Benchmark Books
Assess with Printable Running Records
Raz-Plus provides printable and digital Benchmark Passages and Benchmark Books for assessing students and informing instruction.
- Sit one-on-one with each student to observe qualitative reading behavior.
- Score a printed running record as a student reads aloud for quantitative measures.
Learn more About Running Records on Raz-Plus.
Find students' instructional levels by assessing their reading skills with developmentally appropriate texts while recording
reading behavior. Benchmark Books are one part of a three-part process to help assess students' instructional levels for leveled
reading sessions and their readiness to progress to the next level.
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Why Use Benchmark Books
Benchmark Books assess comprehension and reward students' progress from level to level. They are one part of a
three-part process that provides a more complete assessment of reading behavior and comprehension than any of the
parts independently.
- Each level from Levels aa-J has 1 fiction and 1 nonfiction Benchmark Book.
- The text of the entire book is used in the online running record.
- Books at Levels aa-J are available in printable and eBook formats with
Raz-Plus.
How to Use Benchmark Books
- Assign an assessment using the Kids A-Z Student Management area or by clicking on the Assign button on the book's thumbnail or landing page. (The software will automatically present a retelling and comprehension quiz when the student is finished reading.)
- Check your In Basket through the Kids A-Z management hub for the student's recording and score the student's reading behavior using the online running record form.
- Check a student's scores against the expectations for a level to see if they should move levels. (For more details, see About Running Records)
- Turn on student Incentives to reward students' progress from level to level.
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View level aa features and chart
Level aa
| Ages |
4 - 6 |
| Grade |
K |
| Fountas & Pinnell |
A |
| Reading Recovery |
1 |
| DRA |
A-1 |
| Lexile* |
BR70L-10L |
Complete Correlation Chart
* Lexile® ranges are provided only as an additional resource.
They are estimates and not certified by MetaMetrics®. Their actual
relationship to Learning A-Z levels has yet to be determined.
Features and Chart
- 2–6 words per line; 3.5 words average
- 1 line per page
- 21–40 words total
- Complete sentences
- Repetition of high-frequency words
- Repetitive pattern with one word change per page
- Predictable language
- One-to-one text-to-picture correspondence
- Familiar topics
- Consistent text placement
- 10 pages
View level A features and chart
Level A
| Ages |
4 - 6 |
| Grade |
K |
| Fountas & Pinnell |
A |
| Reading Recovery |
1 |
| DRA |
A-1 |
| Lexile* |
BR70L-10L |
Complete Correlation Chart
* Lexile® ranges are provided only as an additional resource.
They are estimates and not certified by MetaMetrics®. Their actual
relationship to Learning A-Z levels has yet to be determined.
Features and Chart
- 2–6 words per line; 3.5 words average
- 1 line per page
- 21–40 words total
- Complete sentences
- Repetition of high-frequency words
- Repetitive pattern with one word change per page
- Predictable language
- One-to-one text-to-picture correspondence
- Familiar topics
- Consistent text placement
- 10 pages
View level B features and chart
Level B
| Ages |
4 - 6 |
| Grade |
K |
| Fountas & Pinnell |
B |
| Reading Recovery |
2 |
| DRA |
2 |
| Lexile* |
BR40L-160L |
Complete Correlation Chart
* Lexile® ranges are provided only as an additional resource.
They are estimates and not certified by MetaMetrics®. Their actual
relationship to Learning A-Z levels has yet to be determined.
Features and Chart
- 2–7 words per line; 4.5 words average
- 1 line per page
- 30–55 words total
- Complete sentences
- Repetition of high-frequency words
- Repetitive pattern with one or two word changes per page
- Pattern may change on last page, such as a surprise ending
- Predictable language
- One-to-one text-to-picture correspondence
- Familiar topics
- Consistent text placement
- 10 pages
View level C features and chart
Level C
| Ages |
4 - 6 |
| Grade |
K |
| Fountas & Pinnell |
C |
| Reading Recovery |
3-4 |
| DRA |
3-4 |
| Lexile* |
BR40L-160L |
Complete Correlation Chart
* Lexile® ranges are provided only as an additional resource.
They are estimates and not certified by MetaMetrics®. Their actual
relationship to Learning A-Z levels has yet to be determined.
Features and Chart
- 2–8 words per sentence; 5.5 words average
- 1–2 lines per page; no return sweep
- 50–80 words total
- Complete sentences
- Simple prepositional phrase and introductory clauses
- Repetition of high-frequency words
- Repetitive pattern with one to three word changes per page
- Pattern may vary on first and last pages
- Predictable language
- Dialogue introduced
- One-to-one text-to-picture correspondence
- Familiar topics
- Consistent text placement
- 10 pages
View level D features and chart
Level D
| Ages |
4 - 7 |
| Grade |
1 |
| Fountas & Pinnell |
D |
| Reading Recovery |
5-6 |
| DRA |
6 |
| Lexile* |
160L-310L |
Complete Correlation Chart
* Lexile® ranges are provided only as an additional resource.
They are estimates and not certified by MetaMetrics®. Their actual
relationship to Learning A-Z levels has yet to be determined.
Features and Chart
- 9 words maximum per sentence; 6 words average
- 2–3 lines per page; return sweep of no more than one sentence per page
- 60–100 words total
- Complete sentences
- Simple sentences with prepositional phrases and introductory clauses
- Repetition of high-frequency words
- Repetitive pattern in middle with one to three word changes per page
- Pattern may vary on first and last few pages
- Predictable language
- Dialogue introduced
- Illustration labels in nonfiction books
- High text/picture correspondence
- Familiar topics
- Text placement can be left-only on a spread; otherwise consistent on bottom or top of page
- 10–12 pages
View level E features and chart
Level E
| Ages |
6 - 7 |
| Grade |
1 |
| Fountas & Pinnell |
E |
| Reading Recovery |
7-8 |
| DRA |
8 |
| Lexile* |
160L-310L |
Complete Correlation Chart
* Lexile® ranges are provided only as an additional resource.
They are estimates and not certified by MetaMetrics®. Their actual
relationship to Learning A-Z levels has yet to be determined.
Features and Chart
- 11 words maximum per sentence; 7 words average
- 2–5 lines per page
- 70–130 words total
- Complete sentences
- Simple sentences with prepositional phrases and introductory clauses
- Repetition of high-frequency words
- Repetitive pattern with two to four word changes per page
- Pattern may vary on first and last few pages
- Predictable language
- Illustration labels in nonfiction books
- High text/picture correspondence
- Familiar topics
- Text placement can be left-only on a spread; otherwise consistent on bottom or top of page
- Table of contents, section headings, and index introduced in nonfiction books
- 12 pages
View level F features and chart
Level F
| Ages |
6 - 7 |
| Grade |
1 |
| Fountas & Pinnell |
F |
| Reading Recovery |
9-10 |
| DRA |
10 |
| Lexile* |
300L-450L |
Complete Correlation Chart
* Lexile® ranges are provided only as an additional resource.
They are estimates and not certified by MetaMetrics®. Their actual
relationship to Learning A-Z levels has yet to be determined.
Features and Chart
- 12 words maximum per sentence; 7 words average
- 2–6 lines per page
- 100–180 words total
- Text placement varies
- Predictable language and language patterns
- Two to four word changes in the middle pages that follow a pattern
- Beginning and ending pages have different pattern
- Repetition of portion of text from the preceeding page
- Clear sequence
- High text/picture correspondence
- Table of contents, captions, index in nonfiction books
- 12 pages
View level G features and chart
Level G
| Ages |
6 - 7 |
| Grade |
1 |
| Fountas & Pinnell |
G |
| Reading Recovery |
11-12 |
| DRA |
12 |
| Lexile* |
300L-450L |
Complete Correlation Chart
* Lexile® ranges are provided only as an additional resource.
They are estimates and not certified by MetaMetrics®. Their actual
relationship to Learning A-Z levels has yet to be determined.
Features and Chart
- 15 words maximum per sentence; 8.5 words average
- 2–7 lines per page
- 120–200 words total
- Simple sentences with prepositional phrases and introductory clauses
- Repetition of high-frequency words
- Middle pages follow a pattern with three to six word changes per page
- Pattern may vary on first and last few pages
- Predictable language and patterns
- Illustration labels in nonfiction text
- Table of contents, captions, index in nonfiction books
- Simple tables and charts
- High text/picture correspondence
- Text placement can vary
- Variety of type sizes and styles
- 12 pages
View level H features and chart
Level H
| Ages |
6 - 7 |
| Grade |
1 |
| Fountas & Pinnell |
H |
| Reading Recovery |
13-14 |
| DRA |
14 |
| Lexile* |
430L-530L |
Complete Correlation Chart
* Lexile® ranges are provided only as an additional resource.
They are estimates and not certified by MetaMetrics®. Their actual
relationship to Learning A-Z levels has yet to be determined.
Features and Chart
- 15 words maximum per sentence; 8.5 words average
- 3–8 lines of text per page
- 180–270 words total
- Less repetition of high-frequency words
- Much less reliance on pattern
- Word order change from page to page
- Simple story that builds logically from one page to the next
- Controlled vocabulary with repeated use of story words
- Moderate picture support
- Table of contents, captions, index in nonfiction books
- Simple tables and charts
- Stories more complex
- Books have more challenging ideas
- More natural language usage
- Begin use of simple captions
- Glossaries introduced
- 16 pages
View level I features and chart
Level I
| Ages |
6 - 7 |
| Grade |
1 |
| Fountas & Pinnell |
I |
| Reading Recovery |
15-16 |
| DRA |
16 |
| Lexile* |
430L-530L |
Complete Correlation Chart
* Lexile® ranges are provided only as an additional resource.
They are estimates and not certified by MetaMetrics®. Their actual
relationship to Learning A-Z levels has yet to be determined.
Features and Chart
- 15 words maximum per sentence; 8.5 words average
- 3–10 lines per page
- 240–320 words total
- Increased sentence complexity
- Less repetition of high-frequency words
- No reliance on pattern
- Controlled vocabulary with repeated use of story vocabulary
- Table of contents, captions, index, and glossary in nonfiction books
- Simple tables and charts
- Increasing story complexity
- Moderate picture support
- 16 pages
View level J features and chart
Level J
| Ages |
6 - 8 |
| Grade |
1 |
| Fountas & Pinnell |
J |
| Reading Recovery |
17 |
| DRA |
18 |
| Lexile* |
430L-530L |
Complete Correlation Chart
* Lexile® ranges are provided only as an additional resource.
They are estimates and not certified by MetaMetrics®. Their actual
relationship to Learning A-Z levels has yet to be determined.
Features and Chart
- 15 words maximum per sentence; 9.5 words average
- 4–12 lines per page
- 300–400 words total
- No reliance on predictable pattern
- Richer vocabulary
- Pictures used to enhance understanding
- Table of contents, captions, index, and glossary in nonfiction books
- Simple tables and charts
- 16 pages
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