Can You Change Reading Level On CommonLit?It is one of the questions that most educators and students are familiar with.
In this article, we are going to understand how reading levels work in CommonLit, if they can be changed, and unnecessary features that can be adjusted to help you take advantage of the platform.
Reading Levels Development of CommonLit
Reading levels form an integral part of students’ understanding and engagement of any pieces of written material; therefore, they cannot be ignored. For this reason, CommonLit sorts its texts into reading levels in which students are best able to read the materials provided by the teachers.
What Are the Reading Levels?
Reading levels are the estimates of a reader’s ability with respect to a text, which may include the language, structure, and the complex ideas expressed within.
Different levels of reading improvement will exist in different students, and leveling of the texts will greatly enhance appropriate learning and comprehension.
How CommonLit Tackles Reading Levels?
CommonLit categorizes various categories of texts by grade levels. Each text is assigned a Lexile level, designed to represent the complexity of the text and match with students of various grades’ reading abilities.
- Grade-Based Categorization: Texts are classified according to grade levels in a range of 3rd-12th grades.
- Lexile Levels: It is noted that there is standardization whereby every text features a Lexile level, which is a measure of the text’s level of difficulty.
- Skill-Based Filters: The authors also intend to introduce skill-based categorization to educators, whereby texts may be arranged in order of skills, such as discovering themes, making arguments, and much more.
Now, I have to explain about how reading levels work in commonlit.com which is very important in choosing possible readings. But the question remains: Can you change reading level on CommonLit? Let us go deeper.
Can You Change Reading Level On CommonLit?: The Basics
CommonLit has been asked by teachers and students if it is possible to change the reading level of a text.
To put it simply, at this moment, it is impossible to change the reading level of a text in CommonLit, as there is no feature available to directly do this. However, there are other ways and features available that will help the teachers modify the reading materials to suit their students.
Why Is the Reading Level Not Editable?
Not allowing a person to change the reading levels can be traced to the nature of the materials available on CommonLit.
This is because most texts have been designed for particular reading levels and cannot be changed easily without going to extremes. This approach ensures that the originality of texts and learning objectives are not compromised.
How to Change Materials Used for Reading?
In terms of specifics, level changes cannot be made other than the reading level of the text, but there are a number of ways to pursue text modification, given the following:
- Selecting Different Texts: Use the Filtering Menus on the platform to select texts within the reading level of your students.
- Using Text Sets: By utilizing different text sets provided in CommonLit, teachers can select different difficulty levels of texts on the same topic, for example, preschool and kindergarten level instructors.
- Guided Reading: Teachers can extend reading through activities before reading, such as introducing vocabulary, or providing questions that students need to answer after reading the text to extend comprehension of difficult texts.
There is no effective way to allow changes to reading levels on CommonLit. However, it is still possible to adjust aspects of reading that can substantially contribute to the development of these readers using the reading subtools available.
Filtering and Searching
From the search, educators can filter the supplied texts by grade, theme, content type, etc. This is a very important aspect of the search as it helps in matching materials with students’ and reading levels.
- Grade Level Filter: The Filter finds texts appropriate while looking specifically at grade requirements.
- Theme and Genre Filters: Using theme and genre filters enables the teacher to select engaging and appropriate reading materials for the learners.
- Content Type: As applies, which kinds of reading materials can be employed, including fiction, non-fiction, poems, and historical documents.
The Use of Extra Reading Materials
As for the question, “Can you change reading level on CommonLit?” it is not possible to change the reading level of the text directly. There are, however, additional materials that the site provides that can help in modifying reading levels.
- Guiding Questions: These are available with every text and they prompt the learners to grasp important concepts and attitudes.
- Discussion Questions: Such questions can be given after reading where the learners’ comprehension of the text is tested.
- Annotations and Translations: This enables the students to interact with the text through text tools and make sense of difficult terms and ideas within the text.
CommonLit allows you to change the reading levels indirectly since its unique design of combining features and filtering options, as well as offering additional materials, allows for varying reading levels.
Practical Tips for Teachers
Teachers who wish to use CommonLit efficiently do not have to worry because there are strategies that can be employed to ensure all students can participate in the relevant sections.
Tips for Using CommonLit Effectively
- Regularly Update Reading Lists: Make sure to keep analyzing the current reading lists and update them encompassing various targeting texts.
- Incorporate Pre-Reading Activities: Engage students in pre-reading tasks that will help build background knowledge of the text, including introducing new vocabulary.
- Encourage Peer Learning: Provide a supportive and encouraging learning atmosphere by having the brighter students work with struggling students.
- Utilize Writing Prompts: After reading, use writing prompts provided by CommonLit to connect with the students’ critical thinking.
- Monitor Progress: Analyze student performance with the help of CommonLit insights and provide newly selected readings to students to suit the new goals.
Utilizing a Chart for Quick Assessment
Strategy | Description |
---|---|
Select Different Texts | Use grade level filters to search for appropriate reading materials. |
Guided Reading | Offer support through asking leading queries and providing word lists. |
Use Text Sets | Organize the readings based on the topics to allow low, mid, and high levels. |
Supplementary Materials | Comprehension will be enhanced by the use of guiding and discussing questions. |
Regularly Update Materials | Re-reading lists should be appropriate and expedient to students’ growth. |
Through employing these strategies, teachers can make the best use of the CommonLit resources, even when they are not in a position to alter reading levels directly. The secret is to be innovative and assertive in how the tools on the platform are applied.
Conclusion
Now back to our main question: Can you change reading level on CommonLit? – it is not possible to do so through a direct change in the reading level.
CommonLit offers a wide array of features and tools for teachers, which enhance the implementation of the content without the need for direct changes in the content.