I love writing Guided Reading books for my thematic units and include Word Work Activities for Literacy Centers as well as Picture/Word Word Walls and Writing Activities.Pictures are a great help to ESL students and those who don't have a rich and robust vocabulary. I love Reading A-Z and have downloaded lots of books for my students and my grandson to read. When I write my own books I have used the reading level chart which for Kindergarten is aa-C.
So I was surprised to see this new chart on Scholastic that has the Kindergarten range from A-D.
This is definitely a result of the new Common Core Standards that have been adopted by 45 states.
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. I also am including a free Guided Reading and Writing Unit I have written for you to download. After looking at the Make and Take Book please tell me if the Kindergartners at your school could read this at the end of the school year? Just click on the picture below to get your free copy. Hopefully your first grade students will have fun reading it too.
I hope that if you like my products you will check out my TpT store and follow me in order to get updates on new products that I will be adding. There are some great new BTS items for you to check out. Thank you for all you do to make a difference for your students.
What do you think about the new Reading levels or Kindergarten?
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.
ReplyDeleteCathy I.
mrsirwinsclass@gmail.com
Mrs. I's Class
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.
ReplyDeleteArlene
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
ReplyDeleteTeacher Mom of 3
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.
ReplyDeleteArlene
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! :)
ReplyDeleteCheryl
Crayons and Curls
Thanks for sharing. Hope you visit my TpT store and find some "magic" :) Thanks so much for following me.
ReplyDeleteArlene
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?
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing A Day At the Beach :D
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.
ReplyDeleteArlene
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!
ReplyDeleteThanks 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.
ReplyDeleteArlene
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.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing. Hope they make it.
DeleteArlene
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?
ReplyDelete✿Nicole
Teaching With Style
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!.
ReplyDeleteArlene
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.
ReplyDeleteIn 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!!
į¦DeAnne
First Grade and Fabulous
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!
ReplyDelete-Audrey
acolwell.blogspot.com
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.
DeleteArlene
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??
ReplyDeleteRant 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
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.
DeleteArlene