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The Role of the Text in Comprehension

Reader

Activity

Sociocultural

Context

Text

RAND READING REPORT

Adapted from Kucan & Palincsar IES 2009-2010

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What makes a text difficult?

• Sort and discuss …

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What makes a text difficult?

• Cornett: Interest level; Accessibility (emotional & cognitive); Readability (text difficulty);

• Reading level (the reader)– Independent (95-99% accuracy; 90% comp)– Instructional (90-95% accuracy; 75% comp)– Frustrational (>90% accuracy; > 50% comp)– Listening (comprehend 75% key concepts)

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What makes a text difficult?

• Fountas & Pinnell (Level A-Z)– Genre– Text Structure– Content– Themes and Ideas– Language & Literary Features– Vocabulary and Words– Sentence Complexity– Book and print features

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See handout for more about levels

So, what’s readability? And how do you calculate it??

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Fry Readability Formula = # of sentences and # of syllables

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Which of the FIVE factors of comprehension?

ONE: TEXT

Lexile Level = sentence length and word frequency

8TWO: TEXT & READER

Which of the FIVE factors of

comprehension?

Text Complexity Factors

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HUMAN RATED • Levels of meaning• Structure• Language conventionality• Clarity• Knowledge demands

COMPUTER SCORED • Word length• Word frequency• Sentence length• Text Cohesion

• Co-Metrix and Lexiles

READER• Motivation• Knowledge• Experiences

TASK• Purpose/Context• Complexity• Questions Posed

Common Core Standards

4-5! Teacher, text, reader, & task/context

Which of the FIVE factors Of comprehension?

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Standard #10: Text Complexity

Common Core Standards

Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently

Example In ActionNarrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas (Gr. 6-8)

• Qualitative Measures– Levels of Meaning– Structure– Language Conventionality and Clarity– Knowledge Demands

• Quantitative Measures (Co-Metrix) • Reader/Task Considerations • Recommended Placement of this text in

Grades 6-8 complexity band

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You Try

• Select a book from your collection.

• Use your handout to guide your thinking about each of the important text features.

• Use the Lexile Book Search to determine the lexile level

• Is this book a good fit for this grade range?

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Homework

• Ch. 4: Differentiation (p. 102-111)

• LEAD21 Program Overview (on the wiki) with 1 page reading guide **differentiation

• Coming up…

– Strategy Interview – due next Tuesday (Oct. 11) OR Thursday (Oct. 13)

– Oct. 13: Quiz #1

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