Students DO need lots of
frustration level text exposure, but not so much in the ways we are hearing in relation to the CCSS.
Meanwhile, we agree that there is a place for
frustration level text in elementary classrooms.
Despite our dedicated efforts, we can not find the research that demonstrates that students in whole - or small - group settings make more progress when they read
frustration level text.
Shanahan discusses
frustration level text in two related posts in his blog, Shanahan on Literacy: «The Problem with Guided Reading» (April 9, 2009) and «Rejecting Instructional Level Theory» (August 21, 2011).
This rate outcome seems quite logical, as reading rate in
frustration level text has more room for improvement than that in instructional level texts.
Instructional Reading Level Assertion # 1: There is much research that supports the use of
frustration level text with students.
Russ Walsh, a teacher and curriculum director, making the case for leveled instruction in another Answer Sheet post, finally concedes that the best approach «is to balance our instruction between independent level, on - level, and
frustration level texts.»
For those students who are «reading»
frustration level texts with 1 - on - 1 support, my question is, are THEY actually reading it?
First, David Coleman, the lead author of the Common Core State Standards, and Timothy Shanahan, a contributing author and decorated literacy expert, both maintain that students need to work in
frustration level texts.
I do believe that students can read
frustration level texts if scaffolded - but in a classroom with 28 students - this is not realistic!
We keep hearing about teachers whose districts and / or states are telling them 90 % of their instruction should be in
frustration level texts.
These students read
frustration level texts alongside a skilled reader, for whom the text was not frustration level, for 15 minutes per day.
Instructional or
frustration level texts will require students to decode.
Not exact matches
So children are being denied independent and guided reading time with
texts of high interest and potential access and instead are handed
texts that are much too hard (
frustration level) all year long without ever being given the chance to grow as readers in their Zone of Proximal Development (pardon my reference to those pesky educational researchers like Vygotsky.)
It can also help students deal with the
frustration of reading difficult material by providing challenging
text at a manageable
level for the student.
We conclude that A) those who are recommending the extensive use of
frustration -
level text are comparing apples and oranges and B) there isn't sufficient data to conclude that
frustration -
level text is best.
if they are fed a daily diet of
text that is at their
frustration level — it scares me to think of the outcome....
Teaching
text features while practicing reading strategies at their
frustration level is the perfect match!
Frustration level means the
text is too difficult for the student to read which results in less than 90 % word accuracy.