https://padlet.com/bmaurao/ow46m84c87j4 After downloading the sample text characteristics charts from online (like those shown on pages 32-37). Add another column to the right and analyze another book you’ve read from your own collection. What did you notice about this practice? What are your takeaways? en-us 2018-11-04 13:42:06 UTC 2018-12-14 13:39:49 UTC hello@padlet.com lweinstock https://padlet.com/bmaurao/ow46m84c87j4/wish/313467438 I just did this analysis work with a level P non-fiction text "Insect Lives".  This was a text that one of our 3rd grade teachers was planning on using with a small group during their non-fiction unit.  It was very interesting to go through each section of the text characteristics chart for level P NF and see how the book truly matched many of the characteristics listed in the chart.  The one thing that really struck me was the vocabulary characteristics, because in fact there was a great deal of vocabulary on each page and this particular text did not have a glossary.  Instead, a reader would have to pay close attention to the text and other text features to determine the meaning of the word.  This particular 3rd grade class who had used this text has many EL students and I wish I had done this work earlier in order to give the teacher a heads up about the work required by readers around vocabulary.  For example, the text said "Their bodies are divided into three parts - head, thorax and abdomen - each of which is protected by a hard outer covering, or exoskeleton." So the word exoskeleton was defined within the sentence, but the words abdomen and thorax were not. The reader would have had to refer to the labeled diagram on the next page in order to understand those words.]]> 2018-12-11 16:06:10 UTC https://padlet.com/bmaurao/ow46m84c87j4/wish/313467438 bberkman https://padlet.com/bmaurao/ow46m84c87j4/wish/313514740 I did this with a level N nonfiction book that 4th grade teachers are using in their NF unit for independent research. This would be one of the easier books for a text set. 

In many ways this book fit the key characteristics of a level N book. There is one overarching main idea - Stormy Weather - that is clearly divided into sections and chapters. Each section or chapter has it's own main idea which, although it goes across numerous pages, is supported with headings. There are also numerous key ideas in each section. Many of the content specific words were in bold which also supports the reader. However, as Lisa mentioned, there are a lot of non-content specific words that readers need to know (force, split, satellite, swirl, etc.) The text features support some of the main idea but also seem to be interesting facts that can distract the readers from the main idea.

Overall this is an interesting exercise. My 4th grade team is working on main idea with their readers and I think this would be worthwhile for them to do to understand the different levels of text as well as having appropriate expectations for their readers. I think "Main Idea" sometimes is oversimplified. It really needs to be taught differently at different levels.]]> 2018-12-11 17:25:51 UTC https://padlet.com/bmaurao/ow46m84c87j4/wish/313514740 https://padlet.com/bmaurao/ow46m84c87j4/wish/314521560 I did this work with Each Kindness, a level M Fiction book. 5th grade used it for an introductory  mentor text for social issues. 
Although it is a picture book, it follows a plot line driven by the main character in a familiar setting (school). There is one main character, Chloe, who we don't know much about except her thoughts and can infer her feelings. The secondary characters affect her feelings. There is an easily accessible theme and clear lesson, with a little inferring needed about the rippling water. 
It was interesting to analyze this book. We don't often tend to stop and think critically about the books we're teaching with. What vocabulary should be addressed? What inferring is necessary? How accessible is the plot line, theme, etc? The theme in this book is more easily understood than the books at the level we're expecting 5th graders to read, so I wonder how it impacts the students by using a less complex text to model. 

I'm also left wondering how this analysis would/could be applied with teachers.]]> 2018-12-14 02:09:31 UTC https://padlet.com/bmaurao/ow46m84c87j4/wish/314521560 https://padlet.com/bmaurao/ow46m84c87j4/wish/314634664 I focused on One Green Apple, a level 'O' picture book that is used as a student text in the context of the literary essay unit.

It is a picture book, but fairly complex, as it focuses on a recent Muslim immigrant girl who is struggling to fit in in her new community. It takes place in a familiar setting of a farm, where students have come to pick apples, but Farah references her homeland, which could be abstract for readers. 

This was a valuable process to think about the text complexity and the features that support student understanding versus those that are lacking. I agree with Abby that we don't have/take enough time to do this consistently. Finding the time to do this would be helpful to teachers.
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