How to Gauge a Book's Reading Grade Level

 

            You hear about this child reading "on the third-grade level," and that one "on the ninth-grade level." How can you tell the grade level of the language in a book?

 

            It's by no means easy. It takes a lot of trial and error. You must consider not only the simplicity or difficulty of the vocabulary and reading structure of the book, but the suitability of its content for the child's emotional development.

 

            The simplest way is to go by the publisher's own guesstimate. On the back of a paperback, down by the bar code or logo, you should see a little abbreviation like this:

 

            RL:5.2

            010-014

 

            That means "Reading Level fifth grade, second month" but children ages 10 to 14 would enjoy the content.

 

            But man, are there more things to think about. You could spend all day researching just one book's suggested reading levels, and you are likely to come up with answers that are all over the map! But here's a great website to give you the lay of the land:

 

            www.hoagiesgifted.org/reading_levels.htm

 

            Others that are helpful because they have grouped books by grade level:

 

            www.hedgehogbooks.com

 

            http://home.comcast.net/~ngiansante/

           

            www.fresno.k12.ca.us/technology/ar/documents/Readability.pdf

 

            When in doubt, use a simple counting method, the Five Finger Rule: have your child begin to read aloud from a page of a book. Every time the child struggles to pronounce a word or can't do it at all, lift one of your fingers. Do it secretly and silently, so that your child doesn't know what you're doing. If all five fingers come up, that book is not right for the child.

 

            By Susan Darst Williams • www.GoBigEd.com • Read to Me 014 • © 2006