Finding a Just-Right Book

Strategies for identifying if a book is just right

Reading is about more than just pronouncing words.  Reading is thinking!

To grow as a reader, students need to read books that they can read with 95-98% accuracy, fluency, and comprehension.  

When deciding if a book is "just-right" or not, you might want to follow these four steps:

1. Find
• Look at the cover.
• Look at the: Summary, Pictures, Size of print, number of pages
• Read chapter titles—especially for nonfiction.
• Look for familiar authors.

2. Read
Read 1-3 pages to determine is there is:
• lots of dialogue
• lots of description
• understandable language

Use the Five-Finger Rule:
• Read 1-3 pages.
• Count the words you don’t know.
• If there are more than five, find another book and start over.
• If there are fewer than five, go on to number 3.

3. Ask
• Do I understand the story?
• Is this book interesting?
• Is my reading smooth?

4. Choose
• If YES, check out and read it.
• If NO, find another book and start over

Click here to download bookmarks to help you select a just-right book.