Will someone please explain to me why..

[creekmom]

the following words are in a Level 1 Beginning Reader book:

noise, buildings, instead, million, giraffes, delighted, taught, sign??? My 2nd grader (not a strong reader) is doing a good job sounding out most the words in his readers, so I picked up Danny and the Dinosaur thinking he would enjoy it (Level 1). I couldn't believe how many difficult words were in there! How do kids who are just learning to read know these words??? I have to admit I'm tempted to teach reading the way ps does if beginning readers can read these words!

[ElizabethB]

Beginning readers are pretending to read them, they are memorizing popular words in children's books like those and the Dolch Words by sight.

 

For some of them, it works out OK. For many, they have problems that are really hard to undo because you have to unteach the guessing habits.

 

Slow and steady wins the race.

[OleanderRain]

I just said this to a friend the other day! What comes after Bob Books?! We picked up a bunch of level 1 readers at the library and they are just too dang hard for her. She's also 7 and a struggling reader. These books lower her confidence.

 

So does anyone know of any in-between books?

[MelissaMinNC]

I was looking through the Level 1 readers at the library the other day and thinking the same thing. Blah. I don't think anyone who is really just learning to read is having an easy time with those books.

 

Hugs.

Melissa

[robsiew]

These books have a lot of "sight words" in them that kids who are taught phonics wouldn't have come across yet.

 

My beginning reader is really enjoying the books by Margaret Hillert. He especially LOVES the "Dear Dragon" books by Hillert. For the most part these are simple short vowel words he can read. Nora Gaydos also has some little readers that work well.

 

One more thought... there are some books (I'm sorry the title escapes me right now) where the adult reads one side of the page and there are really simple sentences (the beginning books only have one short sentence) on the opposite side the child reads. I just can't for the life of me remember what they are called... anyone know what I'm talking about?

Edited August 27, 2010 by robsiew

[StephanieZ]

the following words are in a Level 1 Beginning Reader book:

noise, buildings, instead, million, giraffes, delighted, taught, sign

 

Because some idiot is labelling books in order to sell them, not in order to help families teach children to read.

 

That idiocy is why I loved Pathway Readers. Great stuff.

 

I saved the idiot-labelled books for much later, when the child was comfortably reading Gr 3 level or so. They're generally a waste of time, IME.

 

There are *some* that are just groovy, but most of the labels are meaningless. Buyer beware!

[Chris in VA]

Primary Phonics readers are a great step up from the basic Bob Books.

[Mom-ninja.]

The older original Dr Suess books are great for practicing phonics. Lots of nonsense words to sound out.

 

Arnold Lobel books are good too.

 

The first Little Bear book is nice.

[Rivka]

The first level of "I Can Read" books is quite advanced. It's hard to fill the gap between Bob books and fluent reading of basic texts! We liked:

 

Mo Willems' Elephant and Piggie books. These are especially nice because there are so few words on the page, but they are incredibly enjoyable to read.

 

The Dr. Seuss "Beginner Books" series. Includes Seuss titles like Green Eggs and Ham, but also many others. Some of the simpler titles in the series are Ten Apples Up on Top, Put Me in the Zoo, and Go Dog Go. But actually most of the books in this series are pretty easy to read, and the older ones especially have a high percentage of phonetically regular words.

[creekmom]

I just said this to a friend the other day! What comes after Bob Books?! We picked up a bunch of level 1 readers at the library and they are just too dang hard for her. She's also 7 and a struggling reader. These books lower her confidence.

 

So does anyone know of any in-between books?

 

I've been extremely happy with the Pathway Readers. If your daughter is 7 and is struggling, start with the Days Go By blue book. The stories very subtly increase in difficulty, and there is a word list in the back of the book that tells you which new words are introduced in each story. If you buy the workbooks, they also have some word practice with the new words. I make flashcards of the new words and put them in his memory box.

[LaurainMD]

I've learned that "Level 1" doesn't mean the same thing across the board, at all. My DD gets so discouraged by those supposedly Level 1 readers that really aren't. At the library, I just pull out every book labeled "Level 1" until I find a few that really are for beginners. I second the recommendation for the Dr. Seuss-type beginner books (Hop On Pop, etc.). We found the "Ready-to-Read" level 1 readers to be genuinely "level 1" -- particularly enjoyed the Puppy Mudge books. Also "Step-Into-Reading" step 1... my DD liked "I Like Bugs" from that series.

[skueppers]

I wrote a blog post about this a couple of months ago. I find it really disturbing.

 

People I know who have their kids in the public schools here tell me that one of the major things Kindergartners do around here is memorize a list of 100 sight words.

[Kirch]

I've learned that "Level 1" doesn't mean the same thing across the board, at all. My DD gets so discouraged by those supposedly Level 1 readers that really aren't. At the library, I just pull out every book labeled "Level 1" until I find a few that really are for beginners. I second the recommendation for the Dr. Seuss-type beginner books (Hop On Pop, etc.). We found the "Ready-to-Read" level 1 readers to be genuinely "level 1" -- particularly enjoyed the Puppy Mudge books. Also "Step-Into-Reading" step 1... my DD liked "I Like Bugs" from that series.

 

That's what I do too. Our library has the easy readers color coded, and ds4 knows that the green books are for him. So he marches in and hauls out a pile and then I weed through them to find the ones he really can read. For the most part, the green-labeled books really are beginner level, a step or two above BOB books. I've seen some of the next level (yellow label) that are labeled as step 1 or beginning readers, so I think our librarians do a pretty good job.

[Brenda in FL]

The Dr. Seuss "Beginner Books" series. Includes Seuss titles like Green Eggs and Ham, but also many others. Some of the simpler titles in the series are Ten Apples Up on Top, Put Me in the Zoo, and Go Dog Go. But actually most of the books in this series are pretty easy to read, and the older ones especially have a high percentage of phonetically regular words.

 

:iagree: Als with Frog and Toad

 

Then try the Henry and Mudge books (Oh wait - what's the one with the little golden retriever puppy? Those should be read before Henry and Mudge. And then after Henry and Mudge - Nate the Great). With these read several in the series, with Nate the Great many of the story elements are the same: same characters, he eats pancakes, etc. I think the familiarity within the series helps to instill confidence in the new reader.

 

100 EZ lessons includes a booklist that they suggest you go through in order. I found it helpful - the last on the list is the first Magic Tree House book.

[LittleIzumi]

Oddly enough, the ONLY level 1 book that actually contained all words dd could read was a "Dr. Seuss" reader, something about the Cat in the Hat cooking :001_huh:.

[achristean]

We struggled with finding the right level for our kids too. I was so happy to find the Bob books. But then . . . it was hard to find books between Bob books and beginning reader books.

[ChristineW]

:iagree: Als with Frog and Toad

 

Then try the Henry and Mudge books (Oh wait - what's the one with the little golden retriever puppy? Those should be read before Henry and Mudge. And then after Henry and Mudge - Nate the Great). With these read several in the series, with Nate the Great many of the story elements are the same: same characters, he eats pancakes, etc. I think the familiarity within the series helps to instill confidence in the new reader.

 

100 EZ lessons includes a booklist that they suggest you go through in order. I found it helpful - the last on the list is the first Magic Tree House book.

 

Biscuit is the little golden retriever; they are such sweet books.

 

I just read Go Dog Go (for about the 100th time) to my three year old and most of the words in that book seemed ok for a new reader. Big Dog, Little Dog and Best Nest are good too; they have some sight words but not too many. Take this with a grain of salt though, my oldest is just starting to sound out CVC words.

 

Christine W

[Snickerdoodle]

I bought some of the I See Sam books when my son was at this stage. I thought it was money well spent because he had the same issue with the I Can Read series when he was learning to read.

 

http://www.3rsplus.com/

[Quiver0f10]

This is a pet peeve of mine too. My dyslexic son couldn't read any of those so I ended up buying books meant to go with the program we use. It was the only way he could grab a book and read it without too much struggle.

[Guest TheBugsMom]

Look for the old primers of Dick and Jane. I am not sure how the reprinted versions are, but the actual ones they used in schools are good.

 

Another option is to get the readers from Abeka. We personally enjoyed the readers from Bob Jones, but those have the child learn certain sight words or even non sight words that would enhance the stories...usually one or two for each story.

[DawnM]

Interesting thread.

 

My son just picked up Danny the Dinosaur last night and read it to me. He is starting 1st grade this year.

 

I just let him read the words he could and helped him with those he didn't know.

 

Dawn

[Mommee & Baba]

Ok I just thought this was something I was missing....this is the ONE and ONLY reason we dropped out of the Library's Summer Reading Program. They had the 1st-2nd graders reading the Level 1 readers from the library and after attempting 1 of the books my 2nd grader lost all the confidence we spent the prior year building because of all the hard words in the books! So glad to see that this is a wide spread issue and not just something I was boggled at and left confused.

 

I had purchased several level 1 sets of books that are still sealed and wrapped because after seeing some of the same books at the Library I wasn't eager to jump right into something that would make my dd feel like she couldn't read at her level.

 

We're doing the Pizza Hut reading program and I'm gonna have my 2nd grader doing using the BOB Books for that particular program. She loves her HOP books because they are with words that only include words she's learned.

[LinRTX]

This is actually what I have done with all my children. We read the books together and if they cannot sound out a word I read it to them and we go on. Before I know it they were sounding out words beyond where we were in their phonics lessons.

 

Linda

[EKS]

The levels on the front of leveled readers don't have anything to do with grade level. It just means that it is the first level in the publisher's sequence of levels (usually there are 3 or 4). Those leveled readers don't assume that a kid is learning to read with phonics alone, and how difficult the text is phonetically doesn't really come into play. I found that when I added "sight" words (most of which are phonetically regular, or mostly regular) to our lessons, it really opened up a whole world of books that were inaccessible before. And it doesn't "undo" the phonics training or anything else, but it does open up a world of reading.

 

Also, at that level, I always had my kids read aloud to me, and if I knew that a particular word was beyond them, I'd just provide it or model sounding it out.

 

BTW, Danny and the Dinosaur, according to Reading Counts, is level 2.7, so if your son is beginning 2nd grade and struggling, it would likely be pretty difficult for him.

Edited August 27, 2010 by EKS

[weddell]

I've learned that "Level 1" doesn't mean the same thing across the board, at all. My DD gets so discouraged by those supposedly Level 1 readers that really aren't. At the library, I just pull out every book labeled "Level 1" until I find a few that really are for beginners. I second the recommendation for the Dr. Seuss-type beginner books (Hop On Pop, etc.). We found the "Ready-to-Read" level 1 readers to be genuinely "level 1" -- particularly enjoyed the Puppy Mudge books. Also "Step-Into-Reading" step 1... my DD liked "I Like Bugs" from that series.

 

This is what I did too. I went and sat on the floor by the leveled readers and pulled out lots of level 1 books. I found some that were truly beginner level with most/all easy to sound out words. I wasn't too many. I found that after we had covered long vowel sounds there was a ton more available to us. Puppy Mudge books are easy, we have a few of those. There was one called Ducks in Muck (I think?). Basically I found the easiest books I could and then just told dd the other words (some with the rules to sound out, some not depending on the word).

 

ETA: I found we could tackle almost any level 1 book after we had finished ALL five sets of BOB books. We had also finished all 4 sets of Nora Gaydos Now I'm reading series (we alternated with the BOB sets to keep them on a similar level). After this the regular Henry and Mudge series were right on level.

Edited August 27, 2010 by weddell

[Dmmetler]

Because Danny and the Dinosaur is leveled (on Scholastic's Teacher Book Wizard) at a 2.7, Lexile 200L, DRA 18-20-all of which makes it at least a solid 2nd grade level, if not a 3rd grade one.

 

AR considers it a grade 2.3.

 

I think part of the problem is that the author's intent is being changed by marketing.

 

I remember the "I can read book club" when I was in elementary school, and IIRC, the marketing was to 2nd/3rd graders-kids who had already learned to read, and were really starting to read independently. At the time, there simply weren't a lot of early chapter books, so these 2nd/3rd grade level books, with more text to picture and more involved words, were a useful bridge.

 

Now, there are a TON of chapter books down to even a 1st grade level, so these books get shelved with the true easy, early readers, with a 1 on the cover, and frustrate kids and parents.

Edited August 27, 2010 by Dmmetler2

[Paige]

I think most level 1 readers are intended to be read by parent and child together and level 2 and 3 books are more for independent readers. I find that level 2 books actually have easier words than the level 1s since the child is expected to read it alone, but they have a lot more words with more words on each page and more pages.

 

I also think a little sight reading is good. The 250 sight words my kids learned in K really helped them feel confident and most of the sight words are high frequency words that can't be sounded out easily with phonics, or at least not without a lot of advanced phonics, like one, come, and said.

[johnandtinagilbert]

Just seconding:

Biscuit (series)

Frog and Toad

Pathway Readers (primer first)

 

 

Write sentences using your own spelling words. You'd be surprised how well you can do that way.

 

If you're finished with all the phonics (71?), Little House in the Big Woods is great! A few to really sound out, and very few to help with, but easy to read and a delight in 2nd grade or strong 1st grade readers.

[Guest]

We are dealing with this right now, too. My son is mostly going through the Abeka readers, which are great because they line up with exactly what he has learned.

 

When we went to the library the other day, I was frustrated, as well. I did pick up some Rookie Reader books, though. It was really interesting because I picked up a bunch from 1982, Level B, that I felt my son could read and that I felt had words that were phonetically on track with what we've learned. I picked up one that was a Level A and thought how much more difficult it looked than the Level B books. Then, I noticed it was published in 2002. I'm wondering if this has to do with the sight words that kids are learning now? I don't know what the trend was back in 1982, that's when I was born, lol.

 

Anywho - look for the old Rookie Readers!

[Lovedtodeath]

These books have a lot of "sight words" in them that kids who are taught phonics wouldn't have come across yet.

This.

 

Because Danny and the Dinosaur is leveled (on Scholastic's Teacher Book Wizard) at a 2.7, Lexile 200L, DRA 18-20-all of which makes it at least a solid 2nd grade level, if not a 3rd grade one.

 

AR considers it a grade 2.3.

 

I think part of the problem is that the author's intent is being changed by marketing.

 

and this.

 

My daughter could read those words (and books) the first year she was reading. I used a vertical phonics method with her. All sounds of all phonograms and multi-syllable words are introduced within the first year.

Edited August 27, 2010 by Lovedtodeath

[Lovedtodeath]

Some good information on kids reading early and still needing phonics when they hit a slump:

[romeacademy]

I found this frustrating as well. So many leveled readers either include a lot of "sight" words or words kids are supposed to guess based on a picture.

 

I recently found a series called "Dr. Maggie's Phonics Readers" by Margaret Allen that make a nice supplement to Bob books. In addition to the Henry and Mudge series, I think I remember Mr. Potter and Tabby being pretty good.

[twoxcell]

I would stick with the more classic easy readers. Frog and Toad, Little Bear, Owl at home, oscar otter, mouse tales, mouse soup, CLP nature reader 1, check out Sonlight and HOD emergent reader list when he needs something harder.

[twoxcell]

Wanted to add that I went through the entire Phonics Pathways book with my ds in 1st grade. He started reading Little Bear about 1/3 into the year. He now reads very well, and can sound out pretty much anything. Phonics does work.:001_smile:

[In2why]

What works for us is a strong phonics program, but also a mix of sight words. I think that the pendulum swung from a whole word approach to a phonics approach and was needed, but perhaps we shouldn't scrap it completely.

 

I think the true dolce list of sight words needs to be memorized just like math facts. Most of them do not follow phonic rules anyway so would be taught as exceptions. By doing this it allowed him to become more fluent and to experience sucess. But that is just my opinion and not based on research other than my own kids.

[Lovedtodeath]

What works for us is a strong phonics program, but also a mix of sight words. I think that the pendulum swung from a whole word approach to a phonics approach and was needed, but perhaps we shouldn't scrap it completely.

 

I think the true dolce list of sight words needs to be memorized just like math facts. Most of them do not follow phonic rules anyway so would be taught as exceptions. By doing this it allowed him to become more fluent and to experience sucess. But that is just my opinion and not based on research other than my own kids.

.

 

Here is a case of a homeschool student who lost her ability to read phonetically after learning the Dolch Words:

 

 

 

I used to think that a few sight words were OK...then I started handing out grade level tests to students in schools with good phonics programs + the Dolch Word lists. Their failure rates averaged around 30%. The failure rates depend on how many sight words are used and how much they emphasize them (CA schools with sight word speed drill have failure rates approaching 60%, but they also seem to have more whole language practices.)

 

The more whole language things that are being done, the higher the failure rates I've seen.

 

For a homeschool student that is being closely monitored, just the Dolch Words will probably not have as high of a failure rate, but I have seen several cases of problems from homeschool students taught a good phonics program and given the Dolch Sight word lists.

 

Since it only takes a few extra hours to teach the extra rules/patterns you need to teach them phonetically, why risk it?

.

[truebluexf]

We did most of Headsprout (which is great bc you print out books as you go along and instill heaps of confidence, as well as learn words considered advanced in other programs); then we jumped to Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs & Ham, Go Dog Go, etc...then moved into Frog & Toad. Owl at Home is good too, after Frog & Toad.

[Rivka]

I think Frog and Toad and the other Arnold Lobel books are an extra step beyond Go Dog Go or Green Eggs and Ham. They have longer sentences and more words on the page, and more words which go beyond simple CVC or CVCe patterns.

 

That said, they're about ten times better than most early readers in quality, so they're worth getting to as quickly as possible. ;)

 

They've recently put out some omnibus versions of the Dr. Seuss Beginner Books series. For example:

http://www.amazon.com/Big-Blue-Book-Beginner-Books/dp/0375855521

 

There's the Big Blue Book, the Big Red Book, and the Big Green Book. For about $10 you get five stories with the original full-size artwork, all at about a 1.5 grade level. They'd make a great set of first grade readers.