Literacy Resources

The Lexile Analyzer*, developed by MetaMetrics, examines the sentence length and word frequency of up to 1,000 words from a text in order to determine the degree of challenge it presents to a reader, expressed as a Lexile measure. Register with Lexile.com by creating a free account in order to access the Lexile Analyzer.
* To learn more, have a look at the Lexile Analyzer User Guide.

Find Lexile Measures for Books Using These Databases & Apps

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Achieve the Core's Academic Word Finder identifies below, at and above grade-level academic/tier 2 vocabulary* in a text up to 20,000 words in length. (Tier 2 vocabulary words are used throughout the school day, appear in texts across content areas, have multiple meanings based on context, and often belong to word families (migrate, migration, immigrant, emigrate*). Targeted instruction in the meanings of these words is essential in order to help students develop a robust academic vocabulary, and to foster their understanding of complex texts in all content areas. Register for a free account to access this excellent resource.
*from Including Tier 2 Vocabulary Instruction in Curricular Materials, by Student Achievement Partners. Check out this excellent article to learn more!

Strategies for Supporting Struggling Readers
​This excellent Achieve the Core resource features suggestions for supporting students before, during and after initial reading and subsequent rereads, including recommended supports during discussion and writing tasks between and after readings.

Web Page Readability Test Tool
Enter a URL and find the estimated grade level of a webpage (as well as estimates using other readability indices), # of sentences, # of words & "complex words", average # of words per sentence, and average # of syllables/word.

ReadWorks
This excellent research-based resource features a superb library of literary and informational text articles, reading comprehension and vocabulary lessons, formative assessments and additional instructional support for students in grades 5 through 12. ReadWorks digital allows teachers to create classes, locate and assign texts with which students engage online, and monitor progress. Other recent features include paired texts, StepReads, Article-A-Day, and ELL resources and supports.
Please note: Teachers must create an account for each of these FREE resources. ​

NEWSELA
​This remarkable and growing library features texts in the following content areas and categories: Arts & Culture, Science & Math, Religion & Philosophy, Government & Economics, Geography, World & U.S. History, Primary Sources, Biographies and Famous Speeches. New features include Issue Spotlight, Dream Jobs and Myths & Legends. Engaging news articles in a variety of kid-friendly categories like War & Peace, Money, Kids, Science, Sports and more are also available. Each text is available in five reading levels (each is assigned a Lexile), and features a four-question multiple choice quiz and a writing prompt.

COMMONLIT
Guided by belief in "the transformative power of a great text, and a great question", this superb free resource features:
- a terrific collection of hundreds of fiction and nonfiction reading passages, including news articles, poems, short stories and historical documents, searchable by Lexile, grade, theme, genre, literary device and common core standard, for students in grades 5 through 12;
- challenging text-dependent questions; and
- performance tracking in important reading and writing skills.