* Some content that requires your child to search for information in graphics (maps, charts, labeled photographs)

* Settings that are important to the story

* Main characters and supporting characters that are introduced or revealed over a series of events and/or chapters

*Some figurative language

* some short chapter books with an illustration every 3 or 4 pages

Some of our favorite K level books:

* Flat Stanley and the Firehouse (I Can Read!)

* Me First by Helen Lester

* Splat and the Cool School Trip by Rob Scotton

*Corduroy by Don Freeman

*The Berenstain Bear’s New Pup by Stan and Jan Berenstain

* Amelia Bedelia Gets a Break by Herman Parrish

Scroll down to learn specific steps to help your child if they are reading these types of books.

* Straightforward structures (beginning, series of episodes, and ending)

* Memoirs of  well-known people

*More than one sentence pattern repeated in the same book

* Some embedded structures (letters, directions, etc.)

Some of our favorite L level books:

* Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr and John Archambault

* Mother Bruce by Ryan Higgins

*Scaredy Squirrel Makes a Friend by Melanie Watt

* Frogs by Elizabeth Carney

* Wemberly Worried by Kevin Henkes

* 100th Day Worries by Margery Cuyler

* Actual Size by Steve Jenkins

* Amber the Orange Fairy by Daisy Meadows

Scroll down to learn specific steps to help your child if they are reading these types of books.

* Multiple ideas about a topic or situation (sometimes)

* Poetic language

* Language that speaks directly to the reader

* New words that may require your child to consider information in the text to understand the word.

Some of our favorite M level books:

* Deadly Predators – National Geographic

* Junie B. Jones and a Little Monkey Business by Barbara Park

* A Chair for my Mother by Vera B. Williams

* Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst

* Ada Twist Scientist by Andrea Beaty and David Roberts

Scroll down to learn specific steps to help your child if they are reading these types of books.

If you notice your child needs help with using words they already know and word parts to read new words:

*Show your child how you notice a part of a new word. You can use your pointer finger to cover part of the word and only show the part that is known. Show them how you look at that part and think about what the whole word can be.

* Encourage your child to look for a part of the word they know to figure out a new word.

* You can also ask your child to think about what they know that could help them.

If you notice your child needs help with breaking apart new words:

*You can show your child how you would use your pointer finger or a piece of paper to cover parts of a word so that only a portion was visible. Talk to them about how looking at parts of a word can help you figure out a whole word.

* Ask your child to use their pointer finger or a piece of paper to look at parts of a word.

If your child needs help with reading fluently in phrases:

* Remind your child to listen to how their reading sounds. Encourage them to make their reading sound interesting and smooth.

* Encourage your child to use the punctuation to help read the story like they were telling a story.

* Coach your child to read in longer phrases.

* When you come to dialogue, prompt your child to say it like a character would say it.

* Say things like’ “this is a funny (scary, silly, etc.) part of the story. Reread this and make your voice tell what is happening in the story.)

If your child needs help using different types of punctuation to read for meaning:

*  Prompt your child to read ahead a bit to see if it makes sense or to help them figure out what a word means.

* Ask your child how they can help themselves understand a word.

* Tell your child that when they read, it needs to make sense and look/sound right.

* Encourage your child to use more information by saying things like:

-That makes sense, but does it sound right?

– That makes sense, but does it look right?