Book and Reader Characteristics at Levels 1 – 2

BOOK AND READER CHARACTERISTICS¹

Book Leveling System²			Book Characteristics³	Reader Behaviors to Support⁴
RR	F&P	DRA	Book Characteristics³	Reader Behaviors to Support⁴
1-2	A-B	A-3	Simple story or single idea Simple illustrations depict objects or actions in the text; direct picture support Familiar language structures Repetition of high-frequency words Repetitive language patterns Consistent placement of text on the page 1-4 lines of text per page Good spacing between words Usually no more than 50 words	Using basic concepts about print: moving through text from front to back, left to right, and return sweep One-to-one matching of spoken word with written word by pointing at each word as it is said Paying attention to print – noticing some features of letters and words Remembering and using repetitive language patterns Recognizing some high-frequency words Recognizing that the pictures help to explain the text Using knowledge of language structures as a source of information Predicting what makes sense Self-monitoring: checking accuracy of reading by making a one-to-one match with the words, using known words, or recognizing when meaning doesn’t make sense or language structure doesn’t sound right.

1 Information for this table is mainly derived from Fountas,I. and G.S. Pinnell. 1996. Guided Reading, Good First Teaching for All Children. Portsmouth, N.H. Heinemann. See especially Chapter 10.
2 RR = Reading Recovery, F&P = Fountas and Pinnell, DRA = Developmental Reading Assessment
3 Book Characteristics refer to general characteristics of texts; every book will not include every characteristic listed. Please note that book levels overlap in different levelling systems.
4 Reader Behaviors to Support will develop over the specified range of levels.