Books, books and more books…
Beautiful books!
There are many great websites and books about reading and especially reading aloud. In this section, I will share some books and websites that I have found helpful in buying and sharing books with my own family. I will also highlight a few of our favorite books and also offer a few reading suggestions. Please subscribe to be notified when a new topic is added.
Today’s topic:
Lexile Level- What is it and why is it helpful?
Lexile level refers to the reading level of a book. Libraries and Amazon often provide the Lexile Level of books, especially children’s books, and these levels can be helpful in selecting books that will be at your child’s independent reading level.
How to find a “ just right” book for your child to read on their own:
Remember if your child is still learning to read and building fluency, you want your child to be reading books independently that are comfortable.
Listen to them read a page aloud from a book and follow the “ five finger rule”.
If the child makes five errors when reading aloud a page from a book, then that book in beyond his independent level.
It is better for the independent book to be a little too easy, than too hard, when building fluency and confidence.
Once you find a book that is at a comfortable level, you can look for other books at the same Lexile level.
You can also find a series that your child enjoys and have them read books from that series. Children enjoy getting to
“ know the “characters” and “visiting” them in the next book.
You can use a Lexile finder website like this one: https://lexile.com/parents-students/find-books-at-the-right-level/find-books-that-match-your-measure-
Consider content, as well as level, in selecting books. Even early readers, can have beautiful stories like the Little Bear books by Elsa Holmelund Minarikor or Frog and Toad by Arnold Lobel, that contain lessons about friendship and kindness, or books that provide great content, like the Let’s Read and Find Out Science series. We want to provide really good books for our children. Content matters!