In short
- For easy reading, a pupil should know about 98% of the words: for a beginner, no more than one or two unknown words on a page.
- A short known-words check finds a starting band, and a page of the actual book confirms it.
- Let pupils choose any book within their band, and let them swap a book that is too hard or dull.
- Move a pupil up when reading is easy after several books at a level, and down without fuss when it is slow.
Every class holds a spread of reading levels, and every book box holds a spread of graded readers. Matching the two decides whether extensive reading works. A book that is too hard turns easy reading into slow decoding, and the pupil stops. This article gives a routine for matching each pupil: a starting band, a known-words check, a page test, choice within the band, and rules for moving up or down. For what grading and headwords mean, see What Are Graded Readers?
What is the right level of graded reader?
The right level for independent reading is the one where a pupil knows nearly every word on the page. They can then follow the story without stopping and read for meaning. That level is lower than the one a pupil can manage with your help.
Hu and Nation (2000) tested 66 adults on a pre-university English course. Each read a short story in which some words had been replaced. The authors concluded that reading fiction without help needs about 98% of the running words known. That is one unknown word in fifty.
Day and Bamford (2002) turn this into a page rule. For beginners, more than one or two unknown words on a page might make a book too difficult. Intermediate learners might use the 'rule of hand': no more than five difficult words on a page.
Laufer and Ravenhorst-Kalovski (2010) suggest two thresholds: 98% coverage as the optimal level and 95% as the minimal one. Their 745 participants were mostly college students in Israel, tested on a national reading test. Treat the figures as a guide for school pupils, not a law.
The right level depends on the job
Hu and Nation (2000) describe three kinds of reading, and each needs a different level of text:
- Fluency practice: text with no unknown language at all, read without interruption.
- Extensive reading for language growth: text with a little unfamiliar language that the reader copes with without losing the message. This is where the 98% figure applies.
- Intensive reading: text with unfamiliar language, worked through with teacher guidance, a dictionary or a glossary.
This article is about the middle kind: the books pupils read on their own.
Why it pays to start a level too easy
When in doubt, choose the easier level. Nation and Wang (1999) analysed 42 graded readers from one series. To know 95% of the running words at a level, a learner already needed that level's vocabulary. A pupil who has only just reached a level will find its first books hard work.
They describe the intended path through a series. A learner begins at the lowest level and moves on when reading at that level is comfortable. They recommend at least five books at each level, read at around a book a week.
Easy text also builds speed. Beglar, Hunt and Kite (2012) followed 97 Japanese university students for a year. Reading simplified texts led to greater reading rate gains than reading unsimplified texts, and comprehension stayed high.
There is a classroom reason too. Moving up feels like progress to a pupil, while moving down can feel like failure. If you start low, the first change is usually a step up.
Step 1: Choose a starting band
Start from what you already know: a placement test, a recent reading assessment or the class level. How to Assess a Student's English Reading Level covers the options. Treat the result as a starting band, not a verdict.
Then turn the band into books. Each publisher sets its own level numbers, so Level 2 in one series is not Level 2 in another. Sort your book box into your own bands, from easiest to hardest. Label each band with a colour, not a number, so nobody announces that they are in the lowest group.
Step 2: The known-words check
A known-words check tests each pupil on short samples before they meet a whole book. It turns the coverage figures into a count that pupils can do themselves. The version below is a classroom routine, not a tested instrument.
- Make a sampler sheet: one passage of about 100 words from a book in each of your bands, easiest first.
- Pupils read the first passage silently and underline every word they do not know. Names do not count.
- They move on to the next passage as long as they underlined two words or fewer.
- The last passage with two or fewer unknown words marks their band for independent reading.
- Ask each pupil one question about that passage, such as 'What is happening here?' A vague answer means drop one band.
Two unknown words in 100 is 98% coverage, the figure from Hu and Nation (2000). Three to five unknown words is 95% to 97%. That level suits reading with support, in a lesson where you can help. Six or more is too hard for both.
The check depends on pupils marking words honestly. Make it clear that nothing is graded, and that underlining many words simply finds them better books.
Step 3: Test the page, then let pupils choose
The sampler gives a band, but the book itself has the final word. At the book box, the pupil opens a book in the middle, reads one page and counts unknown words. For a beginner, three or more means try another book.
Within the band, the choice is the pupil's. Day and Bamford (2002) make free choice one of their ten principles of extensive reading. Learners are also free, indeed encouraged, to stop reading anything they find too difficult or not interesting.
Choice and level control fit together. Offer three to five books from the pupil's band, or let them browse the whole band. Whatever they pick, the level stays right.
Classroom example (invented for illustration)
A class of 28 pupils aged 12 does the sampler on Monday. Most land in the green and blue bands; four land in yellow and two in red. On Tuesday each pupil browses only their own band, reads one page of a book they like, and borrows it. Sami's sampler said blue, but on page 20 of his chosen book he meets four unknown words. He swaps it for a green book on the same topic, about football, and reads it in three days.
When to move a pupil up or down
A first match is only a starting point. Day and Bamford (2002) ask teachers to keep track of what and how much each student reads. As ability and confidence grow, teachers encourage reading at progressively higher levels.
Most signals are things you can see. A pupil who is struggling rarely says so. They read less, finish more slowly, or keep choosing the shortest book on the shelf.
| What you see | What it probably means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Finishes books quickly, meets almost no unknown words, retells easily | The band is now too easy | After about five books at this level, offer the next band (Nation and Wang, 1999) |
| Reads steadily, meets one or two unknown words a page, enjoys the books | The level is right | Leave the level alone and widen the choice of topics |
| Asks for harder books, but the page test shows three or more unknown words | Keen, but not yet ready | Allow one stretch book with audio or your support, and keep the main reading in the band |
| Slows down, stops finishing books, picks the shortest titles | The level or the book is too hard | Run the page test again, and drop one band if it fails |
| Reads quickly but cannot say what happened | Skimming, or not engaged by the book | Ask one question per finished book, and check both level and topic |
| Abandons several books in a row at the right level | Interest, not level | Help them try a different genre in the same band |
Review each pupil's band at fixed points, for example every half term. Moving down should be quick and quiet: swap the book, not the label. For stretch books, read-along audio can carry a pupil through, as Reading While Listening: What It Does for English Learners explains.
Some pupils drop out whatever the level. Extensive Reading for Reluctant & Struggling Readers covers how to restart them.
What about pupils between two levels?
Bands are coarse, and some pupils sit between two of them. For independent reading, choose the easier band. A book that is a little too easy costs a little challenge. A book that is too hard can cost the reading itself.
Keep the harder level for supported work. A text with three to five unknown words a page suits a lesson where you can explain words, which is intensive reading. When pupils outgrow the top level of a series, Graded Readers vs Authentic Texts covers the move to books written for native speakers.
How iRead handles this
In iRead, a pack is a CEFR-levelled set of stories, and each story is a graded reader. Every story, quiz and game is levelled to the CEFR, from A1 to C2. Vocabulary and quizzes are mapped to CEFR bands, so a B1 story means the same thing whichever pack it comes from. Many stories have an audio read-along synced to the text, optional per story. Teachers see retention per word, per game and per class.
The core principle: Level by the page, not the label. A pupil reading alone should meet no more than one or two unknown words on a page, and should choose the book.
See it in iRead: Every iRead story is a graded reader levelled to the CEFR, from A1 to C2. A B1 story means the same thing whichever pack it comes from.
Explore iReadKey takeaway
Find a starting band, confirm it on a page of the real book, and let pupils choose within it. Then watch how they read, and move them up or down by what you see.
Frequently asked questions
How do I choose the right graded reader level for a student?
Start from a placement result or the class level, then check it. Ask the pupil to read about 100 words from a book in that band and mark unknown words. Two or fewer means the level suits independent reading. Confirm with one page of the actual book before they borrow it.
How many unknown words on a page is too many?
Day and Bamford (2002) suggest that for beginners, more than one or two unknown words on a page might make a book too difficult. Intermediate learners might allow up to five. Hu and Nation (2000) put the target for reading without help at about 98% of words known.
Should a student ever read above their level?
Occasionally, for a topic they really want to read, and ideally with audio or your help. Keep it the exception. For independent reading, a book that is too hard slows the pupil down and can stop their reading altogether.
How long should a pupil stay at one level?
Nation and Wang (1999) recommend reading at least five books at each level before moving on, at around a book a week. Most words appear more often in later levels than at the level where they first occur, so time spent at a level is not wasted.
Should every pupil in a class read the same graded reader?
Not for extensive reading. Reading levels within one class vary, so a single class reader will be too hard for some pupils and too easy for others. Sort books into bands and let pupils choose within theirs. A shared class text belongs in intensive reading lessons.
Sources
- Hu, M. H.-C., & Nation, P. (2000). Unknown vocabulary density and reading comprehension. Reading in a Foreign Language, 13(1), 403-430. doi.org/10.64152/10125/66973
- Day, R. R., & Bamford, J. (2002). Top ten principles for teaching extensive reading. Reading in a Foreign Language, 14(2), 136-141. doi.org/10.64152/10125/66761
- Laufer, B., & Ravenhorst-Kalovski, G. C. (2010). Lexical threshold revisited: Lexical text coverage, learners' vocabulary size and reading comprehension. Reading in a Foreign Language, 22(1), 15-30. doi.org/10.64152/10125/66648
- Nation, P., & Wang, K. M.-T. (1999). Graded readers and vocabulary. Reading in a Foreign Language, 12(2), 355-380. doi.org/10.64152/10125/66966
- Beglar, D., Hunt, A., & Kite, Y. (2012). The effect of pleasure reading on Japanese university EFL learners' reading rates. Language Learning, 62(3), 665-703. doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9922.2011.00651.x