An overview of the guided reading levels

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This post will give you a simple overview of the guided reading levels from A-P.

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Welcome to post number 2 in our series, How to Teach Kids to Read Using Guided Reading.

As a teacher of guided reading, it’s important that you have a consistent system for leveling your books. That’s because one essential of guided reading is leveled texts.

You need a system for analyzing texts and organizing them for teaching your small groups.

My favorite leveling system is the Fountas & Pinnell text level gradient – also called the guided reading levels. Let’s look at how these levels correspond to different grade levels in K-3.

Of course, kids will read at different levels. My oldest three kids all started school reading at level J or higher, while my fourth child started kindergarten at level B.

You’ll also find that you’ll have older readers who are reading at a lower level. It’s not unusual to have a second grader start the year at a level G, for example.

What’s the answer? A guided reading library of leveled books.

In the next post in this series, I’ll tell you where to find those books. For now?

Let’s take a look at examples of each level.

Level A Books

I Can Run Big Cat I Hug I See a Cat

Have just one line of text per page
Use predictable language patterns
Have many simple sight words
Use a large, clear font
May be just 8 pages long

Level B Books

Up I See and See Pig Has a Plan Have You Seen My Cat?

Are very much like level A
Have up to 2 lines of text per page

Level C Books

Pie for Chuck Little Ducks Go The Fly Flew In Bad Dog

Are similar to levels A & B
May be longer, with 2-5 lines of text per page
Include mostly 1-2 syllable words
Have many easy decodable words

Level D Books

Car Goes Far Ed and Kip Fix This Mess Sick Day

Are similar to level C
Have slightly more complex stories
May have sentences with 6+ words

Level E Books

Pete Won’t Eat A Night at the Zoo The End of the Rainbow Grace

Have 2-8 lines of text per page
Have more complex stories
Have fewer repeating patterns
May have sentences that carry over more than one line
May have more pages than previous levels

Level F Books

Biscuit series Just Like Daddy “What is That?” Said the Cat A Hippo in Our Yard

Are similar to level E
Sentences may have 10+ words
May have a slightly smaller font
Stories start to have a clear beginning, middle, and end

Level G Books

Are You Ready to Play Outside? More Spaghetti, I Say! Just For You Sheep in a Jeep

Are similar to level F
Have 1, 2, and 3-syllable words
Have more challenging vocabulary and ideas

Level H Books

Old Hat New Hat Just Me and My Dad Sammy the Seal The Watermelon Seed

Include decodable words of 2 or more syllables
May have a smaller font
Have slightly more challenging ideas and vocabulary
Are more literary and less repetitive

Level I Books

Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! Hi Fly Guy Big Dog … Little Dog There’s a Nightmare in My Closet

Are similar to level H
Include complex and compound sentences
Have more complex stories with varied themes

Level J Books

A Friend for Dragon Henry and Mudge series Poppleton series Mr. Putter & Tabby series

Have 3-12 lines of text per page
May have short chapters
Include words with complex spelling patterns
May have very few illustrations

Level K Books

Frog and Toad series Mercy Watson series Ling & Ting series Nate the Great series

Are similar to level J, but are often longer
Still have a reader-friendly layout

Level L Books

George and Martha books Oliver and Amanda pig books Pinky and Rex series Tacky the Penguin

Have 5-24 lines of print per page
Have a more challenging layout
May have minimal or no illustrations
May be 60-100 page long chapter books
Are often simple chapter books with short chapters
Include 1, 2, 3, and 4-syllable words

Level M Books

Judy Moody series Vacation under the Volcano Junie B. Jones series Marvin Redpost series

Include longer, more complex stories
Have elaborate plots and multiple characters
May have no illustrations

Level N Books

The A to Z Mysteries series The Enormous Crocodile Gooney Bird series Nikki & Deja series

Similar to level M, but slightly more challenging

Level O Books

Ramona series Mrs. Piggle Wiggle books Huey & Julian books Amber Brown series

Similar to level N, but slightly more challenging

Level P Books

Bad Kitty books Encyclopedia Brown series Magic School Bus chapter book series Wayside School series

Similar to Level O
Slightly more complex themes
Greater use of figurative language

And there you have it! An overview of the guided reading levels from A-P.

Check out our whole guided reading series:

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