1. Cloze Passages Measure potential comprehension of reading material. Readers are given a 100 word selection with blanks in it. Reading will be comprehensible if the reader can fill in about ½ the blanks with the RIGHT word (exactly the right word, not a close word). Example…next slide.

2. The minister gave out his text and droned along monotonously through an argument that was so prosy that many a head by and by began to nod. It was an argument _______ dealt in limitless fire ______ brimstone and thinned the _________ elect down to a _______ so small as to ____ hardly worth the saving. Tom ________ the pages of the sermon; ________ church he always knew ______ many pages there had_______, but he seldom knew ________ else about the discourse. _________, this time he was _________ interested for a little while. _______ minister made a grand ______ moving picture of the __________ together of the world's ________ at the millennium when _____ lion and the lamb ________ lie down together and a _______ child should lead them. _______ the pathos, the lesson, the _________ of the great spectacle ________ lost upon the boy; ______ only thought of the ____________ of the principal character ________ the on-looking nations; his _______ lit with the thought, ______ he said to himself _______ he wished he could ______ that child, if it ______ a tame lion. Now he lapsed into suffering again, as the dry argument was resumed. Number correct ____________/30 x 100 = __________% (Hint: 17/30=57%, 16/30=53%, 15/30 = 50%, 14/30 = 46%, 13/30 = 43%) –Above 57% Independent Reading Level –44-57% Instructional Reading Level –Below 47% Frustrational Reading Level

3. That was Tom Sawyer! Yep, it’s hard to read! Remember…if the reader can fill in about ½ the words, it’s likely to be something that’s ok to use in class. About 60 percent of the words right make the passage ok to assign for independent reading.

4. Creating a Cloze Passage Select 100 word passage from something you expect students to read (or something at the reading level you expect). Leave the first and last sentences and all punctuation intact. Replace every fifth word with a blank. Ask students to read whole passage, then try to fill in blanks. Score for EXACT answer = shooting for about 55% correct.