Leveled Books
The only way a person can become a better reader is to simply read. However, it is important that students have easy access to books that are "just right" for their reading levels. This way they will be able to better build fluency and practice strategies that are used by good readers. Teachers can provide access to appropriate books in a variety of ways: The first way is by having a large and diverse classroom library. The second way is to constantly teach and model strategies to find "just right" books. While students practice using these strategies to find appropriate books, the third way teachers can help is to level the books in their libraries. Once students have identified the general level they are comfortable reading, leveled books will allow them to quickly find additional books that are "just right" for their levels. Because I want to provide my students with every available resource to practice becoming better readers, I decided to level my entire classroom library.
Choosing and Implementing a Leveling System
There are several different book leveling systems schools may use to level their books. Although I'm trained using DRA, I decided to use the Fountas and Pinnell gradient because it seems to be the most widely-used.
First, I created a color-coded chart to identify each Fountas and Pinnell level. However, on the off-chance that my future school uses another system, I also identified correlating Reading A-Z and DRA levels on my chart.
The second step involved finding resources to help me identify the Fountas and Pinnell level of each book. There are many different websites out there that list the levels of thousands of different books. However, the most comprehensive I've found is Scholastic's Book Wizard, which identifies the DRA, Guided Reading, Grade Level, and Lexile of most books. Then I began the actual leveling process.
The Leveling Process
Leveling my books was a very tedious task. It took me about two week to identify, record, tape, and sort through most of the books in my library. However, this process also allowed me to inventory my books and develop a word document that lists the level of each book. This way I will also be able to find a certain book when I need to use it!
Each book went through the following process: First, I went to my Shelfari account and added it to my library list. Second, I used Scholastic's Book Wizard to find the Fountas and Pinnell level of each book. Third, I attached the corresponding level's colors to the top of the the book's spine with electrical tape (electrical tape usually does not damage the cover when it is removed!) However, I made an exception for books in a series: These books are still leveled, but have their own separate boxes. Finally, I put the book it its level's magazine box (which I found in Target's dollar bins!) The boxes are placed in ascending level order so students have an idea of books that are close to their reading level that might be a little too easy or more of a challenge.
Each book went through the following process: First, I went to my Shelfari account and added it to my library list. Second, I used Scholastic's Book Wizard to find the Fountas and Pinnell level of each book. Third, I attached the corresponding level's colors to the top of the the book's spine with electrical tape (electrical tape usually does not damage the cover when it is removed!) However, I made an exception for books in a series: These books are still leveled, but have their own separate boxes. Finally, I put the book it its level's magazine box (which I found in Target's dollar bins!) The boxes are placed in ascending level order so students have an idea of books that are close to their reading level that might be a little too easy or more of a challenge.