Guided Reading Book Leveling Guidelines
(Grades K-2 only )
Levels A/B (Kindergarten/Grade One)
Level C (Grade One)
- Simple story line and topics
- Two to five lines of text per page
- Story carried by text
- Illustrations support meaning
- Text clearly separated from illustrations
- Oral language structures are used and repeated
- Full range of punctuation
- May contain patterns and repetitions
- More variation in language patterns
- Prediction through natural language
- Longer sentences, more words
Level D (Grade One)
- More complex stories
- Concepts still within reader's experience
- Illustrations are less supportive
- Two to six lines of text per page
- Full range of punctuation
- Repetition of words from previous texts
- Vocabulary includes more inflectional endings (-ed, -ing,
& -s)
Level E (Grade One)
- More complex stories
- Story ideas are more subtle
- Text carries story line
- Illustrations support story but contain several ideas
- Three to eight lines of text per page
- Text placement varies
- Repeated language patterns vary within text
- Vocabulary requires word analysis skill
- Extended vocabulary of frequently used words
- Full variety of punctuation
Level F (Grade One)
- Story lines include more events
- Characters more fully developed
- Text has beginning, middle, and end
- Greater variety of dialogue
- Three to eight lines of text per page
- Pictures support meaning
- Text carries more meaning
- Print is somewhat smaller
- Variety of frequently used words expands
- More opportunities for word analysis
Levels G/H (Grade One)
- More literary and longer stories
- Less repetition of events
- Content extends children's experiences
- More challenging ideas in content
- Four to eight lines of text per page
- Concepts integrated with natural language
- Introduction of new vocabulary
Level I (Grade One - Late)
- Variety of text including informational
- Story structure more complex
- Story events are more elaborate
- Illustrations provide low to moderate support
- Different points of view presented
- Opportunities to discuss new ideas
- More sentences per page
- Specialized, unusual, and challenging vocabulary
- Problem solving needed for unfamiliar words
- Characters are memorable
- Possibilities for comparison with other texts
Level J (Grade Two - Early)
- Longer and more complex stories
- Concepts and themes are familiar
- Variety of texts including nonfiction, folktales, and
realistic stories
- Some beginning chapter books
- Stories have a literary language
- Characters developed through dialogue
Level K (Grade Two)
- Stories have multiple events related to a single plot
- Familiar text and longer selections
- Illustrations on every page or every other page
- Amount of text on a page varies
- Illustrations support extended text
- Ten to fifteen lines of text per page
Level L (Grade Two)
- Longer chpater books with only a few illustrations
- Illustrations provide less support
- More characters are involved in the plot
- More sophisticated language, more detail and descriptions
- Story is more involved
- Vocabualry is challenging
- Text size is smaller and spacing is narrower
Level M (Grade Two)
- Books are long with lots of text per page
- Smaller print and narrower spacing
- Complex language structures
- Sophisticated vocabulary
- Highly detailed and descriptive
- Present more abstract concepts and themes
- Subtleties of these texts require more background
knowledge
- Many characters are involved in more complex and expanded
plots
- Character development is a prominent feature
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