To Level or Not to Level?

As parents and teachers, what are our goals when we give kids a book to read?  We may hear different answers including wanting kids to enjoy what they are reading, helping them build stamina, helping them develop their comprehension, and basically just giving kids an opportunity to build their literacy foundation.  But how do we know what are the best books for our children or students?

As teachers, we have a responsibility to choose the best reading material for our students.  According to Glasswell and Ford in their article Let's Start Leveling About Leveling, the reading material itself is not as important as how it is used and thus a teacher's judgment is critical for "planning and implementing successful reading instruction" (pg. 209).  We could have a classroom full of books for students with different reading needs, but if we don't know how to use them they become a good idea gone bad.

First we need to recognize that the relationship between the reader and the text in a specific context is very complex.  Dr. Heidi Anne Mesmer referred to this as text complexity, or "an interwoven series of various pieces that braid together to make [reading] more multi-faceted, complicated, and interesting" (2012).  This complex interaction is oversimplified when we try to put kids into reading levels.  If we were to always put kids into reading levels we would have to create many sub-levels in order to identify all the different needs of children.  This goes back to the idea that teachers need to choose books that suit a student's needs rather than trying to get him or her to the next "level".   Dr. Mesmer also mentioned how the material children read should help guide thinking, represent knowledge, and expose gaps and inconsistencies

Children need materials that they are actually interested in reading, are capable or reading, and are also challenging and stimulating.  This ties in with Vygotsky's idea of ZPD.  Children need to be able to accomplish some tasks (helping maintain confidence) while still needing just a little bit more help and guidance to challenge the student.