1. Mastering Books to Become Masters of Reading
Wendy Fredricksen
ILS 501-S72

2. Mastering the skill of reading is important and challenging
Mastering the skill of reading is important and challenging. The goal is to foster a love of reading while increasing reading skill and stamina.
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3. The support needed to accomplish this includes providing:
books at the student’s “just right” level
books that are of interest to them
an understanding of what it means to “master” a book
our continuous encouragement and praise
Just right books are books that offer the appropriate challenge for a reader – they are neither too hard nor too easy.
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4. As partners in your child’s education, here are ways we can work together to increase their reading success…
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5. Use the book lists I supply to you to find “just right” books available through the Wallingford Public Library.
wfredricksen:
Level C books available at
WPL or LION last modified on 10/13/09
Total: 73 books
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All Fall Down
by Brian Wildsmith
All Kinds of Kids
by Christina MIA Gardeski , illustrated by Bob McMahon
Balls
by Melanie Davis Jones , illustrated by Linda Bronson
Bathtime for Biscuit
by Alyssa Satin Capucilli , illustrated by Pat Schories
Each time your child changes reading levels, I will send home the new corresponding book list.
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6. From that “just right” list, help your child find titles/subjects of interest to them.
Searching the library website can give you a photo and brief description of most books. Use their online catalog at
Most of the lists I give you feature both fiction and non-fiction titles – try some of each.
If you request or hold books online, the librarians at the Wallingford Public Library will pull the books for you and hold them at the circulation desk, saving you lots of searching time.
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7. To provide some extra incentive, I will give students a hole in their star each time they read and retell to me a library book brought into school that they have mastered from their current just right list.
This is a great motivator for the kids – they love to get holes in their star. They will also receive a certificate each time they master a book.
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8. Use the “Mastering a Book” notice to check if your child meets the mastery criteria.
You have mastered a book when:
you can read it in a storyteller voice,
smoothly, with no tricky words
you can retell what the book is about
using lots of details. For a fictional story
you should be able to tell:
1. the characters the setting
3. the beginning, the middle and the end
A storyteller voice is like a talking voice - smooth and with expression.
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9. Since they will need to meet those criteria to get the hole – practice, practice, practice!
They should need to read and retell the book several times (probably for several days) to truly master it, so please encourage patience.
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10. Please note: Your child may not bring in more than
one book on any given day.
All of this at home reading counts for the
Cook Hill At Home Reading Program so
be sure to count it on your reading logs!!!
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11. If you have any questions,please contact me at wfredricksen@wallingford.k12.ct.us
Happy Reading!!