What does a level D / 5-6 look like?
(This is the goal level for the end of the 1st 9-weeks grading period.)
· The stories are slightly more complex but still simple to understand.
· The pictures continue to be supportive, but more attention to the print is required. (For example: puppy/dog; kitten/cat; house/home)
· A few more lines of print (2 to 6), more words, and longer sentences. Longer sentences will encourage and develop phrasing, expression, and fluency during re-reading when the book has become familiar.
· More endings to words (-s, -ing, -ed) to further develop looking through words (For example: paint/painting; come/comes) and correct language structure.
· There is still sufficient space between the words that we want to begin moving away from pointing to the words. Using a finger is still useful when encountering a “tricky” word – it helps focus the eyes the look for familiar parts and chunks.
What does level E / 7-8 look like?
· The amount of text continues to increase (3-8 lines).
· Stories are more complex and require connecting to prior knowledge and experiences.
· The pictures support the story but provide more details. A word usually cannot be easily figured out just by looking at the picture and getting the word started.
· The text drives the story. All reading cues (meaning: does the word make sense?, visual: does the word look right?, structure: does the word sound right?) are needed to figure out new words.
· There is increased vocabulary, longer words, and more endings on words (-s, -ing, -ed, -er, -est).
· Taking words apart and using analogies to figure out new words is emphasized. For example: seeing “go” and “ing” in the word “going”, “can” or “and” in “candy”, or “see” in “seeds” would be taking a word apart. Analogies would be using “day” to help figure out “away” or “cat” to figure out “catch”.
An example of a level E book is The Foot Book by Dr. Seuss. On one page the text says”
“Left foot, left foot, Right foot, right.
Feet in the morning, feet at night.”
Common Errors:
How would I use taking apart a word?
Take the word “morning”. The little word “or” is in the word. Ask your child what little word he or she sees and what part, or chunk, he or she knows (-ing). Then have him or her get the word started and put it with the little word and the ending. This may take some modeling by you and talking out loud about how you would figure out the word.
How would I use making an analogy?
In this particular example, you would show your child how if he or she knows “right”, then he or she knows “night”. After reading, you could also show how this can also lead to “light”, “fight”, “sight”, “tight”, “bright”, etc.
We also want to notice and encourage cross-checking. This means using a different reading cue to check if they have figured out the word correctly. Using the second example, visual cues (what the word looks like) were used to figure out the word. You could then encourage your child to check the picture (a meaning cue) to check if he or she is indeed correct. If the picture supports that it is at night, then visual cues were used to figure out the word, and meaning cues were used to “cross-check.”
Remember to give wait time to your child. You don’t want to jump in immediately after an error. Give your child a chance to self-correct, or to notice on his or her own that something isn’t quite right.
What does a level F / 9-10 look like?
This is the goal for the end of the 2nd 9-weeks.
· The stories are slightly longer that level E and the print is smaller.
· The pictures continue to be supportive, but the text carries the meaning.
· The stories have more events, more character development, a beginning-middle-end, and a greater variety of dialogue that is presented in different ways (jokes, enlarged print, text or talking bubbles, exclamations such as “Oh”, “Uh-oh” or “Ha”).
· Even more opportunities for word analysis by taking words apart, making analogies, and looking for chunks or parts.
An example of a level F book is Cookie’s Week by Cindy Ward. In this story, Cookie the cat gets into some kind of mischief every day of the week. One page reads:
“On Tuesday, Cookie upset the trash can and garbage went everywhere.”
Common Errors:
How would I help my child with “upset” since it is not a word we typically use?
This would be a perfect example of taking a word apart and possible even using an analogy. You would ask your child what word he or she sees. You may also find that you need to help him or her with “set”. You could use the analogy of “get” (not “git” as we typically say) or “let” to get to “set”. Then put the two words together. This can also lead to a discussion of how book language is sometimes different than the way we talk.
How would I help my child figure out “garbage” if he or she keeps saying “trash”?
First, you would have them go back and read and get the word started. “Trash” cannot start with the /g/ sound. Second, -ar is a chunk, or part, that we work on. You may find it necessary to make an analogy to “car” to help him or her get to “gar”. Then, have your child go back and read again, getting that first part “gar” started and think about what would make sense.
On another page, the text reads:
“Maybe Cookie will rest.”
Again, you could use an analogy to go from “day” (a previous spelling word) to “may” and the word “be” would be a little word that your child knows.
