My first selection was extracted from a "Treasury of Literature" series basal from HBJ. This basal was distributed to Texas schools in 1993 and at that time, balanced literacy was a common term among publishers of reading programs. This text is leveled at 1-5 within the series, with comparison levels of 1-1 being the beginning anthology for first grade and level and 1-6 being the last in the series for first grade. Within the instructions of the basal, it was stated that each unit, and there are two units within the book, takes anywhere from 4-6 weeks to complete. I would guess that this particular text is geared toward the January through March time frame. The fact that this series is placed on a time table rather than a skill level progression, indicates that this method of leveling texts it incongruent with the development of skills in reading. Another statement that is made within the teacher manual is that the students are past the shared reading level and that they are doing strictly guided and independent reading. That statement alone indicates that we are placing children's skills on a time continuum and that they must reach proficiency at given intervals. The TM discusses instructional flexibility within the body of the manual, but does not provide for that practice to be employed. The skills are in a certain order lacking regard for the true needs of the students. Tests on certain objectives in the book are in a rigid schedule. If the TM was deplete of stories and just gave strategies and enrichment for certain skills the basal would have value. It is my belief that every teacher of reading should have every level of basal at their disposal to avail themselves of activities and enrichment appropriate for specific teaching points. Most critical to the process of learning to read is the selection of appropriate texts which address skill deficits rather than lumping children into one category.