Reading Level Standards

Level 1

Students at level 1 reading should be able to

• identify central points, both explicit and implied, of longer essays, textbooks, and book-length works.
• analyze an assortment of essays and longer works to see explicit and implied relations, such as repeated and/or opposing ideas.
• distinguish the major and minor supporting information of essays and longer works.
• recognize structure of essays and longer works by mapping, using outlining skills, and summarizing.
• determine author’s purpose and recognize tone.
• distinguish fact from opinion and be able to draw inferences.
• interpret difficult and figurative language: academic discourse, figures of speech, metaphors, similes, etc.
• annotate texts for more complete understanding.

Level 2

Students at level 2 reading should be able to

• recognize topics and main ideas of paragraphs and short essays, both explicit and implied.
• recognize basic organizations of paragraphs and short essays, such as cause/effect, definition, list of examples, time, comparison/contrast.
• determine major and minor supporting details in paragraphs or short essays.
• identify transition words which indicate relationships among ideas.
• relate reading material to their own lives and experiences.

Level 3

Students at level 3 reading should be able to

1. decipher unfamiliar vocabulary items by contextual setting or dictionary use.
2. pronounce new vocabulary using dictionary symbols.
3. locate material by scanning.
4. restate on a literal level discrete points of a passage.
5. demonstrate an awareness of paragraph topic and main idea.
6. identify supporting points.

Level 4

Students at level 4 reading should be able to

• demonstrate basic reading skills at the sentence level: phonics, word-recognition, and rudimentary comprehension.