Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Recommended Resources Shorter Books with High Lexile

My daughter (graduated grade 1 this week, going into grade 2 in the fall) has a number of summer reading programs that she'll be involved in which require reading a certain number of books (vs. number of pages). I went through the recommended book posts, but I'm specifically seeking out higher Lexile books which are somewhat short to meet these number of book reading requirements that some of the summer reading programs have. Her latest SRI Lexile reading test score was a over 1,000, so I'd like to have books in the 700-1100 range to continue to build her vocab, but with topics which have age 7 content appeal. We'll be working our way through the (age appropriate) Grade 4-6 Mensa Excellence in Reading book list also this summer, but given the length of many of those books, I'm just looking to supplement with some shorter books. Thanks!

I'd suggest going on the library online catalog or one of the bookfinding websites and searching for NC (nonconforming) or AD (adult-directed) lexiles in her range. NC and AD books are usually at a much lower interest level than their reading level, because they are intended for read-alouds or high-ability readers. A lot of picture books are quite high in lexile, but content-appropriate for a primary-age audience.

For example, try going on https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/bookwizard/
and searching for the desired lexile range and grade 1-2.

When my son was at that stage, I had him read picture books that are intended for adults to read to children. I just went to the library and got a stack each week. You want the ones with a paragraph or so on each page, not just a sentence or two.

Do you have to do all these programs? It seems like summer is the one time of the year where you really don't have to distort an activity like reading. If you want to read 1 long book over 3 months this it the time to do it. If I had any goal for a first grader I would focus on joy. Long term, almost everyone is literate but not everyone is a reader. Encourage selecting books she wants to read and forget about lexiles for a few months. She'll probably select books that grow vocabulary anyway.

Welcome!

You've received great advice above.

To clarify, you did not care for titles/suggestions on the list of Book recommendations: age 6 - 8 , crowd-sourced from parents on this forum?