Does anyone else feel that the reading levels listed on the back of many trade books are inaccurate? For example, “Night of the Ninjas,” a Magic Tree House book, is listed as 1.9! Those texts seem to be more suited for an average beginning 3rd-grade reader to me. And “Freckle Juice” at 2.1? Another 3rd-grade book if you ask me.
Re: reading levels
Thanks for the tip! However, I went to the website and didn’t find the place I think you’re describing. I submitted the book name I wanted at the ATOS Analyzer page (figuring it had been submitted before) but didn’t get the reply I expected. I must be doing something wrong! Please help again if you don’t mind!
Re: reading levels
Reading levels on trade books are calculated by formula. So, aiming at the ever-growing population of weak readers, trade book publishers encourage authors to do things that will lower the grade level as calculated by formula. You can get an amazingly low grade level calculation by using very very short choppy sentences, avoiding multisyllable words, and filling most of the page with pictures and very few words. None of this actually has much to do with the actual reading difficulty of what little story there is.
Re: reading levels
I’ve gone to the web site too and I can’t figure it out. They want me to submit text?! Huh. Please explain how to access their database.
I usually go to renlearn.com to find reading levels. This is the site for Rennaissance Learning. It is where you order accelerated reading quizzes. You can put in the name of a book or the author’s name and find out the reading level. There levels are much more realistic. The Magic treehouse books are early to middle third grade.
Nan