Leveled Reading Collection Helps Students Engage Children in Reading
The Educational Resources Collections in the University Libraries recently became the new home for the Leveled Reading Collection. Formerly housed in Teachers College, the collection is an important component in developing children’s reading skills and in aiding Ball State students to become effective teachers.
“Ball State pre-service teachers are using the leveled reading materials with elementary children as they tutor them in their reading methods courses,” explained Dr. Diane M. Bottomley, Associate Professor of Elementary Education. “Each semester, about 100-120 Ball State students are participating in this program.”
Leveled reading begins with an assessment of students to determine reading abilities. Each student is then given level-appropriate books of gradually increasing difficulty, with the goal of improving the student’s reading motivation, enhancement of a variety of specific skills, and providing the child with additional practice time for reading. The levels are coded by difficulty from A-Z, based on the Fountas-Pinnell Guided Reading program.
The Leveled Reading Collection consists of hundreds of pictures and chapter books, and includes the works of many popular authors such as Judy Blume, Beverly Cleary, J.K Rowling, and Louis Sachar.
As Media Librarian, Diane Hill, observed, “Tutoring is an essential part of undergraduate education studies. The university students learn as they help others learn.” The collection will also assist those with more general interests in children’s literature, adding yet more depth to a wide array of teaching resource materials available in the area.
The collection is being cataloged and assigned call numbers so that the resources can be found easily in the online catalog CardCat. ◙