White (Wt)

What is a Wt Reader?

White text is the first level in which readers will encounter “literary” language not normally used in everyday speech. The major distinguishing feature of each color level from White through Gold is the density and abstraction level of the literary (not common to everyday speech) language used. White-level readers must spend enough time reading at the White level to acquire the 1,500 new “literary” vocabulary words expected of a proficient 3rd grade reader.

This is entirely different and an important step beyond decoding. It is not enough to be able to pronounce the words; they must know what they mean or be able to figure out what they mean from the context.

Standards-based Objectives for Wt

Wide Reading and Motivation

• Has established an academic reading lifestyle, reading at least 30 minutes a day, or 100 hours per year
• Has established a home reading habit and reads for at least 30 minutes each night without prompting
• Chooses to read both fiction and nonfiction regularly and demonstrates comfort in at least three genres
• Finishes Wt-level chapter books regularly

Decoding/Word Solving Strategies

• Uses rules of syllabification to approximate the pronunciation of any word, including difficult names

Fluency

• Reads with 98–100% word accuracy in Wt-level texts and self-corrects all errors that interfere with meaning
• Silent reading is beginning to be faster than oral and is preferred by the reader

Vocabulary and Background Knowledge

• Notices words not familiar from everyday speech and is able to use context clues to generate sensible definitions and synonyms for literary words encountered
• Infers word meanings from common prefixes (un-, re-, mis-, dis-, in-) and suffixes (-ful, -ly, -less)

Comprehension of Informational and Literary Text

• Uses active reading strategies: activating prior knowledge, surveying, making predictions and connections, visualizing, rereading, and asking clarifying questions
• Uses graphic organizers to compare, contrast, and categorize ideas and information presented
• Identifies the speaker or narrator in a literary selection
• Summarizes the main idea, key facts, or procedures of informational texts
• Describes a character’s traits using textual evidence
• Compares literary elements across stories, including plots, settings, and characters