Accessible Leveled Texts
GRADE 7
OVERVIEW
PerspectivesENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS
TM
Accessible Leveled Texts Overview
Students may struggle with reading on-level texts for a variety of reasons:
• they may lack the background knowledge that is needed to understand
important concepts of the text,
• the text and sentence structure may use figurative language and
complex sentences making the text difficult for students to read, and
• the vocabulary may be domain-specific and students may not be able
to understand the words using context clues.
Many teachers find that adapting the text or providing a summary helps
students grasp the concepts of the on-level text. To assist teachers,
many of the texts in myPerspectives are available as Accessible Leveled
Texts. You may choose to use the Accessible Leveled Texts to help
students bridge to on-grade level text, or you may use them as a
supplement for struggling students.
About the Accessible Leveled Texts
All of the LITERARY and INFORMATIONAL texts in myPerspectives are
available as Accessible Leveled Texts. Poetry and media selections are not
available because of their structure and format. Accessible
Leveled Texts
are available on
The LITERARY texts have been adapted to provide a combination of both
authentic text and summary bridge text, so students always have exposure
to at least some of the authentic text. The literary texts are not able to be
Lexiled because of the structure of the adaptation. under “Unit Resources”
and the Selection
title.
The INFORMATIONAL texts have been modified by adjusting the sentence
length and simplifying the vocabulary, thus lowering their Lexile levels.
NOTE: The chart in this OVERVIEW includes the Lexile levels of
the INFORMATIONAL Accessible Leveled Texts for this grade.
Elfrieda Hiebert, Ph.D. “Freddy” is President and CEO of TextProject,
a nonprofit that provides resources to support higher reading levels. Freddy
was awarded the prestigious 2015 Oscar S. Causey Award for her outstanding
contributions to reading research. She is also a research associate at the
University of California, Santa Cruz. Dr. Hiebert has worked in the field of
early reading acquisition for 45 years. Her research addresses how fluency,
vocabulary, and knowledge can be fostered through appropriate texts.
A Note From Dr. Elfreida H. Hiebert
It’s a compelling idea—a set of texts on the same topic but with different text complexity levels. With a range
of texts on the same topic, all students should be able to engage in the same follow-up discussion after reading.
No one is stigmatized by getting a text that is clearly aimed at lower readers. And, if the texts are provided on
the computer—even better! It’s a teacher’s dream come true!
However, it is important to ask if these texts have the features that support reading development, or do these
texts fulfill struggling readers’ needs for—and dreams of—becoming proficient readers? For struggling readers,
two features of text matter a great deal—the vocabulary and the volume of reading. The idea of leveled texts
goes in the opposite direction of what struggling readers need. Rather than getting texts with more accessible
vocabulary, they get texts where the ideas have been sacrificed or simplified to comply with the aim of
achieving a target text complexity.
Vocabulary is essential to reading comprehension.Vocabulary represents knowledge, and the words and
information that students have about the world around them predicts how well they comprehend.
Sentence length is the variable, along with Lexiles, that differs substantially from level to level. Is there any
evidence that reading short sentences increases students’ capacity? No. In fact, the answer from research
indicates the opposite. Short choppy sentences can impede comprehension. Why might that be? When
sentences have been chopped up, connectives have been eliminated. Many struggling readers have a hard time
making such inferences.
Longer sentences may be associated with harder texts, but a correlation does not indicate causality. To date,
no research has shown that giving students texts with short sentences aids in comprehension.
Therefore, it is strongly recommended that the Accessible Leveled Texts in myPerspectives should
not be used as a replacement for the on-grade level texts, but rather as a support to help your
students get ready to read the on-grade level texts.
from Multi-Level Text Sets: Leveling the Playing Field or Sidelining Struggling Readers?
Elfrieda H. Hiebert
TextProject & University of California-Santa Cruz
GRADE 7
Selection Title Author Genre Accessible Leveled Original
(Informational Text Only) Text Lexile Lexile Level
UNIT 1
Whole-Class Learning
A Simple Act Tyler Jackson News Blog 710L 930L
Laura Schroff and
from An Invisible Thread Memoir 640L 890L
Alex Tresniowski
Small-Group Learning
Tutors to Teach Seniors New High-Tech Tricks Jennifer Ludden News Article 900L 1020L
Independent Learning
“Gotcha Day” Isn’t a Cause for Celebration Sophie Johnson Opinion Piece 830L 1090L
Bridging the Generational Divide Between John McCormick 780L 1120L
a Football Father and a Soccer Son
UNIT 2
Whole-Class Learning
Danger! This Mission to Mars Could Bore Maggie Koerth-Baker News Article 1050L 1290L
You to Death
Small-Group Learning
Future of Space Exploration Could See Humans Nola Taylor Redd News Article 1040L 1250L
on Mars, Alien Planets
Neil deGrasse Tyson on the Future of Keith Wagstaff Interview 690L 930L
U.S. Space Exploration After Curiosity
Independent Learning
UFO Sightings and News Benjamin Radford Web Article 1140L 1420L
Trip to Mars Could Damage Astronauts’ Brains Laura Sanders Science Article 720L 870L
UNIT 3
Independent Learning
Profile: Malala Yousafzai BBC News News Article 1020L 1330L
Noor Inayat Khan from Women Heroes of WWII Kathryn J. Atwood Biography 960L 1170L
UNIT 4
Independent Learning
The Story of Victor d’Aveyron, the Wild Child Eloise Montalban Expository Nonfiction 790L 980L
UNIT 5
Small-Group Learning
A Work in Progress Aimee Mullins Personal Narrative 710L 930L
A Young Tinkerer Builds a Windmill, Sarah Childress News Article 840L 1077L
Electrifying a Nation
Independent Learning
The Girl Who Fell from the Sky Juliane Koepcke Personal Narrative 620L 790L
