Measuring Text Complexity: Three Factors

Qualitative evaluation of the text

Levels of meaning, structure, language conventionality and clarity, and knowledge demands

Quantitative evaluation of the text

Readability measures and other scores of text complexity

Matching reader to text and task

Reader variables (such as motivation, knowledge, and experiences) and task variables (such as purpose and the complexity generated by the task assigned and the questions posed)

Note

More detailed information on text complexity and how it is measured is contained in Appendix A. (PDF)

Range of Text Types for K-5

Students in K–5 apply the Reading standards to the following range of text types, with texts selected from a broad range of cultures and periods.

Literature

Stories

Includes children’s adventure stories, folktales, legends, fables, fantasy, realistic fiction, and myth

Dramas

Includes staged dialogue and brief familiar scenes

Poetry

Includes nursery rhymes and the subgenres of the narrative poem, limerick, and free verse poem

Informational Text

Literary Nonfiction and Historical, Scientific, and Technical Texts

Includes biographies and autobiographies; books about history, social studies, science, and the arts; technical texts, including directions, forms, and information displayed in graphs, charts, or maps; and digital sources on a range of topics

Texts Illustrating the Complexity, Quality, & Range of Student Reading K–5

	Literature: Stories, Drama, Poetry			Informational Texts: Literary Nonfiction and Historical, Scientific, and Technical Texts
K1	Over in the Meadow by John Langstaff (traditional) (c1800)* A Boy, a Dog, and a Frog by Mercer Mayer (1967) A Story, A Story by Gail E. Haley (1970)* Pancakes for Breakfast by Tomie DePaola (1978) Kitten’s First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes (2004)*			My Five Senses by Aliki (1962)** Truck by Donald Crews (1980) I Read Signs by Tana Hoban (1987) What Do You Do With a Tail Like This? by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page (2003)* Amazing Whales! by Sarah L. Thomson (2005)*
11	“Mix a Pancake” by Christina G. Rossetti (1893)** Mr. Popper’s Penguins by Richard Atwater (1938)* Little Bear by Else Holmelund Minarik, illustrated by Maurice Sendak (1957)** Frog and Toad Together by Arnold Lobel (1971)** Hi! Fly Guy by Tedd Arnold (2006)			A Tree Is a Plant by Clyde Robert Bulla, illustrated by Stacey Schuett (1960)** Starfish by Edith Thacher Hurd (1962) Follow the Water from Brook to Ocean by Arthur Dorros (1991)** From Seed to Pumpkin by Wendy Pfeffer, illustrated by James Graham Hale (2004)* How People Learned to Fly by Fran Hodgkins and True Kelley (2007)*
2-3	“Who Has Seen the Wind?” by Christina G. Rossetti (1893) Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White (1952)* Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan (1985) Tops and Bottoms by Janet Stevens (1995) Poppleton in Winter by Cynthia Rylant, illustrated by Mark Teague (2001)			A Medieval Feast by Aliki (1983) From Seed to Plant by Gail Gibbons (1991) The Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles (1995)* A Drop of Water: A Book of Science and Wonder by Walter Wick (1997) Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11 by Brian Floca (2009)
4-5	Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (1865) “Casey at the Bat” by Ernest Lawrence Thayer (1888) The Black Stallion by Walter Farley (1941) “Zlateh the Goat” by Isaac Bashevis Singer (1984) Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin (2009)			Discovering Mars: The Amazing Story of the Red Planet by Melvin Berger (1992) Hurricanes: Earth’s Mightiest Storms by Patricia Lauber (1996) A History of US by Joy Hakim (2005) Horses by Seymour Simon (2006) Quest for the Tree Kangaroo: An Expedition to the Cloud Forest of New Guinea by Sy Montgomery (2006)

Note

Given space limitations, the illustrative texts listed above are meant only to show individual titles that are representative of a wide range of topics and genres. (See Appendix B for excerpts of these and other texts illustrative of K–5 text complexity, quality, and range.) At a curricular or instructional level, within and across grade levels, texts need to be selected around topics or themes that generate knowledge and allow students to study those topics or themes in depth. On the next page is an example of progressions of texts building knowledge across grade levels.

*

Read-aloud

**

Read-along

1

Children at the kindergarten and grade 1 levels should be expected to read texts independently that have been specifically written to correlate to their reading level and their word knowledge. Many of the titles listed above are meant to supplement carefully structured independent reading with books to read along with a teacher or that are read aloud to students to build knowledge and cultivate a joy in reading. [return]

Staying on Topic Within a Grade & Across Grades

Building knowledge systematically in English language arts is like giving children various pieces of a puzzle in each grade that, over time, will form one big picture. At a curricular or instructional level, texts—within and across grade levels—need to be selected around topics or themes that systematically develop the knowledge base of students. Within a grade level, there should be an adequate number of titles on a single topic that would allow children to study that topic for a sustained period. The knowledge children have learned about particular topics in early grade levels should then be expanded and developed in subsequent grade levels to ensure an increasingly deeper understanding of these topics. Children in the upper elementary grades will generally be expected to read these texts independently and reflect on them in writing. However, children in the early grades (particularly K–2) should participate in rich, structured conversations with an adult in response to the written texts that are read aloud, orally comparing and contrasting as well as analyzing and synthesizing, in the manner called for by the Standards.

Preparation for reading complex informational texts should begin at the very earliest elementary school grades. What follows is one example that uses domain-specific nonfiction titles across grade levels to illustrate how curriculum designers and classroom teachers can infuse the English language arts block with rich, age-appropriate content knowledge and vocabulary in history/social studies, science, and the arts. Having students listen to informational read-alouds in the early grades helps lay the necessary foundation for students’ reading and understanding of increasingly complex texts on their own in subsequent grades.

Exemplar Texts on a Topic Across Grades

The Human Body

Students can begin learning about the human body starting in kindergarten and then review and extend their learning during each subsequent grade.

Kindergarten

The five senses and associated body parts

• My Five Senses by Aliki (1989)
• Hearing by Maria Rius (1985)
• Sight by Maria Rius (1985)
• Smell by Maria Rius (1985)
• Taste by Maria Rius (1985)
• Touch by Maria Rius (1985)

Taking care of your body: Overview (hygiene, diet, exercise, rest)

• My Amazing Body: A First Look at Health & Fitness by Pat Thomas (2001)
• Get Up and Go! by Nancy Carlson (2008)
• Go Wash Up by Doering Tourville (2008)
• Sleep by Paul Showers (1997)
• Fuel the Body by Doering Tourville (2008)

Grade 1

Introduction to the systems of the human body and associated body parts

• Under Your Skin: Your Amazing Body by Mick Manning (2007)
• Me and My Amazing Body by Joan Sweeney (1999)
• The Human Body by Gallimard Jeunesse (2007)
• The Busy Body Book by Lizzy Rockwell (2008)
• First Encyclopedia of the Human Body by Fiona Chandler (2004)

Taking care of your body: Germs, diseases, and preventing illness

• Germs Make Me Sick by Marilyn Berger (1995)
• Tiny Life on Your Body by Christine Taylor-Butler (2005)
• Germ Stories by Arthur Kornberg (2007)
• All About Scabs by GenichiroYagu (1998)

Grades 2–3

Digestive and excretory systems

• What Happens to a Hamburger by Paul Showers (1985)
• The Digestive System by Christine Taylor-Butler (2008)
• The Digestive System by Rebecca L. Johnson (2006)
• The Digestive System by Kristin Petrie (2007)

Taking care of your body: Healthy eating and nutrition

• Good Enough to Eat by Lizzy Rockwell (1999)
• Showdown at the Food Pyramid by Rex Barron (2004)

Muscular, skeletal, and nervous systems

• The Mighty Muscular and Skeletal Systems Crabtree Publishing (2009)
• Muscles by Seymour Simon (1998)
• Bones by Seymour Simon (1998)
• The Astounding Nervous System Crabtree Publishing (2009)
• The Nervous System by Joelle Riley (2004)

Grades 4–5

Circulatory system

• The Heart by Seymour Simon (2006)
• The Heart and Circulation by Carol Ballard (2005)
• The Circulatory System by Kristin Petrie (2007)
• The Amazing Circulatory System by John Burstein (2009)

Respiratory system

• The Lungs by Seymour Simon (2007)
• The Respiratory System by Susan Glass (2004)
• The Respiratory System by Kristin Petrie (2007)
• The Remarkable Respiratory System by John Burstein (2009)

Endocrine system

• The Endocrine System by Rebecca Olien (2006)
• The Exciting Endocrine System by John Burstein (2009)