Anonymous wrote:I'm not a huge fan of the reading levels. They made sense for my DD who reads anything but for DS they don't seem to work well. He amazingly has no problem reading high interest books but gets frustrated reading other more simple readers. He can sound out the words and knows the rules but if the interest isn't there he isn't doing it. He seemed to really struggle last night with his leveled reader but had no problem reading a Star Wars book far above this level that he hadn't heard before and using all the tools he knows (phonic, sight words, context etc) to figure out harder words.

If droid, galaxy, lightsaber, blaster, millenium falcon, hyperspace and other terms were on the SAT we would be off to college.

Teehee. Although you just put your finger on the pulse of the complaints that standardized testing is inherently biased. There are some who argue that if certain other words that were more relatable to urban life were on the test, blacks might perform better.

Anonymous wrote:MCPS uses Fountas and Pinnell. Level 6 is end of K target/beginning of first. I am the 9:48 PP and that is what I was assuming. It's very hard to find comparable books because level 6 books are very simple-one sentence per page, etc.

The point I was making was to let your child independently read the books they are bringing home, that they have been using in class, and to focus on comprehension if you want to help at home.

Thanks everyone. My problem is that he doesnt bring more than one book home a week - maybe because it's a big class, i dont know - so I dont get a good sense of what comprable books are. And the one he brings home they've clearly done several times because he's basically memorized it, so I rarely see him reading.

He's the type of easily frustrated kid, so I have to be careful not to get books that are too hard at home or he'll be turned off. We've been reading other 'beginning reader' books, with him reading the sight words/words he knows, but that doesnt seem to build antyhing, just reinforces what he already learned.

His teacher had the same suggetions as the PPs, read at home, work on comprehension, etc. We do that, mayeb it's selfish, but I really want to see him actually reading - and thought getting some books like the ones they use at school could help with that

I'm not a huge fan of the reading levels. They made sense for my DD who reads anything but for DS they don't seem to work well. He amazingly has no problem reading high interest books but gets frustrated reading other more simple readers. He can sound out the words and knows the rules but if the interest isn't there he isn't doing it. He seemed to really struggle last night with his leveled reader but had no problem reading a Star Wars book far above this level that he hadn't heard before and using all the tools he knows (phonic, sight words, context etc) to figure out harder words.

If droid, galaxy, lightsaber, blaster, millenium falcon, hyperspace and other terms were on the SAT we would be off to college.

Anonymous wrote:Here's a target chart for MCPS (not sure if you're in MoCo but it will give you an idea):

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/uploadedFiles/curriculum/english/elementary/ReadingTargets-KthruGrade5.pdf

This talks about the levels and gives examples of text:

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/uploadedFiles/curriculum/english/elementary/7keystextlevels.pdf

I have another MCPS chart which pairs associated lexiles with the reading levels referenced above.

Grade 1 -- level 5-17, lexile 200-400
Grade 2 -- level J-M, lexile 300-500
Grade 3 -- level M-P, lexile 500-700
Grade 4 -- level Q-T, lexile 600-850
Grade 5 -- level t-W, lexile 700-950

you can go to lexile.com and search in a variety of ways for books at the different lexile levels. There are lexile numbers for most of the popular books and publishers of kids reading material.

MCPS uses Fountas and Pinnell. Level 6 is end of K target/beginning of first. I am the 9:48 PP and that is what I was assuming. It's very hard to find comparable books because level 6 books are very simple-one sentence per page, etc.

The point I was making was to let your child independently read the books they are bringing home, that they have been using in class, and to focus on comprehension if you want to help at home.

Here's a target chart for MCPS (not sure if you're in MoCo but it will give you an idea):

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/uploadedFiles/curriculum/english/elementary/ReadingTargets-KthruGrade5.pdf

This talks about the levels and gives examples of text:

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/uploadedFiles/curriculum/english/elementary/7keystextlevels.pdf

Sounds like they might use the DRA system. A 6 would be a beginning K reader.

Scholastic has a tool where you plug in the level or range and they give you a long list of books that are appropriate.

http://www.scholastic.com/bookwizard/

Ask your child's teacher to show you examples of books at his reading level. Have him practice reading independently using the books she sends home and read to him from the books you check out from the library. Ask him questions before, during, and after reading to work on his comprehension.

My sons K teacher talks about reading levels, level 6, 6, 7. I dont have any idea what these levels correspond to - and dont' see much difference in the (few) books DS brings home.

I'd love to be able to do reading at home with him, but the early reader books at the library are so different, and there are so many level systems, that it doesnt work

Any suggestions?