1. WELCOME TO PARENT OUTREACH 11-29-12 Accelerated Reader Fountas & Pinnell “Just Right Books”

2. THE STANDARDS’ MODEL FOR TEXT COMPLEXITY Qualitative Measures of Text: Factors that interact to contribute to overall complexity: layout, purpose and meaning, text structure, language features, and knowledge demands. Quantitative Measures of Text: Readability measures, most based on sentence length, syllables and difficult words. Reader and Task: Vary based on what readers bring to the text (such as motivation, knowledge and experiences) and task variables (such as purpose and the complexity generated by the task assigned and the questions posed).

3.  Uses ATOS Readability Formula to calculate level  Based on word length, word familiarity, word frequency, sentence length and book length  Indicates reading difficulty only, does not consider content matter  Uses text characteristics at every level of the A to Z gradient  Based on Genres/Forms, Text Structure, Content, Themes and Ideas, Language and Literary Features, Sentence Complexity, Vocabulary, Words, Illustrations, Book and Print Features HOW LEVELS ARE DETERMINED Accelerated Reader Fountas & Pinnell

4. FOUNTAS & PINNELL TEXT GRADIENT  A defined continuum of characteristics related to the level of support and challenge a reader meets in a text  An approximation of difficulty, and within a level there is some variation  Challenges are not the same in every text in a level  Not a precise gradient through which all students move Fountas, I. C, & Pinnell, G. S. (2006). Leveled Books K- 8: Matching texts to readers for effective teaching. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann

5. “JUST RIGHT BOOKS”  Fluency – more than just reading the words on the page, although it is the first step  Comprehension – understanding beyond just the literal meaning  Purpose – reasons for reading a particular book  Interest – what is the interest level/background knowledge about the book

6. QUESTIONS? Please fill out an exit slip on your way out. Thank you for your time. Becky Broderick & Anne Long