Question: What do you think about using colored tape to level books? How should I level the books?
Answer: This is a timely situation. I have heard that the new Pathways reading program recommends that teachers level their books. I think it is one thing to level your books in your classroom, but leave the library alone. On the other hand, many of us do not have the luxury of having a classroom library and a school library.
CONS of LEVELING
My main problem with leveling is that it can limit students in free choices. What about the student who has a particular interest in a subject such as World War 2? Maybe my library only has World War 2 books on a high reading level. Do I tell that student that he or she can’t read the book since it isn’t on their level? I feel that is a quick way to snuff out an interest in reading. Many students find that they can read higher levels if the motivation is high enough. One library friend told me about a student who checked out a thick book on a subject he was interested in. The book was a high school or college level book, but that child kept renewing the book each week until he had read the whole thing. He then was quite an expert in the subject and his self esteem was pretty high. He, a lower reader, had read a ‘big thick book’.
PROS of LEVELING
I do feel that there is a place for leveling books, though. There are times that it just makes sense. Teachers are so busy and may not have the time to work individually with students to find a book they like and a book they can read. If you do need to level some books, here is some advice on how you might choose to do this.
1. Decide the way you will level your books. Will they be leveled by readability? Most of you will likely choose this option.
2. Keep it Simple. This way the students can return the books easily and it won’t be your job.
3. Color-coding is easy to see and easy to put away, so most of you may choose to color-code your leveled books.
You could use a strip of tape or colored dots. If your books have the spine label on the bottom of the spine, it might be best to put the tape or dots at the top of the spine. In my library our *Everybody Books have colored dots to indicate the type of book and the books with the same color dot are arranged alphabetically by author. Our colored dot categories are:
1. Dark Blue dot – People stories
2. Light Blue dot – Pet stories
3. Pink dot - Bible stories
4. Black dot - Biography
5. Green dot - Nature
6. Light Green dot – Science
7. Orange dot – Technology (cars, trucks, etc.)
8. White dot – Animals acting like people
9. Red dot – Counting books
10. Purple dot – Alphabet books
11. Yellow dot – Rhymes and Songs
12. Blue star dot – Easy Readers
One shelf in our Everybody Books section.
Our dots are at the top of the spine. By the way, this is a picture book about World War 2 titled “Across the Blue Pacific” and is great for older students.
If you like this method, but feel a bit overwhelmed by so many categories, here’s a shortened version for you.
1. People books – people and biography
2. Pets
3. Technology
4. Science and Nature
5. ABC/Counting
6. Animals as People
7. I Can Read
Or an even shorter version:
1. People
2. Nature/Science
3. Bible
4. Easy Reader
If you are leveling books, you may not choose to use the same categories as I do in my library, but the same system can still apply. Easy Readers Level 1 could be one color and so forth. I like the dot system because it is easy to apply the dots and it isn’t quite so obvious as a wide strip of tape. I get my dots from Highsmith library supply. They come in many color choices and are fairly inexpensive. I get the ¼ -inch dot on an adhesive strip and they cost about $3.99 for a package of 200 dots. They have different sizes, but this size works well for me. Here is the information. Shipping and handling is $5.00 for any stock order.
Item number R11-39167 Grabber Grab-a-dot $3.99
So, if you are leveling books, make sure the system you use is EASY. Easy to set up because then you will actually do it. Easy to use because then the students may actually use it, and easy to understand for new students and parents coming in to your school.
If you have your library leveled already, let me know how you did it. We can all learn from each other.
Have a great week,
Audrey
*Everybody Books include easy pre-school books, picture books, Easy-to-Read books. Some people call these picture books or easy books, but there are quite a few that aren’t easy to read. Most librarians now use the term “Everybody Books”.
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