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There are a wide range of leveling systems available
Color Coded Levels
The cover of every Red Rocket Readers title will tell you at a glance where it fits in the series. The color levels are widely used in many countries and can be found in the levels of other comparable reading series such as PM, National Geographic Windows on Literacy, Sails Literacy, Big Cat etc.
Guided Reading Levels provided are the official levels as independently assessed by Fountas and Pinnell (Heinemann).
Reading Recovery Levels are as assessed by our literacy specialists, primarily Red Rocket series creator and author, Pam Holden, who was one of the first literacy specialists in the world to be trained in Reading Recovery.
Why don’t the various Reading Levels correlate with one another exactly?
Although you can easily search online to find correlation charts that tell you how a title at one F&P level aligns with Reading Recovery, DRA or Lexile, the reality is that these systems are all quite different and you really can’t rely on correlations. Each system prioritises and measures in different ways and the best approach is for the customer/teacher to identify their preferred system and to seek books at those levels.
Red Rocket Readers are organised first into colour band and Reading Recovery level and then submitted for official leveling by Fountas and Pinnell/Guided Reading and Lexile. We do not change the Reading Recovery Level or color band based on results from those other systems.
Lexile® Measures provided for all Red Rocket Readers titles are official.
What is the colour wheel?
You might recognise the colour wheel from when you were at school – it’s been around for a while. It has 9 coloured segments showing different levels of reading. Your child will move around the wheel clockwise, starting with magenta when they are a new entrant and finishing with gold by the end of their third year at school.
The first books your child’s teacher will give them will help with basic reading skills, letter-sound knowledge, and help them learn high-frequency words. At the higher levels on the colour wheel, the books and texts are longer and more complex, and include more unfamiliar vocabulary, language, and structures.
How do the colours and levels work?
Year 1
Your child will start at magenta, then progress through red, yellow, blue and after 1 year at school are usually at green.
At magenta they learn about reading, such as the idea that words are read from left to right. By the time they are reading at the green level they understand the stories they read, recognise many words, and can check that their reading sounds like talking.
Year 2
By the end of their second year at school your child will usually have completed orange and be reading at turquoise. They’re becoming an independent reader who can read longer texts and with expression. They will have a range of comprehension strategies that help them understand what they’re reading and be able to think critically about what they read.
Year 3
By the end of 3 years at school your child should have completed purple and be reading at gold. This means they’re confidently using many reading and comprehension strategies to understand their reading and think critically about longer, more complicated texts.
What sort of books will my child read?
The colour wheel uses the Ready to Read book series. These are New Zealand books and the colour wheel is on the back cover of every book so you can see what level it is. As your child moves up the colours they will start to read stories from the Junior Journals as well, and then in their later primary school years will be reading School Journals.
Your child will also bring home school library books, and some teachers have other class books that they can read. Encourage your child to read every day – anything that interests them. Join them up to your local library, look for books that interest them at book fairs and school galas, and let them see you enjoying reading as well.
Does the colour wheel relate to the reading National Standards?
Yes. If your child is reading at green level after 1 year of school then they are reading at the standard. If they are reading at turquoise after 2 years of school, and at gold after 3 years of school then they are reading at the standard for those years too.
Red Rocket Readers are organised into levels which are assigned colours to make them easy to identify at a glance. This system originated in New Zealand and has been adopted in many parts of the world as the standard for leveled readers.Each title has been assigned a
Red Rocket Intervention Level based on the author’s many years experience teaching
Reading Recovery.
Guided Reading Levels provided are the official levels as independently assessed by Fountas and Pinnell (Heinemann).
DRA (Developmental Reading Assessment) Levels are correlations from the Reading Recovery Level. These are assigned according to the guidelines found in Developmental Reading Assessment Resource Guide. Joetta Beaver, Celebration Press, 1997.
Book Bands – the colour levels shown match the UK Book Bands in which Magenta is known as Pink, Silver is sometimes shown as White and Emerald as Lime.
To view the specific levels for each individual title download the Red Rocket Title List. Alternatively visit the Bookshop and filter by title or level as required.
About the Author
Sarah Ensor
Rocket Scientist | Flying Start Books
