Return-Path: <root> Received: (from root@localhost) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) id f7VBt1d10453 for health-archive@nifl.gov; Fri, 31 Aug 2001 07:55:01 -0400 (EDT) Resent-Message-Id: <200108311155.f7VBt1d10453@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from imo-r03.mx.aol.com (imo-r03.mx.aol.com [152.163.225.99]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with ESMTP id f5JGJ7f24184 for <nifl-health@nifl.gov>; Tue, 19 Jun 2001 12:19:07 -0400 (EDT) Received: from Dwyoho@aol.com by imo-r03.mx.aol.com (mail_out_v30.22.) id p.cd.8069695 (4561) for <nifl-health@nifl.gov>; Tue, 19 Jun 2001 12:19:03 -0400 (EDT) From: Dwyoho@aol.com Message-ID: <cd.8069695.2860d577@aol.com> Date: Tue, 19 Jun 2001 12:19:03 EDT Subject: Re: [NIFL-HEALTH:3125] Children, Words, and Grade Levels To: nifl-health@nifl.gov Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="part1_cd.8069695.2860d577_boundary" X-Mailer: AOL 6.0 for Windows US sub 10520 Resent-From: root@literacy.nifl.gov Resent-Date: Fri, 31 Aug 2001 07:55:01 -0400 Resent-To: health-archive@nifl.gov Status: O Content-Length: 8932 Lines: 142 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit The discussion on children, words and grade levels is most interesting. Allow me to contribute from my experience as a public school adminstrator and teacher. The bottom line after the read all this is once again, a reminder that the "reading level" of a piece of writing is only the very small beginning toward what is readable and understandable. Word lists "by grade" are eminently useful in a general way, but there is no such thing as a definitive list of words according to grade level. As one contributor has hinted, this is a moving target affected not only by evolving language but, believe it or not, the economics and politics of American public education. Perhaps the most useful list is the 220 words of the Dolch Word List. These are the most commonly used words in the English language. I don't know much about how that list was compiled, but it is ubiquitous. You can obtain the list in a 28 page booklet form by ordering it at www.avko.org/freebies/dolch (This is a non-profit org and the cost is $1.95. Print out the order form and mail it.) Or ask any elementary or special education teacher, and odds are s/he has it. >From time to time, various entities publish lists of what words "should" be taught at what grades. Often this is sparked by the vocabulary used on standardized tests. Teachers use these lists to be sure students can read the tests. But standardized tests are "normed" on a regular basis and what is 5th grade today may be 3rd grade tomorrow. Some word lists are based on the controlled vocabulary of what are called "basal readers". If you are old enough to remember Dick and Jane, those were basal readers, designed with a controlled vocabulary (hence a list is easy to generate) and each book sequenced from one level to another. Sometimes the levels are designated by "grade" sometimes the levels are nothing more than arbitrary colors, or animals, or something else neutral to avoid the stigma of openly leveling groups of kids within a classroom. These word lists are often the "sight words" of our language, words as readers we need to know on sight, not by "sounding them out." As a rule of thumb, such lists will constitute words that are learned well before the fifth grade, hopefully. As I understand the Childcraft list mentioned here, the basis of the "grade level" was the percentage of kids at a given grade who knew those words. A most useful concept, although again, that all depends on what kids and how many were used to get the percentage. In general, especially with adults, the entire concept of "grade level" is a necessary evil. If two pieces of writing are "graded" by the same method and one is higher than the other, you can conclude that one will be easier to read than the other one. But it does not mean that two pieces of writing labelled the same grade level are necessarily of equal difficulty, (putting aside differences caused by factors other than vocabulary) because the "grading" may have been done in two different ways. The same thing applies to word lists. Then there is the fact that adults bring their experience to the issue, while children are a "blank page" until they have accumulated experience. Thus the word "tax" may be a sight word known to virtually every adult but may not be a word encountered by a child until well along in school. The adult literacy profession, as evidenced in the federal legislation known as the Workforce Investment Act passed in l998, is more and more avoiding grade level designations altogether. We speak in terms of "beginning literacy" and "low intermediate" levels, although I have to admit in practice we often refer to grade level designations established by standardized tests known to correspond to the WIA levels. Deborah W. Yoho Co-moderator, NIFL Health Literacy Discussion Group Chief Executive Officer Greater Columbia Literacy Council 921 Woodrow Street Columbia, SC 29205 803/765-2555 dwyoho@aol.com
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