What is a Lexile? Decatur County School System For Parents 2015-2016 Modified for WBE PTO Mtg. (Jan. 2016)

• A Lexile is a standard score that matches a student’s reading ability with difficulty of text material. • It is a measure of text complexity only. It does not address age-appropriateness of the content, or a reader’s interests. • A Lexile can be interpreted as the level of book that a student can read with 75% comprehension, offering the reader a certain amount of comfort and yet still offering a challenge. What is a Lexile?

• K, 1st and 2nd Grade • Istation Reports provide Lexile scores

• 3rd and 4th Grade: • Georgia Milestones Parent Reports provide Lexile scores

Where do I find my student’s Lexile? • Lexile Targets by grade level are shown below. • College and Career Readiness – Goals for grade level

CCRPI Grade Target 3 650 5 850 8 1050 11 1275

What does my student’s Lexile score tell me about his or her reading ability compared to other students in Georgia? • To calculate your student’s Lexile range, add 50 to the student’s reported Lexile score and subtract 100 (Example: 200 L = Range of 100-250L) • The range represents the boundaries between the easiest kind of reading material for your student and the hardest level at which he/she can read successfully. • Consider your child’s interest in topics and the age-appropriateness of the book’s content. Now that I know my student’s Lexile score, what do I do with it? A Quick Walk-Thru: Locating Books within Lexile Ranges @ https://lexile.com/

Enter Lexile Score

How to Read a Book Closely with Your Child Before your child reads a book, ask: • Why did you select this book? • What makes you think this book is going to be interesting? • What do you think the book is going to be about? • Does this book remind you of anything you’ve already read or seen? • What kind of characters do you think will be in the book? • What do you think is going to happen?

Before Reading- While your child is reading a book, try asking: • Will you catch me up on the story? What’s happened so far? • What do you think will happen next? • If you were that character, what would you have done differently in that situation? • If the book was a TV show, which actors would you cast in it? • Where is the book setting? • If the main character in that story lived next door, would you guys be friends? • What does the place look like in your head as you read? Would you want to visit there? • Did you learn any new words or facts so far? During Reading- After your child has finished a book, ask questions like: • What was your favorite part of the book? Why? • Who was your favorite character? Why? • What was the most interesting thing you learned from the book? • Why do you think the author wrote this book? • Would you have ended the book differently? • How was the problem solved? • If you could change one thing in the book, what would you change? After Reading- • Pre-K and Kindergarten- • Text "GAready4K" to 313131.

Beginning Reading- Examples of Texts from Get Georgia Reading: • Hunt for upper & lower-case letters in a book or magazine. Pick a letter (m). Show your child an M and m. How many can she find? • Songs teach your child about words, sounds, and rhyming & they introduce new vocabulary. • After you find a letter (B), ask “What’s a word that starts with the letter B (Barn)? • What rhymes with Barn? (Yarn) Text Examples- Let’s Sing! 1. s a m 2. r i p 3. b u g 4. f ee d

Blending Sounds- Sight Word Facts: • Sight words are the most frequently used words in the English language. • Sight words make up about 50% - 80% of any written text. • Students will be able to read more fluently if they have learned to recognize sight words instantly.

Help your child: • Practice sight words daily • Read each sight word automatically, within 3 seconds or less- as quickly as you can read your name! • Read stories smoothly and fluently, without missing many words • Read stories with expression • Answer questions or tell about the story (about the characters, setting, and sequence of events) Sight Words-