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Text: Hidden Figures: Young Readers' Edition

I chose this particular text based on  my 8th grade pacing guide. During the school year, we were required to complete a fiction and nonfiction novel study. Moreover, there were a number of students with high interest in science.

I completed the fry readability graph. According to Vacca, Vacca, and Mraz, "Edward Fry developed one of the earlier readability formulas that used two variables: sentence length and word length" (2016, p.106). My results were as followed:
Sample1-6 sentences, 162 syllables
Sample2-5 sentences, 142 syllables
Sample3-6 sentences, 164 syllables
Final Average
5.6 sentences, 156 syllables
According to the chart, the text readability was 10th grade.

Fry's graph stated 10th grade, Scholastic also says the novel was appropriate for 6-8 and 10-12. This would be a good activity for my students to complete based on the reading materials they select from the media center. Moreover, for me to use when selecting materials to present in class.

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Text: I selected three Primary Source Documents: DOCSTeach: The Zimmerman Telegram, The Declaration of the Natural Rights of Man: Analyzing a Primary Source and Document B: Slave Ship Captain Thomas Phillips, A Collection of Voyages and Travels, 1732.  As a Social Studies teacher, I use a lot of primary source documents in my class.  This process will provide me with an insight into my students difficulties or their ability to read these primary source documents.  I selected three primary sources to analyze for readability using the Fry Readability Graph.
Application:  The first primary source document was The Zimmerman Telegram.
Sentences = 6.7
Syllables = 186
The second primary source document was The Declaration of the Rights of Man: Analyzing a Primary Source.
Sentences = 5.8
Syllables = 173
The Third Primary Source Document Document B: Slave Ship Captain Thomas Phillips, A Collection of Voyages and Travels, 1732.
Sentences = 2
Syllables = 117
Outcome: According to the Fry Graph, I am using two documents that are above my students grade level.  It appears those documents exceed their Lexile.  The first two documents measure along the 1215L-1355L range.  This lets me know that I need to rethink the documents that I currently use. I need to find some different versions of these documents on a more appropriate grade level.

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I chose "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini to perform the reading difficulty assessment on. I chose this novel because I remember reading it in 10th grade and don't remember the book being too hard to read, however, it was more the difference of culture that was more difficult to understand. The story takes place in Afghanistan and therefore many of the metaphors and symbolism were of things that were not common to the United States. Furthermore, I am interested in playing with the idea that by having a lower difficultly reading book, it may be helpful to access and focus on different cultures rather than first overcoming basic understanding of the text with a higher difficulty.

I assessed the text difficulty by using the Fry Readability Graph which predicts the difficulty of the reading within one grade level. This assessment focuses on the average number of sentences in a passage and the average number of syllables in a passage. The Graph instructions recommends three 100-word samples.
Sample 1: 4.1 sentences, 129 syllables
Sample 2: 7.2 sentences, 140 syllables
Sample 3: 3.4 sentences, 153 syllables
Average: 4.9 sentences, 141 syllables
Then, by plotting 4.9, 141 on the graph, it predicted the reading level to be 8th grade.

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I chose to use the Fry Readability Graph to assess "Winnie the Pooh" by A.A. Milne.  I chose a children's chapter book because I was interested in comparing the Fry assessment in our reading, to the Guided Reading Levels that we use in our elementary school.
My results were:
Sample 1
8.4 sentences, 142 syllables
Sample 2
10.6 sentences, 119 syllables
Sample 3
5 sentences, 126 syllables

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I chose the Fry Readability Graph to assess "Winnie-the-Pooh" by A.A. Milne.  I chose a children's chapter book because I was interested in comparing the Fry assessment to the Guided Reading Levels that we use in our classroom.  My average Fry score was 8 sentences, 129 syllables which put it at a 4th grade level, very close to 5th grade.  The book's Lexile score was 790L or an 8-12 year old range.  In reviewing the conversion chart that we use in our classroom, that put the guided reading level at late 4th grade.  The different assessments were actually quite consistent.  So although these different scales don't take into account the quality and content of the text, or the background knowledge of the reader, they are a good tool to help teachers match the reading materials in their content area to their students' reading level.

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Text: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

I chose this book because as a Secondary English educator, I will eventually teach Frankenstein and it's one of my favorite classics available in the literary canon. I know this book is challenging for most high schoolers and even college students which is the other reason why I wanted to use it.

I completed the Fry Graph readability assessment. I think it is the simplest and easiest one for someone with no experience doing readability tests to complete.

1st passage: 5 sentences 144 syllables

2nd passage: 5 sentences 153 syllables

3rd passage: 4 sentences 127 syllables

Average: 4.7 sentences 141.3 syllables

According to the chart, this is an 8th grade level book. I find that hard to believe so I checked Scholastic and they say it can range from grades 6-12. Scholastic also lists Frankenstein as a 1040L in the Lexile method.

Overall, I’m surprised. I expected the readability assessment to be WAY higher than it actually is. I think the Lexile measurement is much more accurate (in this case at least).

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Mariah-- Fry Readability on The Scarlet Letter

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Mariah-- Fry Readability on The Scarlet Letter

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I chose to use Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter to conduct my assessment on. I chose this text because it is likely a text I will have to teach one day, and because I remember the way my teacher taught it fondly. I remember that it was one of the first books we read in eleventh grade. Although it is a challenging read in terms of theme, I don't recall anyone struggling too greatly with the content.

I conducted the Fry Readability Graph. I chose passages from the beginning (chapter 1), middle (chapter 12), and end (chapter 20). The average sentence length was right between 4.1 and 4.2 and the average syllable count was 155. When comparing to the graph, this resulted in an approximate grade level of 11. I'm not sure why, but the fact that as a student I read this book exactly when I should have was somewhat surprising. It feels important to know this about the text because it instils that the curriculum is doing a fair job, as least in this respect!

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Text: George Orwell's "1984" Kindle Edition.

I chose this text because it is one that I am actually reading right now. I read it in high school when I was around 15 or 16. It is one of those books that stuck with me. Rereading it now, I find the text might be relevant to discussions on digital literacy, privacy, surveillance, fascism, communism, government oppression, and data collection. It might be a great text to read in an interdisciplinary situation if students were covering some of these themes in their social studies class.

I completed the Fry Readability Graph. The graph appeared easy to use and a simple test. After conducting the test my results were:
1st passage: 5.8 sentences 134 syllables
2nd passage: 5.5 sentences 130 syllables
3rd passage: 5 sentences 137 syllables.
Average 5.4 sentences 134 syllables.
According to the graph this book would be a 7th grade level book. I was shocked at that result. This book is quite complex and there also adult themes in the book. I checked the Lexile level for this text. It has a Lexile level of 1090L which puts it at 8th grade plus. To use this book in class I would either need to guide students through the book or recommend it for older students. If I were to use this book in the classroom I would need to be familiar with a student's background knowledge to know if this book would be too complex for them. The bottom line for me in using any text would be knowing the text, and knowing my students, to figure out if it would be a good fit or not.

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Fry Readability Graph - Social Studies Weekly

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Fry Readability Graph - Social Studies Weekly

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I chose the USA Studies Weekly Newspaper that we use in 5th grade as our common resource.  I really thought it would be interesting to use the Fry Readability Graph for this assignment for two reasons. First, I have never used it before, so learning a new tool to use with content area materials would be beneficial for me when choosing texts. Second, many of my homeroom students can complete the USA Studies Weekly comprehension activities with ease while others, in both my classes struggle. Even though they have the print and online versions available to assist them, they still experienced difficulty. The particular issue I chose was about the War of 1812.
Sample 1 6.2 sentences, 128 syllables
Sample 2: 5.9 sentences, 147 syllables
Sample 3: 6.5 sentences, 153 syllables
My average number of syllables was 142 with an average of 6.2 sentences.  This landed just inside the seventh grade band, almost crossing into the eighth grade band. Wow! My eyes were opened to why my students have such a hard time with these articles despite having them as a reference while answering questions or completing tasks.  The average reading level in my homeroom was about 4.5. In my second block class, the average reading level was about 3.3. Out of curiosity, I checked to see if these publications have lexile levels and the answer is no.  On the website, it states that either the Spache (gr. 1-3) or the Dale-Chall (gr. 4 & up) Readability formula are used to spot check the articles as they are vetted. So, I googled the Dale-Chall and found a free sight that would check the readability. It gave the same results as the Fry Model. I am curious now about some of the science articles we use!

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Text Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson.

This is a text that I just recently completed with my students. We started the text when we were still in the classroom, and finished it during our remote learning period. The text was actually one of two in a dual novel study where we were comparing and contrasting information from both a fiction and nonfiction text. The companion text as An American Plague by Jim Murphy. Fever 1793 is a historical fiction text that covers a real historical event, and as I teach both ELA and Social Studies, it felt like a good choice for my students, especially as they are close to the same age as the narrator, Mattie. Of the two texts, Fever 1793 is the easier of the two, but the main focus of choosing the text was for my students to be able to read a fiction text about a historical event and then compare and contrast how the information was presented with an informational text. It was a rousing success with my students, and oddly enough, had an unexpected bonus of helping them to make sense of the current pandemic that we are facing.

I choose to complete the Fry Readability Graph because it was one that I had not come across before, as most of my decisions about novel studies, and other classroom texts have been based off of suggested reading for grade level, or by lexile level.

My selections:
Passage 1:
12.8 sentences
134 syllables
Passage 2:
11 sentences
137 syllables
Passage 3:
15.2 sentences
139 syllables

Average:
13 sentences
137 syllables
According the graph, Fever 1793 is at a 4th grade level.  This was a bit unexpected for me. Scholastic lists it as good for high level grades 3-5 readers, 6-12th grade readers.I was aware that the text does have a lower lexile level, however it is most often taught in middle grades. The overall themes of the book as rather dark, as the main character describes a dark moment in Early American history, facing illness, death, and potential ruin.

I think that the graph is a great tool to help determine if texts are an appropriate level, and to help aid in deciding what, if any, supplemental texts are needed to help drive the points you are trying to teach across. I think that the text I chose is one such example. On the surface, based on simple numbers, the text is lower would be expected for the average 6th grader, however, the themes and content of the book can be higher level with the right direction and with the addition of additional materials. I fully intend to used the Fry Readability Graph in the future, as does help answer some questions for me about determining levels, which I have struggled with in the past.

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I chose to use the Fry Readability Graph to determine the text readability of the current 7th grade science textbook used by my school.  The title of the book is Prentice Hall Science Explorer, North Carolina Edition.  It was copy written in 2005.

I chose to analyze 3 texts from Section 1 of the Body Organization and Homeostasis Chapter.  After teaching the human body systems, I learned immediately just how much curiosity 7th graders had about their bodies and how the human body works.  I am always excited to teach this specific lesson.  I also found that I had an easier time with student engagement when teaching this particular topic.

During class, I would assign students reading passages and give them the opportunity for them to answer the questions after reading the text.  Reading passages were assigned after I already introduced the content to students.  I had many students who did not enjoy reading passages.  The students that finished answering quickly were very efficient readers or advanced students.  However, my ELL students and some of my more challenged readers had a difficult time understanding what the text and some diagrams meant.

The variability with the responses of my students when asked to read the text is what caused me to choose this subject and textbook.  i also chose this book because I use this book to teach important concepts to my students.  I conducted the Fry Readability Graph and I was very shocked at the results revealed!  After selecting 3 passages, I found that the number of sentences ranged from 6.5 to 8.2 sentences.  According to the Fry Readability Chart, this particular number of sentences places this textbook around 3rd grade or 4th grade level reading.  This is substantially lower than the estimated 4.8 sentences per 100 words expected for 7th grade readability.  I also discovered that the number of syllables per text ranged from 143 to 160 syllables.

However, after determining the average of both the number of syllables and the number of sentences I saw that the readability of the text ranged slightly above the 7th grade readability range.  Here are the calculated results:

Average # of sentences: 7.3
Average # of syllables: 149.3

After looking at the results, I understand now why my advanced readers were able to finish faster than some of my challenged readers.  The students that complained the most about not understanding the text or not wanting to read were my struggling readers and ELL students.  For these particular group of students the text is too advanced and hard to understand.

In the future, I will need to include more differentiated texts for my ELL students and struggling readers to help them understand the scientific concepts.

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Written feedback

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