuff backwards on the shelf. This helped to maximize the pop of color and minimize book clutter.

I also laminated and used hot glue to attach labels onto each box.

All labels are from my Classroom Library Labels {Black Series} set.

Here is a view of the complete classroom library. It always looks this nice and well-organized because I spend a lot of time at the beginning of the year training my students on the proper use and maintenance of our favorite classroom space.

Want to know where I bought all of the items in the photo?
You will find a shopping guide at the bottom of this post.

Once the structure of your library is in place, the next big step is ORGANIZING all of those books into bins. And, even more importantly, LABELING every item in the library so it can remain organized and functional for student use. Not sure where to begin? I've got you covered!

Every item in my own classroom library has been labeled and organized using my Classroom Library Labels {Black Series} set. This complete downloadable resource contains two sizes of box labels and coordinating book labels to help you sort and organize classroom books for virtually every reading level, season, holiday, month and theme.

Classroom Library Labels from Kinder-Craze truly are the ultimate resource for labeling your lower elementary classroom library.

Using the set is simple. Print the desired book bin labels and laminate. Cut each label out and attach to library bins. I recommend using hot glue to apply the laminated labels to bins. It is lasting and durable, yet peels cleanly and easily from plastic surfaces. Print coordinating book labels (formatted to print on Avery 5160 labels) and cut into strips to separate labels. Attach to each book that will be stored in the matching bin for easy and child-friendly sorting and organization.

People stop by the blog to check out my classroom every day and I receive a TON of emails asking where I purchased many of the items seen throughout the room. Here are the answers to the most common shopping questions!

Feel free to pin the image below for future reference.

Green, yellow, and pink book bins (seen on the top and middle shelf under the windows) Really Good Stuff

Large pink and green baskets (seen on the bookcase on the left) Big Lots

Small pink and teal baskets (seen on 2nd shelf of bookcase on the right)Five Below
Green, pink, and blue magazine boxes (seen on bottom shelves)Big Lots

White bench with black fabric boxes inside
IKEA Expedit Shelf turned sideways.
UPDATE: IKEA has recently discontinued the Expedit line.
They now offer a Kallax shelf which is very similar.

Rainbow Pillows IKEA (could not find a current link online)

* NOTE: Big Lots is a great source to stock up on classroom library bins and baskets. Unfortunately, many of these items are ONLY available at Big Lots in July and August during Back to School season. Keep your eyes open and stock up early.
They sell out fast!

Shop for Classroom Library Labels

Classroom Library Labels {Black Series} and {White Series} are available for purchase in my TpT store! They are the ultimate resource for classroom library organization.

Still have a question about something you saw in my classroom, answers can be found in many of my old blog posts. Click a question below to read my answer.
I am a new teacher!
How can I build my library on a limited budget? I love the black silhouettes of children playing!
Your classroom is gorgeous!
Can I please see more photos? Where can I purchase those images? I want to level my library books! How do I get started?
I buy all my books from Scholastic book orders.
How can I get more bonus points?

I love your {Black Series} labels!
What other resources are available in {Black Series}?

I love your stuff but I don't like to use a lot of ink.
What products are available in the {White Series}?
(Classroom Library Labels are now available in the White Series!)

A recent blog post has ALL of the answers you need to begin leveling the books in your classroom library! Stop by to find great apps and websites to help you quickly and accurately level your books.

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Classroom Library Organization - Simplified

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The library and reading area is an essential part of any classroom. Especially in kindergarten and the younger grades. This is the time when a love for words, books, and reading is sparked in children. This is a comprehensive guide to classroom library organization.

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A few weeks ago, I shared tips for organizing your classroom library. The response to that blog post has been overwhelming! In the post, I explained that I sort the books in my own classroom library by reading level, as well as theme.

Sorting by theme is the easy part. We all know the importance of providing developmentally appropriate texts to students, but leveling an entire library can be a daunting task ... until today!

I have researched a few of the top tools (both free and paid) for aiding teachers as they level their classroom libraries. Today I bring you pricing information, photos of the tools in action, and my HONEST opinion of each resource so you can make an informed decision about what will work best for you as you level your own classroom library.

I was pleased to discover that several companies provide iPhone and Android apps that allow you to scan the barcode and receive leveling results within seconds! Free or paid, iPhone (and Android) apps are my favorite type of resource because they are the fastest and most efficient way to level your books.

I'll start by walking you through a few of the apps I recently installed on my iPhone. It is important to note that whether it was free or paid; no single app was able to identify and provide leveling information for EVERY book in my library. As you might expect, the paid apps sometimes provided data which was lacking in the free apps. In other cases, the FREE Scholastic Book Wizard app provided information about books that the paid apps did not! I would not expect a single resource to single-handedly level your entire classroom library, but each of the apps I successfully tested were able to level an impressive amount of books from my own library.

Scholastic Book Wizard App

Looking for a great FREE resource to help you get started? Start with the Book Wizard app from Scholastic! The app allows you to manually search (by typing the name of a tittle, author, or keyword). Most importantly, the app has a scanner that allows you to simply scan the bar code to quickly search the database for book information. I was pleased to discover that information for MANY of my classroom books was available in the app. A brief synopsis of the book is included on the "Book Info" screen as well as title, author, and book level information. The one (minor) downside was that the level information was presented in a rather tiny text. As a result, the book level didn't jump out at me, I had to really look at the screen to see it.

Bonus Feature: The Scholastic Book Wizard app also allows users to create an inventory of all titles in classroom library. You can also designate how many copies of the book you own and additional notes (such as where the book is filed in your library). I did not see any means to check books in or out. The list would mostly be a helpful tool for helping teachers quickly find a book or keep track of books they already own.

Level It App

My favorite of the paid apps was the Level It app. Just like Book Wizard, this app allows users to manually search for a book, or use your phone's camera to scan a book's bar code. This app also provides a description of the book with title, author, and level information. I loved how the levels are easier to discern with a quick glance at the screen. When I had a big stack of books that needed to be leveled, I appreciated being able to quickly and easily find this information so I could move on to the next book in the pile. This app is available for iPhone and Android users.

Bonus Feature: The Level It app includes a feature to inventory your classroom library, along with a class roster. This allows the teacher to create individual student profiles and the ability to check in/out books to specific students. This is not a feature that I can see myself implementing in my kindergarten classroom, but I know it is a tool that will prove to be useful for MANY classroom teachers.

Literacy Leveler App

The Literacy Leveler App by FikesFarm, LLC is similar to the Level It app, but a bit more basic. Priced at $3.99, this app is currently only available for iPhone users. It allows users to manually search by title, author or ISBN; as well as scan each book's bar code. Although the format of the app is simplistic compared to Level It (the other leading paid app for iPhone users) and did not include a book synopsis, I did appreciate the fact that book level information was boldly formatted and easy for users to see.

Bonus Feature: The Literacy Level app allows teachers to create an inventory of all titles included in their classroom library. It does indicate how many copies of a title a teacher possesses; nor does it allow teachers to make notes about each book. Despite its limitations, the library tool allows teachers to easily see a list of all books in their classroom library books at a given reading level with a quick touch of the screen.

Classroom Organizer App

Another free app for iPhone and Android users is the Classroom Organizer app from Booksource. The app allows teachers to determine reading levels, organize, and track books in their classroom library. The description of this app sounds amazing (especially for a free product). Unfortunately, the great features offered by this app are overshadowed by it's shortfalls for usability. I followed the instructions and got started by creating an online account with Booksource, but after nearly a dozen attempts, have not been able to successfully log in to the app. Some things should simply not be this much of a challenge. I'm sure it's a wonderful app, but I have yet to see it in action.

If you don't have a smart phone or you prefer to look things up on your computer (the new old-fashioned way), there are a few websites that can be equally helpful as you level the books for your classroom library.

A to Z Teacher Stuff Leveled Books Database

The Leveled Books Database at A to Z Teacher Stuff allows users to search by title or author to determine the reading level for student books. Teachers have the option of searching to find Guided Reading Level or Reading Recovery Level.

Although the database is not comprehensive (MANY popular titles from my classroom library are missing from the online resource,) it is free and helpful for some books. If you are just getting started, this is a resource that should not be overlooked.

Scholastic Book Wizard

If you love the Book Wizard app, you should know that this was the website that started it all. The Scholastic Book Wizard is a free website that allows educators to search by title, author, or keyword. Users can view a book's Grade Level Equivalent, Guided Reading Level, or Lexile Measure. The extensive database was my first step when I began to level my own classroom library a few years ago.

Fountas & Pinnell Leveled Book Website

For educators seeking a more official means of leveling their classroom books, the Leveled Book Website from Fountas & Pinnell is available as a subscription service. With a base price of $25 for an annual membership, group discounts are also available.

I Leveled My Books... Now What?

Once your classroom books have been leveled, you will want to make them easily accessible to your students. My own classroom library consists of two categories: books sorted by level and books sorted by theme. The box containing each type of book is clearly labeled, and each book contained within the box is given a small coordinating label. This way, students have a clear visual cue to help them return books to their proper location.

My Kindergarten Classroom Library

Find out more about my classroom library in this blog post. Learn how it's organized, where to shop for my favorite book bins and see the little touches I added to make it extra special for my students.

Classroom Library Labels

Organize your library in style with my classroom library labels. Available in {Black Series} and {White Series}, this downloadable product includes labels for a variety of levels and themes to suit your classroom needs. Classroom Library Labels can be purchased in my TpT store.

Do you have plans to level your classroom library this summer?
What is your favorite book leveling resource?

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Tools to Help You Level Your Classroom Library

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A few weeks ago, I shared tips for organizing your classroom library. The response to that blog post has been overwhelming! In the post, I explained that I sort the books in my own classroom library by reading level, as well as theme. Sorting by theme is the easy part.

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Leveling and Labeling Your Classroom Library | Scholastic

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Get tips for sorting your books, leveling your classroom library, and repairing minor rips and tears. Find ways to digitally catalog your collection, and get free printable labels.

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Recently teachers and researchers have criticized leveling practices for consuming excessive amounts of time, money, and teacher energy (Dzaldov & Peterson, 2005). As teachers and researchers, we are also concerned about a seemingly growing inflexibility in the use of leveled texts in and across reading programs. Our concern is that in maintaining a focus on assigning numbers or letters to texts as labels that represent their "difficulty," we can lose sight of what matters in reader-text interactions.

Although we would argue that some attention to text difficulty is needed, taking a simplistic approach to a complex phenomenon is hindering teacher judgment and masking the transactions that occur between a reader, a text, and the social context in which they read. Thus, rather than helping readers as they learn to read, such an approach can constrain teachers in their organization of reading groups and plot instructional pathways for students that are inequitable.

Leveling systems (e.g., Fountas & Pinnell, 2006) grew out of a need to address concerns about the overuse of whole-group instruction and more traditional ability-based small groups. Grouping arrangements became a feature of classroom and academic discussions as it became apparent that many young students, especially those who needed our help the most, were spending very little time actually reading (Allington, 1983). For example, in traditional small groups, most of the instructional time for below-level readers was spent on skill instruction with very little actual reading of text. In whole-group instruction, those same readers spent most of their time with texts that were too difficult for them to read on their own or even with support (Caldwell & Ford, 2002). In these kinds of situations, it became clear that those in need of the most practice in literacy were receiving the least (Glasswell, Parr, & McNaughton, 2003; Stanovich, 1986).

Our view is that we can afford to be much more flexible with text levels than we might have previously thought. When a reader engages in reading, and the text is challenging, we can support that reader in developing his skills, strategies, and confidence in two main ways. The first way is to find another or additional text that is the "right level" and one that the student can read more comfortably. In doing this, we scaffold the learner using the text. This is the most commonly used option around the small-group reading table. Another powerful way is to combine the use of instructional-level texts with more challenging texts.

A challenging text might be seen as frustrational because often students are left to negotiate the text by themselves. Rather than avoiding any use of more difficult texts, sometimes teachers may want to use instructional support to help students gain access to a more challenging reading experience. Many readers, particularly those who struggle, can access grade-level appropriate material if we facilitate their interactions with it. This is both necessary if we want to accelerate growth, and desirable if we want our below-level readers to see themselves as competent and confident readers.

In our view, these decisions can best be viewed as a balancing act between varying instructional support and varying text levels. In an engaging and challenging classroom, the teacher carefully decides the degree of instructional support needed for readers to engage in the text selected. Further, we believe that creating balance is critical across the whole reading program. Remember that an exclusive concern about what happens at the table during 20 minutes of guided reading ignores the rest of the time in the day that could provide access to high-quality instruction (Dzaldov & Peterson, 2005). In the following section, we provide recommendations on what the students we work with might tell us if they just had a teacher's way with words.

More powerful shared reading

When you are using a text for the whole class that might be too difficult for me, remember you can make it easier by scaffolding my experiences with your teaching. This kind of instruction can actually help me grow stronger as a reader.

Restructuring shared reading

Consider restructuring shared reading in a more flexible model like Grouping Without Tracking (Paratore, 1990). This model encourages teachers to sandwich shared experiences on the front and back end of the lesson around differentiated instruction during the reading of the text. When differentiating, students would be divided into two groups. Some will operate more independently, indirectly guided by the teacher. Others who might have struggled are given more direct support as they are reading and responding. Teachers would bring the two groups back together for a final discussion. Struggling readers who are given more teacher support will be better prepared to contribute to the large-group response, making it a truly shared experience for all (Caldwell & Ford, 2002; Opitz & Ford, 2008).

Below-level students

Assist below-level students to at least read accessible parts of more difficult texts. This may be helpful when using more challenging informational texts. By using a jigsaw-like approach, teachers can take a whole-class text and thoughtfully assign different parts to different groups of students so that more manageable parts are assigned to those who might struggle with the overall text (Aronson, 1978). Jigsawing holds each group responsible for understanding a part of the text, but also requires reconvening the whole class for reporting and connecting for one another what was learned.

Themed shared reading texts

Make shared reading texts ones that link thematically to those you use in other instructional contexts. For example, difficult core textbooks can be supplemented with sets of related accessible texts for different groups of readers. These texts, when read independently or at small-group time, can help all readers build background knowledge and develop core vocabulary before they come to read the more challenging text at shared reading time. It is important that these accessible texts do not replace the core text. Using this approach can help readers who might have struggled with the more difficult text to become more active and engaged at whole-group time as they learn from the shared reading text.

More powerful guided reading

When you guide my reading in small groups, don't let levels be the only thing that guides you in planning instruction and selecting my text.

Grouping students

Be less concerned about organizing around discrete levels. Even Fountas and Pinnell (1996) suggested that when grouping students they should be similar in their development and read about the same level. In fact, teachers should be more concerned about organizing around areas of student need.Szymusiak and Sibberson (2003) described a fourth-grade classroom in which the teacher gathered readers who needed help in recognizing changes in setting, announced to the rest of the class what the group was focusing on, and invited others to self-select to join the group.

Word counts

Keep an eye on word counts to provide greater equity in instructional opportunities. Lower level books are often less text dense and yet readers who read below grade level need more opportunities to read, not fewer. Check the backs of texts read during guided reading and keep a simple word count log to compare differences in opportunities for practice between groups. In one second-grade classroom we visited, one group was working with a text that contained 80 words. Another group was working with a 10-page opening chapter of a book that had more than 80 words on the first page alone. This illustrates the need for the use of multiple texts with some groups to equalize the amount of reading practice students receive during their group time.

Connected context

Be intentional when organizing multilevel topical text sets so that sets share a connected context (e.g., similar content, language, or layouts). Readers will make connections effectively between easy and more difficult texts and work flexibly across a number of levels building skill and confidence to accelerate growth. Easier books with similar themes and language formats will help you build context for other texts that you might have seen as too difficult for some readers.

More powerful independent reading

To get more fluent, confident, and comfortable, I need to spend some of my time with texts that I have chosen and can read easily with minimal support.

Content area texts

Load content area text sets with texts at multiple levels. Allington (2006) suggested traveling carts that can move from one classroom to the next with 70% of the collection built from easily accessible books. Build your classroom libraries in a similar manner. This will provide more opportunity to equalize practice during these instructional times. While one student reads a more difficult text another could read multiple easier texts and both would have a more equitable amount of time and words for practice.

Build a diverse library

Make sure you build collections so that all readers in diverse classrooms can see themselves in the texts you have selected. One of the criticisms of some leveled readers is that they often vary little in sociocultural features including the gender, race, and class of characters portrayed. Using interest surveys may provide additional insights into how to augment a collection that will reach more readers. Your familiarity with your students' identities may be just as helpful in matching texts to readers as leveled book lists (Dzaldov & Peterson, 2005).

More powerful ways to engage your readers

The bottom line is if you are going to help me become a reader, avoid assigning me texts that will cause me to disengage from reading. When you do this, all I do is get better at figuring out ways to avoid reading.

Remember that in real life, readers read all kinds of things. A teacher who thoughtfully uses a variety of texts with varying degrees of difficulty is more likely to find engaging texts to put into the hands of children so that they can see themselves as readers. This may be the best way for making accessible texts seem acceptable in a classroom with children at different reading levels (Roller & Fielding, 1992).

Consider increasing the use of individualized instructional formats like Readers Workshop (Atwell, 1998). These formats balance issues around choice, engagement, and text difficulty. They lead to the development of a community of readers providing additional opportunities for meaningful, authentic, and enjoyable reading experiences. They allow for a more powerful positive relationship to develop between the teacher and student through the use of individual conferences.

Integrate the use of more accessible alternative texts for independent activities. With today's world, we need to expand our vision of readers and texts.

The literate lives of many young students include alternative forms of reading and writing that could be used to help them accelerate their progress as readers. Consider adding these to your program: students' own writings, magazines, newspapers, plays, poetry anthologies, and digital and online texts. Just because it is difficult to assign levels to these kinds of text, we should not avoid their use. They are real-world texts and will provide many readers with motivating, meaningful experiences. Fortunately, these texts often contain multiple levels within their formats providing parts that almost every student can read (Opitz & Ford, 2006).

In this article we have suggested ways in which teachers can help students use texts to grow as readers in different components of their reading programs. Our concern has been that restrictive approaches to matching books to readers have privileged one aspect of the reading program - guided reading - in ways that are counterproductive to high quality instruction which seeks to balance text demands and reader needs. To refocus attention on this balance, we have suggested that teachers might consider the impact of leveling across all aspects of their shared, guided, and independent reading practices.

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Teaching Flexibly with Leveled Texts: More Power for Your Reading Block

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Recently teachers and researchers have criticized leveling practices for consuming excessive amounts of time, money, and teacher energy (Dzaldov & Peterson, 2005). As teachers and researchers, we are also concerned about a seemingly growing inflexibility in the use of leveled texts in and across reading programs. Our concern is that in maintaining a focus on assigning numbers or letters to texts as labels that represent their "difficulty," we can lose sight of what matters in reader-text interactions.

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This year, it is all about data, data, data! Which has postives and negatives to it, but first grade is just rolling with it. One of the things we are tracking this year, is my students' reading levels. My princiapl bought all of us a fountas and pinnell testing kit, and I have been *trying oh-so-hard* to get all my kids testing for their reading levels. TODAY I FINISHED!! I rewarded myself with a Diet Coke, of course :)

So, since we are working on moving up the ladder of the reading level world, I decided I needed a reading leveled library in my classroom. Which is expensive!! I wish I could buy fancy smancy books for my classroom library, but let's be honest...It would be more of a bucket of about 20 books. At my old school, we used reading a-z. Which is this *amazing* online source where it has about 20-30 paper books per level! It does have a year membership fee, but I thought this was totally worth it. So I took the dive...

I really recommend this website to any teacher trying to motivate students to read. It has fluency tests, paper books, lesson ideas, etc. Believe me, I have a strong relationship with these books now. I spend multiple days a week, printing, cutting, laminating, duct taping, etc. this books, but it's ALL worth it, because my students are beyond excited about it.

Our first grade team decided to try sending home leveled books to read for 20-30 minutes a night instead of worksheets for homework. We are still trying it out, but I swear...my students can't wait to show me that their parents signed their reading log and what they learned the previous night from their books. And in the month that we have started this little journey, most of my kids have moved up a reading level...uhh, why didn't I start doing this earlier?!!!

Here is the beginning of one of my lovely Friday nights...I printed out about 30 leveled books and laminated the covers to those books, so that the books will last longer. None of my books have been destroyed yet...not even close, and I'm giving all the thanks to my trusty friend, the laminating machine.

After you fold the pages and cut the laminating, you staple the books together.

Duct tape!!! The best part of this is that I got to explore multiple stores for the craziest duct tape. Secret: for the lower levels, I just did simple colors like red and purple...and as you move up in levels, the duct tape gets crazier and crazier. This has motivated the students to want to move up levels so that they may get *gasp* Justin Bieber or Mario Bros. duct tape. Yes, Justin Beiber duct tape really does exist...Why didn't they ever have Hanson duct tape when I was growing up?! :(

This is the finished product! I will be the first to say that this take a lot of time, but completely worth it!! Even my low kiddies are so pumped to get new books in their level... When the student moves up a level, they get a pass to the office to go give our principal a high-five. Getting a high five from the principal is like winning the lottery at my school. Hey, whatever works!

Lastly, I bought $1 bins at Target and put the reading level's duct tape around the container, and threw all those books in the correct bin...okay, I didnt throw them, because my blood, sweat, and tears went into each and every one of those books. Since the container is labeled, my students can go "book shopping" on Mondays and Wednesdays for new books in their reading level. I am hoping to retest their reading level every month. Let's cross our fingers!﻿

Now, I need to set up my raz-kids account...This is JUST like the paper books I have but it is online. So, the kids can do it during workstations or at home for homework. The amazinggggg thing about this is that they listen to the story, read the story outloud, then take a quiz on the story. If they pass, they move on to the next book, if not (sad day) they read the story again. AND, the kids earn points for their "spaceship" and once they earn enough, can buy different things to decorate their spaceship. I know, I'd rather earn a Tory Burch bag or a free dinner, but it doesn't take much to get the little ones excited.

Just wanted to share this idea since it has worked so well in my class! Congrat, by the way, if you read this entire blog....it was a long one :) Happy Monday!!

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This year, it is all about data, data, data! Which has postives and negatives to it, but first grade is just rolling with it. One of the things we are tracking this year, is my students' reading levels.

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This post contains affiliate links for your convenience. View disclosure policy HERE.

Today I am sharing a way for setting up a classroom and home reading program in your classroom. I have been teaching students to read for nearly a decade and in that time I have tried a lot of different approaches. This system is the way that I have set it up in my own classroom and I have had a lot of success with it! I hope that I can help you set-up your classroom and students for reading success!

I won't go on and on about what Daily 5 is, but I will tell you that I LOVE the results I get by incorporating Read to Self. I pretty much follow the routines laid out in the book (head here to grab a copy for yourself!) and we work really hard at the beginning of the year on building up our stamina (our ability to read for longer periods of time).

Here are my students working hard on their reading. They clearly understand the routines, expectations during this time of the day. We all do Read to Self at the same time together. I call it DEAR (drop everything and read) time!

All my students have their own reading baskets filled with a combo of books they have chosen themselves and "just right" books (more on this further in the post).

After we have worked on Read to Self for a few weeks and they all feel confident on their own (without coming up to me for help or questions or to share a funny pictures from their book), I begin my guided reading groups.

In my classroom, I use a set of leveled readers (PM Benchmarks) and other books that I level to the same system. You could use any leveled readers available to you in your school or district.

The system I use is leveled by colour so I have one basket for each level filled with small books inside and placed in order, in a line down the shelf. Under these shelves are my bins of themed, character, and author books. I take the time to make sure students understand how the books are organized and where they can find the books they need.

After taking the time to do some one on one reading assessments with each child, I have a clear idea of what reading level they are at and which books are just-right" for them. I place a clothespin clip with their name on their basket of "just-right" books, so they know exactly where to find those books. We also spend some time discussing how to tell if a book is "just-right," too easy, or too hard.

Once they understand all about finding the right books, I begin to give them the opportunity of choosing their own books for their book baskets. They each have their own reading basket that I number (saves me having to relabel each year!) and they LOVE being able to fill it with books they choose.I have them pick 3 books from their "just-right" reading basket (the one with the clothespin on it) and 3 books of their choosing from any other bins in the classroom. I should also mention that I have a group of students who are reading chapter books/more difficult material (they are beyond the levels on the bins), so they get to choose their own 6 books for the week.

At the beginning of DEAR time each day, I have a different guided reading group "book shop" for new books. This keeps things organized and minimizes the noise and chaos that putting away and taking new books can create.

If you would like your own FREE set of rainbow chevron labels for your bins, click the image below!

DEAR time happens every day and it is often what I hear my kiddos say is their favourite time of day! They love the opportunity to build their stamina, pick their own "just-right" books, and work on reading to self everyday! They feel successful and LOVE reading and that makes me happier than anything!

Just as important as developing a classroom reading program, I feel that setting up a program that parents and guardians can easily implement at home is vital for reading growth and enjoyment. I hear from a lot of families, especially those with minimal resources or access to books, that this program helps keep their kids on track with their reading and guides families in what to do in order to build fluent, confident, and engaged readers.

This is my 2nd year using folders (I've used Ziplock bags in the past) and I love how I can customize them with a cover on the front and a sheet of questions parents could ask as their child reads on the back. Inside I also place a letter from me explaining how the program runs and what their role is at home. These sheets are provided as a FREEBIE later.

For durability, I laminate the folders not once, but twice to create some durability. My hope is that these folders last for a good part of the year. I also love using different colours of cardstock to print the covers onto.

Now this great idea was not my own, but came from Rachelle over at What A Teacher Wants. To keep your folders closed, use some Velcro strips cut into pieces and attached to the flap of the folder. This work like a charm! Such an easy and effective way to keep those books safe inside...and it lasts longer than a Ziplock.

Grab the FREE Read Every Day Home Reading Folder resource now by clicking the image below!

I have included it with EDITABLE files for you to customize to suit your needs. Enjoy!

Thanks for stopping by to read my setting up a classroom and home reading program post.

Comment below to let me know if and how you run your classroom and home reading program.

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Setting Up a Classroom & Home Reading Program

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This post contains affiliate links for your convenience. View disclosure policy HERE. Today I am sharing a way for setting up a classroom and home reading program in your classroom. I have been teaching students to read for nearly a decade and in that time I have tried a lot of different approaches.