Trying to climb the “level ladder” is not what reading is about. It should be about enjoyment and discovery. Focusing too much on text levels can cause problems. Fountas and Pinnell created the F&P Text Level Gradient ™ to be used as a teacher’s tool for assessment and instruction. The levels aren’t meant to be shared with the children or parents.
Click here to read the article, "A Level is a Teacher's Tool, NOT a Child's Label".
While well intentioned, limiting students to text by level creates more harm than good, and we end up creating the opposite of our goal. Yes, kids don't know how to select just right books. They don't know how to add, so we teach them. We can teach them this, too.
Over time with Scholastic bonus points, Donors Choose, and through my own purchases, I've built up a collection of just right books to share with students. They keep a bag in their book box and a bag for home. We do a big book swap out on Fridays. It's the only way I can keep up with it and stay sane!
Want to create your own Donors Choose project for just right books? Click here to see a list of sets I've added to my just right book tubs and here to read about suggestions for getting Donors Choose projects funded.
For levels A-E, I depend heavily on sets of leveled readers. For levels F and up, there are more "real" books available. I keep an eye out at Half Price Books for titles to add to these tubs, too.
I label the books with animal names that start with the correlating guided reading level. I've never had a kid question why they were reading a camel instead of a hyena. When a student is getting ready to move into the next level, I start mixing the sets to ease them into it.
