finding books for child to read independently…

  • This topic has 6 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 14 years ago by Tia.
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  • January 31, 2011 at 7:50 pm
    Tia
    Participant

    i have asked this question a couple other times, but can’t seem to get a response.  i am putting it in the organizer section hoping this might help.  when using the bookfinder, if the suggested grade range is 1st and/or 2nd, does that mean that is the age at which the child could read the book independently?  how do i determine if a book is able to be read by my dd?  i am looking for short chapter books for her to read and i can’t determine how difficult a book might be. 

    and perhaps there is no way to tell and i’m trying to micromanage her reading.  perhaps i should let her try and if its too hard, find another one…??

    January 31, 2011 at 8:12 pm
    Linabean
    Participant

    I am also looking for books that I can assign my 8dd for independent reading but that correspond to certain subjects. A lot of the books in the bookfinder have a very broad range of recommended grades and I have a hard time determining what would be appropriate for her to read alone and then narrate. Although, to tell you the truth I don’t even know what “grade level” her reading is! I just know that she seems to be ready for this next step but I don’t think I want her to start reading the selections that are for the grades 4-6 in, lets say for instance, the ancient Greek studies. So am also interested in the answer to this question!

    January 31, 2011 at 9:53 pm
    Richele Baburina
    Participant

    Hiya,

    Yes, the tags can have quite a range.  We used http://www.lexile.com to get an idea of our son’s reading level.  I like it because it matches the reader with the texts and doesn’t worry about age or grade level.  If you have an idea of what your child can comfortably read and comprehend (ie “The Courage of Sarah Noble” is given a Lexile rating of 610) then you can find books in that rating based on their interest.  You can take the titles from SCM’s bookfinder and put it in Lexile’s bookfinder to see the rating.

    Books can vary widely.  Some chapter books will have a much lower Lexile level (may also be used as a twaddle-indicator 🙂 than a quality picture book. 

    Best,

    Richele

     

    January 31, 2011 at 10:17 pm
    csmamma
    Participant

    I agree with Linabean. The bookfinder does have a broad range of reading levels per grade, so it can be difficult to determine. We use Sonlights reader suggestions for K-5th. http://www.sonlight.com Some of them are on the bookfinder here. However, we use their catalog/website  to help determine which books fit  dc’s reading level. I’ll have to check out the one Richele mentioned as well – thanks, Richele ;).

    January 31, 2011 at 10:20 pm
    Tia
    Participant

    thanks to both of you!  i do have the sonlight catalog…not sure why i didn’t think to look there.  and that website it AWESOME!  thanks so much… 🙂

    January 31, 2011 at 10:38 pm
    Linabean
    Participant

    Yes, thanks to you both. I will need to take some time to try to figure out the Lexile website and the measurements, etc. but it looks pretty helpful and I am looking forward to using it as I really think it will be useful.

    I, like 3littlegirls, never even thought of using the sonlight catalogue but I would need to get one first. Thanks again for the help!

    January 31, 2011 at 11:26 pm
    Tia
    Participant

    linabean – that’s what i thought at first glance, too, but if you just go to the “find a book” section and type in a book your dc just read (or is reading), it will give you the rating.  then you can search for books with that rating or type in another title to find out if it has a similar rating.  it is really easy to use!  and i also found this link, which converts your Lexile rating to a grade level just so you have an idea…

    http://www.dupage88.net/aths/resources/AT%20MCweb02/TEAMS/ELLResources/LexileConversionChart.pdf

     

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