Boxing children into levels of reading can in the long run be a detriment to the development of their joy for reading and in turn their growth.
A political climate in which reading has become a level that a child performs at instead of something a child does because she is inquisitive and curious, is creating a generation of children for which the love of reading is being lost.
Pressure to Teach Kids to Read Usurps the Joy of Reading
Federal and state requirements for teachers to make sure children are reading at “grade level,” and push leveled guided reading as the dominant tool to teach reading, can sometimes put children in a box. Labeling children with a letter or number and telling them that they should only read books at these levels does several things that can be detrimental to the way a child approaches not only reading, but also learning at a variety of levels. If a child believes that she can only read a book at the “appropriate” level, why would she look to challenge herself?
Will assigning levels mean children will not seek out books that are of interest to them because they have been trained that these books are “too difficult,” or “not at their level?” It also turns reading into a task for which the child must get a better or higher score to advance instead of a tool for life long learning. The focus on literal comprehension rather than open discussion about content, or reflections about the greater socio-cultural implications of texts has taken over schools so that children are more worried about making sure to give the correct answer rather than actually thinking about what they have read.
Are adults assigned reading levels based on their schema or ability to decode? What if adults were not provided access to new books or information because it wasn’t deemed to be an “appropriate” level? Who is to say what is “appropriate,” and what is not. While perhaps well intended, assigning reading levels to children is a dangerous way to approach reading when it is over generalized.
Teaching Children to Discern for Themselves
Instead of telling kids what level they are, why are they not taught how to choose books for themselves based on different characteristics? Choosing texts for themselves that are easy, just right, or challenging gives children the freedom and the knowledge to make choices, seek out interesting texts for themselves, recognize what they can do and where they can go. By giving the students the power to choose, teachers provide a tool for a lifetime of learning, not a competition to see who is the “highest” reader in the class.
Impact for English Language Learners
English Language Learners are often misunderstood because upon arrival to new classrooms their English may be interpreted as being not sufficient enough to read texts that are more challenging because their oral output, or their decoding in English may seem emergent. Just because a child is learning English doesn’t mean that the child should be reading books that are so easy for them that they feel insulted.
Children learning English as a new language are often tested and labeled as reading at a level that is much, much too easy, because they do not have the vocabulary to decode a text that is more complex. A child in the fifth grade who is asked to read a book meant for preschoolers in English, because she doesn’t speak English yet, is made to feel silly. This does not help scaffold the kind of language she needs to be successful academically, nor does it recognize that she has a knowledge base in her native language that will help her to interpret and comprehend texts about information that she is already familiar with.
Where Has All the Love Gone?
Amidst this environment of moving through levels the question of whether or not our children are developing a love of books still lingers. How does a child develop an interest in reading when it has become a task to complete? How much time does a child actually spend during the school day reading just for the sake of reading? Is there time? Should time be made for pleasure reading? What will happen to the generation of children who were never given the time to enjoy a good book of their choice?
