Reading Levels 4-6

A Look at Levels 4-6Students reading at levels 4-6 begin to move away from finger pointing and start to track words with their eyes. Students who are ready to move from a Reading level 3 to a 4 are recognizing high frequency sight words when in text without a repeated pattern or in isolation. Students use picture clues, initial sounds and ending sounds when reading unfamiliar words. They may also start to look for and/or notice words that look like other words they already know (example: he/we) or look for parts of words that they know (pond). You can expect students to begin sounding out and blending CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words like “cat”.

What to expect to see in text at Reading Levels 4-6
-familiar/easy topics (pets, school etc)
-pictures support the text
-repeated language patterns but with more complex patterns
-simple dialogue
-longer sentences (some may be questions)
-sentences may have prepositional phrases
-some words with common endings (-s, -ing, -ed)
-high frequency words are repeated in varying sentence structures

Some ways that you can help your student at homeStudents who practice reading every night at home make steady progress and here are some ways that you can help your student when they make an error or are “stuck” on a word.

“What letter does it start/end with?”
“If that word was _______, what would you expect the first/middle/last letter to be?”
“Do you know another word that looks like it?”
“Do you know a part in that word?”
“Read it again and see if it sounds right”
“Does it make sense?”
If you are looking for your child to read more fluently, you can model it for them the way it should sound and then have them try. And then they can try a little faster.

Remember to continue to have your student read their level 4, 5, or 6 book at least 2 times each night. Also, ask your student’s teacher what cues they are using in class that are similar to the suggestions above so that you can use them with your child at home.

Enjoy watching your child notice all the parts of words and begin to make connections.

A Look at Levels 1-3 (Developmental Reading Assessment Levels)

Grade Level Equivalency

Levels 1-3 are considered Kindergarten level text. Level 1 is beginning of Kindergarten, Level 2 is the middle and level 3 is the end. We look for students to end Kindergarten on at least a level 3 so that they are ready for First Grade Reading skills acquisition.

Level 1 Books-
Have a repeated pattern on each page with one word that varies from page to page. Readers use the pictures to help determine the word that varies. “Picture walks” of the book prior to reading help set the stage for determining unfamiliar words. Students are working on pointing to each word while he/she is reading that corresponding word. This builds visual tracking and sight word learning. More difficult level 1 books have return sweeps, when the text continues onto a second line.

Level 2 Books-
They are still text with patterns, with the exception of the last page, where one or two words may be different. Also, more than one word may be different from page to page, may include a preposition change as well as another change.

Level 3 Books-A more complex version (a little more variation between pages) of a level 2.
Look for students to know their sight words from levels 1-3 in isolation before they are ready to move to a level 4. Level 4 books will no longer have a repeated pattern.

How to Help Your Child Read-
When students bring a leveled reader home for practice, they have read it at least twice with their teacher. They should read their book at least two more times at home (while pointing to the words) and will then read it one more time in class the next day. When you are listening to your child read, you can wait for them to finish a page before correcting errors. Some of the things you can say are; “Does that make sense?” or “ That word does match the picture and in this book they use the word ________” or, “Look at the first sound” or “Get your mouth ready with the first sound”. You can also ask your child’s teacher about visual or verbal cues she uses. Once your child has fixed the error, have him/her go back and reread the sentence.

Students reading a level 1-3 are still not sounding out words, but may be ready to begin using initial consonant sounds along with the pictures to read unfamiliar words.

Read only on the days you eat!