Grade / 1st Trimester / 2nd Trimester / 3rd Trimester
K / N / N / Pink to Red
1 / Red- Orange / Orange-Yellow / Green
2 / Green to Blue / Blue to Purple / White
3 / White to Black 1 / Black 1-Black 2 / Black 2 to Hot Orange
Teachers College Levels / SicklesSchool Dot Color Levels / Characteristics of Readers at This Level / Benchmarks Books that are Examples of this Level
A / Pink /
  • No decoding needed
  • Has a pattern
  • Has picture support
  • Unknown word is monosyllabic

B / Pink /
  • No decoding needed
  • May have ending different from the pattern
  • Has picture support
  • Unknown word may be multi-syllabic

C / Red /
  • Use the first and last sound to decode
  • May have ending different from the pattern
  • Has picture support

D / Red + /
  • Use the first and last sound to decode
  • May have ending different from the pattern
  • Has picture support
  • Has pattern that might change halfway or have two parts to the pattern

E / Orange /
  • The same words are repeated but it’s not necessarily a pattern
  • The words are usually monosyllabic
  • The words can be broken into about 2 parts to decode
  • There are not a lot of new words on each page
/ My Dog Buddy
F / Yellow /
  • Some words need to be broken into parts to decode
  • There are not a lot of new words on each page
  • Text is longer than E level

G / Yellow /
  • Inference may be required for literal comprehension
/ Biscuit
H / Green /
  • Text is much longer
  • Picture supports story and vocabulary but does not support single words
  • Has repetitive parts of story but has more story elements (e.g. clearer problem/solution or change)

I / Green /
  • Use diagraphs and blends to decode
  • Has more multi-syllabic words

J / Blue 1 /
  • Many books have chapters
  • Chapters may be continuous or episodic
  • Many series books in level

K / Blue 2 /
  • Sentences broken into meaningful parts
  • About 2 characters
  • Right margin not justified to break up text into meaningful chunks
/ Poppleton
L / Purple /
  • Sentences not broken into meaningful parts
  • About 6 characters – secondary characters more important
  • Has dominant plot and secondary plot
  • Right margin justified to the end of the line
  • Dialogue is not always tagged
/ Pinky and Rex
M / White /
  • A lot of show not tell
  • Nicknames used interchangeably with given names
  • Setting used as inferential tool
  • Usually has lesson learned
/ Junie B. Jones
N / Black 1 /
  • Figurative language essential to understanding plot
  • May have social issue themes

O / Black 2 /
  • Has complexity in relationships
  • Character changes and develops over time
/ Beezus and Ramona
P / Hot orange /
  • Starts to play with time (flashbacks/foreshadowing)
  • More complex sentence structures
  • Story told through more than one point of view
  • Background knowledge necessary
/ Stone Fox
Q / Hot orange /
  • Has multiple plotlines
  • Thoughts and perspectives of characters revealed in variety of ways
/ Dear Mr. Henshaw