Why Choose Complex Text? The ability to read complex text is the single greatest predictor of success in college Text complexity has been “dumbed down” at all grade levels Less than 50% of high school graduates are able to read college and/or career leveled text. Time to ratchet it up!! This has really received the attention it has because it is costing businesses and colleges money to retrain, tutor students who simply do not have the basic skills required for success.

Emphasis on Informational Text single greatest source for building strong knowledge base Unfamiliarity with informational texts puts students at a disadvantage, makes it harder to comprehend emphasis is 50% at elementary, 70% at high school level Put simply, college, universities, businesses do not offer literary texts as their main reading source. It’s all about the informational text and being able to independently read it The percentages are also indicative of where the SBAC emphasis will be – informational text

Measuring Text Complexity Quantitative Qualitative Reader and Task There are 3 measurements which must be considered when choosing complex text in your classroom:

Quantitative Measures ATOS Degrees of Reading Power Flesch Kincaid Source Rater Reading Maturity Metric Lexile Framework Each of these tools is a way to quantify the difficulty of a text. Usually they consider the length of sentences, # of syllables in words, Word Frequency, Word difficulty, length of text, and finally text cohesion

Lexile Framework www.lexile.com analyzed by MetaMetrics based on semantic ( words) and syntactic ( order in which the words are arranged) evidence --Use the “Quick Book Search” (most suitable for published books) --Use the “Lexile Analyzer” (Most suitable for articles. A free account is required to use this function.) MAPS testing will assign a lexile score to a student Lexile scores are also assigned to novels, textbooks, and any piece of writing score is reported as a number followed by the L for Lexile semantics is the study of word meanings and phrases, while syntax represents the order in which words are put together in a sentence. Based on this, any piece of text is able to be systematically scored and given a lexile # The idea being if you match the reader to the appropriate text, you should see a 75 % comprehension level

Qualitative Measures levels of meaning knowledge demands language features text structure use of graphics These elements are not as simple to calculate. Here is where the teacher is the expert in Items which computers simply cannot judge.

Rubrics can help

Try it yourself The Book Thief opening, Markus Zuzak

Reader and Task complexity of content cognitive capacity of the reader reading skills motivation & engagement prior knowledge tasks and assessments

Where do I find these Complex Texts?

Consider… Does this text respond to core concepts I want to teach? Is this form of text authentic to the subject area? Will students be able to access this text?

Choose a text to Explore the topic Explain the topic Demonstrate the topic Challenge the topic If you are able to do any one of these things with the text, you’re on the right track

Textbooks “long on facts and short on ideas and explanations” ( Tyson-Bernstein, 1988) authoritative listing of facts leaves students with the impression that content learning is all about memorization” ( Lattimer). the truth and nothing but the truth fail to “cultivate puzzlement” ( Wineburg, 2001) Don’t use an article on Pythagoras, just because you are working with triangles. You will lose their interest, and it may even become a battle between you and your students as to how and why it needs to be read.

Primary Sources Allow students to become part of the conversation “ a dialogue among historians not only about what happened, but about why and how it happened, how it affected other happenings, and how much importance it ought to be assigned” (National Center for History in the Schools, 1996 )  provides necessary background to support a position Newspaper articles from the time, scientific journals place students in that moment and time.

When Choosing Consider length of the excerpt Shorter texts CAN lead to greater understanding Length -entire US Constitution vs articles directly related to your take away lesson Darwin’s complete treatise on evolution - vs key passages to examine closely CAUTION- be careful not to manipulate the text so much that the intended meaning has been manipulated. Don’t create a skewed impression of the author’s work. Take advantage of the fact that students are more willing to dig in and dig deep into a text when they feel it is limited and on-topic. Shorter texts CAN lead to greater understanding.

Formatting Font size Margin space ( for notes) Section breaks Line numbers ( for discussion purposes) Graphic organizers ( handout or underneath the text)

Summing up Add complex texts to your classroom routine Shift to Informational Texts Help students learn to navigate these texts