Differentiate Like the Best of Them

Another aspect of Subtext that rocks my boat is the ease of differentiating for students' abilities and really target their instructional levels.  Here's how I use Subtext to do just that.

Then, I differentiated my students.  One helpful tool I use is the STAR test by Renaissance Learning.  It's a "down and dirty" assessment students take on the computer in a matter of minutes.  

One of the numerous results it provides is a student's ATOS range (ATOS is the readability formula used by Accelerated Reader. It provides a read-out numbers like 4.5, meaning fourth grade about fifth month).    This provides me a range of the student's independent and instructional level.

From there, I created my student groups and labeled them by the days of the week I meet with them.  For my students I need to meet with each day, their group is labeled "Daily." 

First, I made groups for my different leveled articles.  I made a high, medium (grade level), and low group.  As I find articles, I place them directly on the corresponding shelf.  (See my "Organizing Articles" entry). 

These groups are not to be shared out or joined by students, but I keep as a "holding" dock for me to access when I need them. 

Once I had my student groups, I shared specific articles with them.  Then, I gave those students the group code to join and we were ready to go. 

Curating Leveled Content:
My Three Favorite Ways

An amazing site where  current event articles are  available in different reading levels.  

I can find an article I'd like to use with all of my students, but then specify at which exact reading level. I then share it with my homogenous group of students. 

All articles are leveled by the Lexile system. If you view it on a tablet, you can view the grade level too.   

When I come across an article or website I'd like my students to read, it usually does not have any reading level tied with it.  
Here's where the
ATOS Analyzer comes in.

It lets me copy and paste a portion of the text  and within moments get an ATOS level (ATOS is the readability formula used by Accelerated Reader. It provides a read-out like 4.5, meaning fourth grade about fifth month).

ReadWorks is a great site where you can find leveled pdf's to incorporate into Subtext. (To incorporate a pdf, save it so you can open it on an iPad.  You can email, Dropbox, etc. On the iPad, make the selection, "Open in Subtext.")

There are a variety of different leveled passages both in fiction and non-fiction to choose from.