Leveled Books as Ladders to Fluent Reading

What’s A Leveled Book? Get the A to Z of First Grade reading. 

What are leveled books? At the start of elementary school, some of the new terms may seem confusing to parents. Leveled books are simply a way of teaching children to read using books that start with short, simple sentences with pictures, then get progressively richer and more complex. Readers are classified from A to Z (or from 1 to 44, depending on which series children use). To develop first graders’ reading skills, teachers will use a combination of leveled books, word cards, and phonics – breaking words into individual sounds. 

Attend your child’s Back to School night in the fall – you’ll get the chance to meet your child’s teacher and find out how you can help support classroom reading. For parents wondering which books to buy or check out of the library, teachers may provide guidance. Many of the early reading books are published by education specialists, and may not be available in bookstores. Some books classified for ‘early readers’ in bookstores are actually quite advanced. If you buy a book that your first grader struggles with, don’t worry, it’s not a wasted purchase. Put it aside for a few weeks – they’ll get to it in time. 

All children develop at their own rate. Parents who want to help should look to their child’s teacher for initial guidance. Make reading as fun as you can, praise your child for lessons learned, and give them as many reading opportunities as you can. Words appear everywhere, not just in books. Menus, newspapers, magazines, and street signs are all readable. Make the world your classroom!   

For more information on leveled books, please see the full article: