Foxy and Friends Books are primarily written for use with the Read, Play, Talk, Write process. My main objective in writing my books is always to create joyful reading, playing, talking, and writing experiences for young children. For more information about this story workshop process, please click here: Read Play Talk Write
Should you wish to use the books for guided reading, please read the following information about how they are levelled.
Foxy and Friends Books are written for beginning readers. They range from level 1 to level 12*. Levels 1 and 2 are are perfect for children’s first book experiences. At this stage children are learning about concepts of print such as directionality, voice to word matching, where to start on each page, what is a word, and what is a letter. Children often memorize these little stories and then we can ask questions such as “Can you show me which word says Foxy?” “Which word starts like your name?” “Can you touch each word as you read?” Once children master these foundational skills we quickly move them out of pattern books. They are now ready for the work of decoding and sight word learning. Levels 3 and up focus more on these 2 important skills as well as the challenge of comprehending more and more complex stories.
If you would like some decodable sentences using VC and CVC words to accompany the first few books in the Foxy collection, check out the free resources found under the Resources and Information tab.
The photographs in Foxy and Friends Books offer excellent starting points for conversations. Children’s oral language development is foundational to learning to read and write!
*I recommend that you do not discuss reading levels with your child or students. The levels help teachers organize books by their complexity. They are not helpful when they become the basis for competition or rewards.
For an excellent discussion on levelled books, check out Pat Johnson and Katie Keier’s article “Leveled Books- Questioning our Practice (Parts 1 and 2)” on their site: https://catchingreaders.com/page/2/
The chart below explains the levelling system used for Foxy and Friends Books.