The Brown article for this week struck me both personally and professionally. My cooperating teachers in my main and dyad placements have discussed, either with me or with their class, how important it is for students to choose books they understand but offer the potential to challenge them. Reading the Brown article, however, reminded me more directly of my Juanita first-grade buddy and my OTHER first-grade buddy--my daughter.
I appreciated the article's focus on three very different readers, their skills and the appropriate texts for each. The terminology reminded me of Fox, but this article put a practical, everyday face on books and their suitability to various needs. My Juanita first-grade buddy appears to be prealphabetic, and the article gave me some ideas for selecting a book for him; in my two sessions with him, I had been skeptical that his designated "just-right" book bin was, in fact, just right. His letter/sound- and word-recognition skills are very much in the developing stages, and it seemed that even "simple, predictable texts" (as Brown calls them) were too difficult for him. Now I wonder if the teacher is simply trying to scaffold his reading ability, especially considering that the only book bin below my buddy's is full of picture books (without words). Perhaps it's more a matter of choosing different books from my buddy's "just-right" bin.
On a related note, my 7-year-old recently took the computerized STAR test at her school; this apparently establishes each child's reading level--a grade-level equivalent. Her scores indicate that she can check out a book up to level 5.5 (fifth month of fifth grade), and sure enough, she brought home a 5.5 book about her favorite subject, dogs. But when she actually read the book (Dog Heroes: Medical Detective Dogs), she stumbled on so many words that she grew frustrated, and her difficulty clearly affected her comprehension. This, to me, is an example of what Brown said is a limitation of "authentic literature" for beginners. So Kate took a test and "scored" at the fifth-grade reading level. But what does that really mean? Is she really reading at a fifth-grade level--the same level at which Lord of the Flies is listed? What result does that actually yield? There's a difference between ability and understanding. Will she get discouraged trying to read these books because she spends so much time sounding out the words? When she picks out books at school, could someone help her choose texts at a slightly lower level? I'm not sure how useful this testing process is.
Excellent questions about such programs and assessments as STAR and Accelerated Reader. While your daughter may have scored a 5.5, that most likely meant she read whatever text that was used in the assessment as well as a fifth grader would have. That, of course, is very different from being able to decode and comprehend a book written at level 5.5. You saw the result. Doing an old-fashioned running record, along with asking questions and choosing books of interest to her, is the best way to find her 'level.'
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