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Understanding Book Characteristics Leveling is a complex process involving the examination of text features and the unique blend of these features in any one book:

One text may be challenging because of certain features, and another text may be challenging for different features.

A text with simple words and concepts may be made harder or easier by factors such as length, layout, and print size.

On the other hand, a text that "looks easy" because it has few lines of text and big print may be quite challenging because of the vocabulary and the difficulty or number of the concepts included.

The features used to evaluate a book’s level include print and layout, vocabulary, sentence complexity, structure, content, language, themes and ideas, and all these characteristics in combination:

BOOK AND PRINT FEATURES The physical aspects of the text—what readers cope with in terms of length, size, and layout. Book and print features also include tools like the table of contents, glossary, pronunciation guides, indices, and sidebars.

VOCABULARY Refers to the meaning of the words and is part of our oral language. The more the words are accessible to readers in terms of meaning, the easier a text will be. For individuals, reading and writing vocabularies refer to words that they understand and can also read or write.

WORDS Recognizing and solving the printed words in the text. The challenge in a text partly depends on the number and difficulty of the words that the reader must solve by recognizing them or decoding them. Having many of the same high frequency words makes a text more accessible to readers.

Books are leveled not solely on the difficulty of specific vocabulary words, but rather on how they explain difficult words. For example, Lemony Snicket might use the following; “he was a malicious man, in other words he was very cruel”. In contrast, Harry Potter might describe Professor Snape as malicious while readers would need to infer what the author meant. This explains why Level A-D books may use words like “rhinoceros” or “dinosaur”, because there is usually a picture accompanying the word.

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SENTENCE COMPLEXITY Written language is qualitatively different from spoken language. Fiction writers use dialogue, figurative language, and other kinds of literary structures. Factual writers use description and technical language. In hybrid texts you may find a wide range of literary language.

GENRE The type of text and refers to a system by which fiction and nonfiction texts are classified. Each genre has characteristic features.

TEXT STRUCTURE The way the text is organized and presented. It may be narrative, as in most fiction and biographical texts. Factual texts are organized categorically or topically and may have sections with headings. Factual texts use several underlying structural patterns to provide information to readers: enumeration, chronological sequence, compare/contrast, cause/effect, and problem/solution. The presence of these structures, especially in combination, can increase the challenge for readers.

CONTENT The subject matter of the text—the concepts that are important to understand. In fiction, content may be related to the setting or to the kinds of problems characters have. In factual texts, content refers to the topic of focus. Content is considered in relation to the prior experience of readers.

ILLUSTRATIONS Drawings, paintings, or photographs that accompany the text and add meaning and enjoyment. In factual texts, illustrations also include graphics that provide a great deal of information that readers must integrate with the text. Illustrations are an integral part of a high quality text. Increasingly, fiction texts include a range of graphics.

THEMES AND IDEAS The big ideas that are communicated by the text. A text may have multiple themes or a main theme and several supporting themes or ideas.

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How are books leveled? A leveled children’s book collection consists of books organized along a gradient of difficulty, from easiest to read to hardest to read. A level indicates a group of books that are similar to one another. A cluster of characteristics describes the level; no text will have every characteristic listed for the level. In the gradient, “A” represents the easiest books to read and “Z” identifies the most challenging children’s books.

What are reading level “bands”? Levels of books can be further clustered into “bands” that encompass different ranges of challenges and skills. Books within a given band have certain common characteristics that readers need to learn in order to read and understand the text successfully. K,L,M is one band, while N,O,P,Q is another, as is R,S,T. U,V,W and X,Y,Z are also bands.

Each of these bands of levels has varying characteristics that students need to learn to successfully navigate the text. For example, levels KLM are grouped together because they have a clear and basic story structure. When a student moves up to the NOPQ range the characters become more complicated, there are sub plots, and more figurative language. At RST the setting now plays a more major role, characters become more complex, and there are numerous point of view switches.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The following pages summarize characteristics of the book bands KLM, NOPQ, RST, UVW, and XYZ, along with sample questions and prompts to assess comprehension at each band of reading difficulty.

Also attached is detailed information of each reading level, A-Z, with lists of sample leveled book titles for each reading level.

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Overview of Reading Levels A - J Level A & B Readers are using meaning and structure to read, not phonological cues. Guidelines for readers include:

Using the picture as source of information Need to be working on one to one match Directionality (read left to right) Know a handful of sight words Can continue a pattern after reading the first page

Level C & D Similar to A & B Levels, but now unknown words need to be something the reader can figure out graphophonological cues (or using beginning and ending letters). Guidelines for readers include:

Beginning to decode Level D books have longer patterns and more sight words

Level E Guidelines for readers include:

Looking through the word to begin chunking words (ex: p-ark=park) Build comprehension

Level F-G Guidelines for readers include:

Building stronger comprehension skills Figuring out difficult vocabulary

Level H-I Guidelines for readers include:

Developing inferencing skills. (If kids can’t do a little bit of inference, they will not be able to read J level books).

All print strategies are taught in levels A-J; after J it’s all comprehension. Level J

Each chapter is generally a self‐contained story, Two characters together: Mr. Putter and Tabby, Henry and Mudge, Frog and Toad Short stories within a chapter or a few chapters Simple beginning, middle and end

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K/L/M Reading Band (Nate the Great to The Paint Brush Kid)

STRUCTURE - Traditional story structure – character runs into problems and solves them

- Single storyline spans the entire book; requires readers to carry a lot of content across a broader swath of text

- Short chapters and books - Story may be connected to a theme - Mysteries have very obvious clues CHARACTERS - Usually only one main character - Characters have a few dominant traits which are explicitly

labeled and repeated - Characters’ feelings change but traits are fairly static and

consistent - More complex dialogue – not always tagged and sometimes

interrupted - Characters often want something concrete - Character encounters a problem and solves the problem - Minimal inference VOCABULARY/ - Text more difficult; more two- and three-syllable words SYNTAX - Subject-specific vocabulary (not words used conversationally) WORK THE - Stamina—sequential chapters that build upon one another READER - Monitoring understanding IS DOING - Accumulating and synthesizing information - Determining importance - Using context clues to get the meaning of subject-specific

words - M readers often stuck in level M b/c it is a jump to level N

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K/L/M Reading Band (Nate the Great to The Paint Brush Kid)

Conferring Questions for KLM Readers

Who is the main character?

What are they like?

What does the character want?

What is the problem? The setting?

Who are the other characters?

How is the character feeling?

How could you relate to this in your own life? How different?

How do you feel about the character/story?

What in the text makes you think that?

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K/L/M Reading Band (Nate the Great to The Paint Brush Kid)

Comprehension Prompts for KLM Readers

Prediction I think __________________ will happen because, earlier ___________________. “I was right.” (or “How surprising!”) Now I think ___________________. In this book, the big problem (question) is ___________________. I think ___________________. Developing Theories About Characters Teachers say the part in italics, then give kids fill in the blank prompts.

Think about a character in your book. ____________ is _______________ because ____________________. Think about what you know about your character so far. She’s/he’s (doing/saying). This shows me she’s/he’s _________________. In this book, the main character’s feelings change.

• First, She’s/he’s __________ because __________. Then later, she’s/he’s ___________ because ____________.

Characters make choices in stories. Think about the choices your character has made.

• She/he could have ___________ but instead she/he ____________. This makes me think that she’s/he’s _______________.

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N/O/P/Q Reading Band (The Chocolate Touch and A to Z Mysteries to Fudge-a-Mania)

STRUCTURE - Narratives more complex; not always chronological - Characters encounter not one problem but a blend of pressures

or a multidimensional problem - Central problem evolves over time—readers need to refine

their sense of the main problem - Subplots; problems within problems - Problems may be resolved but not solved CHARACTERS - Main character is more complicated and is often

ambivalent/conflicted - Characters have multiple reasons or motivations for what they

do - Characters change over time - More inference—BUT readers do not need to deduce main

character traits—these are explained by narrator or character (readers need to pay attention to these descriptors)

VOCABULARY/ - Many more multisyllabic words SYNTAX - Far more unfamiliar or vaguely familiar words - Academic language (vs. spoken language) - Play on language, pun or metaphor or another figure of speech WORK THE - Identifying the central problem and refining problem over the READER course of the text IS DOING - Think about why characters do what they do - Synthesizing what other characters say about each other - Determining meaning from context (easily misinterpreted) - Self-correct erroneous interpretations as they read on

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N/O/P/Q Reading Band (The Chocolate Touch and A to Z Mysteries to Fudge-a-Mania)

Conferring Questions for NOPQ Readers

What actions tell you about your characters? What do you know about your

character?

What are some things your character says/does/feels that reveals who they are? Based on this, what do you think your character wants/needs/desires?

Character changes: How is your character feeling now? What makes you say that? How is that different than yesterday’s reading?

Events: What events have changed your character?

Your opinion: How are you feeling about your character now? What has happened to make you say that?

Figurative language: Show me some figurative language and tell me about it.

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N/O/P/Q Reading Band (The Chocolate Touch and A to Z Mysteries to Fudge-a-Mania)

Comprehension Prompts for NOPQ Readers

Prediction The main character mostly wants ___________________. In the end, it could turn out that she/he gets ___________________. I think that later in this book, it might happen like this ___________________. Then again, it might not go that way. It might instead ___________________. This whole story is mainly about how ___________________ has some problems (a problem, some pressures). They are ___________________. Things get worse and worse because ___________________. I think in the end ___________________. I think this because I know stuff about the character. For example, I know ___________________. Developing Theories About Characters Teachers say the part in italics, then give kids fill in the blank prompts. Characters don’t always act the same across a book. Sometimes my character is _________________. For example, __________________. But other times, she/he __________________. For example, _______________. This makes me think________________ . Characters will change as the story progresses. As you read, be on the lookout for how they are changing. In the beginning, my character was ___________________ but as the story continues, I think my character could be changing. By the end, she/he ___________________. Writers don’t always tell us about our character’s personality/feelings. Other times, the author shows us through our character’s actions and words. For example, it says ___________________. Then there are places in the story where it doesn’t say this, but it shows this. For example, __________________.

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R/S/T Reading Band (Because of Winn-Dixie to The Tiger Rising and Bridge to Terabithia)

STRUCTURE - Stories are layered with meaning - Story broken up into multiple subplots that do not always tie

together into one storyline - Story begins to involve social issues, e.g., drought, war,

poverty, abuse - Problems are so big/deep/layered that not all are easily

resolved or solved - Setting is a force in the story, influencing characters and plot - Setting is related to the problem—effects and mirrors

characters’ feelings - Reader must accumulate an understanding of setting and

characters CHARACTERS - Characters have rich, complex internal emotional lives—

readers are left to infer characters’ feelings - Lots of character change throughout the course of the story - Reader realizes/infers things about the character that the

character does not know about himself or herself - Characters work to respond to problems, changing and

learning in the process - Minor characters move the plot forward; often have larger role

by the end - Minor characters have sideshow lives VOCABULARY/ - Tricky chapters – expect some lack of clarity until the end SYNTAX - Symbolism WORK THE - Inference READER - Hold onto multiple pieces of seemingly disconnected IS DOING information; wait for clarity - Reader knows things before the character - Wonder – why is this happening?

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R/S/T Reading Band (Because of Winn-Dixie to The Tiger Rising and Bridge to Terabithia)

Conferring Questions for RST Readers What is the setting? How is this setting related to/important to the plot or

characters?

What do you know about your character’s internal life? What clues is the author giving to support these ideas?

What are the character’s intent/motivations?

Has your mental movie become blurry in this book? Have the pieces come together? How/when did this happen?

Ask about character’s actions then, based on what you know, what do you think he/she is doing?

Have the characters changed based on the setting? And, has the setting changed based on the characters?

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R/S/T Reading Band (Because of Winn-Dixie to The Tiger Rising and Bridge to Terabithia)

Comprehension Prompts for RST Readers Prediction Before, in books, there was often a main problem and a main solution. Now, the problem has many parts. For example, in this books, it’s not just that ____________________ but about_____________________ and on top of that, ______________________________________. Often the solution doesn’t really solve things, but it does help characters understand or see things. For example, ____________________________________. When reading a story, many experienced readers have a feeling of, “I’ve read stories like this one before,” and this helps the reader speculate how the story will unfold. What other stories have you read that are a bit like this one, and how do those stories help you predict? Developing Theories About Characters Teachers say the part in italics, then give kids fill in the blank prompts. In books of this type authors don’t always tell us everything we need to know. Instead, they leave hints that we, as readers, need to pay attention to. Even though the book doesn’t come right out and shay this, I think __________________ is ___________________. There are hints that show this. For example, ___________________. Another example is___________________. At first I thought ___________________ was ___________________ but as I get to know him/her more, I’m coming to think that deep down, she’s/he’s really ___________________. Sometimes the main character acts/talks one way but really is feeling a whole other way. For example, one time the character acted/said ___________________, but actually she/he was ___________________. One way the author helps us know a character is by giving that character objects or ways of acting and talking that are meant to represent something about the character. I think it’s perhaps significant that the author gave this character ___________________. To me, this might show ___________________. The main character has different sides to him/her. When she’s/he’s __________________, she’s/he’s ___________________. Then when she’s/he’s ___________________, she’s/he’s ___________________.

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U/V/W Reading Band (Loser to Walk Two Moons)

STRUCTURE - Story elements are more complex: “passage of time,” back

story, non-sequential, foreshadowing - Multiple plot lines—but connections between fragments

usually easy to see - Story still unfolds somewhat chronologically – back story is

generally revealed at beginning of story - Setting or issues in the characters’ lives are symbolic of larger

themes - Story is also a statement about the world and life; often makes

a statement about a major social issue (e.g., oppression, injustice, social norms)

CHARACTERS - More characters; reader must hold onto a cast of complex

characters - Characters are usually teenagers – harder to relate to for

younger readers - Narrator is unreliable, as his/her point of view is incomplete - Characters are unreliable or we learn new things about them,

and they change radically - Adult characters may be hugely important, so readers must

bring an understanding of the adult world - Multiple points of view are presented—reader must consider

perspectives other than the protagonist’s VOCABULARY/ - Metaphorical and figurative language SYNTAX - Tricky words and characters - Symbolism is present—may be mentioned only once (easy to

miss, reader must pay close attention) WORK THE - Reader must live with uncertainty and unanswered questions READER - Deep questions IS DOING - Decode social/historical setting - Reader must interpret meaning and construct opinions

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U/V/W Reading Band (Loser to Walk Two Moons)

Conferring Questions for UVW Readers Tell me about your character and how she/he is changing. Show me where in

the story that is happening.

Explain the character’s world. Is this important to the story? Why/why not?

Historical fiction—what are you learning about WWII, slavery, etc.?

Cold read of next page in novel for running record and comprehension.

How is this book affecting you (synthesis and themes)?

Discussion of sequencing of time

What’s confusing?

Describe a striking relationship or a moment where an interaction occurs between characters?

What is the Author’s purpose? Why is the author telling the story in this way?

How is the book challenging you? What are the complications so far?

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U/V/W Reading Band (Loser to Walk Two Moons)

Comprehension Prompts for UVW Readers Prediction Often in stories, the reader is given one piece of the whole, then another, another…and when the story ends, the pieces come together. What pieces of the story are you holding, and when you think how the story will end, which pieces do you think might fit together? How might they fit? When reading, we often have a sense that the author is trying to convey an idea or to teach a lesson. The author has some big meaning that is unfolding across the story. What big meaning do you sense is being conveyed in this story, and how does that sense of meaning help you predict what will happen in the upcoming sections of the book? Developing Theories About Characters Teachers say the part in italics, then give kids fill in the blank prompts. Sometimes the author writes a story to address an issue or convey an idea. The author creates characters who’ll carry (or represent) part of the idea. In this book, the author uses ___________________ to convey ___________________. The author uses ___________________ to convey ___________________. I think this because ___________________. On the other hand, it could be other than this. It could be that the author uses ___________________ to convey___________________. In a complex book, the author sometimes adds seemingly inconsequential people, traveling on what seems for a time to be a side track from the main storyline. But in the end, some of these people turn out to be essential to the story’s resolution. In this story, it’s possible that ___________________ will turn out to ___________________. Perhaps it might go like ___________________. In complex books, readers need to read, realizing that some of what a character says is actually not trustworthy—that some of what a character says is meant to reveal that character’s perspectives and readers are supposed to know, all along, that this is just one, biased perspective—that there are other ways to see things. For example, in this book, when ___________________ said ___________________, I didn’t entirely trust her/him. I sensed this could mostly reveal that she/he ___________________.

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X/Y/Z Reading Band (Homecoming to Monster)

STRUCTURE Similar to UVW band, plus… - Readers at this level like challenging books and don’t want

things spelled out for them - Story may employ post-modern structure—multiple genres,

multiple voices - Perspectives overlap but also conflict - Whole chapters jump back in time - Texts take risks with form/genre—using this complex structure

to convey idea - Confusing to piece story together - Tragedy and sadness is often in story - Strong, broad themes—social awareness, human condition - Reader must draw upon a lot of knowledge about the world

and other books (many references are left unexplained) - Topics may go well beyond young readers’

experience/knowledge of history CHARACTERS Similar to UVW band, plus… - Unreliable narrator will proclaim things that the reader is

expected to realize are not as the person stated - Cannot trust initial thoughts of character - Harder to tell who is good and who is evil VOCABULARY/ - Dialogue can become tricky—characters speak in the SYNTAX vernacular and use vocabulary from another time and place - Literary references not necessary to understanding the

characters/themes but greatly enhance the reading experience WORK THE - READER - IS DOING -

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X/Y/Z Reading Band (Homecoming to Monster)

Conferring Questions for XYZ Readers TBD…

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Individual Reading Level Characteristics (A-Z)

Includes Lists of Sample Leveled Book Titles

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Level A Level A books are simple books with one line of one to six words per page, easy-to-see print, and ample space between words. Children can focus on print and gradually increase their control over words. Most Level A books focus on topics familiar to children.

• One line of text per page • Large spaces between words • Sentence structure is similar to students’ language • Repeated pattern • Includes basic sight words • Punctuation includes periods, question marks, and exclamation marks • Pictures are highly supportive • Topics are familiar to children • Focus on a single idea

Level A titles Include: Butterfly Gibbs Fruit Salad Mitchell Let's Go! York My Mom Greer The Rabbit House McBeath Sea Animals Thomas The Store McBeath The Three Frogs Rothman Time for Bed Master Up! Craft Boxes Davidson Helping Johns Hop, Skip, and Jump Cherrington Little Animals Reed My House Peters My Dog Fluffy Cherrington Playing Davidson Run, Rabbit! Landman The Storm Davidson Time Davidson

School Day! Cervantes We Play Together Blevins I See Bugs! Blevins On a Boat Novek 1, 2, 3, in the Box Tarlow Elephants Like To Cherrington Numbers All Around Berger Flowers Have Colors Cherrington We Read Blevins We Write Blevins Big and Little Berger & Chanko Games Berger & Moreton I Can, We Can Curry In the Woods Gibson Kittens Curry Let's Go! Mann My Color Mann School Pinnell We Can! Pinnell What Bears Like Cherrington

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Level B Level B books focus on a simple story line or single idea, with direct correspondence between text and pictures; 1 or 2 lines of print per page, with a variety of punctuation; many Level B books feature repeating patterns in the text.

• Two lines of text (return sweep) • Large spaces between words; Sentences increase in length • Sentence structure is similar to students’ language • Repeated words or pattern • Includes more basic sight words • Includes some word endings (e.g., s, ed, ing) • Punctuation includes periods, question marks, exclamation marks, &

some commas • Simple dialogue • Pictures are highly supportive • Topics are familiar to children • Focus on a single idea • Setting is present, but seldom a plot

Level B titles include: Building Blocks Ives Buster and Ziggy Clark Color It Blue Reed Hats Shapiro My Cat Thomas Party Time Craft Polar Bears Carroll Puppy Paints Jenkins School Fun Baker Where Is Bob? Winter The Ants Go Home Johns Fishing Reed Getting There Johns Home Run! Peters Let's Play Peters Look at Us Johns My Feet Reed Night Shift Ryan Off to the City Davidson Zebras Don't Brush Their Teeth! Evans

We Live Here Salzman Can You See the Rabbit? Berger Can We Go? Cherrington I See Flags Blevins How to Make a Wind Sock Tarlow Who Hid? Leber Look-and-Find Shapes Blevins Whose Bones? Fernandez From Sheep to Sweater Tarlow What's the Weather Cali Kites Ling Baby Animals Learn Chanko Two Can Do It Canizares & Chessen We Are Painting Alexander We Like to Play! Tarlow Water Canizares & Chanko What Am I? Frizado Goldilocks Tarlow Hop In! Small-Gamby Carrots Saunders-Smith

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Level C Level C books explore familiar topics in a variety of ways to offer new viewpoints to the reader; simple sentences may have introductory clauses set off by punctuation; text may be patterned but is not as predictable as in Levels A and B.

• Increased number of words and lines of text; Large spaces between words • Sentences increase in length and may include some embedded clauses • Sentence structure is similar to students’ language • Some books have repeated words or pattern • Most books are about eight pages; Pictures are highly supportive • Includes more basic sight words and some compound words • Includes word endings (e.g., s, ed, ing) • Opportunities for decoding simple words • Punctuation includes periods, question marks, exclamation marks, and

commas • Dialogue is frequently included • Topics are familiar to children, esp. experiential books [events of

everyday life]; Characters and story plots are straightforward Level C titles include: All Kinds of Pets Price Is It a Baby Animal? Taylor Let's Eat Bellings Mrs. Cat Goes Shopping York My Costume Wilton Pig Played Rothman Ready Freddy Rothman The Sky Prince Sleepy Bear Mitchell Under the Umbrella Craft The Big Blue Sea Scott Brave Dave and the Dragons Reed Hide and Seek Reed It's Time to Eat! Davidson Little Blue Fish Evans Little Duckling Is Lost Nelson The Oak Street Party Peters One Frog, One Fly Blaxland Patterns Berger & Moreton We Like Summer Blevins How Will I Get to Grandma's House?

Blevins My Scrapbook Alexander On the Farm What Time Is It? Moriarty A Kitten Is a Baby Cat Blevins Signs Fun With Simple Machines Tarlow Please, Thank You Alexander Where Are They? Humphries From Egg to Robin Canizares & Chessen Joshua James Likes Trucks Petrie Bugs! McKissack Pancakes, Crackers, and Pizza Eberts & Gisler Rain Kalan I See Fish Curry I Can Run Pinnell At Work Geist It's a Party Moreton & Berger How Many Can Play? Canizares & Chessen

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Level D Books cover familiar topics but introduce new, more abstract ideas; illustrations support the text but more attention to print is required; text contains more compound and multisyllable words and a full range of punctuation. • Longer, more complex stories • Some compound sentences conjoined by “and” • Simple plot but may include several elaborate episodes • Topics are familiar, but may include abstract or unfamiliar ideas • Text layout is easy to follow, but font size may vary • Texts range from ten to twenty pages • Pictures begin to extend meaning of text • New punctuation may be included (i.e., dashes, ellipses) • Larger number of high frequency words/greater variety • Includes more word endings, compound words, and multi-syllable words • More opportunities for decoding words with familiar patterns Level D titles include: At the Toy Shop Brereton The Band Ives A Day at the Beach Sinclair Farm Helpers West Ice Cream Wilton In the Desert Ives Little Piglets Rothman Meet the Big Cats! Stuart Sand Animals Harris Who Is Getting Married? McBeath After School Fun Nelson A Rainy Day Evans The Dog Walker Reed The Little Red Hen Cherrington The Little Turtle Lindsay The Noisy Breakfast Blonder Wake Up, Wake Up! Wildsmith What Do You See? Shapiro Where in the World? Nelson Who Lives Here? Reed

Animals in Art Blevins Then and Now Berger Where Does Food Grow? Blevins Feel Better Clifford Can Blevins How Many Ducks? Blevins The Little Red Hen Tarlow I Need a Little Help Schulz Look At These Trees We Need the Sun Nests, Nests, Nests Canizares & Reid Where Do Birds Live? Chessen Who Am I? Lee I Know Karate Packard Footprints In the Snow Benjamin One Happy Classroom Simon Paul the Pitcher Sharp Too Many Balloons Matthias Rain! Rain! Greene Ten Cats Have Hats Marzollo

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Level E Stories have more or longer episodes; informational books present more complex ideas; books are longer than in previous levels, with more pages or more lines of text on each page; sentences carry over several pages, with more complex punctuation. • Sentences include more embedded phrases and clauses • More variety in language including some literary language • Topics range beyond the familiar • Genres include realistic fiction, fantasy, and nonfiction (simple informational

books) • Font size may vary; Increased number of words and lines of print • Texts range from ten to twenty pages • Text structure is more complex, often with several simple episodes • More characters, but not very developed • Moderate picture support; Greater variety of high frequency words • Frequent dialogue and full range of punctuation • More multi-syllable words and less common spelling patterns Level E titles include: Bell Brereton Collections Ballinger & Gosset Eat Your Peas, Louise! Snow Fish Daniels Fruit Trees Daniels I Love Rainy Days! (Noodles) Wilhelm Let's Play in the Forest While the Wolf Is Not Around! Rueda My New School Hall Ring! Ring! Cherrington Sammy the Turtle Baker Flap and Sing: Birds Douglas Fred's Wish for Fish Landman Fresh Fall Leaves Franco I Go with Grandpa Landman Let's Play Soccer Douglas Living Things Avery The Magic Pot Smith No Snacks, Jack! Reed Painting Scott The Yard Sale Cherrington

All Around Our Country Hutchins Animal Moms and Dads Tarlow Cat in the Bag Miller City Life and Country Life Moriarty Hello, Doctor! Marx Let's Go to a Fair Foley Let's Go to a Museum Blevins On the Job Cherrington School Long Ago Novek What Do Artists Use? The Voyage of Mae Jemison Canizares & Berger Clay Art Chanko & Chessen Up, Up, and Away Canizares & Chanko Look, I Can Read! Hood Polar Babies Ring I Can See Cervantes Animal Babies Hamsa A Buzz Is Part of a Bee Lunn A Box Can Be Many Things Rau Just Like Me Neasi

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Level F Concepts presented in books at this level are more distant from familiar topics; larger variety of frequently used words and many more new words; text reflects patterns of written, rather than oral, language. • Language reflects patterns that are more characteristic of written language than

spoken language • Concepts are more distant from local knowledge or the everyday world • Some texts have abstract ideas which require discussion • Themes emerge • Genres include realistic fiction, human and animal fantasy, simple folktales, and

nonfiction (informational texts) • Text range from ten to thirty pages • Full range of punctuation to enhance meaning • Longer texts may have longer sentences and/or more lines of text per page and

shorter texts may have unusual language patterns or technical words • Greater variety in vocabulary Level F titles include: Biscuit Capucilli A Color of His Own Lionni A Day with Paramedics Kottke Does a Kangaroo Have a Mother, Too? Carle Don't Be Late! Brereton Little Bird Brereton My River Halpern Popcorn Alexander Small Treasures Gibson Tina's Taxi Franco Biscuit Visits the Big City Capucilli A Bug, a Bear, and a Boy McPhail The Country Mouse and the Town Mouse Reed Goldilocks and the Three Bears Shapiro Go Home, Daisy Hill How Lizard Lost His Colors Shapiro Loose Tooth Schaefer Meg and the Lost Pencil Case Parasmo Melt It, Shape It: Glass Nelson Todd's Teacher Cherrington

I Like Cheese Pickering Storms Durgin-Bruce Watch Me Plant a Garden Otten What Can I Buy? Moriarty How Does Your Salad Grow Alexander I'm a Seed Marzollo Ellen Ochoa Walker My Goldfish Walker I Can Play Soccer Eckart Animal Pals Cherrington Frog's Lunch Lillegard Harry's House Medearis Firehouse Sal Brimner Pizza Party Maccarone Soccer Game Maccarone Amy Loves the Snow Huban I Am Fire Marzollo Shine, Sun! Greene Is This You? Krauss Cookie's Week Ward

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Level G In books at this level, the language changes on each page, rather than repeating in patterns; books offer challenges in ideas and vocabulary, with some introduction to technical language; variety of print styles and text layout require reader's close attention and flexibility. • Sentences are longer with many embedded clauses • Several high frequency words which increase in difficulty • Large number of decodable words with regular and irregular patterns • Several episodes with a variety of characters • Ideas and vocabulary are more challenging with some specialized vocabulary • Story line is carried by the text • Pictures support and extend meaning • Readers expected to remember information and action over a longer reading

time Text Examples: Teddy Bear for Sale, Rabbit’s Party, Say It, Sign It Level G titles include: Are We There Yet? Taylor A City Park Barrow Clifford Makes the Team Bridwell Crafts Chessen & Chanko Lost and Found York Mousetrap Snowball The New Car Lee Our Tree House Brereton Vegetable Soup Morris Wake Up, Little Mouse! Thomas At the Apple Farm Albanese & Smith The Deep Blue Sea Wood The Gingerbread Man Cherrington I Just Forgot Mayer In Our Yard Reed Is This a Moose? Armstrong Justin's New Bike Hill Rabbit's Party Bunting The Three Billy Goats Gruff Shapiro A Very Silly School Cherrington

Find the Wild Animal Foley Made with Glass Cherrington Math at the Store Amato It's a Good Thing There Are Insects Fowler Tic-Tac-Toe, Three in a Row Stamper The Secret Code Rau How Big, How Much Hutchins From Seed to Pumpkin Kottke Tracks in the Sand Levin Make a Leaf Rubbing Ballinger & Gosset The Great Race McPhail Teddy Bear for Sale Herman Dinosaurs Maccarone Pele: The King of Soccer Canizares & Berger Make It Move Canizares & Chessen Sam the Garbage Hound Simon Wait, Skates! Johnson Sometimes Things Change Eastman Why Can't I Fly? Gelman The Class Trip Maccarone

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Level H Books are similar in difficulty to level G, but the texts vary more widely in size of print, length of sentences, and type of language; texts are less repetitious in events and language structures, with expanded vocabulary. • Language is not repetitious; Full range of high frequency words • Size and placement of print varies widely • Some repeated episodes • Content moves away from familiar experiences • Genres include realistic fiction, fantasy, folktales, and nonfiction (informational

texts) • Characters tend to learn and change • Picture support is used to enhance and extend meaning as well as arouse interest • Story events require interpretation Text Examples: Follow the Leader, A Clean House For Mole and Mouse, A Kiss For Little Bear Level H titles include: Canada Canizares & Berger Captain Cat Hoff I Need a Lunch Box Caines Inside Mouse, Outside Mouse George Just Me and My Dad (Little Critter) Mayer Larry and Loki Cherrington Mom's Secret Costain Now I Know: What's Under the Ocean? Berger & Berger The Story of Henny Penny Carson Too Late Harry! Shapiro Aunt Maud's Mittens Landman The Father Who Walked on His Hands Mahy Good Morning, Monday Keenan Hop! Spring! Leap! Bayrock Little Red Riding Hood Shapiro Sammy the Seal Hoff Sione's Talo Nelisi Trains Albanese An Unusual Show Blonder

Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road? Reed A Day With a Mechanic Winne School in Colonial America Thomas George Washington Abraham A Day With Air Traffic Controllers Winne The 100th Day Maccarone Monster Money Maccarone Colin Powell Hill I Am Planet Earth Marzollo The Wheat We Eat Fowler From Acorn to Oak Tree Kottke It's Spring Berger & Chanko Come! Sit! Speak! Simon A Kiss for Little Bear Minarik The Very Big Potato Cherrington Plane Rides Walker What Will the Weather Be Like Today? Rogers When I First Came to This Land Ziefert Caps, Hats, Socks and Mittens Borden Danny and the Dinosaurs Go to Camp Hoff My Pigs Miller

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Level I Longer and more complex stories than in levels G and H, with more highly elaborated information; multisyllable words arranged in longer sentences and paragraphs that require complex word solving; illustrations enhance meaning but provide less support for understanding the meaning of the text. • Multiple episodes are highly elaborated • Most text lengths are about the same as G and H (10 - 30 pages) but have smaller print size • Some longer texts thirty to forty pages; Some chapter-like books • Texts use a great deal of dialogue • Pictures enhance meaning but provide little support for precise word solving • Complex word solving is required with multi-syllable words • Paragraphs and sentences are longer • Readers transition to texts that my call for sustaining interest and meaning over several

reading periods • Most books are narrative fiction and folktales with a plot and solution • Informational books are shorter with more difficult content • Characters and story events require interpretation Text Examples: The Bunny Hop, The Dinosaur Who Lived in My Backyard Level I titles include: The Birthday Party Ives Dragon Gets By Pilkey Henry and Mudge and the Funny Lunch Rylant Hi! Fly Guy Arnold Now I Know: Bears Berger & Berger Now I Know: Butterflies Berger & Berger Small Pig Lobel The Very Busy Spider Carle Who Wants a Ride? Bernard Willie's Wonderful Pet Cebulash Animals at Night Berger Dolphins and Porpoises Berger The Fat Cat: A Danish Folktale Kent Mama Zooms Cowen-Fletcher Nana's Place Gibson Shoo, Fly Guy! Arnold Two Crazy Pigs Nagel The Wax Man Loya We're Going On a Nature Hunt Metzger The Wheels on the Race Car Zane

A House Spider's Life Himmelman Where Do Puddles Go? Fowler & Robinson A Flag for All Brimner Choosing Eyeglasses With Mrs. Koutris Flanagan Shadows Otto How Many Ants Brimner Looking Through a Telescope Bullock President's Day Marx The Apple Pie Tree Hall Beetles Eckart A Day with Firefighters Kottke A Day with a Mail Carrier Kottke I Am a Rock Marzollo We Just Moved! Krensky All Tutus Should Be Pink Brownrigg The Sun's Family of Planets Fowler Messy Bessey's Family Reunion McKissack & McKissack The Elves and the Shoemaker Leber Goldilocks and the Three Bears Stewart Red-Eyed Tree Frog Cowley

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Level J Beginning chapter books appear for the first time at this level, requiring readers to recall information over more than one sitting; fewer illustrations with whole pages of text in some books. • Stories have similar characteristics to level I but generally longer (over 50 pages) • First chapter books • Characters in series books will expand reading interest in reading, increasing the amount of

time reading • Large amount of dialogue • Full range of punctuation within longer, more complex sentences with many adjectives and

adverbs • Texts have one main plot with several episodes over a period of time – chapter books may

only cover a period of one day • Requires more interpretation on the part of the reader • Requires quick solving of new words, including three or four syllables. Text Examples: Mouse Tales, Henry and Mudge in Puddle Trouble, Seeds Level J titles include: Dig Dig Digging Mayo Have You Seen Duck? Holmes Henry and Mudge and the Best Day of All Rylant Hippo and Rabbit in Three Short Tales Mack I Was So Mad (Little Critter) Mayer Log Hotel Schreiber The Rain Came Down Shannon Story County Anderson The Wrong-Way Rabbit Slater Young Cam Jansen and the Baseball Mystery Adler Antonio's Music Emery The Big, Brown Pot Mahy Big Cats Evans Big Smelly Bear Teckentrup In the Barrio Ada Just Us Women Caines Kenny and the Little Kickers Marzollo Poppleton Has Fun Rylant Safety in Numbers Evans Young Cam Jansen and the Spotted Cat Mystery Adler

Germs! Germs! Germs! Katz How Do Your Lungs Work Curry Giant Pandas: Gifts From China Fowler Bart's Amazing Charts Ochiltree An Earthworm's Life Himmelman Harriet Tubman Nichols Thunder and Lightning Pfeffer We Need Directions! De Capua Inside an Ant Colony Fowler The Field Mouse and The Dinosaur Named Sue Wahl My Life Pistone Jack Plays the Violin Schultz On the Lake Onish Henry and Mudge and the Long Weekend Rylant Me on the Map Sweeney Poppleton Everyday Rylant How Kittens Grow Selsam Bear Shadow Asch The Sword in the Stone Maccarone Looking at Maps and Globes Bredeson

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Level K This level includes chapter books and short informational books with difficult concepts; readers learn about concepts and events outside their own experiences; readers need to use a variety of strategies to figure out different writing styles. • Includes longer, slightly more complex chapter books with more characters • Books have one plot, but many episodes are carried over a period of time • Shorter books have more difficult vocabulary (not often used in speech by children),

challenging content, or more complex themes • Genres include realistic fiction, fantasy, and nonfiction (informational texts) • Some fables or legends and historical fiction may be include (not requiring extensive

background knowledge to understand) • Large amount of dialogue used to determine what is going on in the plot • Characters show various perspectives • Illustrations are placed throughout the text and are used to enhance enjoyment and helps

students visualize • Readers explore the various connotations of words Text Examples: Nate the Great and the Tardy Tortoise, Frog and Toad are Friends, What Happens When You Recycle?, Don’t Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late! Level K titles include: 10 Fat Turkeys Johnston Andy Shane and the Queen of Egypt Jacobson Arthur's Eyes (An Arthur Adventure) Brown Chicks and Salsa Reynolds Dandelions: Stars in the Grass Posada Earl the Squirrel Freeman Endangered Animals McNulty Frog and Toad All Year Lobel One Nosy Pup Wallace The Principal from the Black Lagoon Thaler Allie's Basketball Dream Barber Andy Shane and the Very Bossy Dolores Starbuckle Jacobson The Frog Prince Tarcov The Great Gracie Chase: Stop that Dog! Rylant The Gym Teacher From the Black Lagoon Thaler Ibis: A True Whale Story Himmelman Johnny Appleseed Moore

On My Way to Buy Eggs Chen Three Days on a River in a Red Canoe Williams The Earth Is Mostly Ocean Fowler Fluff and Feathers, Spikes and Skin Finton Plants That Eat Animals Fowler The 512 Ants on Sullivan Street Losi A Girl Named Helen Keller Lundell Sounds All Around Pfeffer The Best Way to Play Cosby Veteran's Day Cotton The Mississippi River Fowler Under the Ground Pluckrose All About Things People Do Rice & Rice What Magnets Can Do Fowler Chickens Aren't the Only Ones Heller The Day Jimmy's Boa Ate the Wash Nobel A Place for Grace Okimoto The Blue Mittens Mann Penguins Reed Our Flag Rothman Ming Lo Moves the Mountain Lobel Shipwreck Saturday Cosby

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Level L Books at this level are much longer and more complex, and include biographies; longer texts include many multisyllabic words and expand readers' vocabularies; some texts present abstract or symbolic themes. • Includes chapter books with fewer illustrations and complex picture books • Texts contain many multi-syllable and technical words • Words are used for a range of connotative meanings • Print size is varied but often much smaller • Most sentences end in the middle of lines and continue from one line to the next • Includes a full range of genres from realistic fiction to biography • More characters are speaking with dialogue not always assigned • Plots and characters are more sophisticated • Characters develop and change in response to events in the story • Events in chapters build on each other requiring the reader to recall and keep track of info Text Examples: Pinky and Rex and the Spelling Bee, Horrible Harry in Room 2B, Looking at Insects, Cam Jansen and the Chocolate Fudge Mystery, Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon Level L titles include: Amelia Bedelia, Rocket Scientist? Parish Let's Read About ... George Washington Weinberger Our Earth Rockwell Ricky Ricotta's Might Robot vs. the Uranium Unicorns from Uranus Pilkey Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon Lovell The Subway Mouse Reid Tony Baloney Ryan Whales Passing Bunting Worms for Lunch? Gore Alligator Baby Munsch Amelia Bedelia Under Construction Parish Anansi the Spider: A Tale From the Ashanti McDermott Cam Jansen and the Secret Service Mystery Adler Miss Nelson Has a Field Day Allard Picking Apples & Pumpkins Hutchings Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robot vs. the Mecha-Monkeys From Mars Pilkey The Triple Rotten Day (It's Robert!) Seuling

Little Bill: The Worst Day of My Life Cosby Young Thurgood Marshall: A Fighter for Equality Carpenter Japan Pluckrose Chomp! A Book About Sharks Berger The Grapes of Math Tang Antarctica Fowler Bats MacLulich Flies Are Fascinating Wilkinson In 1492 Marzollo Solar System Vogt Tell Me Why Planes Have Wings Willis Tyrannosaurus Rex Landau The Mud Pony Cohen Apatosaurus Landau Animal Tracks Dorros Spiders Gibbons Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Babe Ruth Baseball Adler Play Ball, Amelia Bedelia Parish Rain Forest Miranda The Big "M" Rothman This Is My House Dorros

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Level M Text includes more complex language, and requires reader to make interpretations; most books at this level have greatly expanded vocabulary; many books at this level have smaller print with narrower word spacing. • Chapter books are longer texts (60 - 100 pages) with short chapters and few pictures • Informational books are shorter with new information and text features • Includes a full range of genres with more biographies included • Text has subtle meanings that require interpretation and background knowledge • More complex and expanded plots • More complex themes (i.e., respect for difference, loneliness, independence) • Vocabulary may be introduced to create feeling or mood • Writer’s style may be clearly marked by use of words, sentence structure, descriptions of

characters, or humor Text Examples: Freckle Juice, Flat Stanley, Ivy + Bean, Stink: The Incredible Shrinking Kid, Matt Christopher: Man Out At First, A Picture Book of Frederick Douglass Level M titles include: Baby Animals Berger & Berger The Case of the Groaning Ghost (A Jigsaw Jones Mystery) Preller Class President (Marvin Redpost) Sachar Flat Stanley Brown Goldilocks and the Three Bears Marshall The Lamb Who Came for Dinner Smallman Miss Smith's Incredible Storybook Garland No Messin' with My Lesson (Katie Kazoo, Switcheroo) Krulik Oh No, It's Robert Seuling Who Eats What? Food Chains and Food Webs Lauber Alexander, Who's Not (Do You Hear Me? I Mean It!) Going to Move Viorst The Case of the Food Fight Preller Dancing With the Indians Medearis How a House Is Built Gibbons Ivy + Bean and the Ghost That Had to Go Barrows A New Coat for Anna Ziefert The Penguin and the Pea Perlman

Stuart Goes to School Pennypacker Vampires Don't Wear Polka Dots (Bailey School Kids) Dadey & Jones Tell Me How Much It Weighs Willis Turtles Take Their Time Fowler Five True Horse Stories Davidson A. Lincoln and Me Borden Journey of the Butterfly Scrace Sounds, Light, Heat: Energy at Work Berger Save the Rain Forests Fowler What If You'd Met . . . Beethoven Myers Helping Paws: Dogs That Serve Luke I Hate English! Levine Buddy: The First Seeing Eye Dog Moore Gung Hay Fat Choy Behrens The Littles Go Exploring Peterson Yellowstone National Park Petersen Nine True Dolphin Stories Davidson Boom! Gutner Jungle Jack Hanna's Safari Adventure Probeg & Probeg At 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Wirth California or Bust! Stamper Firefighters Dahlie

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Level N Vocabulary continues to expand and go beyond readers' own experiences; variety of texts offer readers a chance to interpret information and speculate on alternate meanings. • Chapter books are usually 100 or more pages with short chapters and memorable characters • Nonfiction titles are generally shorter and may present social issues • Topics of informational books and settings for narratives go well beyond readers’ personal

experiences • Complex picture books illustrate themes and build experience in character interpretation • More demand on the reader to use a variety of strategies to understand plot, theme, and new

vocabulary • Writers use devices such as irony and whimsy to create interest and communicate the nature

of characters Text Examples: Gooney Bird Greene, The Enormous Crocodile, The Magic Finger, Julian: Dream Doctor, Franny K. Stein, Amber Brown is Not a Crayon, Catwings, Shoeshine Girl Level N titles include: Blizzard of the Blue Moon (Magic Tree House) Osborne Brand-new School, Brave New Ruby (Ruby and the Booker Boys) Barnes Detective LaRue: Letters from the Investigation Teague I Lost My Tooth in Africa Diakite Lunch Walks Among Us (Franny K. Stein, Mad Scientist) Benton The Phantom Mudder (Jack Russell: Dog Detective) Odgers & Odgers Sacajawea: Her True Story Milton Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears Aardema You Can't Eat Your Chicken Pox, Amber Brown Danziger Young Frederick Douglass: Freedom Fighter Woods Alfie the Apostrophe Donahue Comic Guy: Our Crazy Class Election Roland Fables Lobel Franny K. Stein, Mad Scientist: Frantastic Voyage Benton Lion Dancer: Ernie Wan's Chinese New Year Waters & Slovenzlow Mice and Beans Ryan

A Spy in the White House Roy Suitcase Walter Wonderful Alexander and the Catwings LeGuin Zen Shorts Muth Staying Healthy: Sleep & Rest McGinty Special Olympics Kennedy Measuring Penny Leedy Becoming a Citizen De Capua Working at a TV Station Davis Wild Weather: Blizzards! Hopping Hawks on the Clock Moriarty Tell Me How Far It Is Willis Let's Find Out About Money Barbaras Endangered Animals: A New True Book Stone Do Tornadoes Really Twist? Berger & Berger Amber Brown Is Feeling Blue Danziger Catwings Return Le Guin A Dinosaur Named Sue Robinson The Corn Husk Doll Schiller The Garden on Green Street Goldish Lily and Miss Liberty Stevens How Is a Crayon Made? Charles Louis Braille: The Boy Who Invented Books for the Blind Davidson

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Level O Longer books at this level present varied vocabulary that will require readers to interpret the meaning of the text; texts have more sophisticated subjects and more complex sentence structures.

• Multiple characters are developed through what they say, think, and do or what others say about them

• Characters deal with everyday experiences and more serious problems such as war or death • Genres expand to include historical and science fiction • Chapter books have between fifty and two hundred pages • Text have few illustrations - usually black and white drawings or photographs • Highly complex sentences employ a wide range of punctuation necessary for understanding

the text Text Examples: Beezus and Ramona, Night Crossing, Pippi Longstocking, The Secret Soldier: The Story of Deborah Sampson, Miss Rumphius, Mieko and the Fifth Treasure Level O titles include: Amelia Earhart: Adventure in the Sky Sabin & Mattern Anansi Does the Impossible! An Ashanti Tale Aardema Clementine Pennypacker John Philip Duck Polacco Journey to the Volcano Palace (The Secrets of Droon) Abbott A Mouse Called Wolf King-Smith Otis Spofford Cleary Teacher's Pet (Jake Drake) Clements What's the Big Idea, Ben Franklin? Fritz You Can't Taste a Pickle with Your Ear Ziefert Amber Brown Is Green With Envy Mazer Angel Child, Dragon Child Surat Can You Fly High, Wright Brothers? Berger & Berger Chocolate Fever Smith Jake Drake, Know-It-All Clements Lost Treasure of the Emerald Eye Stilton The Patchwork Quilt Flournoy Pinduli Cannon Shark Lady: True Adventures of Eugenie Clark McGovern The Talented Clementine Pennypacker

Abraham Lincoln: Road to the White House Brandt and Mattern The Amazing Book of Mammal Records Woods Getting to Know the U.S. Presidents: James Monroe Venezia Growing Crystals: A True Book Squire A Million Fish . . . More or Less McKissack Rosa Parks: Freedom Rider Brandt and Mattern Squanto, Friend of the Pilgrims Bulla Stargazers Gibbons Straightforward Science: Plant Life Riley The Kids' Invention Book Erlbach A Picture Book of Sojourner Truth Adler Look What Came From Mexico Harvey The Donner Party Olson The Animal Shelter Mystery (Boxcar Children) Warner I Wonder Why Snakes Shed Their Skins O'Neill Flossie and the Fox McKissack Where There Was Smoke Martinucci Desert Life Mann

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Level P Informational texts at this level include history and biography, enabling readers to learn how to gain information from a variety of structures; concepts may include issues of early adolescence. • Wide variety of fiction and nonfiction • Fiction texts include novels with longer chapters • Characters are often concerned with issues related to growing up and family relationships • Settings are very detailed • Informational texts and biographies present complex ideas • Topics may be unfamiliar • Longer texts require readers to sustain interest and attention over several days • Structural complexity, theme sophistication, and necessary background experience increases Text Examples: Encyclopedia Brown, Fantastic Mr. Fox, George's Marvelous Medicine, Justin and the Best Biscuits in the World, Stone Fox, Thank You, Jackie Robinson, Wayside School Level P titles include: 97 Ways to Train a Dragon (Dragon Slayers' Academy) McMullan Copper Kibuishi Countdown to the Year 1000 McMullan Da Wild, Da Crazy, Da Vinci (The Time Warp Trio) Scieszka Gooseberry Park Rylant Happy Burger Ranberg & Daley Helen Keller's Teacher Davidson Knights of the Kitchen Table (The Time Warp Trio) Scieszka Kooks in the Cafeteria (Comic Guy) Roland Koya DeLaney and the Good Girl Blues Greenfield La Mariposa Jiménez My First Book of Biographies: Great Men and Women Every Child Should Know Marzollo Tar Beach Ringgold The Hunterman and the Crocodile Diakite The Magic School Bus and the Science Fair Expedition Cole The Nina, the Pinta, and the Vanishing Treasure (Alec Flint Super Sleuth) Santopolo

The Talking Eggs San Souci Who Stole the Wizard of Oz? Avi You Can't See Your Bones with Binoculars, A Guide to Your 206 Bones Ziefert A Drop of Water: A Book of Science and Wonder Wick Eat Your Vegetables! Drink Your Milk! Silverstein & Nunn Getting to Know the U.S. Presidents: Andrew Jackson Venezia Heroes of the Revolution Adler Sir Cumference and the Sword in the Cone: A Math Adventure Neuschwander Snakes Simon Encyclopedia Brown Carries On Sobol 26 Fairmont Avenue dePaola The Real McCoy Towle A Whale Is Not a Fish Berger Shoebag James The Eagle Has Landed Merchant The Drum Beats On Cherrington Weather Fleisher In the Rain Forest Anastasion

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Level Q Selections contain themes to foster group discussion; relationship of illustrations to text also offers opportunities for exploration and discussion; texts contain difficult words, some from languages other than English. • Wide variety of fiction and nonfiction • Fiction texts include novels with longer chapters • Characters are often concerned with issues related to growing up and family relationships • Settings are very detailed • Informational texts and biographies present complex ideas • Topics may be unfamiliar • Longer texts require readers to sustain interest and attention over several days • More mature themes, focusing on problems of society as they affect children • Texts contain difficult words to solve, often including words from other languages Text Examples: James and the Giant Peach, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, Bunnicula, Dear Mr. Henshaw, Anastasia Krupnik, Amazing Spiders Level Q titles include: All About Manatees Arnosky Book Two: The Stonekeeper's Curse (Amulet) Kiuishi The Clue at the Bottom of the Lake (Cabin Creek Mysteries #2) Gregory Finding the Titanic Ballard LaRue Across America: Postcards from the Vacation Teague Magic Pickle and the Planet of the Grapes Morse Nothing Ever Happens on 90th Street Schotter Shrek! Steig Stallion in Spooky Hollow (Animal Ark) Baglio The Tale of Anton Brown and Grace Hopper Hart Abby Takes a Stand McKissack Amulet: Book One, The Stonekeeper Kibuishi Champ Jones Just Juice Hesse The Life and Times of the Peanut Micucci Mummies, Pyramids, and Pharaohs: A Book About Ancient Egypt Gibbons Oggie Cooder Weeks

Punished! Lubar You Be the Detective Miller All About Sharks Arnosky All About Turtles Arnosky Can You Believe? Hurricanes Markle Copper Tocci Cut Down to Size at High Noon: A Math Adventure Sundby Food Chain Frenzy Capeci If You Lived at the Time of the Great San Francisco Earthquake Levine If You Lived With the Indians of the Northwest Coast Kamma Oxygen Tocci Paul Revere Sullivan Favorite Medieval Tales Osborne Help! I'm Trapped in the First Day of Summer Camp Strasser Adventures of the Shark Lady McGovern Exploring the Titanic Ballard ...If You Lived with the Cherokee Roop Mary on Horseback Wells American Tall Tales Osborne Native American Art Motil Animals of Long Ago Ring Folktales from China Lawson

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Level R Books in this level contain sophisticated vocabulary to challenge readers; some of the longer chapter books require sustained reading effort over several sittings; books represent a range of times in history. • Fiction and nonfiction texts represent a range of times in history • Wider variety of texts • Sophisticated vocabulary requires an understanding of connotative shadings of meaning • Literary devices such as simile and metaphor require background knowledge • Technical aspects of texts requires background knowledge • Mature themes include family problems, war, and death • Readers must connect concepts and themes to political and historical events or environmental

information Text Examples: Because of Winn-Dixie, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Midnight Fox, Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes, Sarah, Plain and Tall, The Trouble With Tuck, Hatchet, Hello, My Name is Scrambled Eggs, Shiloh, Strider Level R titles include: Clarice Bean Spells Trouble Child The Dragon of Lonely Island Rupp Episode Two: Invasion of the Relatives (Julian Rodriguez) Stadler Freedom Crossing Clark Magic Pickle: The Full Color Graphic Novel! Morse Miracles on Maple Hill Sorensen Owen & Mzee: The True Story of a Remarkable Friendship Hatkoff & Hatkoff & Kahumb Sitting Down for Dr. King Ryder What to Do About Alice? Kerley Who Cracked the Liberty Bell? Roop & Roop Achoo! The Most Interesting Book You'll Ever Read About Germs Romanek The Island Paulsen Julian Rodriguez, Episode One: Trash Crisis on Earth Stadler More Than Anything Else Bradby Pocahontas and the Strangers Bulla The Report Card Clements Rules Lord The Trumpet of the Swan White

Wackiest White House Pets Davis When Marian Sang Ryan Allergies Silverstein and Nunn Can't You Make Them Behave, King George? Fritz Food Chains Riley George Washington Venezia The Great Fire Murphy John Quincy Adams Venezia Octopuses, Squids, and Cuttlefish Trueit Thomas Jefferson Venezia Where Was Patrick Henry on the 29th of May? Fritz Listening to Crickets Ranson Brian's Winter Paulsen The Last Princess Stanley Lewis and Clark: In Their Own Words Sullivan Pigs Might Fly King-Smith Draw Me a Story Winter And Then What Happened, Paul Revere? Fritz A Jar of Dreams Uchida Journey to Ellis Island Bierman The Tortoise Shell & Other African Stories Smith

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Level S Selections challenge readers to make connections with previous reading and with historical events; words present many shades of meaning that require readers' interpretation; this level includes chapter books in a variety of genres. • Complex ideas and information • Includes a wide variety of topics and cultures • Paragraphs and sentences are complex requiring rapid and fluent reading with attention to

meaning • Requires automatic assimilation of punctuation • Chapter books include all genres with many works of historical fiction and biographies • Texts present settings from that are distant from students’ own experiences • Literary selections offer opportunities for readers to make connections with previously read

texts as well as historical events Text Examples: Matilda, A Taste of Blackberries, From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankenweiler, The Great Gilly Hopkins, Journey To Jo'burg: A South African Story, Trouble River, In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson Level S titles include: Amelia Earhart: This Broad Ocean Taylor Confessions of a Gym-Class Dropout Ranberg & Daley The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins Kerley From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler Konigsburg The Good Dog Avi The Houdini Box Selznick Out of Darkness: The Story of Louis Braille Freedman Taking Sides Soto When Women Played Baseball Hart The Young Man and the Sea Philbrick 4 Kids in 5E & 1 Crazy Year Schwartz Beethoven Lives Upstairs Nichol Bluish Hamilton A Dog's Life: The Autobiography of a Stray Martin Granny Torrelli Makes Soup Creech In the Shade of the Níspero Tree Bernier-Grand Let It Begin Here! Lexington & Concord: First Battles of the American Revolution

Fradin Puppies, Dogs, and Blue Northers Paulsen Tru Confessions Tashjian Abraham Lincoln Sullivan Christopher Columbus Roop The Civil Rights Movement in America Landau Light and Color Riley Thomas Edison Sullivan Valley Forge Ammon Wacky Trees Riley The Water Cycle Trueit Ben and Me Lawson In The Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson Lord Eureka! It's Television! Bendick In the Line of Fire: Eight Women War Spies Sullivan The Star Fisher Yep The Broccoli Tapes Slepian Earthquake! A Story of Old San Francisco Kudlinski Salsa Stories Delacreb Bessie Coleman Brager The Chicago Fire Gutner

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Level T At this level, readers encounter a variety of nonfiction text structures; expanded vocabulary requires readers to consider both literal and connotative meaning. • Include a variety of genres and text structures • Chapter books are long, with few illustrations • Readers need to recognize symbolism • Texts contain many sophisticate, multi-syllable words that readers will need to analyze in

terms of both literal and connotative meaning • Readers need more prior knowledge of political and historical events and about the problems

of different culture and racial groups • Themes include growing up, demonstrating courage, and experiencing hardship and

prejudice Text Examples: Abel's Island, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Sign of the Beaver, Bridge To Terabithia, Tracker, Sing Down the Moon Level T titles include: Colonial Times: 1600–1700 Masoff The Dodgeball Chronicles (Knights of the Lunch Table) Cammuso It Only Looks Easy Swallow Life in the Oceans: Animals, People, Plants Baker Mudshark Paulsen Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Red-Headed League Hart Smile Telgmeier Tracker Paulsen The Word Eater Amato The Wright 3 Balliett The 10 Deadliest Plants Littlefield The Amazing Life of Benjamin Franklin Giblin Chasing Vermeer Balliett Dirty Tricks Rodda Drita, My Homegirl Lombard Fair Weather Peck Orphan Train Rider: One Boy's True Story Warren The Power of Un Etchemendy Replay Creech Something Upstairs Avi

Black Holes and Other Space Phenomena Steele Enemies of Slavery Adler Land Predators of North America Swan Life in the Rainforests Baker Lightning Simon Lost Star: The Story of Amelia Earhart Lauber A Picture of Freedom: The Diary of Clotee, A Slave Girl, Belmont Plantation, Virginia, 1859 McKissack Seahorses, Pipefishes, and Their Kin Miller Volcanoes Trueit Volcanoes and Earthquakes Lauber Sleepers, Wake Jacobs Volcano: The Eruption and Healing of Mount St. Helens Lauber Under the Royal Palms Ada Sounder Armstrong The Girl Who Chased Sorrow Turner Where Are the Wolves? Motil Bonanza Girl Beatty The Big Lie: A True Story Leitner The Tall Tale of John Henry Neufeld The Story of Levi's Burgan

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Level U Books cover a breadth of topics and present specific, technical information; illustrations require interpretation and connection to text; text requires readers to employ a wide range of reading strategies. • Informational texts cover a wide range of topics and present specific technical information • Illustrations require interpretation and connection to the text • Narratives are complex with plots and subplots • Texts have several different themes and characters • Readers need to understand symbolism and themes which are more abstract • Creative text formats are used Text Examples: Julie of the Wolves, The Secret Garden, Wringer, Baseball in April, Nothing But the Truth, Number the Stars, The Watsons Go to Birmingham -1963, The BFG, Charlie Bone and the Invisible Boy, The Tale of Desperaux Level U titles include: The BFG Dahl The Calder Game Balliett The Extraordinary Mark Twain (According to Susy) Kerley The Fairy-Tale Detectives (The Sisters Grimm) Buckley My Side of the Mountain George Road to Revolution! Mack & Chaplin The Ruins of Gorlan (Ranger's Apprentice) Flanagan Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes and the Blue Carbuncle Ryder The Star Crusher (Missile Mouse) Parker Wringer Spinelli All of the Above Pearsall The Adventures of Marco Polo Freedman Creepy Creatures (Goosebumps Graphix) Stine Ginger Pye Estes The Graduation of Jake Moon Park Heaven Johnson Nothing But the Truth: A Documentary Novel Avi Tangerine Bloor African-Americans in the Thirteen Colonies Kent The Challenger Disaster McNeese Count to a Million Pallotta

Freedom Train: The Story of Harriet Tubman Sterling The Life and Death of Stars Spangenburg and Moser Remember the Ladies: 100 Great American Women Harness September 11, 2001 Santella The Truth About Great White Sharks Cerullo Under the Ocean Bennett First Ladies: Women Who Called the White House Home Gormley Hoang Anh: A Vietnamese-American Boy Hoyt-Goldsmith The Story of My Life Keller An Indian Winter Freedman The Secret Garden Burnett Midnight Magic Avi Geysers: When Earth Roars Gallant Sir Arthur Kotsakis Golden Games Zemanski Great Explorations Neufeld

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Level V Texts present complex issues and use technical language; topics are distant from students' experience in terms of time and geographic area, and may include realistic historical information and more difficult themes.

• Biographies go beyond simple narratives to provide significant amount of historical information and focus on harsh themes and difficult periods of history

• Science fiction presents sophisticated ideas and concepts • Texts require readers to think critically • Full appreciation of the texts requires noticing aspects of the writer’s craft • Texts have print in a small font • Novels may be two hundred to three hundred pages long Text Examples: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Chasing Redbird, Crash, Dragonsong, Rascal, Tom's Midnight Garden, Yolanda's Genius, The Cay, Esperanza Rising, Island of Blue Dolphins, Old Yeller, Pictures of Hollis Woods, Tuck Everlasting, The Westing Game, Holes Level V titles include: The Bad Beginning (A Series of Unfortunate Events) Snicket Black Star, Bright Dawn O'Dell The Capture (Guardians of Ga'hoole #1) Lasky The Cats in Krasinski Square Hesse Double-Dare to Be Scared: Another Thirteen Chilling Tales San Souci Ghostopolis TenNapel Heat Lupica Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland Martens Sojourner Truth: Ain't I a Woman? McKissack & McKissack The Titanic Kent Becoming Naomi León Ryan Birdwing Martin Desperate Journey Murphy Ellis Island Jango-Cohen The Fall of the Amazing Zalindas (Sherlock Holmes and the Baker Street Irregulars) Mack The Firework-Maker's Daughter Pullman Forty Acres and Maybe a Mule Robinet Foster's War Reeder Pictures of Hollis Woods Giff

African-Americans in the Old West Gowen The Battle of the Alamo Santella The Boston Tea Party Stein The California Gold Rush Stein Color Me Dark: The Diary of Nellie Lee Love, The Great Migration North, Chicago, Illinois, 1919 McKissack The Declaration of Independence Stein Escape to Freedom: A Play About Young Frederick Douglass Davis An Extraordinary Life: The Story of a Monarch Butterfly Pringle What a Great Idea! Inventions That Changed the World Tomecek Women's Right to Vote Landau Get on Board: The Story of the Underground Railroad Haskins How I Came to Be a Writer Reynolds Naylor The Music of Dolphins Hesse Alice in Wonderland Carroll 1000 Facts About Space Beasant The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle Avi Old Yeller Gipson Under Wraps Goldfish Eleanor Roosevelt Blevins

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Level W Books present complex information requiring readers to employ a wide range of content knowledge and to understand the basic organizational structures of nonfiction; topics explore the human condition and social issues; texts vary in length; print is generally in a small font. • Themes explore the human condition • Fiction and nonfiction text present characters who suffer hardship and learn from it • Writing is sophisticated, with complex sentences, literary language, and symbolism • Text have print in a small font • Readers must have an awareness of social and political issues to comprehend texts • Fantasy and science fiction introduce heroic characters, moral questions, and contests

between good and evil • Informational texts may present complex graphic information and require a whole range of

content knowledge • Readers must understand all the basic nonfiction organizational structures • Narrative biographies include many details and prompt readers to make inferences about

what motivated the subject’s achievements Text Examples: The Skin I’m In, Maniac Magee, Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry, A Stone in My Hand, Year of Impossible Goodbyes, The House on Mango Street, The Phantom Tollbooth Level W titles include: The Great Cow Race (Bone) Smith Houdini: The Handcuff King Lutes I Am a Star: Child of the Holocaust Auerbacher Max the Mighty: A Novel Philbrick Mind Readers: Science Examines ESP Rudy Numbering All the Bones Rinaldi Stowaway Hesse The Titan's Curse (Percy Jackson & the Olympians) Riordan Torn Thread Isaacs Chu Ju's House Whelan Guilty By a Hair! Prokos Home of the Brave Applegate The Invention of Hugo Cabret Selznick The Lightning Thief Riordan Lights, Camera, Amalee Williams Out From Boneville (Bone) Smith Tunnels (Book 1) Gordon Adam of the Road Gray Dear Dr. Bell . . .Your Friend, Helen Keller George

Extraordinary Women Scientists Stille Extraordinary Young People Brill G Is for Googol: A Math Alphabet Book Schwartz The Journal of James Edmond Pease: A Civil War Union Soldier, Virginia, 1863 Murphy Portraits of African-American Heroes Bolden Standing Tall: The Story of Ten Hispanic Americans Palacios You Want Women to Vote, Lizzie Stanton? Fritz Sea Otter Rescue: The Aftermath of an Oil Spill Smith From Rags to Riches Aaseng The First Woman Doctor Baker Through My Eyes Bridges Buried in Ice: The Mystery of a Lost Arctic Expedition Beattie & Geiger Dive! Earle The Moon Bridge Savin

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Level X Covers increasingly mature themes, and requires extensive prior knowledge; texts are designed to present a significant amount of new information. • Science fiction at this level incorporates technical knowledge as well as high fantasy

depicting quests and the struggle between good and evil • Readers are required to go beyond the literal meaning of the text to construct implied

meaning by a writer’s use of symbolism • Continuing increase in the sophistication of vocabulary, language, and topic Text Examples: Ties that Bind, Ties that Break, Where the Red Fern Grows, The Egypt Game, Zlata's Diary: A Child's Life in Sarajevo Level X titles include: Any Small Goodness: A Novel of the Barrio Johnston Elijah of Buxton Curtis Harlem Summer Myers King George III: America's Enemy Brooks The Legend of Hong Kil Dong: The Robin Hood of Korea O'Brien The Little Prince Saint-Exupery The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg Philbrick O. Henry's The Gift of the Magi Martins Satchel Paige: Striking Out Jim Crow Sturm Stanford Wong Flunks Big-Time Yee Antarctica: Journeys to the South Pole Myers A Break With Charity: A Story About the Salem Witch Trials Rinaldi Fight for Freedom: The American Revolutionary War Bobrick Four Pictures by Emily Carr Debon A Girl Named Disaster Farmer Millicent Min, Girl Genius Yee Somewhere in the Darkness Myers Storm Thief Wooding The Usborne Book of Scientists: From Archimedes to Einstein Reid & Fara When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit Kerr Black Eagles: African Americans in Aviation Haskins Buffalo Soldiers Cox

Forgotten Heroes: The Story of the Not Guilty Sullivan The Glory Field Myers The Great Depression Stein Katarina Winter Librarian Who Measured the Earth, Vol. 1 Lasky Nelson Mandela: No Easy Walk to Freedom Denenberg Up Before Daybreak: Cotton and People in America Hopkinson Within Reach: My Everest Story Pfetzer and Galvin One More River to Cross Haskins Out of the Dust Hesse Children of the Wild West Freedman Anne Frank: Beyond the Diary van der Rol & Verhoeven Bully For You Teddy Roosevelt Fritz Call It Courage Sperry Sarah Bishop O'Dell At Her Majesty's Request: An Africa Princess in Victorian England Meyers M.C. Higgins the Great Hamilton Summer of Fire Lauber

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Level Y Books feature similar themes to previous levels, with more explicit detail; requires critical reading skills to evaluate the quality and objectivity of the text. • Texts have subtle themes and complex plots • Include a whole range of social problems as themes with more explicit details (e.g., details

about death or prejudice) • Texts include irony and satire, literary devices requiring readers to think beyond the literal

meaning • Fantasies are complex, depicting hero figures and heroic journeys • Readers required to discern underlying lessons and analyze texts for traditional elements Text Examples: The Schwa Was Here, The Giver, My Brother Sam is Dead, Artemis Fowl Level Y titles include: All the Broken Pieces Burg Artemis Fowl: The Graphic Novel Colfer & Donkin Bad Boy: A Memoir Myers Children of the Dust Bowl Stanley The Devil's Arithmetic Yolen Jackaroo: A Novel in the Kingdom Voigt Milkweed Spinelli Riot Myers Truce Murphy Weedflower Kadohata The Boy Who Dared Bartoletti Geronimo Bruchac Get On Out of Her, Philip Hall Greene Heroes of the Holocaust Zullo The Jumping Tree Saldaña, Jr. Larklight Reeve Pemba's Song: A Ghost Story Nelson & Hegamin Vlad the Impaler: The Real Count Dracula Goldberg & Itzkowitz The Yearling Rawlings

Air Raid—Pearl Harbor! Taylor Davy Crockett Sullivan Favorite Greek Myths Osborne Hana's Suitcase Levine Indian Chiefs Freedman Isaac Newton Krull Leonardo da Vinci Krull New Kids in Town: Oral Histories of Immigrant Teens Bode Stars and Planets Stott The Wright Brothers: How They Invented the Airplane Freedman Castle Macaulay The Day Martin Luther King, Jr. Was Shot Haskins My Brother Sam Is Dead Collier & Collier Seeing Earth from Space Lauber Restless Spirit Partridge Tales Mummies Tell Lauber The Colorado River Rawlins Blizzard! Murphy I Am an American Stanley Tales of Real Escape Dowswell

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Level Z A challenge for more widely read students requiring critical reading skills; topics include controversial social and political issues; readers experience complex examples of nonfiction organizational structure.

• Informational books deal with controversial social concepts and political issues and include detailed historical accounts of periods less well-known

• Readers learn new ways of finding technical information • Informational texts include complex examples of the basic organizational structures • Fiction texts explore a wide range of mature themes relative to the human condition • Fantasy texts present heroic quests, symbolism, and complex characters • Some texts present graphic details of hardship and violence Text Examples: The Hunger Games, Johnny Tremain, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Breadwinner, The Outsiders, Witness, Animal Farm, Farewell to Manzanar, The Golden Compass, Monster, Night, The Pearl, Scorpions, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Additional Level Z titles include: Chains Anderson Chasing Lincoln's Killer Swanson Countdown Wiles The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate Kelly The Glass Menagerie Williams The Many Rides of Paul Revere Gilbin Stormbreaker: The Graphic Novel (Alex Rider) Cofler Tales from Outer Suburbia Tan Uglies Westerfield An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic Murphy The Best Ghost Stories Ever Krovatin Detective Stories Pullman Finding My Hat Son Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Rowling Jane Eyre Bronte Malcolm X: By Any Means Necessary Myers Stormbreaker: The First Alex Rider Adventure Horowitz The Time Machine Wells Toning the Sweep Johnson

Bat 6 Wolff Beyond Belief: Strange, True Mysteries of the Unknown Steiger The Disaster of the Hindenburg Tanaka Flight #116 Is Down Cooney The Greatest: Muhammad Ali Myers Guys Write for Guys Read Scieszka Memories of Vietnam: War in the First Person Weiss To Be a Slave Lester We Shall Not Be Moved: The Women's Factory Strike of 1909 Dash When Plague Strikes: The Black Death, Smallpox, AIDS Giblin Treasure Island Stevenson Great Escapes of World War II Sullivan We Shall Not Be Moved Dash The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Twain Triumph on Everest Coburn Black Beauty Sewell Where the River Runs Graff The Day the Women Got the Vote Sullivan The History of Emigration from China and Southeast Asia Prior City: A Story of Roman Planning and Construction Macaulay