Chapter+7


 * Chapter 7**

**#1** **FYI – new data = Large % leveled now** // In 2001 when this was published, the thought on how much to level in a classroom library was, “In am now convinced that most teachers are well advised to level about a third of the books in their classroom libraries.” // // All thinking grows over time. Years later, my bulleted notes from “A Day with Lucy Calkins” at Oakland ISD included this new thinking based on in-depth research and experience: // // · Classroom libraries – **large % is leveled now** // // o Gotten to a place where we talk to kids about growing stronger as readers and how all readers are different based on their amount of experience and talk about levels // // o When leveling, when in doubt, put in a higher level // // o Check out system for Upper Elementary and beyond // // o If there is a School – wide policy *** then rarely are books lost** * // // If you are a part of the new Reading Workshop Series, you may remember the discussion on June 29th about leveling books and Michelle's, Mary's, Rose's, and Linda's experiences with leveling a large percent of their library. Not all books are in leveled tubs, but those books that are in author tubs or genre tubs or subject tubs are often also leveled. What are your thoughts? Connections? Lingering Questions? // // Ok, I have a jump start. We have two libraries. The media center and a leveled center set up by our reading coach. As I set up for the coming year I have spent time in the "other" library. It has given me an opportunity to understand the progression. Again my research will help me the first month. Yes, it is a daunting task but I need to do it. Our Basal also has leveled readers that are Nonfiiction. These will be used in a better way that they have been used. They will be cross curricular. I will match these with the curricular studies. My students and parents will help me with the classroom library. // // Margaret Fox﻿ //

I am overwhelmed! I guess that as I think about having to level my entire (or a large percentage) classroom library.... yikes!! I have a hard time keeping it organized by the tubs I do have. Kids put the books back in any other tub than the one it belongs in! I can see the advantages to having it be largely leveled, but it is really going to take a lot of time and effort to do that. Good thing there is still another month before school starts!! Kari

Kari, this is what I did. I hope you see it can be done. (If I can do it....). I leveled the books in my classroom by AR (Accelerated Reading) levels. There is a great website where you type in the title or authors name and find the books level. We have assigned the levels a "DOT" color and so it is easy to place a dot on the cover for the students. Inside the cover I write the book level, the number of AR points and the quiz number so my students can quickly log into the AR site to take their comprehension tests. When I started my library it seemed overwhelming but it is getting easier. I have tubs with AR dot color levels, authors, genres, and series. I am working on leveling and organizing my non-fiction library the same way. I have 95% of my fiction books leveled and 60% of my non-fiction books leveled. My best readers in 3rd grade and above can look up books, level and color code them! I also assign librarians who at the end of the day help re-organize books. Occasionally, we will have a library day where the class helps and we search at the same time for school library books th﻿at have "migrated to our classroom. It is doable. Maybe have a day where you invite your students and parents in to help level and organize. That way they have some ownership on how much work it takes, and they get familar with the books you have available. They may decide to donate some books that they feel you REALLY need to fill out your library! Mike

Like Mike, I am working this summer to get a larger percentage of my books leveled. I would say about 98% of my fiction books and 60% of my nonfiction books were leveled at the end of last year. I am undertaking a larger project by typing the title, level, and genre into a spreadsheet as I record the level of each book on the outside cover in permanent marker. While tedious, I feel this spreadsheet will allow me to see areas in which I need to purchase more books, help me avoid purchasing duplicate copies without meaning to, and help me guide readers to a particular text. I can highlight those I use frequently for read alouds to make them easy to find while still providing students access to these texts. I use Scholastic’s Book Wizard to level books and take an educated guess if the level is not listed. I do feel that I typically mark the book with a higher level if I am unsure, which is something confirmed for me while reading this section. My final goal is to print labels from Jessica Meachum’s website and place them on the back cover of books to aid in their return to the correct bin. These pictures will be a great tool for my first grade students and hopefully keep my library organized. Stephanie Cooper

I have used the scholastic web site and another to level my libarary. I have use High School students that needcommunity service point or from the Tech school that where place in my room forcredit. I place them by level and byauthor tubs especially when it is an author that our basal focuses on—to helpwith the tie in. KDN

I also spent a lot of time last year getting a nice chunk of my library leveled. I'm not sure what my actual percentage is, though. I still have many to do. As Stephanie and others have said, I also use the Scholastic Book Wizard to level my books. There is also another site, but I can't think of it right now. It's the New York one. Anyway, it is a daunting task! I will spend a day or two yet this summer working on my library. I need to weed-out books as well. And, I like the idea of putting my books in a spreadsheet so I know what authors, genres, etc. would be areas I need to add books to...but at this time, I'm just not there yet! As I go through this process in the next couple of weeks, I will refer to page 127 where it states "it is crucial that we, as teachers, do not accept book levels as if they are endorsed by a Higher Authority. Levels are only approximations of gradients of difficulty. It's crucial to understand that if a book seems misplaced in one level, we can move it to another level." For some reason I don't remember reading this the first time I read through this chapter. As I read it and noticed it this time, I took a big sigh. A sigh of relief! Keri Cooper Chapter 7 from Bobbi Friend #1 I am also very overwhelmed with thinking about the fact that I need to level the majority of my classroom library. I have started as Mike did with leveling AR books. The level is a bit more broad, but it still gives a range of levels and an idea about how to match readers to the right books. Because I will be working with sixth graders, I do not believe that I need to fit students to exactly the right books, but rather a range of books. Lucy even states, “Yes, it is true that readers profit from reading a range of books and sometimes need the opportunity to struggle and persevere. And yes, the level of difficulty a book poses will vary depending on the reader’s background with this kind of book. And yes again, the truth is that I can’t always recall the details of the novel I am reading; does this mean my books are beyond my reach and should be kept from me?” Lucy is arguing that we need to very careful when we level books and help guide students to just right books for them.

Seven years ago I changed from kindergarten to first grade and at the time I was also moving into a new classroom so I spent many hours, often until 2 or 3AM, in my classroom leveling books and getting moved in. It was a goal I set for myself because I felt it was necessary for both my students and myself. How would I know if they were reading just right books without having a leveled library? I knew I wouldn't have time to listen to everyone on a daily basis to determine if they chose appropriate books so I did the next best thing I could and I DRA'd every student to get their instructional level and that gave us a starting point. When my students shop for books they have a gallon ziplock baggies they keep with them. On the baggie is a sticker with thier current level on it to help steer them to the correct baskets. As they progress through the levels they get a new sticker with their new level on it. It is not 100% foolproof but it works for me and my class. An added bonus is that when the baggie goes home for reading at home (RAH) the parents can keep track of the level their reader is on and watch for progress. I still have many books in baskets by theme, author, and character but I need this when doing book clubs. It would take me forever to have to go through all of my leveled book baskets to pull out everything for a theme study etc. -- Jodee Tuttle

**#2**

avoiding leveling children
//We know that the research is clear. Readers grow most when they are reading with high levels of accuracy and comprehension. Leveled libraries are a tool to usher in this growth for our students. However, what we say and do as the leader in our classroom community makes a significant difference in regards to readers and levels. What do you establish in your own classroom, either by communicating it with your students or in your specific practices, to avoid “structuring libraries to support one-upmanship and competition”? Along the same lines, what do you do or think about to avoid “leveling children”?//

//Leveling will be part of my minilessons. I feel I will be better at moving my children based on my research practices. My children will be set up for success based on my setting up a culture of a literate community. They will not be in a grouping that lasts all year. It will be based on their needs. Easy, no but time to move with the child(ren"s) needs.//

//Margaret Fox﻿//

We talk a lot about how we are each special and have different strengths and abilities. Especially at the beginning of the year, I try to stress this. I also like to point out various student's strengths... for example, "Joey is doing a nice job of listening" and "Sammy is being a good helper". Because all children learn at different speeds and have different abilities, I think it is just another way to show that we are all special. Some kids will be reading books with yellow dots, others with red or blue dots. I will not make a big deal about what color the book is, to the whole group, but I will reinforce to each student that they will "be helping their reading muscles to grow" if they read those books for now. By the way, I loved all the positive comments on p. 123. They were great examples of what to say and not to say. Kari

// We use Unique Curriculum and it has 3 levels. Level-1 is mostly cutting and pasting pictures with short fill in the blank phrases and very few words. Level- 2 uses more complete sentences with picture support underneath each word. Level-3 is mostly Paragraphs with 1-2 pictures in all. I have two students in level 1, six in level-2, and two in level-3. // // Social Skills Lesson: // From day one, I am able to communicate that we all have similarities and differences, preferences and non-preferences, strengths and weaknesses, and finally, abilities and disabilities. Once that is understood, we develop an atmosphere of helping each other when they are struggling with academics, reading, math, housekeeping, cooking, social skills, transportation issues, etc…This approach seems to eliminate that **sense of competition** and **one-upmanship**. I like the role-play idea on page 123 and the We Tend To Say: portion. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that most educators including my colleagues who are taking this class didn’t find it extremely difficult to avoid leveling children. Like the author, I too feel strongly that students need to find a book that is a ‘good fit’ for them to avoid reaching a ‘frustration level’. However, as stated on page 127; **“if we find that book levels distance us from books and silence our voices, then the levels are doing more harm than good.”** One way I try to avoid leveling is to offer a plethora of learning modalities that have students reading books from Unique Curriculum in paperback and on the computer. In addition, I am able to access web sites that will strengthen their reading sessions and we also have books on tape. Like my colleagues, I have collected a number of books over the years which I regularly share hoping to appeal to all reading levels. Finally, how can we determine a level that seems right for them? **(pg. 121-122) “First and most important, we notice if children are reading with engagement and responsiveness. If a child laughs at the funny parts or brings the book to recess in order to continue reading, we have a pretty good indication that this is a just-right book.”** As I mentioned in previous discussions, the books that my students would have to read would not be age appropriate, but we have to begin where they are. M.J.

Like Kari, I strive to explain how we have different strengths and abilities. I like to use the analogy that we need different things, too. For example, some of us wear glasses, or so-and-so uses a wheelchair. Our differences are what make us unique and special. As Calkins explained on page 124, I, too, like to highlight texts at different levels, so even the easier texts appear desirable particularly to early readers who often attempt texts that are too challenging. Also, I have organized my library so that I have some baskets clearly marked with the letter that indicates its level. Most of the other books are leveled within themed baskets. So, if readers of different abilities want to read about snakes I typically have titles on a range of levels in there. Last year I privately informed individual students about what level they were reading and should choose books from. Of course I wanted them to be successful with appropriate book choices, but I worried when the kids wondered about each others’ levels. I was thankful for the moments when kids celebrated each others’ growth no matter the letter. It felt like we really were a caring community. If someone was “moving up” in a level, we all cheered and it didn’t seem to matter. However, I feel naïve and wonder if really that is the best way! What about those kids who were assessed and remain at the same level and aren’t “moving up.” How deflating that must be! Argh! I want to celebrate kids’ growth as a community. Okay, now I’m thinking that the kids and I could set individual goals that are NOT focused on level but on skills. For example, the child and I could create a goal such as “I will point under the words.” Or “I will read more smoothly.” Then when they reach that goal, we could celebrate that. I’ve heard of teachers having kids put a note on a “I did it!” kind of bulletin board. Ahh…now THAT feels better J. Sara Sabourin

For the 1st part of the year I never talked about their levels—in their book boxes (hard plastic magazine boxes—out of 25 student only one cracked theirs)—I placed 6 + books on there level and a basal at their level. I was luck to have beautiful basils from 1,1+, 2, 2+, harder 2 and 3rd from an older series—which covered they range of my room and helped with stamina. Later we got into what their dibel score meant and through the mini lessons what a just right book was and how it felt better than a bike that is too big or too small. KDN I'm not sure how I feel about all of this. I like having concrete levels and moving children through them so I know that I am doing my job and they are showing improvement and growth over the coarse of the year. However, we are trying to get our students to learn how to pick "good fit books" for themselves, so they can be strong, successful readers no matter what level they are actually reading. I can see myself moving to a point where I don't level every book. For example, on page 121, an idea is, "If we put a dot on two Junie B Jones books, we may deliberately leave another two books in that series unleveled, in this way scaffolding the children's act of judging against the template of the books they know." I would like to get there someday. For now, it is ME who needs the structure of the levels. As far as comparisons between students based on the leveling system, well...last year I didn't have a lot of competition between the students. I believe that no matter whether you level the kids or not, they all know who the better readers are and who struggles. Children compare themselves to each other all the time. Almost every other teacher that commented in this section made a note as to how he/she talks about the uniqueness and individuality of each student from day one! As teachers, we are constantly pointing out that some of us are good at football and some of us are good at drawing. Everyone has special talents and gifts that they were born with and we need to celebrate those. I also focus on this at the beginning of the year and revisit the subject throughout the year as the needs arise. Some of us are better at reading and some of us are better at math. We are only in competition with ourselves. If we can look at where we are today and we can show progress each and every day, week, month, and year...then WooHoo for us!!! I get my kids tracking their progress with me. So far, it works! :) Keri Cooper Chapter 7 from Bobbi Friend #2 I think that in order to avoid leveling children, we need to be very cautious as teachers to discuss just right books rather than the letter or number or color of the book. If we are not careful, we are right back to the robins and the bluebird and the eagles of past teaching. We need to see levels and fluid and see students as moving from one level to the next, rather than labeling them as a letter m reader. By the time students reach me in sixth grade, I will have a very diverse group of readers with a huge range of reading levels. I will also have students who will be much more competent readers in one genre or another, depending on what past teachers have emphasized as well as what their reading preferences have become. I do not plan to level my entire library, just a part of it. I plan to use the school library, where the books are leveled, as a source for just right books and independent reader’s workshop books as well.

#3

** thinking grows **
// The fact that portions of this chapter are outdated in comparison to what Columbia University's Teachers College (where Lucy Calkins and colleagues head the Reading and Writing Project) now recommends for classroom leveled libraries is evidence alone that the thinking is always growing. How has your thinking about matching books to students changed over time? Did you have any strong connections to what you read in this chapter? How are you feeling about leveled libraries now? Are you also “proceeding cautiously forward”? // // Leveled libraries, they finally got it right. No, I'm finally understanding this concept. I think the problem has been the time frame on my part. This whole journey has been about helping my children become independent readers. The basal has it't place, but understanding how books progress. Teaching this to my children, yes I said teaching. My research has grown, therefore my students and parents are going to get a better understanding of "just-right -books. // // Margaret Fox // //﻿// // Although as stated on page 125, “**Many researchers have found that students read and comprehend literature storybooks with greater success than they have with books which have the controlled vocabularies” (Rhodes, 1979; Bussis et.al.1985).** // // I believe that I have always known that we must meet the students where they are developmentally, emotionally, and academically. // // Further evidence of that is the fact that my classroom of adults are working on 2-4 letter words during our word family lessons. //

// My new ‘mantra’ by Jerome Harste on page 119, **“You must always assume that one of the pillars of your thinking is dead wrong.”** // ** Mike **
 * M.J. **
 * P.120: "If children are matched with books on the basis of accuracy counts only, we know this might put too much emphasis on reading as calling out words and not enough emphasis on reading as understanding". I know I need to be flexible enough to allow for students to read at higher levels in their areas of expertise or interest, but strong enough to insist that we plan together with "just-right books", whatever level they are, to help them grow as readers. **

If we could just get others to adopt Mr. Harste philosophy. KDN

Calkins question about “Who are the slow learners here, the children or us?” resonated with me. For a long time I felt like Lucy did in the second paragraph of page 119. I didn’t want to limit my students and felt that they could read a text if they had enough “background knowledge, interest, and familiarity with the genre and subject.” While I know there is some truth to that as I watch a very early reader work through a book about dinosaurs or Star Wars, I also accept the fact that readers need to read books that are matched to their instructional and independent level. To me this has felt limiting, but I know it’s important. Something else that resonated with me was that Calkins and colleagues “tried to especially avoid the well-documented risks of classifying readers into long-term ability-based reading groups.” While I don’t name the kids into reading groups like many of us experienced in our childhoods (Bluebird group, Vulture group, okay maybe not quite those names…). In all seriousness though, I still worry about this because even though we don’t have names for the groups, many kids still progress similarly with their peers and they often remain in roughly the same groups throughout the school year. On page 124, Calkins said, “Nor would we say or imply that readers must pass a test before they can move to more difficult books.” In the past I have always relied on conducting a running record with a reader before moving them into a new level. I feel like it’s my safety net, like I need hard-core proof that they can move up. What are others’ thoughts about this? Thanks! Sara Sabourin

Much like Sara, I have relied on running records in the past to decide when a child is able to move up to the next level. Most of the time, the child was able to move forward so these assessments were desired, with many students asking when they could have a turn! I do want to move away from this system, however. I will look at children’s book logs and notice when they have read numerous books at their current level and compare with my notes to see how they are progressing with the skills and strategies being taught. If all seems well, I will give the student a trial run at the next level. I would like to have them read a book in a series with which I am familiar and provide an introduction to the book itself. Reading a book from a series would allow the child to access other, similar texts at their new level. I would check in with that student at our next conference to check their progress with both accuracy and comprehension. I also typically allow students to plead their case if they come across a text from a higher level they have a passion for reading. While I firmly believe students need to practice at their just right level, they need to be given the chance to read challenging material that interests them every now and again. The quote Mike selected from page 120 is one that resonated with me for that reason. Stephanie Cooper


 * // In addition to the questions and thoughts above, here is a place to post other ideas and burning questions from chapter seven, if any... //**