The Five Finger Rule

The five Finger Rule

In first grade, as you all well know, you have children with wildly different reading abilities – and they all want to read Diary of a Wimpy Kid or Harry Potter. :) To help my first graders pick books “at their level” I introduce the 5 finger rule right from the first day of school. I got this idea from the Reading Lady and the Mosaic Listserv that the site runs. If you haven’t been there yet, I highly recommend it – they have a lot of information, including many resources for the book, Mosaic of Thought, which is SUCH a wonderful professional resource.

The 5 finger rule is simple and it actually does help students find a book that’s “in the ballpark” of their true reading level. I show the children how to use the rule and model it many, many times during the school year.  Here are the steps:

1.      Select a book that you think you want to read.

2.      Open the book in the middle of the book and find a page that isn’t the first page of the book or the first page of a chapter.

3.      Read the page.

4.      For every word that you can’t read or have to really sound out (and you’re not sure what the word is), put a finger up.

0 fingers – the book is too easy

1-3 fingers – the book is “just right”

4-5 fingers – the books is kind of hard so be sure to read it slowly.

5+ fingers – the book is too hard for now – come back soon and try it again.

I’ve created a bookmark on the 5 finger rule that I adapted from the Reading Lady to make it more usable for my first graders. I send it home on Open House with my parents (and explain it to the parents, of course) and I make a set for my first graders to keep in their desk. It’s worth the double set, because both home and school are on the same page and are using the same language. I’ve attached my bookmark here for you to use – and I hope, as always, that you’ll find it useful.

5 Finger Rule Bookmark PDF