Gradient Texts and Guided Reading Levels - Week of 10-28 through 11-1

Last week into this week we discussed gradient texts and guided reading levels, and how and why we should or should not use them. I found that the class was mostly in the middle about it, although I thought we did a really good job as a class splitting into "never" and "would definitely use them." I felt like there were strong points on both. I can see how using the guided reading levels would keep a student on track and becoming a stronger reader, but they may not want to read if the books they want are higher or lower than their level and they're stuck with a small selection that isn't interesting to them. On the other hand, when you don't have guided reading levels, kids can read whatever they want (within reason, of course - we did discuss banned books and some that probably just shouldn't come into the classroom, like 50 Shades of Grey). Kids can explore the world of reading without having strict guidelines. However, is it the best way to make them stronger readers if they're not reading at their level? It's a lot of information to take in and it's a hard line to walk if you don't know how and why reading levels are used. I think reading levels should be used in a way that they're just guidelines, not strict rules, and they can help students look into their levels to try and read books that will boost them to the next level, yet if they want to choose a slightly more difficult book, they can. I know that when I was younger, I really wanted to read Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone, but I was only in 3rd Grade. My teacher thought it was too high of a level for me, even though I was a strong reader for my age, but I went for it anyway. It's a wonderful feeling to be able to take a challenge and complete it that way, and I want students to have that feeling, because more kids should be challenged to go above and beyond, but at the same time, they need to practice reading where they are comfortable to build those skills. The main thing is if you get kids to read and read and read, they will become stronger, no matter what the level may be, there's always some comprehension to consider or a concept to understand, and we as teachers need to not only lead the way to help students learn, but encourage kids to take the next step and be there the whole way to guide them.