Random Thoughts
Your blog’s reading level
I’m still trying to figure out exactly what this means.
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Credit to Doug Johnson for the link.
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I recently added a feature to Class Blogmeister where teachers can see the reading levels of their students blog posts. I did this hesitantly, because it entirely depends on the assignment. I think that we should be able to write simply sometimes, and to sometimes write with complexity, that it isn’t a one-way move from simple to complex.
I have noticed that I usually write at a 9th grade level. However, many of my commenters who criticize my ideas write at a 16th grade level. Still rolling this around in my adolescent head 😉
This site “rating” site is causing a LOT of discussion. Wish I had more information about how the rating is done. Anyone have the scoop?
Interesting idea. My blog was elementary also. I then entered the New York Times. It was rated middle school. The Wall Street Journal was rated high school. I also tried wired.com and they were elementary.
Not sure what all of this means, but it is interesting.
Thanks,
Jim
I was somewhat taken aback to discover my blog is rated “College — Undergrad”. I think this means I need to try and bring it “down” a little so that it will be more accessible to a wider audience. As a teacher, it’s important to always keep in mind the wide range of reading ability in any class. The same holds true in the blogosphere. I recently wrote a post about Juicy Studio (http://juicystudio.com/services.php) a site that measures not only the reading level but also several other aspects of a website’s accessibility. Since I work primarily with kids who have fairly major special needs, I believe we need to do what we can to make our blogs and websites accessible to all. –Paul
Makes me wonder how accurate any program that gauges “reading level” really is!
Doug
[…] the rounds today I read about a site that will display your blogs readability level. Here’s […]
The International Counselor is apparently a little more sophisticated. By Sophisticated I mean has more spellling istakes. I am at junior high. Yeah for me. Hey, don’t stuff me in a locker.
Take it as a compliment. Anyone who’s read William Zinsser (On Writing Well) knows that simple, clear language is best and one of the more difficult things to accomplish well.
The idea that came to mind for me was not so much as a tool for the teacher, but as a way for students to get feedback on their own writing. It could be used to teach audience awareness and purpose, as well as clarity and specificity. That is, depending on how it determines readability. I’m surprised by my blog’s reading level. I thought I was writing clearly and simply.
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Mine came out that level as well. That puzzles me because I tend to use long words and long sentences (which drive up the reading level). Perhaps it only captured the first couple of posts, which that day included a fable.