Books That Fit: Reading with Lexile Measures
Your daughter comes into the kitchen and tosses a book on the counter.
"I can't read this," she says. "It's too hard."
You pick up the book. "What do you mean?"
"The words are too long. I tried looking them up, but there are just too many."
Does this scenario sound familiar?
Sometimes it can be hard to choose the right reading material for your child or student. A child reading a book that's too advanced may slog through a few chapters, but eventually he will become discouraged and give up. And the last thing you want him to do is stop reading!
On the other hand, giving your children or students only those books which are at or below their reading level does not encourage improvement. A third grade boy does not need "baby books," but exciting, manageable stories that will build on what he already knows.
The best books are those that fall within the child's reading range--providing a challenge without causing frustration.
One easy way to gauge the books that are best for your child or student is to use the Lexile Framework® for Reading. Many of the test score reports available through BJU Press Testing & Evaluation now give a Lexile® reader measure, provided the student has completed all sections of the test.
The score reports that include Lexiles are:
- Stanford Student Reports
- ITBS® Primary Reading Profiles (Levels 6-9)
- CogAT® Profile Narratives
Once you have the child's Lexile reader measure, you can compare it to the Lexile text measures of various books. If the book's Lexile text measure falls within the reader's Lexile range, that book is probably a good choice for your reader.
Keep in mind that Lexile measures only show the reading difficulty of a text, not its quality or the appropriateness of its content. Your child or student will still need guidance in those areas.
Many of the novels and biographies published by JourneyForth now have Lexile text measures as well as trustworthy content. Take a look.
Additional resources: