Choosing “Just Right” Books
for Independent Reading
By
Andrea Frasier
Independent Reading
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Independent reading enables students
to clock up mileage as readers, expand
their reading powers, and fulfill the
essential goal of daily reading.
-Fountas & Pinnell
Classroom Library
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Students should have access to a range of
quality books.
Book baskets should be filled with fiction,
nonfiction, poetry, and various levels of
reading difficulty
The library should keep growing and
changing to reflect student interests,
reading levels, and topics of study
Why Is this Important?
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Children can read for extended periods of time
when they are matched with a “Just Right” book
They are more successful with books that interest
them
Children are capable of using a variety of
strategies if their book offers the right amount of
support and challenges
Semantic and syntactic cues can not be
accessed when when books are too difficult and
children are forced to rely on graphophonic cues.
Easy Books
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Students can read the words fluently (smooth and with an
interesting voice)
There often are not a lot of words on a page
Students know how to say all the words
There are not a lot of pages in the book
Students have a lot of schema for the subject
Sometimes the book has a larger font
Students totally understand the story
Students reading rate may be quicker
Students’ thinking comes easy as they read the words
Challenging
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Many of the words are too hard to decode (failed a five finger test)
Students don't know what the tricky words MEAN
Students reading becomes choppy more than it is fluent
Students don't have any schema for the subject
There are often a lot of words on the page
Often the font is small
Students may lose focus while reading
Students are not enjoying the book because they have to do too
much word work
Their thinking is confused
Their reading rate slows way down
“Just Right”
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Students can read most of the words
Students can understand what you are reading
Students enjoy reading the book
Students may have some schema for the subject
They can read the book with smooth fluency but there are
some choppy places
Their reading rate is just right- not too slow and not too fast
Students can figure out the tricky words and still get the
meaning of the story
Know Your Students!
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Conference during independent
reading (see sample conference questions)
Listen to students read
Consider how the books in your
classroom support and challenge all
readers
Books
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Check books out of the school and/or public
library
Share with other teachers
Book Room
Book Club Award Points
Spend $ on 1-6 copies of a single text (NOT
on text sets!)
Supporting All Readers
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For optimal learning to occur, students must be
matched to “just Right” books
If this is not in place, many students continue
getting taught with the main reading textbook that
is at their frustration level
Students continue getting taught (but not
necessarily learning) for the whole school year
using an inappropriate book