How to Level Books for Independent Reading
There are a variety of professional readability assessments that determine the reading level of a given text and match it to the reader's reading level. These assessments measure word frequency, concept load, syllable counts, lengths of sentences and other factors to determine reading level. They can be difficult for teachers, parents and even trained reading specialists to use. More direct approaches apply word recognition to a specific text to determine if it is appropriate for the individual learner's level.
Instructions
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Method 1
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Select a book for assessment. Count the number of words on any full page of text from near the beginning of the book. Multiply that number by three. This gives you a good estimate of the total number of words for the three pages of text the child is about to read.
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Ask the reader to read a page near the beginning of the book, and count the number of unknown words he encounters. If the child can't define the word with a synonym, an antonym or an example, count it as unknown.
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Ask the reader to read a page near the middle of the book, and continue the count of unknown words.
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Ask the reader to read a page toward the end of the book, and complete the count. Divide the total of unknown words by the total number of words on the three pages for the percentage of unknown words. For example, if there were 38 unknown words on three pages of text totaling 750 words, the percentage of unknown words is 5 percent. This falls within the 4- to 6-percent acceptable range for an appropriately leveled book.
Method 2
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Have the reader read aloud a passage of exactly 100 words from a book she has never read before.
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Ask at least three comprehension questions. These should include basic inferential and recall questions, the answers to which should not be stated in the text.
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Count as errors the words omitted, substituted or hesitations of more than three seconds. If the reader self-corrects a word within three seconds, do not score it as an error. Separately count the number of comprehension questions that were incorrectly answered.
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Score the test. If the student made six to 10 errors and answered only one or two comprehension questions incorrectly, the text is at the student's instructional reading level. If the student made 11 or more errors and answered two or three comprehension questions incorrectly, the text is at the student's frustration level, and you should choose another book. The optimal score for leveling a book for independent reading is 95 percent oral-read accuracy with zero or one incorrect comprehension responses.
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Tips & Warnings
An easy way to level a book for independent reading is the five-finger rule. As the child reads a full page of text in the selected book, put one finger down every time she struggles for more than a few seconds with a word. If she finishes the page before you have five fingers down, you can assume the book is leveled correctly for independent reading.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit child reading image by Ryan Shapiro from Fotolia.com
