by Mutha

Created on: January 23, 2009

You can usually find the reading level of a book by looking at the front or back cover of the book. The publisher's website is also a good resource if you wish to find the reading level of a book. As easy as this sounds, you may find yourself a bit confused if you are not familiar with the different codes that publishers use to express the reading levels of their books.

Some of the reading level codes are self explanatory. Many books for younger readers published today have the reading level clearly expressed on the front cover. A book labeled Pre-K would be appropriate for most kids who have not yet entered kindergarten. A book labeled K-1 would be appropriate for kindergarten and first grade children.

A book labeled RL5 would be appropriate for a 5th grader. The RL stands for Reading Level and the number that follows corresponds with the grade the child is in.

Scholastic Guided Reading uses letters for their reading level codes. Beginning with the letter "A", the lower letters in the alphabet are for younger readers. As you progress through the letters of the alphabet, the reading level becomes progressively more difficult.

The Lexile rating system uses a numerical value followed by the letter "L". Lexile ratings typically range from 200L to 1700L. More difficult books have a higher Lexile Reading Level.

Different publishers use different criteria to determine what reading level a book is. Some of the criteria used are the difficulty of the text, the length of the book, difficulty of comprehension, and the subject matter covered in the book. Since the different systems use different criteria, you may find that you will sometimes have books that are far above or far below your child's reading level even though they are coded with a similar rating.

One way to avoid this is by using the same rating system to determine the reading level of books. You would have a very limited selection of books if you were only to choose books that use the same rating system on the cover. However, there are websites that have rated thousands and thousands of books using the same systems.

A great website that uses the same rating system to rate books by various publishers and authors is: www.lexile.com/DesktopDefault.aspx?view=ed&tabindex=5&tabid=67&tabpageid=313. This site can be used by teachers and parents as a resource to find books of the appropriate reading level that will interest any child. The Lexile website has a search feature that allows you to search for books by title, author, and by interest. So, if you have a child in third grade who is interested in dinosaurs, you could easily find a book that grabs their attention at their reading level.

Learn more about this author, Mutha.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.