The process of checking the complexity level of a book is the reading level. By checking the reading level of a book, we try to know either a child can read this book independently or not. For example, if your child is studying in the second grade, the second-grade books should be the perfect fit for him. That’s why most schools are deciding the books for the students after checking their comprehension level. The reading level of a book matters a lot. If your child is reading a book that is above its ability level, he will get frustrated. As a result, you can’t develop their interest in studies. Here, we will discuss the best ways to determine the reading level of a book.
Examine the Book by Using the Internet
To examine the reading level of a book, you can also get help from the internet. For this reason, you will have to follow some essential steps. First, you will have to look for the reading level of a book. You can easily find out the reading level of a book by examining its front cover, back cover or first few pages. Secondly, you should examine the contents of the book for its complexity. While examining the few pages, if you will find complex sentences and longer words, its reading level will be higher. Thirdly, you can also determine the reading level of a book by downloading an app.
You can find various apps on Google Play Store to check the reading level. Dissertation help says that after installing these apps, you can scan the ISBN of the book. Fourthly, you should check this book in the consultancy list of the child’s age or grade. If you will find the book in this list, you can easily determine its reading level. Fifthly, by checking the Lexile level of a book, you can also check its reading level. For this reason, you can use the search functions on Lexile.com. At last, you can also make use of the accelerated reader search tool to check its reading level. When you will enter the title of the book, it will provide useful information about the book.
Examine the Reading Level by Using Flesch-Kincaid Scale
It is also a useful technique to check the reading level of a book. You should read the book and select three passages from the book. You should try to select these three passages from different parts of the book. After selecting these passages, you should make sure that these passages have at least one complete paragraph. In the second step, you will have to type these paragraphs into MS Word. You should try to do it slowly and accurately. When you will type them into MS Word, you can get a large enough sample to check the reading level of a book.
Now, you should hit the ‘Spell Check’ button in MS Word. When you will hit this button, it will check the spellings of the passages. Moreover, it will also generate the statistics of the passages. In this list, you will find the ‘Readability’ option. Here, you will find the Flesch-Kincaid grade level. It will show the grade level of the text. Based on this grade, you can get an idea about the reading level of a book.
Use the SMOG System
SMOG system has also become an important method to check the readability of a book. To use this method, you should select 30 sentences from the book. You should try to select 10 sentences in the beginning, 10 sentences in the middle and 10 sentences at the end of the book. When you will select these sentences from the entire book, you can get an accurate idea about its readability. Now, you should go through these sentences. While going through these sentences, you should circle the words that have three or more syllables. Now, you should count three or more syllable words.
For example, you have found 36 words. You should take the square root of these words. In this case, your answer will be 6. If you have found 40 words, you should round its square root to the nearest whole number. Now, you should add 3 to it. After adding 6 and 3, you will get 9. According to the SMOG grade level technique, its score is 9. Based on this score, you can get an idea that your book is appropriate to read for 9th-grade students. To increase the readability score of the book, we have to use simple words.
Use Reading Levels
By using the reading levels, you can also check the reading level of a book. First of all, you should approximate the reading level of the children. You should ask the children to read a particular paragraph of the book. When they will read this paragraph, you should ask them to explain this paragraph. If they easily understand this paragraph and give answers to most of the questions, this book is the perfect book for their grade level. On the other hand, if they struggle with this passage, this book is above their level.
Sometimes, you can’t get an idea about the reading level of a book by allowing the students to read the book at the same level. For this reason, you should allow the children to read the book beyond or below the reading levels. When you will allow the readers to read the higher level book, you should ask them either they have understood it or not. Similarly, you should also ask them to read the below level book. By using these techniques, you can easily determine the reading level of the children.
Conclusion
Before reading a book, we should understand the reading level of a book. Its reason is that reading levels of the books vary greatly. For example, some books are challenging and only higher-level readers can read these books. On the other hand, some books are intended for beginners only. Therefore, we should recommend the books to the children after checking their reading level. We can use various techniques to check their reading levels. Anyhow, the SMOG system is the best technique to check its reading level. By using this technique, you can get the score of a book. This score will determine the grade level of the readers of the book.
