Rog and Burton's article Matching texts and readers: Leveling early reading materials for assessment and instruction described a book leveling system that was created for a school district in Canada. It varies from level 1 books that contain 1-2 words per page to level 10 books consisting of full pages of words. I found this article to be very informative and enjoyed reading it because I've always wondered how to choose books for particular students. Everyones reading levels vary so much so it was helpful to see books categorized based on specific characteristics. The article also characterized each level by the reading strategies accomplished by the student in order to reach the next reading level. "Just right" books were also addressed and the authors explained how important those types of books are for students because it's the best way to receive reading instruction. Below is a way one teacher decided to organize her students' "just right" books- each numbered bin is for one of her students and she helps them decide which books should go in their bin.
Will you use student bins to organize children's "just right" books?
Do you remember your teachers picking books for you to read or was it all free choice?