Donation by Carol Lake provides 110 engaging leveled books in accessible format to help young readers
The Bookshare team receives several hundred requests each month from students and educators looking for specific books. If we can’t get a book directly from one of the 820 publishers we have agreements with, we buy the book, chop it up, and scan it. But what happens when the request is for a series consisting of 110 books?
According to Robin Reddell, a member of Bookshare’s Collection Development team, “Many teachers
have requested the Fountas and Pinnell Leveled Literacy Intervention (LLI) Green System for grades K-1. Unfortunately, our budget wasn’t large enough to purchase the whole system, but thanks to a generous donation from Carol Lake, a long-time member and donor, we were able to purchase all 110 books.”
This highly regarded system, developed by Irene Fountas, professor at Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Gay Su Pinnell, Professor Emeritus in the School of Teaching and Learning at The Ohio State University, is used by districts across the U.S. as a Tier 2 or Tier 3 Response to Intervention as described by the National Center for Learning Disabilities. “These leveled books are designed for students who have difficulty reading at grade level, such as students with dyslexia or other learning disabilities,” says Robin.
At the heart of LLI are high-quality leveled books in a variety of genres that are designed to engage even the most reluctant readers. The books are sequenced and calibrated according to the F&P Text Level Gradient™ in order to provide gradually increasing text complexity that fosters reading proficiency. Each level builds on the previous one so that students can be successful at their own pace. Great care was taken to ensure each book conforms to the characteristics of texts at a particular level as described in The Fountas & Pinnell Literacy Continuum.
Use of these books is flexible: leveled books can be used in the highly scripted LLI program or as teachers choose in designing programs for their students’ specific needs. The Bookshare team is thrilled to offer the LLI Green System (Levels A-J) in accessible formats to students with learning disabilities so they can take advantage of the accessibility features such as text-to-speech and word highlighting.
Robin, a former elementary school teacher, is dedicating the Fountas & Pinnell series as the first 
entrants in the Kathleen Meagher Teacher’s Collection in honor of her late friend and mentor in the Palo Alto Unified School District in California. We hope to add additional Fountas & Pinnell levels as more funding becomes available.
Here are just a few of the wonderful books in the Green System:
- Waking Up by Sula Daniel(Level A/Lesson 1)
- Ant Can’t by Maryann Dobeck (Level C/Lesson 7)
- A Walk at Night by Katach Diaz (Level G/Lesson 100)
- Dinner for Maisy by Aimee Meacham (Level H/Lesson 85)
- Bad-Luck Day by Joanna Korba (Level J/Lesson 109)
Bookshare is the world’s largest online library of accessible ebooks for people with print disabilities. U.S. students with qualifying disabilities get free access due to a grant from the Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs. www.bookshare.org
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