The Goldilocks Method:

Is This Book Too Hard For Me to Read?

 

            Today's Snack: Goldilocks had her porridge, but we're going to have something better: Fruit Dip! In a bowl, mix one cup of sour cream with one tablespoon of sugar (you can use a sugar substitute such as Splenda for fewer calories) and one teaspoon of cinnamon. Cut up bite-sized chunks of apple, banana, pear, pineapple or other fruit. Don't cut up more than you can eat! Take a toothpick, and spear each chunk of fruit, dip into the sweet dip, and enjoy. This recipe makes enough for eight servings. So you might want to cut the amounts in half if you don't have that many people and don't think you want to eat this dip every day for a week! For half as much, mix ½ C. sour cream, 1½ tsp. sugar and ½ tsp. cinnamon. Enjoy!

 

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Supplies:

 

Ask a librarian to suggest three books written at three distinct grade levels,

such as 1^st grade, 5^th grade and 9^th grade

Dictionary

 

It has happened to everyone. You see a book cover that looks interesting. You pick up the book and flip it open to see if it might be something you might want to read. But unfortunately, when you start to try to read it, you can't understand a lot of the words. The vocabulary is 'way over your head.

 

It may happen when a grandparent gives you a book as a gift. Another common time is when your friend raves about a new book, but when you try it, you can't read it.

 

            We all know that there are different levels of reading ability. There's a special formula that book experts use to gauge the "grade level" of different books. "Grade level" is an important guide for you, your parents and your teachers in elementary school, as you work your way up through the ranks of readership. As the years of reading practice go by, each student will get better and better at reading, with more and more words in his or her working vocabulary.

 

But in the meantime, how can you tell right off the bat if a book is too easy, too hard or "just right" for you?

 

Let's use the "Goldilocks" rule of thumb:

 

1. Too Easy.

 

When you open up the book at random to a page, you can zip along and read aloud so fast it makes other people's heads spin. But it seems kind of "babyish" to you.

 

2. Too Hard.

 

When you open up the book at random to a page and start reading, you come to not one, not two, but THREE unfamiliar words on a page. You have to stop and look up each word in the dictionary before you can read on. That makes reading boooooooring.

 

3. Just Right!

 

The page you open up at random has zero, one or two words that you don't know. But you can still make pretty good sense of what's going on, and the content seems interesting. You can look up those words and it "feels" challenging and fun, not a chore and a downer.

 

            Keep in mind that your ORAL vocabulary - words that you understand when you hear them -- is always several years AHEAD of your READING vocabulary - the words you can understand when you read them silently on a page.

 

That means that if you're going to be reading the book yourself, you should look for one pretty close to your grade level. But if a mom or dad or other more-skilled reader is reading to you, it's OK for them to read from a book that has a wider vocabulary. You'll still get the "gist" of the story, even with the big words. And anyway, that's how you "grow" a larger vocabulary, by hearing words before you try to read them for yourself!

 

            Now take the three sample books, open each one up to a random page, and look for unfamiliar words. Look the words up in the dictionary. Rate the books as Goldilocks would, only on whether they're too cold or too cold, but "too easy," "too hard" or "just right!"