best books at these levelsguided reading levels a-e / dra a-8
Here’s a list of the best a-e/dra a-8 children’s books we could find that are available to buy on amazon.com. In our experience, you can’t just buy any book written at this level. because word choice is so restricted, many books written at this level are either terribly boring or super awkward. but not the books below. They all pass our ‘teacher test’ and the kids really like them too. 🙂
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You are reading: Dra level books for first grade
leveled book sets *best deal*all guided reading books level a-e / dra a-8
*best deal* if you want to get a bunch of different books, all written at this reading level, check out our sets of gently used books that are written in guided reading level a-e and dra level a-8. These sets are perfect for teachers building their classroom level libraries, or parents looking for books just right at their child’s current reading level. Each set was put together by K-2 teachers. *save 40% at retail*
click to view: guided reading a-e book sets -or- a-8 dra level book sets
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Our sets are composed of books in good condition. all are in excellent condition, from like new to good. none of the books have water damage, torn pages, damage to the spine/binding or writing on the inside (except for an occasional name/inscription on the inside of the cover). overall, we take great pride in the quality of our books! children are hard on books. don’t waste your money on new, pristine books that will stay pristine for 5 minutes. our used [but still very good] book sets are a perfect middle ground.
decoding strategies: tips to give early readers beyond “just saying it”
For generations, the only advice given to children when learning to read was to “pronounce it.” pronouncing words is a great strategy… in some cases. but it is just one of several ‘word decoding strategies’ that good readers should employ when encountering challenging words. Here are the top four strategies that readers of Guided Reading Levels 1-8 a-e/dra level books should employ when trying to read new words:
(1) look at the image for clues –– trust us… this is not cheating. He fights the urge to cover the image with his hand. 🙂 Instead, early readers should be encouraged to look at pictures to help them read more difficult words. in fact, authors of books aimed at this audience intentionally include clues in their pictures to help children read difficult words. For example, a level A/1 book about the zoo might say “I see a giraffe at the zoo.” since beginning readers can’t read a word like ‘giraffe’, the picture will help them with that tricky word. trust us…it’s not cheating. if they are looking at the images for clues, they need additional help.
(2) beginning the word – children should develop the practice of beginning words by saying the beginning sound.
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(3) pronounce it –
(4) look for chunks or small words within the unknown word; children begin reading by approaching words letter by letter. this is a great first step, but you really start to see big gains in reading when children start reading words in ‘chunks’ or ‘parts they already know’. for example, when trying to read the word “which”, a child who is reading letter by letter will have a very difficult time deciphering this word. (If you make each of those individual letter sounds, you’ll notice that the resulting word looks nothing like the real word!) In contrast, a child who has learned /ch/ and /wh/ (digraphs) and recognizes those chunks ahead of time will read the word as /wh/ /i/ /ch/. he/she will probably be able to easily blend those sounds and recognize the actual word.
skills to foster in book readers at a-e / dra level 1-8
Below are reading skills, in order of difficulty, that can help readers at this level begin their reading journey:
- hold book right side up and turn pages left to right
- understand ‘left to right movement’ of text and ‘sweep back’ of text (at the end of a line)
- tell the difference between the words (print) and the pictures (pictures)
- start word-for-word matching by pointing under words with one finger
- locate familiar words on a page (i.e., “what word is ‘am'”)
- relate elements of the story to their own lives and their own experiences
- look at pictures as part of the reading process and be able to gather information from the details of the pictures
- begin to “self-monitor” enough to detect errors when reading words ( doesn’t make sense in context, ie “I like to play shoe”…wait what?)
- re-read words and phrases to decode tricky words or c onfirm that the word was read correctly
- use picture clues when trying to decode words
- begin to use strategies to solve unknown words instead of just wishing for the word provided by the adult
- begin to recognize familiar words more quickly
- read new words using knowledge of sound/letter relationships and fragments (word families)
- scramble challenging words by taking them apart
- able to talk about the text after reading, including retelling story elements with beginning, middle, and ending parts
- able to make predictions while reading
- able to make connections between (1) the book and their own lives [text to self] and (2) the book and other previously read books [text to text]
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