Friday, June 22, 2012

New Fountas and Pinnell Guided Reading Levels for Kindergarten

                           

I love writing Guided Reading books for Thematic Units and always include 2 to 3 different leveled books to help meet the needs of all the students in a teacher's classroom.  For those working in Title I schools, it is not unusual for a 2nd grade teacher to have students reading at an early emergent level.  I have used the descriptors from Reading A-Z when I write the different leveled books. I am thrilled when I get feedback from teachers telling me that they were perfect for the different guided reading groups they teach. Up until CCSS was adopted, Kindergartners were expected to be at Level C by the end of the year.
So I was surprised to see this new chart on Scholastic below that has the Kindergarten range from A-D. This is definitely a result of the new Common Core Standards that have been adopted by 40+ states. Scholastic has also published the new guided reading levels which you can access by clicking on the chart below and download a free copy.

The first thing I noticed was how the number of words increased from Level C to Level D. There were also more difficult words. For many Kindergarten teachers who teach in Title I schools this will be very challenging.  I would love to know what level your Kindergartens are suppose to be reading at by the end of year. 

For all of my followers and viewers I have a free guided reading book from my packet for you to download. Just click on the picture below. What Fountas and Pinnell level do you think it is? It would be fun to use at the beginning of the year.
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Thank you for all you do to make a difference for your students. Have a great start to the new school year.

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What do you think about the new Reading levels or Kindergarten?

24 comments:

  1. We are switching to common Core Standards so our reading level is going from C to D at the end of the year. This is going to be extremely difficult for some of my Title 1 kiddos. I'll just have to wait and see how it goes this year.

    Cathy I.
    mrsirwinsclass@gmail.com
    Mrs. I's Class

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  2. Thanks Cathy. I am sure that Common Core Standards are the reason for Kindergartners needing to be reading at Level D by the end of the year. Having taught most of my career in Title I schools I know what challenges you face. Hope your kinders make it to Level D.
    Arlene

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  3. Hi Arlene, I tell my kinder teachers that students should at least be at level C if not D. We have a very strong pre-K program and most kids enter kinder being able to read (level A or B and above). I just had my son read your adorable beach book. He is 6 and just finished kindergarten. He read it with three errors and said he really liked it! I notice in the Scholastic chart that it says "Scholastic Guided Reading Level". Fountas and Pinnell still has kinder from A-C, right? Thanks for the very thorough unit! Lauren
    Teacher Mom of 3

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  4. Thanks so much for your comments, Lauren. I'm sooo happy your son liked my book. That means sooo much to me. Hope it will like some of my other books too. Actually, if you click on the Scholastic picture it will take you to the website and it is A-D now.
    Arlene

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  5. Thank you for this post! My school requires DRA Level 4 - which most of them were on, but I did have a few that had the hardest time with comprehension and therefore, on a 3. I guess I need to find some "magic" and ideas to help me next year get those over the hump! :)
    Cheryl
    Crayons and Curls

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  6. Thanks for sharing. Hope you visit my TpT store and find some "magic" :) Thanks so much for following me.
    Arlene

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  7. Our school has had a recommended level of B/C. That being said, I had one student less than A, a couple at A, a few at B or C, and the rest (12) at D through H. It's news to me that CC is ratcheting up to D as the expectation. In the past, we have had guided reading start in the late winter after a couple of months of writers workshop. This fall we will be doing GR starting right away. About 1/4 of my class went to our preK, another 1/3 or so went somewhere else including daycare, and the rest had no preschool. We will have higher reading scores in the end but at what cost?
    Thanks for sharing A Day At the Beach :D

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  8. Thanks for sharing about your school. When I went to Kindergarten all we did was play. Kids today come with meaningful differences and those who are not read to or go to preschool are always playing catch-up. Hope they all make it.
    Arlene

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  9. Our school has the recommended level of 6. However, the school does not retain anyone in kinder. So as a first grade teacher, if the child is not on a 6 he will be behind and I get to break the news to parents who claim to have no idea they were behind. Very frustrating!

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  10. Thanks for sharing about your school. Level 6 is a high standard and I'm sure it's very stressful for you and other first grade teachers. Good luck next year.
    Arlene

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  11. Our required level for Kinder is a level 4 but our principal wants a 6 to allow for loss duing the summer. We are also a Title I school.

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  12. My district has kinders finishing the year at a C/3. Many of them can read a D, but many of them can't. My school also has 90% free/reduced lunch and 70% ELL, so it can be difficult when the majority of kinder classes start the year with little to no English. It will be interesting to see if the kinder teachers can get them to the higher goal or not as we transition to Common Core! Thanks for the unit, do you mind if I pass it on the my kinder teachers?
    ✿Nicole
    Teaching With Style

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  13. I think the Common Core will be very difficult for Title I schools with high ESL populations. Even if they can "read" at a level D do they understand the words and the story? You are welcome to share my unit with your kinder teachers. I use lots of pictures to help those ESL students!.
    Arlene

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  14. First things first, in the words of a friend HOLY MOLEY!! That is an awesome freebie!! Thanks for sharing. I can use it with my first graders.

    In our district, currently, the exit standards for first grade are a DRA 3. First Grade is a DRA 16. I do see them changing those through the years, as some have much higher standards. However, in my building, we have many struggling readers, and little parental support. With that said, it's an AWESOME feeling when they meet their target goal at the end of the year!!

    Thanks for sharing your resources!!
    ღDeAnne
    First Grade and Fabulous

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  15. At my Title 1 campus, we grade on a rubric of 1-4. To earn a 3, which is considered equivalent to an A, kindergarteners need to be reading a DRA 4. If they're reading a 6 or higher, they get a 4 as their grade. So, really a DRA 4 is the expectation. This is interesting, and I'm glad to see it! Thanks for sharing!
    -Audrey
    acolwell.blogspot.com

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    1. Thanks for sharing Audrey. It is so interesting to find out how different everyone's schools are and how many of those that have replied are at Title I schools.
      Arlene

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  16. I love Gail's comment: "We will have higher reading scores in the end, but at what cost?" So true! These are 5 and 6 year olds who are already being rubber stamped "failure"! Putting more pressure on our young readers will not change the fact that some of them are not developmentally ready for what we are expecting of them. We are spending millions in taxes on testing and the business of Common Core, but denying the children the free gift the we can give them - the gift of time. Please know that I'm not saying "just sit back and wait"; certainly we should be giving them the support they deserve. But we all know as teachers that the pressure to see increased achievement is filtering down the line - and who's at the end of the line? Our little guys. Do 5 year olds work better under pressure??

    Rant over. For now. :) Arlene, I spent the last 10 years of my teaching in a literacy intervention first grade, and the 5 years before that in Reading Recovery. For some of those children, reading your book at the END of first grade would have been an achievement. And yet, had they made far more than a year's progress in first grade? Absolutely!

    Thank you for your great book and activities. I'll print it for my granddaughter, who at 4 is a reader who blessedly will not be caught in this particular education world crunch! :)

    Linda

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    1. Thanks so much for sharing Linda. I understand your frustration as an ESL Resource teacher in a Title I school. The pressure is tremendous and some of our students missed recess and specials for reading interventions. It's wonderful to know that they make such great progress in 1st grade.
      Arlene

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  17. Just came across this post from another blog. I have entering my 5th year of teaching and taught Kindergarten for the last 2 years. My first year (2010-2011…I took a year “off”), my principal warned us that the standards were increasing, so I took it in stride and worked with my 24 kinders to push to D/E from the previous B standard. Last year, working with my 20, 15 were reading at D and above, 10 and F and above…in a Title 1 school. Good bye play and social exploration outside of the context of academics. No more blocks and the rare sighting of play dough and legos…Kindergarten has been all academic since I started teaching and it is only going to get worse...

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  18. Our county minimum at the end of K is a level 3, but our school has had trouble with summer slip between K and 1, so now our K teachers are supposed to have their kiddos at a level 4 by the end of the year. I teach 1st, so the higher the K teachers get them, the less likely they'll be below benchmark when they get to 1st, so we really appreciate those students that were able to read a 4 at the end of K. We hit the ground running in 1st. Going from a 4 (an early reader, knows only 30-50 sight words) to a 16 (getting into the transitional stage, knowing 200-300 sight words, and having enough fluency and comprehension) is a huge jump.

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    1. Thanks for sharing what's happening in your county. Kuddos to you and your 1st grade team.
      Arlene

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  19. Our Title 1 school changed to level D for the end of Kindergarten last year. The students didn't know about the higher expectations. Most of them rose to meet them! For the first time in 10 years of teaching English learners, my Kindergarteners were reading by the end of the year and knew about 70% of the first grade sight words! Comprehension was coming along due to the stronger vocabulary focus during whole group and guided reading.

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  20. That's fantastic Christy. Thanks so much for sharing your success. Have a great start to the new year.
    Arlene

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