The teacher’s knowledge of the child’s reading level allows them to gently guide and support the child’s choices, while also understanding that a child will experience a variety of levels of text throughout the day in different instructional contexts like interactive read-aloud, shared reading, book clubs, independent reading, and guided reading.  

Educators might share a book the child read at the beginning of the year, and a book that the child read later in the year, and some discussion of the text characteristics of each book so that parents can see that difficulty is increasing, as is proficiency.

Along with talking about a child’s independent and instructional reading levels, teachers can also talk about a child’s engagement with reading: how many books the child has read, what his tastes are, whether he is putting in a lot of effort or showing initiative.

helping families to see a complete picture of their child’s progress, beyond just a reading level.

cultural, linguistic, socioeconomic, and ethnic diversity vitally enriches our classrooms and our lives, and that this should be reflected in and resonate throughout what we teach our students, how we teach them, and the books that they read in our classrooms.

We can only do this by creating and maintaining inclusive environments that recognize, honor, and leverage the strengths of all students.