Taking Lexiles to the Next Level

1
Taking Lexiles to the Next Level

• Phil Collins

2
A Lexile is
A unit for measuring text difficulty that is
linked to the RIT score, Northwest Evaluation
Associations unit for measuring reading
comprehension. These links allow teachers to use
the students RIT score to find books,
periodicals, and other reading materials that
will be appropriately challenging for each
student.
3
What Lexile measures

• Semantic Difficulty
• As measured by the frequency with which each word
  in a measured text appears in Lexiles database
  of 200 million words
• Syntactic Complexity
• As measured by sentence length

4
The Lexile doesnt evaluate

• Genre
• Students moving to a new genre may need more
  teacher support to read effectively.
• Theme
• A low Lexile score doesnt mean the books theme
  is appropriate for the reader.
• Content
• Students encountering new content or topics may
  need to have new vocabulary and concepts
  pre-taught.
• Interest
• Students will tend to be more motivated when they
  can self-select reading material or it is a topic
  that interests them.

5
A number (Lexile) cant be the only guiding
factor for helping students select books other
factors include

• Age-appropriateness of content
• Background of experience
• Familiarity/knowledge of subject
• Vocabulary
• Developmental level
• Purpose and motivation

6
The Lexile score represents
the level of text that a student can read with
75 comprehension. For a student with a RIT of
205, books with a 600 Lexile provide an excellent
match with the students instructional
level. The book, After the Rain by Norma Mazer
is a 600L text.
7
Look at the Lexile as a range of scores
The upper part of a 500-650L range might be used
for the students group reading program guided
instruction.
The teacher might use the lower part of this
range as a target for the students independent
reading
8
Guided instruction vs. independent reading
NWEA RIT
Lexile

• Guided instruction (50)
• ? 75 Comprehension
• Independent (-100)

650L
600L
202-208
500L
9
Lexile Codes

• BR Beginning Reading
• NC Non-Conforming Text
• AD Adult Directed
• IG - Illustrated Glossary

Handout Page 15
10
Examples of Lexile Measures of Some Popular
Newspapers and Literature
www.Lexile.com
11
Lexile Literature

• 1500 - On Ancient Medicine
• 1400 - The Scarlet Letter
• 1300 - Brown vs. Board of Ed.
• 1200 - War and Peace
• 1100 - Pride and Prejudice
• 1000 - Black Beauty
• 900 - Tom Swift in the Land of Wonders
• 800 - The Adventures of Pinocchio
• 700 - Bunnicula A Rabbit Tale of Mystery
• 600 - A Baby Sister for Frances
• 500 - The Magic School Bus Inside the Earth
• 400 - Frog and Toad are Friends
• 300 - Cliffords Manners

12
Lexile Texts

• 1500 - The Making of Memory From Molecules to
  Mind Doubleday
• 1400 - Philosophical Essays Hackett Publishing
• 1300 - Psychology An Introduction Prentice Hall
• 1200 - Business Prentice Hall
• 1100 - America Pathways to Present Prentice
  Hall
• 1000 - Writing and Grammar Gold Level Prentice
  Hall
• 900 - World Cultures A Global Mosaic Prentice
  Hall
• 800 - Word 97 Glencoe/McGraw-Hill
• 700 - World Explorer The U.S. Canada
  Prentice Hall
• 600 - Science (Grade 4) Addison-Wesley
• 500 - People and Places Silver Burdett Ginn
• 400 - Imagine That! Scholastic Inc.
• 300 - My World Harcourt Brace

13
Personal Use

• Aetna Health Care Discount Form (1360)
• Medical Insurance Benefit Package (1280)
• Application for Student Loan (1270)
• Federal Tax Form W-4 (1260)
• Installing Your Child Safety Seat (1170)
• Microsoft Windows User Manual (1150)
• G.M. Protection Plan (1150)
• CD DVD Player Instructions (1080)

14
Matching Readers and Text
www.lexile.com
15
Tour of www.lexile.com

• To explore
• Search by subject matter or Lexile range
• Literature for differentiated thematic units

16
Lexile.com Homepage
17
Search Feature
18
Author Study Example

• 4th grade
• Pick an author
• Pull the list of novels by that author
• Using your list of student results, make an
  instructional reading level match between title
  and student lexile level

19
Topic Example

• 6th or 7th grade
• Pick a topic
• Pull a list of reading materials on that topic

20
Activity Option 1

• Pick an upcoming author, topic or genre you will
  be studying
• Review the Lexiles of the students in your class
• Review the Lexile levels of reading resources
  available
• Develop a plan to integrate the reading resources
  available into your instruction

21
to compensate for disparities between student
reading comprehension levels and the readability
of assigned texts
How can content area teachers use Lexiles?
22
District 34 Textbook Lexiles

• Science
• 5th DW-Light Sound - 980
• 5th DW-Pop. Ecosystems - 920
• SE - Inside Earth - 1060
• SE - Cells Heredity - 910
• SE - From Bacteria to Plants - 1220
• SE - Chemical Building Blocks 950
• SE - Electricity Magnetism - 890

23
District 34 Textbook Lexiles

• Science
• SE - Astronomy - 970
• SE - Environmental Science - 1050
• SE - Weather Climate - 1100
• SE - Motion, Forces Energy - 990
• SE - Chemical Interactions - 1000
• SE - Sound Light - 1010

24
District 34 Textbook Lexiles

• Social Science
• 4th Explore Our Land 670
• 5th Build Our Nation - 930
• 6th America Will Be - 1070
• 7th American Nation - 880
• 8th World Geography - 1040

25
Activity Option 2

• Pick an upcoming unit you will be studying
• Review the Lexiles of the students in your class
• Review the Lexile levels of content reading of
  the upcoming unit
• Identify the students in your class who are
  likely to struggle with the content reading based
  on their Lexiles
• Develop a plan/strategies to help these students
  be successful
• Research the availability of alternative content
  reading materials at a more appropriate Lexile
  level

26
Dynamic Reporting Suite Resources
27
Lexile Report
28
Activity 1 Revisited
29
Projected Performance Category by Subject
30
(No Transcript)
31
(No Transcript)
32
Create a Custom Booklist
33
Think ahead

• How will you use Lexiles to change what you are
  currently doing with students in your classroom?
• How can you collaborate with other staff
  (teachers, librarians, etc.)?
• What resources can you access in your building
  and across your district?

34
Lexile Resources
www.Lexile.com
35
Tour of www.lexile.com

• To explore later
• Teacher tool box
• Lexile Analyzer (textbooks)
• Power Vocabulary
• Specialized Pathfinders available

36
Text Analyzer
37
Lexile Teachers Toolbox
38
W Words, Vocabulary list S Student word
lists, activities, and assessments T Teacher
answer keys
39
Linking Lexiles to DataWhats your situation?

• In your classroom, what are the lowest and
  highest Lexile ranges of your students?
• Lowest range ____________
• Highest range ____________

40
Communicating with Parents
41
Otis Fulton, Vice-President, MetaMetrics
The number 1 question parents (and students) ask
about the Lexile Framework is My child scored
_____. What does this mean?
42
Communicating with Parents

• Dont get too focused on numbers ranges are
  important.
• Give examples of books and other text materials.
• Talk about where the student is now, but also
  where they are going!

43
Communicating with Parents

• Emphasize that the Lexile Framework doesnt
  address
• interest
• age appropriateness
• text support (pictures)
• text quality
• It looks only at text difficulty books should
  always be previewed.
• Is a tool for matching readers with appropriately
  challenging text, not a reading program

44
Questions