On Reading Levels

 As an English literature Ph.D. and an ELAR/reading and composition instructor for over a decade at various grade levels, the question of what should students read and why is a question that I'm always circling. Even as I plan homeschool, what should they be reading? what will they want to read? what do I need to require them to read? As a college instructor on a short budget of time in the semester, what are the most important texts and which texts best help students fulfill the learning outcomes of each unique course?

It's not just me. It's every teacher. And it's not just a question of what texts fit into the scope of the content as well as the time constraints of a time period, but it's also, what will this text give them? Will the student love reading this? And the ever wrong question of is it rigorous enough? The absolute wrong question.

While I do think it is so important that we prioritize choosing texts that students could enjoy. There is also a space, though, for giving students reading strategies for a text or story they maybe don't like as much. One major benefit is that they may, in the end, discover that they did like the story if only they read it! This is a hugely beneficial life skill actually.

But to the topic of what should students read, I'd like to offer some advice on reading levels. I have my kids read a number of different kinds of texts at the same time. There's actually a magic combination that I strive to achieve for them so that through the combination of texts a few specific outcomes are achieved.

The first, I always, always, always have my children reading a text that they chose. During school, it is increasingly common that I hear that students have not, for years, read something that they wanted to read. The only texts they have read are texts they are required to read for class. And, as class reading is usually not within the scope of the student's actual interests, this usually means that it's years of reading being work as well as uninteresting. The perfect combination to kill a passion for reading as quickly as possible. I have always told people that, in my experience, all students, all kids, love learning. Elementary kids light up when their precious, beloved teacher reads to them at story time. In middle school, reading is divided between the kids who identify as "smart" and the kids who have been told that they're "behind" or that they're not "brainy" and only "brainy" kids read for fun -- or at all. By the time these students reached me in high school, the idea of reading for fun was a distant conversation. They were all severely burnt out on learning. My advice? Prioritize giving your readers agency and read something, anything at all, that they want to read. Bonus? Read that book with them and actively model the action of doing something purely that someone else wants to do simply because you love them and want to spend time with them. Perhaps this final emotional win and relational prioritization is the most important victory -- all because we actively engaged in an activity that our child wants to do, simply because it's an interest for them.

Second, and this could be fulfilled in the first point I just discussed, I always make sure that my child is reading something below their actual reading level. Why? Mainly confidence. It is so important that a reader is reading something easy. I still do this. Before bed, I have a handful of books that are "easy reading." They're fun. I want to read them. I can't put them down. I also make sure that one of these options is not overly emotional...otherwise I may not sleep! Those easy reads are perhaps the most important. They keep us reading, but do you know why more specifically? Fluency. Fluency is reading at a certain pace. We cannot read rigorous texts and increase fluency. Fluency is not only pacing but also accuracy and comprehension. In many ways, it's actually reading as we tend to think of reading. I'll give an example. My daughter is in the 5th grade, reading at a 6th or 7th grade reading level based on a reading level assessment which focuses on speed and accuracy. She loves, and I mean loves to read Junie B. Jones. This series is much below her reading level. She reads an entire book, a chapter book, in one day. Her confidence soars when she gets a book as a gift because she knows she can certainly read this book, but that's not why she reads them. They make her laugh. The character's struggles make her laugh hours after she's set a book down. It's inspired her to write her own novel, and she's even learned to laugh about some of the things, the mishaps, that happen to her thanks to the character. She's getting a very wholesome takeaway from reading this book. But the sheer volume of how much she reads, too, is incredible and gleaning many positives, and it's simply because it's just a little easier to read, so she can and does read it. 

Lastly, it's also important to have your kids reading something just a stretch beyond their reading level. It's sometimes good just to struggle a little with a book. For this reading component, I choose this text to be our read aloud book. I've discussed the importance of reading aloud in a previous post, but I'll say that I believe we live in a time where "struggle" is perceived as negative. It's not. Struggling builds perseverance and perseverance builds character. The best things, the very best goals and ambitions, are achieved not in spite of but because of struggles. Teach your reader that sometimes they won't know a word in a story they're reading. Sometimes they'll get to a sentence, and they may need to read it two or three times. Sometimes, they will read a book and get to the end and think, "I think I missed a thing or two?" Then they'll learn the value of re-reading (which will be the topic of my next Bookish Nectar post). We live in a wam-bam, one-and-done world, but the best learning is slow. If you choose to read the harder text with your child, then you'll teach them vocabulary words, sentence structures, more complicated characters and dilemmas. I've been shocked in the very best way at the emotional maturity and empathy my very young 2nd grade reader exhibits in our harder text each night. Though his sister reads several levels above him, his emotional intelligence is staggering. He often is the child providing the empathetic explanation to the character's struggles. We often have questions during this reading time like: "wait, what does that mean?" To which I say, "You've got to keep reading." There's something to be said for learning the art of pushing through or "muscling through," as I've also heard it said. This text can also be combined with the first, the text they want to read.

So, that's it! Encourage your reader to read multiple texts. Anne Lammott said one of my favorite things about this. She said she loves to see how "they ping off one another." I have found reading multiple things at once to greatly benefit me. I'm always amazed at how one seemingly disconnected book will end up discussing the very thing another book was saying. Finally, encourage your child to read something easy and then give them something to struggle in. It's not just good for reading fluency and accuracy and comprehension; it's also good for them emotionally.