A Parent's Guide to Guided Reading Levels K,L,M

A Parent’s

Guide to

Guided

Reading

Levels

K,L,M

“Reading is to the mind

what exercise is to the

body.”

~ Richard Steele

martinschools.org

Take control of the television— Encour-

age reading as a free time activity, and set

limits on the amount of time your child

spends watching television or playing video

games. It’s difficult for reading to compete

with these distractions, especially when a

child is still struggling to read fluently.

Play word games — Use a dry erase

board to play word games with your child.

First, write out a word like mat. Then

change the initial sound. Have your child

sound out the word when it becomes fat

and then when it becomes sat. Next change

the final sound, so the word changes from

sat to sag to sap. Then change the middle

sound, so the word changes from sap to

sip. Make a game of it!

I read to you, you read to me—Have

your child read aloud to you every day. You

can take turns—you read one page and

your child the next. It’s just another way to

enjoy reading together.

Punctuate your reading.?! - When you

read aloud, read with expression. Discuss

how punctuation on a page represents ways

of speaking. You can say, for example,

“When we talk, we usually pause a little bit

at the end of a sentence. The way we show

this pause in writing is to use a period.”

Parent Tips

For Reading

at Home

http://www.pbs.org/launchingreaders/

parenttips.html

Reading text at increasingly higher levels is an expectation

of the Common Core State Standards. “Common

standards ensure that every child across the country is

getting the best possible education, no matter where a

child lives or what their background is. The common

standards will provide an accessible roadmap for schools,

teachers, parents and students, with clear and realistic

goals.”

-Gov. Roy Romer, Senior Advisor, The College Board

“Parents are a child’s first

and most important

teacher.”

~Ran and Ramey

Looking Forward…

What are characteristics of Level N,O,P,Q

Readers?

At levels N,O,P,Q, readers are able to under-

stand abstract and mature themes and take

on diverse perspectives and issues relating to

race, language, and culture. Readers solve

new vocabulary words, some defined in the

text and other unexplained. They can read

and understand descriptive words, some com-

plex content-specific words, and some techni-

cal words.

What are characteristics of Level N,O,P,Q

Texts?

Books at Levels N,O,P,Q include mysteries,

series books, books with sequels, or short sto-

ries. They include chapter books and shorter

fiction and informational texts. Some non-

fiction texts provide information in categories

on several related topics, and readers can

identify and use underlying structures

(description, compare/contrast, sequence,

problem/solution, and cause and effect).

What is Guided Reading?

Guided Reading is a highly effective form of

small-group instruction developed by re-

nowned reading research-

ers, Fountas and Pinnell.

Based on assessment, the

teacher brings together a

group of readers who are

similar in their reading development. The

teacher supports the reading in a way that

enables students to read a

more challenging text with

effective processing.

What are Guided

Reading Levels?

Guided Reading Levels

reflect a continuum of levels from A-Z (grades

K-8). Teachers continuously progress monitor

students to see how they’re moving along the

reading continuum.

What are characteristics of Level K,L,M

Readers?

At levels K,L,M, readers know the characteris-

tics of a range of genres. They can process

sentences that are complex, contain preposi-

tional phrases, introductory clauses, and lists

of nouns, verbs, and adjectives. Word-solving

is smooth and automatic in both silent and

oral reading. They read silently and independ-

ently. In oral reading, they demonstrate all

aspects of smooth, fluent processing.

What are characteristics of Level K,L,M

Texts?

Books at Levels K,L,M can be fiction chapter

books, longer series books, and mysteries.

Fiction narratives are straightforward but

have elaborate plots and multiple characters

that develop and show some change over

time. Texts at this level also include shorter

non-fiction texts mostly on single topics.

Books Kids Love

Level K

Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crocket Johnson

Here Comes the Strikeout by Leonard Kessler

Hooray for the Golly Sisters by Betsy Byars

Ibis: a True Whale Story by John Himmelman

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff

Is Your Mama a Llama? by Deborah Guarino

Jamaica and Brianna by Juanita Havill

Jamaica’s Find by Juanita Havill

John F. Kennedy by Judy Emerson

The Know-Nothings by Michelle Spirn

A Letter to Amy by Ezra Jack Keats

Level L

Alexander and the Wind-up Mouse

by Leo Lionni

Amanda Pig and Her Big

Brother Oliver by Jean van

Leeuwen

Amelia Bedelia series by Peggy Parish

Animal Tracks by Arthur Dorros

Astronauts by Tami Deedrick

Beans on the Roof by Betsy Byars

The Best Worst Day by Bonnie Graves

Cam Jansen series by David Adler

Horrible Harry series by Suzy Kline

Books Kids Love

Level M

The Adventures of Ratman by Ellen Weiss

Aliens for Breakfast by Jonathan Etra

Antarctica by Katie Bagley

The Art Lesson by Tomie dePaola

Arthur and the Lost Diary by Marc Brown

Arthur Makes the Team by Marc Brown

Aunt Flossie’s Hats by Elizabeth Howard

Bailey School Kids series by Debbie Dadey

Blue Ribbon Blues by Jerry Spinelli

Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey

Chicken Soup with Rice by Maurice Sendak

Chicken Sunday by Patricia Polacco

The Littles series by John Peterson

Magic Treehouse series by Mary P. Osborne

Parents’ Guide to Guided Reading Levels K,L,M

Young readers

must spend time

interacting with

texts that are

“Just Right” for

them.

Kids love to follow char-

acters through a series

of short chapter books.