5-Finger Reading Rule

by Nathalie Jones

If you have a child in your household that can’t wait to get their hands on books, especially with all the extra time at home right now, check out the 5 Finger Reading Rule! It’s a suggested guide for early readers to build up their reading comprehension (i.e. how well they understand the words that they are reading).

Here’s how it works:

Open up a page of a book you want to read. Using the fingers on one of your hands, count out how many words you don’t recognize.

  • 0-1 words: the book might be too easy.
  • 1-2 words: this looks like a perfect fit!
  • 3-4 words: give this book a try, but swap to something else if you aren’t feeling comfortable.
  • 5+ words: this book is likely too challenging. This might be a great book to read with someone else or try later after building confidence with other stories.

While the 5 Finger Reading Rule is a fun tool, remember that the goal is to promote a love for lifelong learning, and interest and ability levels do not necessarily matchup. Interest level means what the reader wants to read, whereas ability level means how much of the story the reader understands. For example, does your early reader love to learn about all things historical? Their interest level may take them to explore old and new worlds like in History! : The Past as You’ve Never Seen It Before from the Smithsonian Institution, while their ability level may take them to learn about the life of Josephine Baker by Ma Isabel Sánchez Vegara; illustrated by Agathe Sorlet.

Question: What should I do if my child is reading on their own but is struggling with the books they have chosen?

  • Encourage them to ask you or someone they trust what unfamiliar words mean. Sometimes it can feel daunting to acknowledge when we don’t know something, so trust is very important for your child.
  • Help them look up the definition of words they don’t know. We have dictionaries available at the library or you can find many helpful resources online. Not only will this help with their reading comprehension, it will help with their vocabulary skills as well! Did you know that according to Early Childhood Literacy Consultant and author, Saroj Ghoting, “[c]hildren’s books have about 31 rare words per thousand words. That’s 3 times more than in conversation and 25% more rare words than what is on television programs.”
  • Encourage them to use the 5 Finger Reading Rule to find a book that they feel both challenged and confident with.
  • Use our library catalogue to discover books within your child’s reading level. See below for a guide!
  • Check out a list of our juvenile starter books here.
  • Still need more help finding something within your child’s interest and ability level? Ask us!

 

Searching by reading level through the library catalogue:

  1. Search for a book your reader already loves in our library catalogue.
  2. Click on the title of the book, which will lead you to the book’s record.
  3. Scroll to the bottom of the page until you find the Reading Level
  4. Select the Browse by Reading Level

  5. Use the Lexile Measure, Accelerated Reader, and Age/Grade Level tabs to search by your reader’s ability level on the sliding scale.