Home » Misc » Guided reading levels by grade level

Guided reading levels by grade level


Leveling Chart | Scholastic Guided Reading Program for the Classroom

Use the grid below to shop by Guided Reading, Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA), and Lexile® Levels. This chart includes Lexile level recommendations and may also be used as a general leveling guide.

Click on links to shop the Teacher Store!

Grade Scholastic Guided
Reading Level		 DRA Level Lexile® Levels

Grade Scholastic Guided
Reading Level		 DRA Level Lexile® Levels
Kindergarten
A–1
2
3–4
6
 Beginning Reader
1
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
A–1
2
3–4
6
8
10
12
14
16
 190L-530L
2
E
F
G
H
I
J-K
L-M
N
8
10
12
14
16
16–18
20–24
28–30
 420L-650L
3
J-K
L-M
N
O-P
Q
16–18
20–24
28–30
34–38
40
 520L-820L
4
M
N
O-P
Q-R
S-T
20–24
28–30
34–38
40
40–50
 740L-940L
5
Q-R
S-V
W
40
40-50
60
 830L-1010L
6
T-V
W-Y
Z
50
60
70
 925L–1070L

Back to Top

The Guided Reading Levels Chart and What It Means

Have you ever found yourself using a system, but not really knowing why? Maybe you are using it because someone introduced you to it and you just rolled with it. Maybe you have found yourself using it because you knew there was a purpose but weren’t sure what it was. I know I have been in this place. I have been there with guided reading levels and the guided reading levels chart for sure.

When I first started teaching guided reading, I found myself wondering things like, “What does this guided reading level mean?” Or “What does this have to do with how this child is learning to read?” Or even “Why on earth are some numbers and other’s letters?”

I want to help make things clear for you so I am sharing all I can about guided reading levels, the guided reading levels chart, and what it all means.

What are guided reading levels?

Guided reading levels are simply a system developed originally by Irene Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell to help organize reading skills and strategies so that readers are not overwhelmed. The goal of guided reading is to work within a child’s instructional level. Anything above that can cause frustration for the reader and anything below does not allow for enough teachable moments.

The most common system for leveling is Fountas and Pinnell’s guided reading levels system which uses letters to indicate each level. It ranges from levels A-Z with A being the simplest and Z being the most complex of the guided reading levels. Other popular systems are DRA, which uses numbers, Reading A-Z, and Rigby. Lexile levels are another familiar system that uses large ranges. Personally, I have found this system to be the most difficult to work within.

All good teachers teach within a “system” naturally. Never would we dump algebra on a child who is learning basic number patterns, yet the number patterns will set them up for later success in deeper math concepts!

Books are assigned reading levels and as children are assessed, children are given leveled books to work within that do not overwhelm them. The goal is that they have a useful tool that allows the teacher to come alongside them and coach them through.

Remember, children are not assigned levels. Books are assigned levels.

This is something that I am guilty of in the past and while it can be wonderful motivation for some as they work to move up levels, it’s also not great for many.

How do you determine a guided reading level?

Guided Reading Levels for Books

Assigning a guided reading level to a book is complex. Many factors are taken into account. Scholastic lists the following:

Genre: The type of book (here’s your guide to children’s book genres) 
Text Structure: How the book is organized and presented
Content: The subject matter of a book
Themes and Ideas: The big ideas that are communicated by the author
Language and Literary Features: The types of writing techniques employed by the writer
Sentence Complexity: How challenging the syntax in each sentence is
Vocabulary: The frequency of new words introduced in the book
Words: The ease at which the words in the book can be figured out or decoded by a reader
Illustrations: The correlation and consistency of images and pictures in the books to the words printed on the page
Book and Print Features: The physical aspects of the printed word on the page –Mary Doman, A Parent’s Guide to Guided Reading, Scholastic. com

Just remember there is no perfect book and no perfect system. I know firsthand from leveling my own sets of guided reading books that it’s super tricky and one word can change the whole level! Being aware of your readers’ skills is so important!

Matching Just Right Books with Children

When it comes to matching guided reading levels with readers, there are a few ways you can do this. If you are a teacher, the best way to is to take a running record. This will allow you to get accurate data on the child and really see their strengths and growing points. If you are a parent, you can use a simple five finger test to determine if a book is too hard or just right. Every time a word is missed, the child raises a finger. Once they get to five, they know it’s too tricky right now.

It’s important to remember that when searching for a good fit you take into consideration more than just the text. You must also consider comprehension. If a child is struggling to comprehend the text, then it’s likely too hard. If the child can comprehend it well and can read it well, then it may be too easy for the child.

What does each of the guided reading levels mean?

So what do each of the guided reading levels mean? I love to look at them from the perspective of what they encourage readers to be working towards and how much a child can do when they advance levels.

In my guided reading resource card FREEBIE, all of the strategies, skills, behaviors, and comprehension focuses are explained at each level. They not only help you, the teacher, meet your readers where they are, but they help you have a roadmap to see where they are going next, too.

I love to use them when planning my guided reading lessons!

Where do I go from here?

Once you know where a reader is working and you know that you have leveled text, you may be looking for some easy to follow guided reading lessons. After years of planning my own lessons and hearing from teachers that they weren’t sure where to even begin, I created guided reading lessons for Kindergarten, First Grade, and Second Grade readers.

The lessons have an easy to follow format, guided reading books, notes about each level and where students are working, word work activities, comprehension activities to follow up the text reading, and even notes for parents.

Shop Kindergarten Guided Reading Lessons

Shop First Grade Guided Reading Lessons

Shop Second Grade Guided Reading Lessons

No matter where you are in your guided reading journey, it’s important to simply begin and keep moving forward. Teachers, myself included, are always learning, growing, changing our practice, and improving! I’m rooting for you!

pin it

Want to use the latest research to boost your readers during small groups? This FREE guide is packed with engaging ideas to help them grow!

standards for grades and quarters

Reading is a key skill that opens the gate to the land of knowledge for a child. Thanks to this skill, children learn about the phenomena and events of the world around them, get acquainted with the characters and actions of people, meet new problems and ideas. This skill helps them to broaden their horizons and ideas about the world, develops critical thinking and trains cognitive abilities - attention, imagination, memory. Reading is the foundation for further successful learning.

To understand how well a child develops this skill, it helps to check the reading technique. Reading technique is a multifactorial test that characterizes the development of a skill from different angles. In the technique of reading are evaluated:

  • reading speed,
  • reading method,
  • reading awareness,
  • correct reading,
  • expressiveness of reading.

A difficult reading skill consists of both a technical and a semantic component and is aimed at achieving the main goal - understanding and assimilation of the information read.

Reading technique parameters

Let's consider all the components of reading technique in more detail.

  1. Reading speed - the number of words read in a certain period of time. Often, parents focus on the formation of fluent reading, while the child makes many mistakes, does not understand and does not remember what he read. It is not necessary to force only speed, slower conscious reading and a gradual increase in tempo are better than fast mechanical reading with errors and inaccuracies.
  2. Way of reading — syllabic reading or reading the whole word, smoothly. With the development of the skill, the child has a gradual transition from syllabic reading to smooth reading in whole words.
  3. The correct reading of is characterized by the absence of errors and hesitation. Inattention, problems of diction lead to inaccurate reading, indistinct articulation and, as a result, to a distortion of meaning. Pay attention to the correct reading - this will be the key to competent writing.
  4. Reading awareness involves reading comprehension, awareness of the idea and meaning of the text, and in the future - this is the ability to catch the subtext, humor, irony, the attitude of the author. Interfering with reading comprehension can be low reading speed, distorted reproduction - guessing words, changing the shape of words, not reading endings.
  5. Reading expressiveness - the use of pauses, finding the right intonation, the correct placement of stresses. The expressiveness of reading is inextricably linked with awareness. When understanding what is read, it is easier for the child to observe the necessary pauses, select the correct intonation and place logical stresses.

Reading speed standards for elementary school

GEF standards determine the desired reading speed for a child by a certain point in learning, help to understand whether the development of a skill is successful or whether additional attention is required. Standards - indicative values; it is important to take into account the individual psychophysiological characteristics of each child and evaluate the growth of his personal indicators.

Grade 1 reading speed standards

Reading speed standards in grade 2

Reading speed standards in grade 3

Reading rate in class 9005 9000 9000 9000

Reading speed, which should be sought to final schools, is reading at the speed of conversational speech, 110-120 words per minute. The human articulatory apparatus has adapted to this speed over time. And most importantly, the reading should be conscious, correct, expressive.

Other parameters of reading technique

Grade 1

At the end of the first half of the year. Reading is smooth syllabic, conscious and correct, with a clear pronunciation of syllables and words.

At the end of the second half of the year. Reading is conscious, correct, simple words are read as a word. Words with a complex syllabic structure can be read syllable by syllable.

Grade 2

At the end of the first half of the year. Reading consciously, correctly, in whole words. Compliance with logical stresses. Compound words can be read syllable by syllable.

At the end of the second half of the year. Reading meaningful, correct, in whole words. With observance of logical stresses, pauses and intonations. Syllabic reading is undesirable.

Grade 3

At the end of the first half of the year. Reading consciously, correctly, in whole words. With observance of pauses and intonations, with the help of which the child expresses an understanding of the meaning of what is being read.

At the end of the second half of the year. Reading consciously, correctly, in whole words. With observance of pauses and intonations, through which the child expresses understanding of the meaning of what is being read.

4th grade

At the end of the first half of the year. Reading consciously, correctly, in whole words. With the help of observed pauses and intonations, the child not only expresses an understanding of the meaning of what is being read, but is able to express his attitude to what he has read.

At the end of the second half of the year. Reading consciously, correctly, in whole words. With observance of pauses and intonations, through which the child expresses an understanding of the meaning of what is read, and his attitude to the content of what is read.

How can I test my child's reading skills on my own?

Have your child see how well they read already. Children usually love to know how many centimeters they have grown, and they may also be interested in knowing their progress in reading. Warn about the upcoming test and ask the child to read quickly.

The control of reading technique in sensitive children who, due to their temperament, can hardly tolerate various tests, can be carried out imperceptibly or in the form of a game. Do not create unnecessary excitement around the upcoming test, do not arrange a test in the form of an exam. If the child is worried, stutters, transfer control to another time.

Verification process:

  1. Prepare a clock with a second hand or use the stopwatch on your phone, and choose the appropriate text.
  2. Ask the child to take a seat.
  3. Show him the text and ask him to read it aloud.
  4. Track the time from the moment your child starts reading. Not all children are able to immediately start reading on command, which leads to inaccurate results.
  5. Usually, one minute is noted for checking, but some experts recommend taking 2 minutes for monitoring, since not all children are equally quickly included in the work. Divide the result obtained in 2 minutes in half.
  6. Do not correct or interrupt while reading. It is better to discuss the mistakes made after the child has finished reading.
  7. Assess the speed, correctness, awareness and expressiveness of reading.
  8. Retest and compare results. Reading technique may differ depending on the child's fatigue, health status and mood.

Which text is suitable for verification?

Both fiction and non-fiction texts appropriate for the child's age are suitable for this purpose. The text should be unfamiliar, but understandable to the child, have educational and educational value. The texts of V. Bianchi, L. Tolstoy, N. Nosov, B. Zhitkov, K. Ushinsky, V. Dragunsky are suitable. The text for verification can be found in special manuals or in a textbook on the Russian language and literature.

You should find the text that is located on the spread of the book so that the child does not have to waste time turning pages. Choose text without an abundance of punctuation marks and distracting illustrations. It is not desirable that the passage contains common complex sentences and dialogues. The font must be large enough and legible. The text should not have a technical focus and contain terms incomprehensible to the child.

Test score

Speed ​​score

Count how many words the child read in one minute. When counting words, pay attention:

  • prepositions, conjunctions, particles of 1-2 letters are counted as one word;
  • when wrapping, the word is counted as 2 words;
  • if the word is written with a hyphen, look at how many letters are on both sides of the hyphen: if there are more than three, we count it as 2 words, for example, "long, long", if less than three, for example, "somehow", - as one .

Compare your score with the recommended range and your child's previous performance.

Comprehension score

Determine how well the child understood what they read. If the student reads slowly and has read only a couple of sentences, let him read the passage to the end. Ask your child a few questions about the text. Ask what or who he read about. Ask the child to identify the main idea of ​​what they read and retell the text.

For a deeper check of the meaning of the reading and learning, use special teaching kits.

Correctness assessment

Pay attention to whether the child reads what is written correctly, whether he pronounces words clearly, whether there are hesitations and corrections, whether he alters words, whether he changes endings, whether he places stresses correctly. Discuss the mistakes with the student.

Evaluation of expressiveness

To assess the expressiveness of reading, the child is offered a familiar text. Listen to whether the child observes pauses and other punctuation marks, whether he changes intonation, whether he highlights the main idea.

Improving reading technique

Poor results in reading technique are not a reason to be upset, but only a signal that additional efforts need to be made to improve the skill. You can work with the child on your own or contact a specialist who will analyze the weak points and select the appropriate exercises. Conduct additional activities with the child in the mode of "sparing reading" without pressure. It is more important to observe the regularity and frequency of classes: 10-20 minutes daily.

How can you motivate your child to read:

  1. Reward your efforts with stickers, stars.
  2. Mark progress visually - create a success board so your child can visually see their progress
  3. Conduct activities in the form of a game, such as "going to the library" or "reading to your favorite toys. "
  4. Choose books and texts that are interesting for your child.
  5. Let the child read to pets, they are grateful and accepting listeners. Reading to them, the child is not afraid to make a mistake, he relaxes and overcomes the fear of failure.
  6. Have a reading competition between peers and siblings.

To improve the speed of reading will help:

  1. Reading by syllabic tables.
  2. Multiple reading. Read the same text several times, increasing the pace. From the second time the child will be able to read faster.
  3. "Tug". An adult leads a finger along the line, setting the pace. The child tries to read at a given pace.
  4. Tops and roots. The child reads the words, covering the upper or lower half of the letters with a ruler.
  5. Reading in a book turned upside down.
  6. Lightning. Alternating reading at a comfortable pace with reading at the highest possible speed for 20 seconds on the command "Lightning!".
  7. "Sprint". Reading speed competition between classmates.
  8. Work on expanding the field of view according to Schulte tables.
  9. Reading with a window to eliminate "regression" - recurrent eye movements that lead to repeated reading.

For correct reading:

  1. Work on clear diction, do articulation exercises.
  2. Read tongue twisters and tongue twisters.
  3. Invite the child to correct the deformed sentences: "The weather is good on the street."
  4. "Imaginary word". When reading, the wrong word is pronounced, the child must correct it.

Reading comprehension

  1. Wave Reading. First, the child reads aloud, then retells what he read.
  2. Drawing up a plan for reading.
  3. The student reads to himself at a comfortable pace, tells what he understood and felt, what he thought about
  4. Discuss unfamiliar words and expressions.
  5. Invite the child to draw a picture of the passage they read.
  6. Ask them to tell you what they liked about the text, what they remember.

For expressive reading

  1. Role-playing, staging.
  2. Put on a "radio show".
  3. Expressive recitation of poems.
  4. Voice flexibility training. The ability to speak quieter-louder, higher-lower.
  5. Conducting reading indicating the tone or strength of the voice.
  6. Live Picture. One reads, the other reacts with facial expressions.

Improving reading skills in elementary school is very important. It is fluent and meaningful reading that activates the processes of thinking, attention, memory and is the basis for a child's successful learning in the future. This detailed instruction on reading technique control will help you track and improve your child's skill development.

Russian language for students in grades 1-4

We develop thinking skills, prepare for the Olympiads and improve the results in Russian in an interactive format

learn more

Reading technique for grades 1-4

every child. Being able to read is important not only for the lessons of literature and the Russian language, but also for all other sciences. It will be difficult for a student to learn material in mathematics, English or the world around him if he does not know how to quickly familiarize himself with the text and understand what he read. It is reading that opens the door to the world of knowledge. Mastering cognitive texts or works of art, children learn to communicate, learn about the surrounding reality, and broaden their horizons. Cognitive abilities are also honed - memory, attention. Therefore, reading is considered the basis of success in further education.

But how do you know if a child reads well for his age or not? This can be done by checking the reading technique. Many parents do not quite understand the format and meaning of this test, believing that the determining criterion is speed, that is, the number of words read per minute. In fact, the test is focused on assessing not only the pace of reading, but also other skills. Let's try to deal with the requirements prescribed for reading technique in the Federal Standards.

Reading technique: basic criteria

How fast should you read? Is everything okay with a child with technology? Perhaps his skills do not meet some standards? These questions always concern responsible parents. And I must say that there is nothing wrong with this excitement, because involvement in the process of teaching children is in many ways the key to future success. But is it really worth worrying about reading speed?

To answer this question, it is necessary to understand in detail what exactly is assessed when testing reading technique. According to the requirements of the Federal State Educational Standard, the following are assessed:

  • reading speed - the number of characters that a child is able to read in one minute;
  • way of reading - reading words by syllables or whole, smoothly;
  • correctness - the absence of mistakes and hesitations made by the child when reading;
  • awareness - the ability to understand the meaning and idea of ​​what is read;
  • expressiveness - the ability to correctly place stresses, observe intonation and maintain pauses when reading.

Analyzing the listed criteria, we can say that the test of reading technique is based on an assessment of two components: semantic and technical. At the same time, the technical side - tempo, expressiveness, correctness - is subordinated to the semantic, that is, the ability to understand the content of the text.

Reading technique: what is really important?

Reading is the most important type of speech activity, based on the ability to perceive and assimilate information. Unlike drawings, diagrams and video sequences, it activates the imagination. Scientists have proven that when reading poetry, other areas of the brain are involved than when mastering prose. This fact is explained by the different structure of phrases and phrases used in prose and poetry. Therefore, the ability to read can be considered as a tool for self-development. But this is not a basic skill, but acquired in the learning process. And here it is important not to force things, but to focus on the abilities and capabilities of the child.

It must be understood that reading technique is only one of the criteria, and it is not necessary to focus only on it. Especially parents whose children are not yet in school. Don't just chase the pace. At this stage, it is more important to broaden your horizons, get acquainted with different topics, memorize new words. And the best way to achieve this is to read a lot, daily, but not to put speed at the forefront.

As far as schoolchildren are concerned, two parameters are essentially important here: technique and meaningfulness of reading. Technique is usually called the ability to distinguish letters, transform them into sounds, compose syllables and words. Meaningfulness is a deeper concept. It is based on understanding the meaning and content of the text.

It would be erroneous to require the child to make sense of what he has read until he has developed the skill of technical letter recognition. All the efforts of the crumbs, who are just learning to read, are aimed at memorizing and recognizing letters, syllables, words. In order to understand the essence of what is written in the text, he no longer has any intellectual strength or time. Therefore, primary education teachers first focus on technology, and only when it is brought to automatism, they begin to form a meaningful approach to reading.

Reading speed standards for elementary school

Reading speed standards adopted for elementary school students:

  • Grade 1: 1st semester - 20-25 words per minute, 2nd semester - 30-40 words;
  • Grade 2: I half-year - 40-50 words; II half-year - 50-60 words;
  • Grade 3: I half-year - 60-70 words; II half-year - 70-80 words per minute;
  • Grade 4: I half-year - 80-90 words per minute; end of the school year - 100-120 words.

In classes and schools for gifted children, the rate of reading may be higher. So, in the first grade, such children read more than 60 words per minute, in the second - 90-95, in the third - 95-105 words per minute. The pace when reading to yourself should be 20-50 words faster than when reading aloud.

Other test parameters

And a few more parameters that you should pay attention to:

  • Grade 1 - the student can read a significant part of the text by syllables.
  • Grade 2 - higher requirements are imposed on reading technique: only complex words can be read by syllables, it is important to observe pauses and correctly place stresses.
  • Grade 3 - reading must be conscious and expressive, with observance of intonation. In order to correctly assess the skills of the child, retelling is practiced.
  • Grade 4 - the student should be able to analyze what he has read and express his personal opinion.

Focusing on the standard, we can draw some conclusions about the effectiveness of training. But even if the child cannot read the number of words prescribed in the standards, you should not worry too much about it. After all, these are just average standards developed on the basis of general data. Each student has their own level and pace of development. Checking the technique is rather information for the teacher and parents. After analyzing the results, you can understand in which aspects of training you need to show more diligence.​​

Testing your reading skills yourself

You can organize a reading test at home, but don't turn it into an exam. Some children are quite sensitive to any tests, and in stressful situations they cannot always demonstrate everything they are capable of. Come up with a game format or check the technique discreetly. If the child himself wants to know what success he has achieved, then no problems will arise.

Action sequence:

  1. Arm yourself with a watch with a second hand. To check, you can use a stopwatch on your smartphone, but it’s better to refuse an hourglass, since a child who has never seen such a thing will be distracted by them.
  2. Prepare a text and show it to the child.
  3. Ask to read the text aloud.
  4. The time should be recorded from the start of reading.
  5. If you notice that a child has made a mistake, don't stop him, just make a note for yourself.
  6. Rate the result. To get the most objective picture of the student's skills, you should conduct a control check and compare the results.

If you see that the child is not concentrated enough, he is in a bad mood or is not feeling well, check the reading technique on another day.

Correctly evaluate the result

Count the number of words read. Points to pay attention to when counting:

  • conjunctions, particles, prepositions consisting of one or two letters are counted as one word;
  • when wrapping, a word is counted not as one, but as two;
  • words with a hyphen are counted differently: if there are three or more letters on both sides of the hyphen, then the word is counted as two, less than three letters - as one word.

Not only speed is important, but other criteria as well. Be sure to evaluate the correctness of the text you read. All mistakes made should be sorted out with the child. If you notice that there are a lot of hesitations, corrections, changes in endings and whole words, you should consult with the teacher. Perhaps professional correction of reading skills is needed.

It is also important to understand how well the child understood the meaning of the text. It is not necessary to ask the student to retell what they have read. It is enough that he describes the content in a few words. Ask him to identify the main idea. If there are problems with this, then you can resort to retelling.

Pay attention to expressiveness. The student should try to observe intonation, pause in accordance with punctuation marks. Unfortunately, not all children are able to read a passage with an expression. Tell the child in which places you need to increase the pace and emotionality, which words need to be emphasized.

Requirements for texts used to test reading skills

When choosing a text, adhere to the following recommendations:

  1. It should be a text unfamiliar to the child, but not too complex, age appropriate.
  2. Pay attention to the structure of sentences: they should be short, without dialogues and a lot of punctuation marks.
  3. It is better to choose text without pictures.
  4. Font size is also important - it should be large enough.
  5. Text must not be split into two pages.

Of course, you shouldn't check your reading technique using the instructions for household appliances or a manual for housewives. The best option is short stories about nature, animals, seasons.

Tips for Improving Reading Technique

Don't be discouraged if your test results aren't up to standard. But what really needs to be done is to put more diligence and not be lazy to practice. You can seek help from specialists or deal with the child on your own. But just remember that you need to do at least 15 minutes every day.

There are many exercises to improve reading technique:

  • reading the same text several times in a row with a gradual increase in pace;
  • "buzzing reading" - daily five minutes of reading in a low voice;
  • "gibberish writing" - the use of texts in which some of the letters are written upside down;
  • "word search" - an exercise to search for a specific word in the text;
  • exercise with syllabic tables.

These are just some of the exercises to improve your reading skills. There are also recommendations for working on literacy, expressiveness, understanding the meaning of what is read:

  • if there are problems with diction, you should focus on tongue twisters;
  • in order for the child to better understand the meaning of what he read, ask him to retell texts more often, make plans, draw illustrations for any passage;
  • Poems are most suitable for improving the expressiveness of reading. Only you need to recite them not quietly and calmly, but loudly and emotionally.

It is believed that the speed of reading should be comparable to conversational speech. This opinion is shared by both distinguished teachers and young innovative teachers. On average, 120-150 words per minute - it was to this pace that the human articulatory apparatus adapted over several centuries of evolution. Of course, such indicators are applicable for middle and high school students, but this does not mean that they should not be strived for.

Learn more