As educators, we focus on providing students with "just right" books to practice word identification, fluency, comprehension and strategic reading work. In order to find each child's individual reading level, students are assessed with the Fountas and Pinnell Benchmark Assessment System (BAS) . The BAS is a one-on-one assessment that helps me to identify your child’s specific reading strengths and appropriate instructional reading level for small- group instruction. The information gained from this standardized assessment helps me to identify goals and plan instruction that support your child’s reading progress across the school year. It also provides me with a student's Independent and Instructional reading levels.
This information is used primarily for teaching. However, this information can also help you and your child find books that are “just right.” An instructional reading level is the level at which a child needs the support of a teacher or parent. This is the level where students are introduced to new vocabulary, encounter words to decode, and have areas of comprehension where learning can occur. This level is where the greatest progress in reading occurs.
An independent reading level is the level at which a child can read a text on his/her own with ease. The child makes hardly any errors when reading the text and has excellent comprehension of the story. The child can read the story alone with confidence. You can go one level lower (For example, Instructional Level G would indicate an Independent Level of F) in order to provide books for your child that he/she can read with ease. You can use the Instructional or Independent Reading Levels to help you find books for your child. The Scholastic website allows you to search by reading level to find books for your child.
How do teachers use this information? What is Guided Reading? Click here!