The Rights of the Reader

    Any parent or teacher can go to a local or big chain bookstore, find the children's section, and find the leveled reading books. It is as simple as that.  Leveled books are everywhere and they make finding a book for your developing reader a piece of cake. The teacher provides the parent with the right level that their child is at and the parent merely has to go to the bookstore and pick some books at that level. The parent and teacher are providing the child with books at "the right level of difficulty," and the child is reading. It appears to be a win-win for all!  Unfortunately, there is no one clear way to help your child learn to read and some ideas are not so good after all.
    In their article, Let's Start Leveling about Leveling, Kath Glasswell and Michael Ford discuss the idea that "leveling takes a complex idea and makes it too simple." The idea behind leveled books is a noble one.  They help parents and teachers alike find books at the right level of difficulty for the student.  However, as most of us have seen or experience, sometimes bad things happen to good ideas. Leveled books are not the one way to assess a student's reading achievement.  These books leave out many factors that help to determine the student's reading level.  
    Leveled books do not focus on the skills a particular student may need to become a proficient reader.  Many children are diagnosed at being at the same level, so they are put in groups to work. However, just because the students are at the same level, does not mean that they have the same reading needs.  Although leveled books have the purpose of helping students improve their reading, they can sometimes hinder the student's progress.  If a teacher or parent is adament about a student only reading at a certain level, then that student's reading may suffer.  Often, high leveled books provide more challenge and more opportunities for the reader to develop.  If a reader is forced to stay in one level until they master it, they may become bored with reading and no longer grow as a reader. This is one thing that a teacher or parent never wants.

    Glasswell and Ford introduce the idea that readers have rights. As readers, students have the right to choose books that are stimulating and interesting. They have the right to engage in enriching activities that develop their thinking abilities.  Students have the right to choose a book from a different level if it interests them.  Parents and teachers need only offer more support to the student.  Leveled books have the ability to take away these rights from the student.  Parents and teachers need to keep these rights in mind when they are helping their students select books to read.  While, I believe these rights are all true, I found a picture that provides some additional rights that are equally as important.