Finding a “Just Right” Book

5 Finger Test

Easy You can read the words fluently (smooth and with an interesting voice) There are often not a lot of words on a page You know how to say all the words There are not a lot of pages in the book You have lots of understanding of the subject Often the font is larger You completely understand the whole story Your reading rate is quicker Your thinking comes easily as you read the words

Just Right You can read most of the words( yet not all) You can understand what you are reading You enjoy the book You may have some understanding of the subject but not all. You can read the book completely for the most part, yet there are still choppy places Your reading rate is just right , not too slow, not too fast You can figure out the tricky words and still get the meaning of the story

Challenging Many of the words are hard to decode- failed the 5 finger test You don’t know what the tricky words mean Your reading is MORE choppy than fluent Little understanding of the subject Lots of words on the page Font is often small Focus is lost easily, not enjoying the book Not enjoying the book because it is too much hard work Your thinking is confused Your reading rate slows WAY DOWN