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I didn't buy a book pack for my DITHR, I was going to get books either from the library, Kindle, or something like that to use for my DD to read. So I bought the Sample Book List. On that list, there are grade levels listed, and for each book it is a range. Like grade 1-3 or something like that. Does that directly correlate to the standard reading level that is usually represented by a decimal number, 3.2 or something like that? Or how do I compare those books in difficulty/vocabulary with other books my DD has read? Also on the R column there's a column called Source and there are codes in there and it says "see key." I don't have a key. At least not that I'm aware of unless its in DITHR teacher's guide, I've only done a cursory read on that so far.

Thanks for any help.

Hi-I have always used the book list and gone by grade-such as my dd is now in grade 7, so I assign her books that are from the 6/7/8 lost and are marked as grades 5-7, or 6-8, or 6+. She is a great reader with a high reading level, but for the sake of maturity I don't assign her anything higher for DITHOR. I am pretty sure she could read high school level books at this point, but I don't think she would enjoy them for DITHOR-besides, there is a difference between tested reading level and instructional level. The Key you are referring to is on the very back page of the book list, page 18.

Well, the decimal numbers that we often find (like 3.2) indicate grade and month (so grade 3, month 2). I don't think that would necessarily correlate with Carrie's suggestions in the Sample Book List. Maybe you could look online-I think scholastic has a place on their site where you can check the reading level of a book-that might give you an idea of how the decimal system would line up with the guidelines on our list. I, too, have always found these grade levels on our list to be appropriate to where my kids are at with the DITHOR levels.