Tools for Matching Readers to Texts: Research-Based Practices

Selecting reading materials at the appropriate level for each student is an essential component of promoting literacy, and a number of systems for determining text difficulty are now available. This unique, much-needed reference helps teachers choose from a wide array of approaches and implement them effectively. Provided is a thorough, integrative review of recently developed applications such as Lexiles, as well as traditional readability formulas and systems for beginning readers. Detailed vignettes clearly illustrate how teachers have used these tools in real classrooms and provide tips and pointers for success. Rich with charts, tables, and resources, this practical guide includes an appendix on two electronic book matching programs, Accelerated Reader and Reading Counts.

Children's Literature

This useful book demystifies three approaches to matching readers to texts. It is important particularly among students having difficulty in learning to read, but is also useful for recording a classroom's or even an entire school's reading progress. The easily understood text is designed not only for teachers, but for librarians, administrators, reading specialists, and graduate students. It is divided into two parts: "Text Analysis Tools: A Reference" and "Choosing and Using Text Analysis Tools." The author discusses three different approaches to text analysis, and an appendix includes an additional technology-based approach that is currently widely used for poorly motivated readers. There are plenty of graphics to illustrate strategies and a summary at the end of each chapter. The book is a great source for schools to use when exploring which method is most appropriate for them. A list of literature mentioned in the book and an index are included. Reviewer: Meredith Kiger, Ph.D.

Heidi Anne E. Mesmer, PhD, is Assistant Professor at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, where she conducts research and teaches literacy courses to graduate students. She is a former elementary school teacher and has taught in both urban and rural settings. Since 1999 she has studied beginning reading materials and text difficulty. Dr. Mesmer has worked extensively with schools and teachers in funded projects. She was a Spencer Foundation/National Academy of Education postdoctoral fellow and a recipient of an Institute of Education Sciences/American Educational Research Association grant.