Literacy in the Classroom
Using Lexile Analyzer to
increase the amount of
literacy practice in my
classroom
Natalie Williams
Iredell Statesville Schools
Innovative Showcase
December 10, 2014
Session’s Learning Targets
I can increase the amount of literacy practice in my
classroom.
• I will find a new primary or secondary source to supplement
my current curriculum.
• I will use Lexile Analyzer to determine the Lexiled reading
level of that source, making sure my text is grade-level (or
ability level) appropriate.
• I will develop an open-ended assessment question that stems
from my found text.
• I will create an ACE or Synthesis writing template to guide my
students in answering the OE question.
I will find a new primary or secondary source to
supplement my current curriculum.
Spend 5-10 minutes searching for digital text about a
current topic of study.
Some sources include:
• Time magazine
• Smithsonian online
• History Channel Classroom
• NCLive
• Others listed collectively?
I will use Lexile Analyzer to determine the Lexiled
reading level of that source.
1. Open Microsoft Word, and type up to 1000 words
from the text you are considering.
2. File, Save As, File type is “plain text,” click “Other
encoding,” “US-ASCII,” and “Allow character
substitution.”
3. Create a free user account at Lexile.com.
4. At the top of the site, click “Use Lexile Measures”
and then “Lexile Analyzer.”
5. From the Lexile Analyzer page, click “Choose file,”
find the word doc from where you saved it, and
click submit.
6. Record the approximate lexiled measurement of
your text.
For example . . .
An approximate lexile of 1200
In a special Saturday session on February 17, 2007, the
U.S. Senate took up a Democratic-sponsored resolution
disapproving of President George W. Bush’s so-called
troop surge in Iraq—his controversial and unpopular
decision to send 21,500 more U.S. troops to that war
torn country. The 2006 election was decided in the
Democrats’ favor essentially because of this issue, and
the Democrats in the U.S. House of Representative had earlier
been able to secure a large (246 to 182) majority for the same
resolution.
from Larry Sabato’s A More Perfect Constitution
I will use Lexile Analyzer to determine the Lexiled
reading level of that source.
Determine if the readability is appropriate for
your students. If it is not, consider searching
for appropriate texts.
Remember:
9th-10th “Stretch” Lexile Band, 1050L–1335L
11th-12th “Stretch” Lexile Band, 1185L–1385L
I will develop an open-ended assessment question
that stems from my found text.
Develop an open-ended question for students to
answer—from the reading of their text—using a
question stem from the revised Bloom’s Taxonomy.
RBT Question Stems
(The thinking increases in complexity as you move from
left to right and down the page.)
I will create an ACE or Synthesis writing template to
guide my students in answering the OE question.
Sample ACE Template
Sample Synthesis Template
Remember some content “keys” to good writing:
• all paragraphs support a single main idea, usually found at
the beginning of the paragraph
• details that give more insight to the main idea—or proof—
must be included
• a concise, concluding sentence is helpful if the paragraph is
lengthy