Dear Mr.

Else,

The Common Core State Standards instruct teachers to have students

grapple with challenging texts at their reading level. Kindergarten

students are currently expected to become readers in order to help them

be successful with all content area learning, 21st century skills, and the

demands of future careers. “For primary-grade students, literary and

informational texts are commonly picture books” (Louie, Pughe, &

Sierschynski 2014). The earlier students are explicitly taught reading skills

through enticing literature, the more likely they will be able to successfully

apply those strategies to content areas in the upper grades. Children’s

literature can provide students with new perspectives, expand their

vocabulary, and develop comprehension abilities that they can employ

in other content areas.

In the kindergarten classrooms at Southside Elementary, students are

currently exposed to books checked out from the school library, black

and white copies of Reading A-Z texts, a variety of used fiction books with

limited social studies and science content from garage sales or retired

teachers, and read aloud stories from Scholastic. These are not

considered quality texts because we don’t have access on a daily basis

to the valuable books in the school library, the black and white copies of
leveled readers are boring for our students, the used books from the

community have worn-out pages that lack content and the read aloud

stories from Scholastic do not purposefully follow nonfiction topics we are

learning in class. Also, we lack simple leveled texts for our guided reading

instruction.

Engaging literature in the primary grades consists of meaningful

interactions between texts and colorful illustrations, rich language words

and phrases that develop imagery and complex value for students, and

exciting plots that drive readers to predict what happens next. In addition,

quality leveled reading sets include texts with colorful illustrations, a variety

of engaging fiction and non-fiction topics, repetitive texts, and sight words

that can help support literacy instruction.

Consequently, we are not consistently using engaging texts to help

students learn how to read and explore stimulating books. For some

kindergarten students this is the first time they have had exposure to

literacy. As teachers, we do not want children’s first memories of learning

how to read associated with boring black and white copies of leveled

readers or used disengaged books that we have added to our classroom

libraries from retired teachers. Students deserve daily access to high

quality books in the classroom and we need to be able to consistently use

enticing texts to teach our students’ early comprehension and decoding

skills. Research shows that students will be less interested in reading if they

are not exposed to a variety of exciting literature at an early age.

Kindergarten students would benefit from consistently reading engaging

fiction and non-fiction leveled readers in school. It is important for

teachers to help students select books that interests them and are a little

below and above their current reading level to gain a better

understanding of just the right books that developmentally meet their

needs. Most students prefer to read real books with fresh and interesting

covers over used, black and white front covers.

With much thought, research, and collaboration between the

kindergarten teachers, we believe there is a selection of high quality

fiction and non-fiction leveled readers that will enhance literacy skills for

our kindergarten students. The Guided Science Reader Sets from

Scholastic are our first choice of leveled readers because of the engaging

nonfiction topics and colorful illustrations provided within the text. This

option contains three sets each with twenty four unique titles for a total of

seventy two leveled reading books. The kindergarten teachers have

concluded that six copies of each title from every set would adequately

meet our needs. For all six classrooms to receive the adequate amount of
books in the amount of copies of the Science Leveled sets mentioned

above it will cost $1,920 or $320 per class. These books provide students

with information about new seasons, nonfiction topics, many new words

and concepts, and colorful illustrations. They also connect with the next

generation science standards that instruct students to learn about animal

habitats, weather patterns, and survival of animals and plants. The

Guided Reading level ranges from A-E and the Lexile level is BR-400L. This

information helps teachers and students choose appropriate books to

increase students reading development.

Our second choice is the First Little Readers from Lakeshore with Guided

Reading levels A-C that include enticing, colorful illustrations, simple texts,

and fiction stories. This is our second choice because the books are all

fiction stories and not non-fiction like our first option. Each classroom

would receive five copies of sixty titles that include eight pages in each

book, because five copies are already included in the library set. It would

cost $1,374 for all the kindergarten classrooms to receive a set or $229 for

each classroom. Below is a table that provides you with adequate

information of the two options.

 Set Price Pros Cons

Guided Science Six Classes: $1,920 Non-fiction science This set costs more
Readers Set for six copies of topics that connect than the First Little
Six copies of seventy seventy two titles for with the next Readers.
two titles every kindergarten generation science
classroom. standards. Colorful
illustrations, variety
of science content,
and quality
connections
between text and
illustrations. Guided
Reading levels A-E.
First Little Readers- Six Classes: $1,374 Guided Reading This set only includes
Complete Library for five copies of levels A-C that fiction stories and
Set sixty titles for every includes simple texts, lacks information in
Five copies of sixty kindergarten sight words, and the other science
titles classroom. enticing illustrations. and social studies
These texts connect content that
with kindergarten students’ need to
Common Core know. Also, this
State Standards package contains a
RFK4. Move to smaller selection of
reading emergent books than the
reader texts with Science Readers
purpose and Set.
understanding.

We would like for each classroom to have a leveled reading set so

students can explore the books on a daily basis as opposed to sharing the

books on a rotational schedule. If we were on a rotational schedule this

may interfere with our reading instruction time because the other classes

may be using the books that some students need to read in order to

increase students’ development. Each classroom having a set of leveled

readers will allow students to practice rereading books they have enjoyed

looking at before.
One way we can help students learn how to decode is through reading

about engaging topics in the leveled readers discussed above during

small group instruction, with students identifying letter names and sounds

in the stories. We can also encourage students to identify sight words and

new vocabulary words in the story to be able to practice using the words

in sentences with peers.

The attractive covers, bright illustrations, and exciting texts from the

leveled reader sets mentioned above will enhance children’s curiosity

and lead to many relevant discussions and questions about books. The

more students ask questions while reading the more likely they are to

comprehend the story. The types of questions one asks about the text and

themselves helps generate different reading strategies throughout the

process.

In addition, questions and curiosity about the leveled books can lead to

critical thinking and purposeful connections with oneself, peers, and texts.

The more students practice making text to self-connections the more likely

they will be able to use the connection strategies while reading in other

content areas. Quality illustrations will help enhance students’ knowledge

about other places and situations, which aid in the stimulation of a sense

of wonder and curiosity about the world.

“Bright illustrations from the books will help guide students to examine both

image and text as integral parts of their literacy” (Louie, Pughe, &

Sierschynski 2014). When children learn how to respond to images and

generate inferences while reading it will produce a better understanding

of the narrative. When readers explore illustrations they learn how to

create oral narratives using pictures from the story and their personal

experiences. Also, students will begin to explore the subtle complexities of

character expressions, space, and movements that portray meaning in

illustrations to enhance their comprehension skills.

Each child is unique and is attracted to different topics. A variety of fiction

and non-fiction topics from the leveled readers will help students enjoy

reading, improve their reading performance, and allow them to practice

using many comprehension strategies. Some students gravitate towards

fiction books while others gravitate towards informative stories. Having

leveled reader sets in the classrooms will provide students with many

opportunities to practice reading a variety of genres in order to help them

with applying reading strategies to a range of topics.

As teachers, we will provide many chances for students to consistently

read the leveled books outlined above in order to help them enhance

their reading performance. One way teachers will enhance kindergarten

students’ reading performance is through explicitly teaching

comprehension strategies or decoding skills by introducing the strategy to

students while they are reading a quality-leveled book. Next, we will

model the strategy through think aloud and demonstration, while students

observe us as we express our thoughts through the reading process. After

we model the reading strategy we will guide students to help them

practice using the strategy in a supportive small group environment while

reading the colorful, enticing, and rich content leveled readers. If

kindergarten students begin to learn and practice using comprehension

strategies, our hope is that they will be able to apply the strategies to

other content area texts independently in the upper grades. We want our

students to practice decoding skills and comprehension strategies while

reading the enticing, bright-illustrated books we mentioned above.

Students will be less likely to learn how to read if they are exposed to

boring black and white leveled readers.

One way students will learn about science topics is through reading

science nonfiction emergent-leveled texts during small group instruction.

We will provide ample time for students to observe, question, and explore
the leveled readers to help them learn about new concepts. They will be

able to practice producing complete sentences and expressing thoughts

and ideas clearly about the topics in the books. Students will also

compose informative texts in which they will write information about the

topics to share with their peers.

Kindergarten students at Southside Elementary deserve to explore

enticing leveled readers on a daily basis so we can help them learn about

different topics, situations, and challenges in order to develop a sense of

wonder, understanding, and curiosity about the world. “Quality children’s

literature can foster an understanding of narrative structures and the role

visual images play in storytelling, help develop comprehension abilities,

expand vocabularies, and expose young readers to new concepts and

ideas” (Moses & Serafini 2014). Please consider purchasing the leveled

reading sets outlined above so our kindergarten students can continue to

explore, dream, and grow. It is always important to remember what Neil

Gaiman said, “A book is a dream that you hold in your hand.”

Sincerely,

Kindergarten Team
 References

Hopper, E. & Lysaker, J. (2015). A kindergartner’s emergent strategy use

during wordless picture book reading. The Reading Teacher, 68(8), 649-
657.

Louie, B., Pughe,B., & Sierschynsk, J. (2014). Complexity In picture books.

The Reading Teacher, 68(4), 287-295.

Moses, L. & Serafini, F. (2014). The roles of children’s literature in the primary
grades. The Reading Teacher, 67(6), 465-468.