Creator: David Simpson | visit site
Grade Range: K - 11
Test any website’s readability using <i>The Readability Test Tool.</i> Test readability by URL or direct text input from any source (such as copy/paste of student writing). Simply enter the web address (URL) and get the readability of the site on several scales. You can also check your own webpages by using the "referer" section. You will get a score for the most used readability indicators: Flesch Kincaid Reading Ease and Grade Level, Gunning Fog Score, Coleman Liau Index, and Automated Readability Index (ARI). These tell much more than a simple "grade level." View sentence info such as total characters, number of words, average word length, percentage of short and long sentences, and more. View word usage of types of verbs, conjunctions, and other parts of speech as well as type of words used to begin sentences. Click the link provided to view an explanation of each type of score.
In the Classroom
Use this tool to offer differentiated resources for the different reading levels in your class. At the beginning of the year, as you learn your students’ capabilities, use this tool to find reading at the appropriate level to eliminate frustration. This is perfect for finding the "just right" level for your highly advanced/gifted students and those needing extra remediation. If you do discover that a website you want to use is over your students’ independent reading level, you can still use it, just open Lingro, <a href="/single.cfm?id=9067">reviewed here</a>, first; then enter the URL you want them to read. Lingro is a study aid and open content dictionary that makes all of the words (on a particular website) clickable for definitions and translation. Of course, if the sentence length or complexity is at a much higher reading level, simple word definitions will not make it "readable" for struggling readers. View readability levels of websites before sharing with students to find appropriate reading levels for differentiation. On an interactive whiteboard or with a projector, test passages of public domain texts from sites like Project Gutenberg, <a href="/single.cfm?id=1188">reviewed here</a>, by famous authors to see how their writing ranks when discussing their writing style. rn<br><br>rnWhy not have students put in the URL for their blog or wiki (or simply paste in a writing sample) to see the level at which they are writing? This is one way to encourage writing as a craft and challenge students to include more varied vocabulary and sentence structure in their writing.
At Home
Check to see if your student is reading a website over his/her independent reading level. Of course, he/she can still read it, just open up Lingro, <a href="/single.cfm?id=9067">reviewed here</a> first, and then enter the URL (web address) they want to read. Lingro is a study tool and open content dictionary that makes all of the words (on a particular website) clickable for definitions and translation. Not only can you test what your student is reading, why not have them put in the URL for their blogs or wikis (or simply paste in a writing sample) to see the level at which they are writing?
Tags
readability, independent reading, writing,
Subjects
Computer Literacy, English, ESL/ELL, Language Arts, Math, Parent Information, Professional, Reading, Science, Social Studies, Social Studies, Special Education, Study Skills, Writing,