Public Kempax report

Reading List for Elementary school · 2026-08-21

Kempax Research

Loop report · 2026-08-21

Classroom Reading List: Kindergarten–Grade 5

This provisional classroom-use list gives teachers a K–5 menu of 27 titles, organized by grade and broad text band, with early, on-level, and advanced use routes. Each grade pairs standards-aligned reading work with a progress measure: foundational DIBELS 8 measures in Kindergarten and early Grade 1, then connected-text ORF from Grade 1 onward, with Maze supplementary where locally authorized. The list is ready for reading-specialist review; it is not a permanent reading-level label, a placement test, or an approved adoption list.

How to use the list

Use the titles as a planning menu, not as a weekly completion quota. A title may be independent, shared, supported, or read aloud depending on the exact edition, the reader, the purpose, and the task. The evidence supports broad K–1, 2–3, and 4–5 bands, but it does not verify an exact edition-level Lexile, Guided Reading, or other numeric complexity value.

Grade-level quick guide

  • Kindergarten — 2 titles, K–1 band: The Snowy Day and A Tree Is a Plant . Emphasize questions, oral sequence, key details, main topic, print, phonological awareness, and letter–sound foundations. Use DIBELS 8 LNF PSF, then NWF as decoding develops, with an oral retell or key-detail response.
  • Grade 1 — 3 titles, K–1 band: The Story of Ferdinand , From Seed to Plant , and Biscuit . Emphasize retell, central message main topic, sequence, and connected-text accuracy. Use NWF WRF while decoding is the bottleneck, then ORF, with a short retell.
  • Grade 2 — 4 titles, 2–3 band: The Stories Julian Tells , A Medieval Feast , Frog and Toad Are Friends , and Dinosaurs Before Dark . Emphasize central message main topic, character and event evidence, sequence, and domain vocabulary. Use ORF; add Maze only under the current local plan, plus a text-dependent response.
  • Grade 3 — 5 titles, 2–3 band: Charlotte’s Web , Sarah, Plain and Tall , Who Was Amelia Earhart? , Ivy + Bean , and The One and Only Ivan . Emphasize theme main idea, character action, chronology, explicit evidence, and informational reading. Use ORF plus authorized Maze, with a separate evidence response.
  • Grade 4 — 6 titles, 4–5 band: Because of Winn-Dixie , The Great Fire , The Wild Robot , The Mouse and the Motorcycle , A Wrinkle in Time , and Who Was Harriet Tubman? . Emphasize details examples, inference, theme main idea, chronology, and informational features. Use ORF plus supplementary Maze and an evidence-based response.
  • Grade 5 — 7 titles, 4–5 band: Esperanza Rising , Volcanoes , The Giver , A Long Walk to Water , The Lightning Thief , Holes , and Wonder . Emphasize accurate quotation, summary, comparison, theme main idea, and integration of print and visual information. Use ORF plus authorized Maze, with an extended text-dependent or paired-source response.

Assumptions and caveats

  • Working framework: K–5 and the Common Core ELA standards are used because no state, district, school, or international framework was supplied. Local standards supersede this framework.
  • Placement: Grade assignments are provisional planning judgments within K–1, 2–3, and 4–5 bands. Exact ISBN edition, quantitative complexity, qualitative demands, and reader task fit remain open.
  • Measures: Use current local DIBELS 8 policy, official grade season forms, benchmark goals, scoring rules, and approved accommodations. Do not copy stale cut scores or use one brief score for diagnosis, permanent placement, or high-stakes decisions.
  • Construct coverage: DIBELS is complementary to a teacher-scored retell, oral response, written response, conference, or text-dependent task. Maze is supplementary and must not stand in for literary or informational evidence.
  • Access and representation: Review disability access, language and speech factors, assistive technology, historical trauma, grief, migration and labor history, disability representation, and other content locally. Provide context, alternatives, or shared read-aloud routes as needed.
  • Grade 3: Who Was Amelia Earhart? supplies an informational anchor in the current five-title set, but the older specialist review predates that expansion and must be rerun.
  • Reading volume: The 2–7 sequence is a current inventory progression. No evidence here supports a non-linear quota or a required number of books per child.

Review status

Prepared for reading-specialist review before handoff to classroom teachers. The unresolved checks are exact title edition fit, local standards and assessment rules, access and representation, the Grade 3 refresh, and local evidence for any future reading-volume expansion.

Report details

Status: draft classroom-use candidate; not approved or published. Owner: reading-specialist review gate. Closure: this report is drafted and ready for specialist review; publication and classroom adoption remain open.