Leveled Books

Why Use Reading A-Z Leveled Books

Reading A-Z's English leveled books have been carefully written in accordance with standardized Learning A-Z Text Leveling System and quality checked with custom software.

Leveled books are available in a wide variety of fiction and nonfiction genres and strengthen connections in literacy and content-area instruction. Many are also available in Spanish, French, British English, Polish, Ukrainian, and Vietnamese.

How Books Are Leveled

Leveled books can be used with the whole class, and in small-group or independent instruction. This approach recognizes that a wide range of reading needs exist within any grade level or age group. Students are able to work with texts that are appropriate for their specific needs.

Leveled Book Support Resources include lessons, worksheets, discussion cards, and comprehension Quick Check quizzes to support and guide instruction.

Some leveled books are also supported by fluency practice passages, reader's theater scripts, a writer's response activity, a literature circle journal, or might be part of a paired book set or other collection.

ALL the resources that support a book can be found on its home page.

Leveled Book Formats

Reading A-Z leveled books come in an array of options to meet independent, small-group, and whole-class objectives.

Printable Books for use in class or to send home for practice can be printed in color, black and white, and as single-sided or double-sided.

Projectable Books integrate technology and reading curriculum. ALL books are available in this format for digital projectors and interactive whiteboards. Projectable Book Tips show educators various ways to meet literacy goals for fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, grammar, and more.

Multilevel Books allow students who read at different levels to enjoy the same book. One option for using multilevel books is to group students according to skill level. However, it is critical to introduce comprehension skills, phonics, and word attack strategies to all students.

Pocketbooks fit in a pocket—the perfect size for students to take home for additional reading practice or to make notes or reinforce grammar skills.

Wordless books allow students to use imagination to tell their own story with a book's illustrations or support retelling of the original text at Levels aa-J. The Wordless Book Lesson provides suggested skills and strategies.

Leveled Book Lessons

• Leveled Book Lessons combine the content of the Guided Reading Lesson and the Lesson Supplement.
• A Focus Question drives instruction and allows for a deeper understanding of the text, while yielding high-order thinking.
• A concise three-page lesson provides guidance for the teacher.
• Reading strategies and comprehension skills help support students before, during, and after they read.
• Text-dependent questions require students to cite evidence from one or more sections of the text to formulate responses.
• Extension activities build phonological awareness, phonics, and grammar and mechanics skills.
• Book connection activities provide cross-curricular opportunities in writing, math, science, or social studies.

Guided Reading Lessons

• Each leveled book is accompanied by a multiple-page lesson.
• Strategies help teachers introduce the book and build background.
• Reading Strategies and Comprehension Skills support students while they read.
• Questions promote after-reading discussions and quick skill lessons build language arts skills, including phonological awareness, phonics, high-frequency words, word structure and meaning, and grammar and mechanics.
• Extension activities link to writing and other curriculum areas, such as math, science, and social studies.

Up to four worksheets on comprehension and other literacy skills support each lesson. One worksheet is often a graphic organizer designed to engage students in the reading process.

Lesson Supplement

The most popular books at each level have a supplemental lesson. These plans are in addition to the regular guided reading lessons that accompany each book. The Lesson Supplements are designed to support teachers in meeting objectives around academic vocabulary, text-dependent questions, and a constructed response to reading based on a key question. Text-dependent questions require students to cite evidence from the text and are constructed at three levels of analysis:

• Level 1: Evidence to construct an answer is found in one place within the text
• Level 2: Evidence to construct an answer is gathered from several places within the text
• Level 3: Evidence to construct an answer comes from both the text and experience, requiring an inference or conclusion to be made

Quick Checks for Assessing Leveled Book Comprehension

Comprehension Quizzes are a fast, easy way to assess how well students comprehend their reading and are great resources for text-dependent questions.

Multiple-choice questions encompass a range of cognitive rigor and depth of knowledge. Quizzes at Level C and above also include at least one extended response, or essay, question, that require students to answer in writing an open-ended question using sound reasoning. The questions encourage critical and inferential thinking and allow teachers to measure skills that are difficult to assess with multiple-choice questions.

Quick Check Comprehension Quizzes accompany every leveled book from Level A to Level Z and most of the serial books.

Discussion Cards

Discussion Cards promote critical thinking, collaboration, and discussion among small groups or entire classes of students. Many discussion questions focus on text-dependent questions.

Each discussion card is tagged with the specific reading skill it targets. These include such skills as:

• Compare and contrast
• Cause and effect
• Make inferences/draw conclusions
• Analyze and evaluate

English Books and Leveling

Reading A-Z's Authentic English Leveled Books have been carefully written in accordance with standardized Leveling Criteria and quality checked with custom software.

English Translated Leveled Books were created by reviewing the English and English leveling criteria as part of the translation process. Some books might have English levels that vary slightly from the English level. Because Learning A-Z's translations mirror the content and structure of the original text while reflecting the natural flow of the target language and incorporating developmentally appropriate sentence structure and vocabulary, a English translation's final level will be accurate for students learning to read in English.

English Translated Leveled Book Lesson Ideas

Each small group reading session takes about 15 to 25 minutes and emphasizes higher-order thinking skills while providing the opportunity for deeper understanding of the text.

Students are placed in similar-ability groups and given developmentally appropriate books to read. The teacher monitors and guides each student's reading as needed.

Discussion follows, and each student keeps the book to read repeatedly. Subsequent lessons at the lower levels usually use an entirely new book.

The English lesson plan can provide ideas or support during instruction of the English book.