Is Just right books just wrong?

My first thought while reading this article was, let’s be honest…everything seems to be based around the DRA level.  There is so much focus on this that it seems as though everything else is trivial. In this text, it states “guided reading and leveled texts that fill hours of the classroom day may represent more of a problem than they do a solution” (Hoffman, 2017). I have to disagree.

I feel as though leveled reading provides a baseline and guideline for the teachers and assistants. Part of my job is to provide reading interventions to those who need it. Once a month the kindergarten support staff meets with the reading and intervention staff. We go over all the LSF, NWF, and DRA data. We talk about our strategies and what we are doing in the classroom to best support our students.

When I am working with my students, I do use the DRA levels to help me figure out the books that may be just right for the reader. From there I can decide if the books are too easy, they are just right or they maybe a bit of a challenge. As I continue my work with my students, I can decide whether they are ready to move onto the next level of reading based on my interventions.

  The students are allowed to choose their own just right books to place in their independent reading bags. Sometimes they do become bored with their books but only because they need to be replaced with new ones of a different content or reading level.

Upon further reading, I discovered another quote that I have to disagree with. It states, “One of the most pressing challenges in reading instruction at the elementary school level has been the lack of attention and engagement with informational texts” (Hoffman, 2017). I cannot relate to what is being done in other schools, but in my school, the children have a lot of exposure to informational texts. In the book bins where children can choose their just right books, there are tons of these books. In each child’s book bag, they have at least one informational text type book. As a class, during guided reading, writing workshop, science and health, the children are often exposed to this kind of material.

Overall, I like the leveling of texts. It does provide me with the guidance that would help me best support my students.