Inform Your Teaching:

Understanding the Challenges Posed by Texts at Different Levels

Band of Text Levels / Kind of Reading Work Called For in this Band
Band K, L, M
(Nate the Great to The Paint Brush Kid) /
  • Books in this band contain a single storyline that spans the entire book (one whole story across chapters rather than each chapter containing a different story). Readers must carry a great deal of content across a larger chunk of text.
  • Synthesis and determining importance are important skills at this level.
  • Understanding of narrative structure is important. Fiction at this level tends to be straightforward: a main character who has traits and motivations, runs into problems, and resolves these problems.
  • Supports within the books for readers at this level:
  • Books and chapters are short.
  • Book title, sometimes chapter titles and the back cover blurb help reader grasp the main idea of story.
  • Chapters have a few dominant characteristics that are explicitly labeled repeatedly.
  • Character feelings may change across the story but their traits are fairly consistent throughout the book and often are related to the main problem.
  • Character often wants something concrete; at the higher end of the band, often the character does not end up getting the desired concrete thing, but rather gets the deeper motivation that made the character want that concrete object in the first place (e.g., perhaps not the popular shoes, but rather a friend and a chance to belong).
  • Good deal of dialogue occurs in this band of text levels:
  • Often between a small cluster of main characters
  • Not always tagged and sometimes interrupted
  • There is an increasing number of three syllable words; more and more words in the books are not words the readers use in conversation. Many will be subject-specific.

Band N, O, P, Q
(from Forever Amber Brown to Chocolate Touch and A to Z Mysteries to Fudgemania) /
  • Narrative structure is still present in this band but the story line becomes more complicated.
  • Character encounters not just one concrete problem but a multi-dimensional problem (a complex main problem that connects to several smaller problems that are interrelated).
  • Readers in this band must be capable of a fair amount of abstract thinking to extract the one over-arching storyline.
  • The setting is general in these stories (a neighborhood, a town) but not a specific place that impacts the story (anybody’s town or block).
  • Synthesis and determining importance are even more important at this level.
  • One way to support readers in this band with synthesis is to help them think about why characters do what they do, attributing more than one reason for an action. In order to talk about cause and effect, readers need to link earlier parts of a book to later parts, uncovering the overarching ideas.
  • Readers need to be able to consider the central problem (the one that holds the story together) in the story, which tend to be somewhat multidimensional. This requires thought, as often there are several parts to the problem.
  • Subplots emerge between the character’s motivation and the story’s resolution.
  • Readers need to understand that the question, “What NOW does this text seem to be mostly about?” means that they will develop an answer over time. Their thinking about the central problem will change as they receive more information and their thinking needs to be based in textual evidence.
  • Main characters in this band of text tend to be more complicated.
  • The character is often conflicted, feelings tend to be ambivalent and often at least some of the trouble in the story is internal, related to these ambivalent feelings.
  • Books support readers by revealing the complexity of the characters quite obviously. Someone (a character or the author) will tell the reader the traits of the main character and readers need only to recognize evidence to confirm this as they read.
  • Readers encounter many more multi-syllabic words that are not typically part of a child’s spoken language; these may be vaguely familiar words or unfamiliar altogether.
  • Readers also encounter tricky phrases and tricky passages in this band of text difficulty. The passages may be tricky due to a play on language or a double understanding of a concept. Metaphors are found in this text level band.

Band R, S, T
(from Because of Winn-Dixie to Tiger Rising and Bridge to Terabithia) /
  • The trend toward complexity increases in this band of text difficulty, with stories having layers of meaning.
  • Characters become even more complicated with complex internal, emotional lives. However, in this text level band, the reader must infer what the character is feeling without the characters or the narrator labeling the character’s emotional life. Often, the reader must realize things about the character that the character does not know himself/herself.
  • Stories at this level are like icebergs – there are parts of characters and events that are seen clearly, that are labeled and discussed, but there is more that’s going on that is deep down below the surface.
  • For example, the problem may appear to be the relationship between two characters, but really, deep down, the problem is a bigger sense of loneliness, or homelessness.
  • Problems are big enough and layered enough that they are not all solved.
  • Plot lines in these texts evolve; story line is less about a character encountering a problem and solving the problem and more about characters who encounter problems and word to respond to those problems, changing and learning in the process.
  • The setting becomes a dominant part of the story; it evolves across the story, impacting the characters and plot just as another character might.
  • Characters react to changes in place as well as each other.
  • Readers need to develop a growing understanding of the story as well as a growing understanding of main characters.
  • Readers must hold onto more parts of the book at this level. Sub-plots and minor characters may not seem important when they are introduced, but they return to play a role later on in the story.
  • At this level, readers may encounter tricky chapters. Teachers need to help readers understand how to deal with these confusing parts of books, reading through them to look for clarification later on.

Band U, V, W
(from Number the Stars to Stargirl to Freak the Mighty) /
  • Symbolism has a very strong presence in these texts, increasing the complexity of seemingly ordinary events.
  • The passage of time becomes more complex at this level. Stories still tend to unfold somewhat chronologically, often in a relatively straightforward structure, yet there is often some big event that occurred before the novel begins. The reader must read to learn about this event and to understand its significance.
  • Usually the back story is not a flashback, but rather a character revealing or discovering some background information.
  • Some of these texts have multiple plot lines. This can be revealed with different narrators for different chapters or the missing presence of a character.
  • The characters and setting at this level start become more symbolic of bigger themes. Changes in setting often signify a theme or an issue in the characters’ lives, possibly foreshadowing developments that are not exclusive to the setting.
  • For example, in Walk Two Moons, Sal says, “the hot air pressed against my face and the air was like a hot heavy blanket draped on my neck and back.” This heat becomes a metaphor for the weight of Sal’s journey and also a warning signal that previews the snakebite in that chapter.
  • Characters continue to become more complex, often saying one thing but thinking another. It is more common that the main characters are teenagers. Often the seemingly concrete issues the characters face are symbolic of the issues teenagers face, which may be a challenge for a reader who is not yet at that stage of life.
  • At this level, it becomes necessary to consider the perspectives of several characters. The narrator’s point of view is often incomplete and the perspectives of other characters help the reader understand the many dimensions of a particular theme, issue or situation.
  • Often, readers must hold on to many characters who have varied perspectives, including adults.
  • Increasingly, the story is a story and also a statement about the world and life, dealing with major social issues such as oppression, injustice and social norms. Readers need to figure out, “What is this book REALLY, REALLY about?”

Adapted from a document received at a professional development workshop, 2012 (Calkins, 2009)