gr. 5 reading expectations

Does your child’s school use guided reading? 🙁

Guided reading is NOT a good way to learn to read. Parents, if your school uses guided reading and your child is struggling, please see my grade 5 science of reading page. If your child can decode and spell, then guided reading is fine. Just be sure that when your child is stuck on a word, they sound it out—not guess!

Guided reading falls under the Fountas and Pinnell cueing system method, which is now frowned upon. Students do NOT sound out words when they are stuck; instead, as students read, you ask them to figure out unknown words by looking at the picture, looking at the beginning letter sound, thinking about what would look right/sound right/make sense or skipping the tricky word/reading on/going back. This makes reading a guessing game. 5th Grade Guided Reading Expectations

Even if your child is in 3rd, 4th, or 5th grade, you can still read at home with them. Alternate reading pages or paragraphs aloud to each other. Borrow books on tape or CD from the library and have your child follow along.

To Meet the Benchmark, 5th-grade students should be instructional at:

Level T in November (independent S)

Level U in March (independent T)

Level V by June (independent U)

Get T-V books at Amazon or the public library. Here is a book list!

AT LEVELS T-V, A CHILD’S READING LEVEL IS DETERMINED BY THE FOLLOWING:

These bullet points are based on the DRA2 assessment.

• Is the child reading with acceptable accuracy? No more than 10 errors/100 words.

• The child is timed. Level T students should read at least 105 words per minute for fiction and 100 words per minute for nonfiction. Level U and V at least 115 WPM for fiction and 110 WPM for nonfiction.

• Is the child reading expressing the text’s mood, pace, and tension? OR, if the text is nonfiction, is the child emphasizing key phrases and words?

• Does the child read in longer phrases, heed punctuation, and pause appropriately?

• After reading the first few paragraphs, can the child make 3 thoughtful predictions of what might happen in the text and 3 questions they had from reading the first part of the text? OR, if the text is nonfiction, can the child use the title and table of contents page to think of 3 questions that may be answered in the book and 3 predictions of what they might learn in the rest of the text?

• After reading, can the child write a summary, including important characters, events, and details, from the beginning, middle, and end? Or, can the child write essential facts from each heading if the text is nonfiction?

• Does the child use the critical language and vocabulary from the text?

• Can the child answer literal questions?5th Grade Guided Reading Expectations

• The child has to interpret the story’s meaning and support it with details. (For example: What did the character learn? OR Why did the character feel____? OR Why did the character say ____?) OR, if the text is nonfiction, a “why do you think…” question is asked.

• The child must determine the most critical event in the story and why, giving an opinion that reflects higher-level thinking.

• The child must check off a strategy they used to help understand the text. FICTION: made connections, asked self-questions, visualized, thought of reasons why things happened, and understood characters’ feelings—with two examples from the text where the strategy was used. NONFICTION: recalled what they knew about the topic, asked self-questions, made connections, decided what was important by using headings, thought of why things happened, and visualized ~ with two examples from the text where the strategy was used. 5th Grade Guided Reading Expectations

Here are Grade 5 Common Core State Standards Question Stems to get book discussions going with your child. These are used in school.

Does your child’s school use guided reading? 🙁

AT LEVELS T-V, A CHILD’S READING LEVEL IS DETERMINED BY THE FOLLOWING:

Reading Survey