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https://www.themeasuredmom.com/why-its-time-to-stop-using-guided-reading-levels/

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75 Comments

    • Heather Groth, Customer Support

      Hello Kisanet! Just scroll down to the yellow button that says “Click To Download” and it will open up the entire booklist in a pdf format. You can read it from there without printing.😊

      Reply to this comment

  2. Claudia Ortiz

    I wish the schools can make a sit down with the parents or even make a video for parents like me who don’t know what book to give to their child. You made it so easy for me to distinguish what level mine is in I or J yay!!! And help her get books under those categories to help improve vocabulary, and comprehension. My mistake was I was letting them select an easy book then selecting them the correct book.

    Reply to this comment

    • Anna G

      Yes, thank you, I’ve read that article several times actually. The problem I have with it has to do with this:

      “But Adams soon figured out the disconnect. Teachers understood these cues not just as the way readers construct meaning from text, but as the way readers actually identify the words on the page. And they thought that teaching kids to decode or sound out words was not necessary.”

      If that’s how a teacher truly feels, then the 3 cueing system will not work and promoting it may damage readers, as the article states. But I promote a balanced approach that includes daily phonics instruction.

      Yes, I see this quote as well:

      “Instead, it’s mixing a bunch of different ideas about how kids learn to read. It’s a little bit of whole word instruction with long lists of words for kids to memorize. It’s a little bit of phonics.”

      Strong teachers, even those who advocate the 3 cueing system, will recognize how/when to include phonics instruction. I don’t feel that throwing out the 3 cueing system because some teachers use it incorrectly is the answer.

      I think the article has good points and promotes appropriate caution, but I don’t agree that the 3 cueing system is wrong or incorrect.

      And that’s all I’m going to say on that, because I’ve been led into long drawn out discussions on the topic in the comments here on the blog, which I am not able to do at this time. 🙂 However, please know that I do take your comment seriously and will continue to do my own study on the subject. I may do a podcast episode about this in the future.

      Reply to this comment

  5. Amberly

    Hi Anna,
    I love your parent friendly explanation of the Guided Reading levels and your amazing list of books at levels A-Q. Is there any possibility of creating lists for the levels beyond Q (such as R, S, T, U, V and W)?
    Thanks so much!

    Reply to this comment

  6. Chris

    I’m so glad someone with a decent website following has taken up this task. I too, created a leveled book list featuring books I found at my library, but I haven’t put any time into getting my site out there. If you’re interested, I can send you the link to my site. My list includes about 20-25 books / level of books. About half of them were listed by publishers or other book leveling experts and another 10 or so I placed at approximately the right levels. It goes up to level I. I’d love to hear what you think of it! If I get positive feedback, I’ll work harder to get it into the hands of teachers, librarians and parents.
    Thanks,
    Chris

    Reply to this comment

    • Anna G

      Hi Chris! That’s actually in my plans for 2018 … to create more detailed lists for each level, with teaching tips for guided reading within that level. I do think people would be interested in your lists – I suggest creating pinnable images and sharing on Pinterest.

      Reply to this comment

  8. Kari Steele

    Between you and Becky Spence (thisreadingmama.com), you make life so easy for us. This will be a great handout to parents. Thank you for generously sharing everything you work so many hours on. Yours and Becky’s sites are my first go-to sites when I begin searching for specific materials. Thanks so much!

    Reply to this comment

  9. Katie Limbaugh Foristal

    Hi! Thanks for sharing all this information. Maybe I missed this in the article, so I do apologize….but, what source did you use to level the books? Did you use Fountas & Pinnell, Scholastic or some other source. Thanks so much for your thoughts!

    Reply to this comment

  10. Ally Copper

    Thank you so much for this list. Please know that libraries simply cannot catalog their books according to these levels. It would create SO MUCH work and require numerous man-hours for them to re-catalog all of their children’s collections according a system that possibly could change in the next couple of years. As a librarian, I do appreciate teachers’ efforts to help their students read books at increasingly challenging levels. However, when parents come and simply ask us at the library, “Where are the Level C books?” it can be frustrating. We want children to choose books mainly based on their interests, and when children feel like they have to say “no” to a cool book because it’s not the right letter level or Lexile number, it kind of breaks our hearts. 🙂 So, lists like are immensely helpful to librarians as well as parents! Thank you!

    Reply to this comment

      • Anna Geiger

        Thanks for your comment, Ally! I realize I worded my post poorly, because I agree with you that libraries shouldn’t (and can’t) level their books this way. I edited the post to reflect that.

        I think it’s so important that we help kids find “just right” books – and levels are an important part of that. But I also agree that we don’t want kids to feel limited because of a label on a book. It’s a tough balance to be sure!

        Reply to this comment

  11. Leslie Paris-Guess

    Thank you so much for this resource. It is now saved in my file preparing for next year to add to our end of the year summer review packet that we send home for students. I will be adding the DRA level that corresponds to the F&P level as that is what our school uses and that is the level we communicate to parents.

    Reply to this comment

  16. Amy-Lynn

    Thank you for creating this post and list. As a mother of three and having struggled to pick the right books for them to read. I was about to do the same for my next child but now I can find books in level A to start them off on a better step than the oldest. Thank you so very very much. Wish my oldest child teachers had this to help parents like me to assist in the teaching of the future generations.

    Reply to this comment

  18. Nicole

    Anna, this is perfect. I have been referring parents to the scholastic book wizard website so that they could search for books over the summer and find the level before heading to the library. The issue I was having was many of my students do not have computer access to do this. This resource is great because now I can send home this list with my summer study packet and they can go right in and check the books out. The levels correlate to the FP levels which is so beneficial.

    My only question is do you have a list for the levels L-O? I do teach first grade but I have some students reading at Third and Secons grade Levels and I would like them to read books at those levels over the summer?

    Reply to this comment

    • Anna Geiger

      Most of these are from the Fountas and Pinnell leveled library, but I did add a few that they don’t have leveled. I read them all first to make sure I felt like they fit with the appropriate level. For the higher levels (G-K), nearly all of them were directly from F & P.

      Reply to this comment

  25. Stacy

    THANK YOU!!! My son learned to read last summer and was so excited about it, but soon got frustrated because books were either too easy and repetitive or too difficult and he would easily get frustrated. I have been trying to figure out these reading levels at the library because they can be jarringly different from one series level 1 to the next. I am hoping to spend more time this summer reading with him and this list is going to save me! I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this! Thank you!

    Reply to this comment

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