Books by Guided Reading Level

You have been told by the school that your child reads at a certain level, say Level H. What does that mean, and how do you find books that are good fit?

Reading Levels designated by letters A to Z are a system called Guided Reading, which is used by Decatur Public Schools and others. Level A represents the very easiest texts and beginning readers, and Level Z the most complex in terms of vocabulary and sentence structure, as well as readers who can handle those.

A text's reading level is determined by computer analysis of grammar and vocabulary. A student's reading level is evaluated by various tests of comprehension of texts or fluency in reading. They are helpful guides, but should not be considered an absolute measure. A child evaluated at Level H can probably comfortably read books anywhere from F to J, depending on level of interest and familiarity with the topic or series. So you can start by looking for books your child is interested in first, then check for reading level within a range. Or you can start browsing here by level or range, find some good titles, and then look for similar books.

If your child's school uses a different leveling system, you can find many charts online comparing them, including a simple one here, and a more detailed one here. And you can find a more detailed discussion of reading levels and how they work here.