Tips for Leveling Books

Leveling an entire library can seem like an overwhelming task! Here are some quick tips on how to best use this database to help you in that task. Even more information on how to make your leveled library great can be found on the Leveled Book Resources Page.

• The levels listed are on the Fountas-Pinnell scale: If you are using a different leveling system in your classroom, it is easy to convert the books listed on our site to other systems (including simple grade level approximations). Just refer to the reading level correlations chart.
  
  
• Leveling is not an exact science: If you don't have every book on exactly the same level as the teacher next door, don't stress. A book's actual level falls into a 2-3 level range. There is not so much difference between an M and an N level that you should worry about which is Junie B. First Grader's exact level.
  
  
• Books in a Series are almost always the same level: If you level one book in a series (e.g. Animporphs, or Junie B. Jones), you most likely don't have to look up any of the other books from that series. Books in a series almost always have the same level. All Boxcar Children books are level O; all Junie B. Jones books are level M; all Goosebumps books are level T, for example. You can save a great deal of time by remembering this.
  
  
• Easy ways to label books:
  1. Attach a small sticker to the back of the book and write the level on that.
  2. Write the label in pen or permanent marker inside the front cover.
     
     
• If you can't find a book in the database... no fears! You can level it yourself using other books you've already found the level for. In fact, there is an entire page devoted to explaining how. Learn how to level books not in the database.