Text Complexity and Reading Comprehension Tests


Book Description

Based on the analysis of a specially compiled corpus of internationally recognized English as a foreign language (EFL) reading tests at different levels of proficiency, this volume explores the relation between the complexity of written texts and the difficulty of reading comprehension tests. It brings together linguistic investigations into the text-inherent complexity of the tests and a study of the data derived from their administration to groups of Italian university students. The study of text complexity draws on corpus linguistics, text linguistics and systemic functional linguistics. Both quantitative and qualitative analyses are carried out on the language used in the reading texts and in the related tasks that make up the corpus of tests. The assessment of test difficulty, on the other hand, is informed by research on language testing, and, in particular, by findings and methodologies of Classical Test Theory and Item Response Theory. Relevant aspects of these theories are used to analyze and interpret both the data obtained from the administration of the tests and the data collected by means of feedback questionnaires completed by test takers. The application of such diverse methodologies and the subsequent comparison of the results of the analyses has brought out interesting correlations between text-inherent complexity, perceived test difficulty and actual test difficulty.




Text Complexity


Book Description

There is a big difference between assigning complex texts and teaching complex texts No matter what discipline you teach, learn how to use complexity as a dynamic, powerful tool for sliding the right text in front of your students’ at just the right time. Updates to this new edition include How-to’s for measuring countable features of any written work A rubric for analyzing the complexity of both literary and informational texts Classroom scenarios that show the difference between a healthy struggle and frustration The authors’ latest thinking on teacher modeling, close reading, scaffolded small group reading, and independent reading




Guided Reading


Book Description

Much has been written on the topic of guided reading over the last twenty years, but no other leaders in literacy education have championed the topic with such depth and breadth as Irene Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell. In the highly anticipated second edition of Guided Reading, Fountas and Pinnell remind you of guided reading's critical value within a comprehensive literacy system, and the reflective, responsive teaching required to realize its full potential. Now with Guided Reading, Second Edition, (re)discover the essential elements of guided reading through: a wider and more comprehensive look at its place within a coherent literacy system a refined and deeper understanding of its complexity an examination of the steps in implementation-from observing and assessing literacy behaviors, to grouping in a thoughtful and dynamic way, to analyzing texts, to teaching the lesson the teaching for systems of strategic actions a rich text base that can support and extend student learning the re-emerging role of shared reading as a way to lead guided and independent reading forward the development of managed independent learning across the grades an in-depth exploration of responsive teaching the role of facilitative language in supporting change over time in students' processing systems the identification of high-priority shifts in learning to focus on at each text level the creation of a learning environment within which literacy and language can flourish. Through guided reading, students learn how to engage in every facet of the reading process and apply their reading power to all literacy contexts. Also check out our new on-demand mini-course: Introducing Texts Effectively in Guided Reading Lessons




Teaching Students to Read Like Detectives


Book Description

Prompt students to become the sophisticated readers, writers, and thinkers they need to be to achieve higher learning. The authors explore the important relationship between text, learner, and learning. With an array of methods and assignments to establish critical literacy in a discussion-based and reflective classroom, you’ll encourage students to find meaning and cultivate thinking from even the most challenging expository texts.




Every Living Thing


Book Description

Here are twelve deeply moving short stories from the perceptive pen of Cynthia Rylant. Each captures the moment when someone's life changes -- when an animal causes a human being to see things in a different way, and, perhaps, changes his life.




Text Complexity


Book Description

This book focuses on the quantitative and qualitative factors of text complexity as well as the ways in which readers can be matched with texts and tasks. It also examines how close readings of complex texts scaffold students understanding and allow themto develop the skills necessary to read like a detective. --from publisher description




Qualitative Assessment of Text Difficulty


Book Description

Teaches a revolutionary approach to making judgements about the difficulty of a reading selection.




Engaging Ideas


Book Description

Learn to design interest-provoking writing and critical thinking activities and incorporate them into your courses in a way that encourages inquiry, exploration, discussion, and debate, with Engaging Ideas, a practical nuts-and-bolts guide for teachers from any discipline. Integrating critical thinking with writing-across-the-curriculum approaches, the book shows how teachers from any discipline can incorporate these activities into their courses. This edition features new material dealing with genre and discourse community theory, quantitative/scientific literacy, blended and online learning, and other current issues.




Rethinking Reading Comprehension


Book Description

This practical book grows out of a recent report written by the RAND Reading Study Group (RRSG), which proposed a national research agenda in the area of reading comprehension. Here, RRSG members have expanded on their findings and translated them into clear recommendations to inform practice. Teachers gain the latest knowledge about how students learn to comprehend texts and what can be done to improve the quality of instruction in this essential domain. From leading literacy scholars, the book explains research-based ways to: *Plan effective instruction for students at all grade levels *Meet the comprehension needs of English-language learners *Promote adolescents' comprehension of subject-area texts *Understand the complexities of comprehension assessment *Get optimal benefits from instructional technologies *And much more!




Comprehension [Grades K-12]


Book Description

Radically change the way students learn from texts, extending beyond comprehension to critical reasoning and problem solving. Is your reading comprehension instruction just a pile of strategies? There is no evidence that teaching one strategy at a time, especially with pieces of text that require that readers use a variety of strategies to successfully negotiate meaning, is effective. And how can we extend comprehension beyond simple meaning? Bestselling authors Douglas Fisher, Nancy Frey, and Nicole Law propose a new, comprehensive model of reading instruction that goes beyond teaching skills to fostering engagement and motivation. Using a structured, three-pronged approach—skill, will, and thrill—students learn to experience reading as a purposeful act and embrace struggle as a natural part of the reading process. Instruction occurs in three phases: Skill. Holistically developing skills and strategies necessary for students to comprehend text, such as monitoring, predicting, summarizing, questioning, and inferring. Will. Creating the mindsets, motivations, and habits, including goal setting and choice, necessary for students to engage fully with texts. Thrill. Fostering the thrill of comprehension, so that students share their thinking with others or use their knowledge for something else. Comprehension is the structured framework you need to empower students to comprehend text and take action in the world.