Finding Just-Right Books for Kids

 Are you here because you have no idea what your child(ren) could or should be reading? Do the letters and numbers your child's teacher told you for your child's level mean jibberish or are you a teacher who has switched reading programs or are you new to teaching and starting a library? Have no fear! There are many resources out there to help you. 

This is an old guide from Scholastic that shows some of the paperbacks they've offered in the past. They are ordered by guided reading level. The chart on the first page shows correlation to grade, DRA, and Lexile levels.

Does your child have a favorite reading series that they've finished, but you're looking for something similar? Are you perusing books at the library or bookstore without having a clue what reading level they are? Download the Scholastic Book Wizard app or use the desktop website and watch the video below. 

Lexile has a hub where you can find books, level text, find word lists for grade levels, etc. I especially like the word lists for content areas like science. It helps a lot for students to preview these words to they can read and understand what a question or statement is asking because they are not words that occur frequently in other subject areas.

My classroom books are scanned into the Booksource app / website. Did you know that Fountas & Pinnell suggest that books are arranged by theme and genre instead of level? I write the levels inside the left hand corner of the books, and students see the level only after selecting the book by interest from a genre basket. I have stickers on each book to show which basket they go into, and students slip a paint stirrer with their number on it so they can remember where to put it back after checking it out. 

Remember that websites and apps are updated frequently, so some features shown in images and videos here may be slightly different when you access them. 

In the end, what really matters most is a child's interest in the book they are reading. If they don't like a book, they won't read it or won't read for comprehension. Think about what you read as an adult - recipes, magazines, newspaper articles, documents, etc. It's okay for kids to go read signs or comics or the back of baseball cards! As long as their eyes are on print, they will continue to improve as readers. 

Find more reading posts here.