S/O How to determine a child's reading level? Any grade 3-4 "harder" picture books?

[goldenpig]

This is a piggyback on jess_g's thread on how to determine the grade level of a book: http://windsorpeak.com/vbulletin/sho...d.php?t=431520

My question is related: how do you determine a child's reading level?

DD is 4.5 and has been reading for about a year now. I'm often surprised at the complexity of words she can read. I haven't tried to figure out what level she is reading at but have always wondered. So I found and tried a couple of these online reading assessments on this webpage:
http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/articles/060899.htm
I tried the first two right now with DD and they both put her at 4th grade reading level. Can that really be true? She's not even in K yet. She went all the way up to "quality" and "urge" on the first test and "realized" and "interrupted" on the second (she missed those words but got everything before it correctly). So how reliable are these tests? Is there some other more accurate way to determine your child's reading level? I've been giving her books like "Poppleton" and "Curious George" and she reads those aloud without any mistakes, but now I'm thinking they may be too easy for her? They're 2nd grade level (2.8-9) according to the Bookwizard link someone provided in the other thread. I've been reading Charlotte's Web aloud to her (we read every night--she reads a easy reader book to me, I read a chapter from a chapter book to her), but maybe I should let her read the chapter books aloud herself? She'll sit there and read Disney Storybook Collection (http://www.amazon.com/Disney-Storybo...5495938&sr=8-1) to herself, and sometimes will read some of it to me (so I know she isn't just looking at the pics but is actually reading the story), but if I give her chapter books with minimal pics and small print and lots of words on the page (like the Charlotte's Web) she doesn't want to read it out loud to me. I think the page looks too intimidating, even though she probably could read the words.

So how do I find more appropriate books for her reading ability? Are there higher grade level (grade 3-4) books that still have lots of pictures to keep her interest with bigger print/fewer words on the page so she feels more confident reading it aloud? I feel bad that I haven't really been paying too much attention to her reading level and may be giving her books that are too easy rather than challenging her a bit. When we go to the library I usually just let her pick whatever catches her eye, but I really would love to go with a list of books to look for in the future. Are there books or lists about which books are appropriate picks for each reading level? I have tried asking her teachers and the librarian for help before but they usually give me cursory answers, and the librarian just points me to the easy reader section. Thanks for your help!

[elephantmeg]

dang. She's doing great! How about:
magic tree house (lots of pics!)
mouse and motorcycle etc
Mrs Piggle Wiggle

[crl]

Honestly I would just keep letting her read what interests her. Even if it isn't challenging as far as vocabulary, if it is interesting she will keep reading and that's key, IMO. And you are reading higher level books to her so she has the opportunity to expand her vocabulary and comprehension skills that way.

I'm no expert though.

Catherine

[ett]

Originally Posted by crl

Honestly I would just keep letting her read what interests her. Even if it isn't challenging as far as vocabulary, if it is interesting she will keep reading and that's key, IMO. And you are reading higher level books to her so she has the opportunity to expand her vocabulary and comprehension skills that way.

I'm no expert though.

Catherine

Those are my thoughts as well.

[citymama]

How about the Winnie the Pooh (original Milne) books? Rainbow Magic fairy books? More complex picture books? - because picture books are utterly fabulous and mostly lost to them when they start reading at a more advanced level.

The Barefoot story book collections have lovely illustrations and more complex stories. I take it she's read all the Frances books already? If not, they're wonderful.

Eta: I find the grade level assessments to be the minimum rather than aspirationsl targets for that grade. She's doing great reading wise, but what you describe is more typically what I'm seeing for older kindergarteners than second graders in our public school. otoh, I'm no reading expert!

Content wise, I think Magic Tree House is better in about 8-12 months. The problem with early readers is finding content to match emotional maturity!

[swrc00]

A true reading level is also founded by testing fluency and comprehension. There are two kits that I use at school to test reading levels. One is Fountas and Pinnell and the other is a Rigby Kit. They are both really easy to use. Any school would have the kits or some other system. If you have a friend that teaches, they could provide you with the tools you would need. If you really wanted to know those are some ways to figure it out.

That being said she is doing great on the ones you have used!

A few books/serieses that came to mind are:
Magic Tree House
Anything by Beverly Cleary and some of Judy Blume
Junie B. Jones - Not always a favorite by teachers and parents
Cam Jansen
A-Z Mysteries

Though not always accurate, most books have a grade level on the back. It will read something like "3.2". This just means it is meant for an on level average third grader in their second month. HTH

[goldenpig]

Thanks for the suggestions! I do have the original Winnie the Pooh and some other classic children's books stashed away in my library (I used to collect classic books when I was in college) so I'll have to dig those out and see what else I've got back there. I did buy DD the first Magic Treehouse set for Christmas but she didn't seem that interested--I'll pull those out again and see if she likes them better now. Oooh, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle! Those were one of my favorite series when I was a kid. Will have to find those at the library too!

Tonight she read a whole Clifford book out loud by herself without mistakes. And then I had her try some of Charlotte's Web--she would read a paragraph and get most of it but miss about three or four of the harder words like "motionless" and "determined" and "reluctantly", and then she would get tired and want me to read. Then after I read most of the page she would try another paragraph. I remember earlier when she was just starting to read, that she would want me to alternate reading sentences or pages with her so she didn't have to read the whole thing. So I think that works pretty well when we take turns. But I can tell it's still too advanced for her to read independently and I don't want her to get frustrated.

I'll try again at the library with the list of everyone's suggestions (thanks!) and I may also ask her teachers again whether they could test her reading level (because now I'm really curious)!

Citymama, I think you mentioned your daughter is about the same age, in K and also reading at a 4th grade level, right? I'll definitely check out the Rainbow Magic fairy books. What else is she reading? (ETA: Thanks, just saw your ETA. I agree, I was surprised by the BookWizard assessment--Poppleton/Curious George seemed younger than 2nd grade books to me based on the content! And I agree that a lot of the harder books are too mature for her!)

Oh, I forgot to ask for nonfiction recs as well. DD likes the DK First Encyclopedia books and Magic School Bus books. Any other suggestions? Thanks!

[justlearning]

Thanks for posting the link to the decoding test--it'll be fun to try with DS tomorrow. After reading the other thread, I decided to look up the grade equivalency of what my kindergarten son (6 years old) is reading right now. According to the scholastic site, the books he read this afternoon (Geronimo Stilton) are all at the 4th grade reading level.

So, here are some suggestions based upon what DS has enjoyed reading this past year:
-- Frog and Toad (this might work nicely for your DD--very sweet and has pics)
-- Magic Treehouse (read every one in the series--started before K)
-- Nate the Great
-- Magic Schoolbus
-- A to Z mysteries
-- Capital mysteries
-- Winnie the Pooh (original)
-- Curious George
-- Humphrey books (World According to Humphrey plus others in series)
-- Geronimo Stilton
-- Great Brain
-- Boxcar Children
-- Freddy
-- other random books on various topics

DS started reading when he was about 3 1/2 and he reads about 2-3 chapter books (around 115 pages each) every afternoon and LOVES reading. (His school librarian has been great at recommending books for him, and he also gets interested in book series that his 3rd grade brother is reading.) So my suggestion would to get some books from the library to have lying around and if your DD gets interested in them and starts reading them, great. (Or you could ask her if she wants you to read them to her and then she might just start interrupting you and wanting to read them.) But I wouldn't try to push her to read harder books or it may backfire, causing her to not enjoy reading as much. Just my two cents--I've never pushed DS to read and am thankful that he is so motivated to read on his own.

ETA that I wrote this post before reading your most recent post. DS2 prefers fiction over nonfiction but DS1 enjoyed reading lots of nonfiction. For that, I recommend just going to the library and getting all different books from the kids' section regarding an area of interest to your DD. For example, the summer that DS1 was 6, he was very interested in studying the body and checked out every young kid's book about the subject (e.g., digestion, poop, the senses, the heart). He would spend hours looking through the books and reading different facts (not completing every book but just looking at the pictures and reading what interested him most). To this day, he still remembers many facts from what he read that summer. He also has enjoyed reading the Usborne encyclopedias.

[citymama]

GP, have you tried the original Beatrix Potter series? Fabulous illustrations and stories!

My DD is a year older than yours and likes reading the Magic Treehouse books, Stuart Little, Charlottes Web, Trumpet of the Swans, Geronimo Stilton, original Mary Poppins series, Betsy Tacey, Ivy and Bean, etc etc. She also loves books about animals and dinosaurs that she takes out of the library. About a year ago it was Rainbow Magic Fairy, Pooh, Mary Poppins (still a favorite!), Magic Schoolbus, British kids books sent by friends, and I can't remember what else!