How does your reader know if a book is just right for them? I found this Just Right Book Selection Rubric that I think will act as a good guide to ensure successful independent reading.

EASY

*you can read the words fluently (smooth and with an interesting voice)

*you have a large framework of knowledge for the subject

*there often are not a lot of words on a page

*you know how to say all the words

*there are not a lot of pages in the book

*sometimes the book has a larger font

*you totally understand the story

*your reading rate may be quicker

*your thinking comes easy as you read the words

CHALLENGING

*many of the words are too hard to decode (failed a five finger test)

*you don’t know what the tricky words MEAN

*your reading becomes choppy more than it is fluent

*you don’t have any framework of knowledge for the subject

*there are often a lot of words on the page

*often the font is small

*you lose focus as you are reading

*you are not enjoying the book because you have to do too much word work

*your thinking is confused

*your reading rate slows way down

JUST RIGHT

*you can read most of the words

*you can understand what you are reading

*you enjoy the book

*you may have some framework of knowledge for the subject

*you can read the book with smooth fluency but there are some choppy places

*your reading rate is just right- not too slow and not too fast

*you can figure out the tricky words and still get the meaning of the story

Source: http://www.readinglady.com/mosaic/tools/tools.htm