Understanding Reading Levels

Guided Reading Level

Guided Reading (GR) Level, created by Irene Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell, refers to a method of leveling books according to an alphabetical scale.  Each grade level corresponds to several different letters in the alphabet, usually referring to what level students should be reading on at the beginning, middle, and end of the year.

Books are leveled by a committee who examine the layout, format, structure and complexity of the book.  They take into consideration both how difficult it is to read the words on the page and how hard the book is to understand.

When I test a student's GR Level, I read a small book with the student individually.  While they read, I note which words they read correctly and which words they skip over or read incorrectly without going back and fixing the mistakes.  I also calculate their words per minute and keep notes on their overall reading fluency.  Then I ask them comprehension questions to test how deeply they understood the story.

Lexile Level

The Lexile Framework is a numerical leveling system that uses a computer algorithm to give books a numerical value.  Simplistically, it analyzes the vocabulary as well as the sentence length and complexity within a book and assigns that book a specific number according to its overall difficulty.

To assess a student's Lexile Level, we use a computer test.  The test has students read a short passage and then asks what the definition of a word from the passage might be.  This doesn't really test whether a student can read and understand every word on the page, rather it tests their ability to use clues in context to figure out the meaning of a word.  Since Lexile Levels of books are based on the difficulty of vocabulary and sentence complexity this vocabulary based test gives us a good measure of a student's Lexile Level.

Why I Use Both

In my classroom, I use both Guiding Reading Level and Lexile Level to decide if a book is a good fit for a child.  I like using a Guided Reading measure because it gives me a good overall view of a child's reading ability by assessing fluency, accuracy, and comprehension.  Lexile levels are also helpful because they let me know if a student's ability to figure out what's going on in a story is above or below their general reading ability.

I mostly base what books I hand a child on the book's Guided Reading Level, but the Lexile number of a book gives me important additional information about guiding a child through that specific book.

Equal Lexile and Guided Reading Levels
If the Lexile level of a book generally matches the GR level, that lets me know that the vocabulary and sentence structure of that book is average for the reading level.

Marty Mcguire, for instance, is a book with a GR level of O and a Lexile level of 660.  This lets me know Marty Mcguire will not have words that are harder to read than expected for O level books.

Higher Lexile than Guided Reading Level
If the Lexile level of a book is higher than the GR level, I know even though the plot may be easy enough for a child on this level to grasp there will be difficult words and sentences that they may need help with.

Mudshark has a GR level of T but a Lexile level of 1080.  This lets me know that it will be a great read for higher T level readers, but I may want to read with them and help them decode and understand some of the harder words.  A great time to practice using context clues to figure out the meaning of a word!

Lower Lexile than Guided Reading Level
If the Lexile level of a book is lower than the GR level, I know that the words and sentences in this book will be easier than normal for this GR level.

The Westing Game has a high GR level of V but a Lexile level of only 750.  This lets me know that it will be a good option for supporting a lower V level reader that is struggling with vocabulary strategies and skills or to a good book read with a T or U level reader who is ready for a stretching book.

How Do I Find My Child's Reading Level?

The first step I always suggest is talking to your child's teacher.  Many teachers use one or both of these systems and can tell you right away what level your child is on.  Those who don't use these systems probably have a tool to help convert their system of assessing reading level to GR or Lexile level.

If you're in the library right now and want to find a great book for your child to read, check out our page on finding a good fit book.