Text Complexity Analysis of_The Amazing Life of Benjamin Franklin Analyzed by__Amanda Mayo_

Language Conventionality and Clarity: Middle High

Measures Levels of Meaning/Purpose: Middle Low

Refers to the significance of Benjamin Franklin on the book

jacket: Benjamin Franklin lived more than 200 years ago. But
the legacy he left behind has been equaled by few Americans.
Concludes on page 40 with In the years after his death,
Franklin would be remembered for many things Above all, he
would be honored for the role he played in helping America win
its freedom, and then in writing the Constitution.

Structure: Low

Information is presented in a logical sequential format that

follows the lifespan of Benjamin Franklin from early life to his
death.
Each page includes text in paragraph form. Some of the pictures
have captions, but a student who does not read these captions
would not be missing out on important information.
Graphics help present an accurate picture of the time period.
They are large, engaging and help students visualize the
clothing, modes of transportation, and common sights from the
time period.
Text features add information to the text, but are not essential
for student understanding.
o Pg 41- Timeline of important events from Benjamin
Franklins life summarizes the most important details
from the text.
o Pg 42- Benjamin Franklin: The Inventor gives detailed
information about Franklins inventions that were not
mentioned in the main body of the book.

While many sentences are straightforward, there are many that

require students to infer information about the time period such
as on page 13 In 1724, America was still a colony of England
and was not allowed to manufacture items like printing presses
There are several instances where quotes are used. The
language in these quotes are archaic and often include ideas
that would be foreign to students such as on page 33; The
vogue I am in here has occasioned so many paintings, busts,
medals & prints to be made of me, and distributed throughout
the kingdom that my face is no almost as well known as the
moon.

Knowledge Demands: Middle Low Middle High

The book does not reference other texts, but it does include a lot
of information and references to historical contexts that made it
a challenging read for students who lack background
information about the American Revolution and/or the 1700s.
Assumptions are made about a readers knowledge of the
significance of events such as on page 18; The French and
their Indian allies swept down from Canada to lay claim on the
Ohio River Valley.
Other parts of the text explain the historical context such as
page 13; There were no steamships then, let alone airplanes,
so it took Ben more than two months to cross the Atlantic in a
sailing ship.

Scholastic (the publisher) Grade Level Equivalent: 5.8

Lexile: 880
Scholastic Interest Level: Grades 3-7
Based on Lexile and content, suggested grade level: 5

Cognitive Capabilities:
o Students would not have much difficulty paying attention
to this text as it is very linear and structured. The visuals
are colorful and nice, but not distracting from the text.
o Making connections between Benjamin Franklins life
and the historical events occurring might be more difficult
as many of them are not explained in detail. Front
loading of information about the Revolutionary War
would enhance reader understanding. With that prior
knowledge in place, students could be more analytical
about Franklins role in the revolution.
Reading Skills:
o Students are expected to make inferences about the
Revolutionary War in this text as the reasons for actions,
for example on page 18; This was the first time anyone
had suggested that the American colonies unite and that
they expand westwardAnd he believed his plan for
union would make America a stronger part of the
Empire.
o In order to gain as much insight from this text, students
will need strong vocabulary skills to help them work
through vocabulary as the book uses some largely
unfamiliar words that are specific to the subject such as
courted (15), levied (22), repealed (22), revolution
(23), and denounced (25).
o Readers will also have to make connections between
historical events occurring at the time in order to
understand what is occurring in the text.

Motivation and Engagement

o Students may not be particularly engaged in this book as
it mainly focused on facts and historical events.
o Students who enjoy historical texts will enjoy this book
as it explains historical events and includes text features
such as Historic Sites Associated with Benjamin
Franklin (pg. 44).
o Students who are already entrenched in learning about
the Revolutionary War may also find this book will greatly
enjoy an in depth look at one of the players in the
Revolutionary War.
Prior Knowledge and Experience:
o As mentioned under Cognitive Capabilities, prior
knowledge of the historical context would be important
for a student to fully comprehend the significance of this
biography.
Content and Theme Concerns
o There are no content or theme concerns that should be
an issue for fifth grade students.
Complexity of Associated Tasks
o Pre-reading activities such as learning about the
Revolutionary War and vocabulary instruction will
support readers who may struggle with the challenging
nature of this text.
o During and after-reading activities and questions should
be considerate of individual reading levels and help
support students who are not as well versed in historical
events.

I would place this book in the grade 4-5 complexity band with supports and scaffolds based on the above analysis. However, I
would not place it in the grade 4-5 complexity band for independent reading as students in that band would struggle to
comprehend this text on their own. I would place this text in the grade 6-8 complexity band for independent reading.

Reflection
Respond to each question below in a thorough manner (a few succinct paragraphs per each question).
1. What did you learn about the text that you chose?
I selected this book for analysis because it is one that is often read by one or more of my 5th grade students during our Revolutionary War unit.
Students each do a more in depth study of one person involved in the Revolution, and Benjamin Franklin is a popular choice. I have seen multiple
students reading this book over the years since it is found in our school library and often recommended by our school librarians. In looking closely
at this book, Ive discovered that its more of a challenge than I thought it would be, but that my students should be able to handle it as part of our
unit. The biggest obstacle to comprehension that I saw throughout my close reading of this book was the historical context. Before getting to the
study of a person, my students are already deep into a study of the time period, therefore the events and ideas presented in this book would
support prior learning and would help students learn even more about them. I would not, however, recommend this book for 5th grade students to
read independently if they do not have much knowledge of the time period.
I learned a lot about a text that I previously thought was relatively easy. I already knew that it was a biography written in a straight-forward,
timeline format, and its recommended for 5th grade students both by its Lexile score and our school librarians. In flipping through it in the past, I
saw some good information about Franklins life written in a logical format. While I knew some of the vocabulary could be challenging for some
fifth graders, I hadnt realized how much my students prior knowledge added to their understanding of it, and how lacking such knowledge would
make it a difficult book for them to use for a historical figure study. Im curious to look through more of the biographies my students are reading for
this unit and see what other instruction is necessary to support their understanding.

2. What did you learn about the process?

In my school, we have been looking at the text complexity components and how they affect student learning. Weve looked at many of our core
grade level texts more in depth and made some changes based on our findings. However, I had not yet gone through a text on my own to look at
each of those components and how they work together to determine whether a text is a good fit for a student or group of students. In going
through this whole process, I realized just how in depth of a process it is to really understand the complexity of a text. Its so much more than just
the three major components.
Each component is made up of several pieces that can make or break a students ability to fully grasp a text. In the past, I have relied heavily on
Lexile and grade level recommendations to make book selections for my students. This analysis has shown be that those numbers are actually
the least important components of the whole process. While they can give you a guide to start a recommendation for what grade level a text
would be appropriate for, they really dont give you much more than that. The quantitative component is really just the first step in determining
whether a text is a good match for a student.
For an initial readability, the qualitative component seems to be the most useful for determining whether a text will be a good fit for an individual or
group. That is the component that really looks at the text and the challenges it may present. By looking closely at each of the pieces of this
component, you can see places that will hinder comprehension or influence interpretations of the text. This is the step where you take a book that
you think will be a good fit (often based of the quantitative measurements) and delve into it further. This step is really all about knowing the text
well and understanding what parts of it may create difficulty for students.

After that, the reader-task component comes into play where you can use the information previously gathered to decide what pre, during, and
after- reading activities and instruction are appropriate. This is also the component where you look at the student or students attempting to read
the text and determine whether the text is a good match for their reading abilities and skill set, or if they need supports or skills instruction to get
the most out of the text. This step really needs to be done after the other two, because you need to have a good grasp of the text and its
challenges before you can determine whether its a good match for a student and/or learning activity. Rather than a triangle of components it
almost needs to be a pyramid or other form that shows the order of components in how you would use them.

3. How does knowing about text complexity help you make instructional decisions (individual vs. whole class)?
Knowing about text complexity helps me be more aware and thoughtful in selecting texts for my class or individual students. There is so much
more involved in making a text readable for a student or group of students than the number of words or how challenging those words are. There
are so many layers to text complexity that it would be impossible to anticipate or address all of them, but by being aware of them and using that
information to guide instruction and supports, I can help students make the most out of their reading material. The more I delve into text
complexity, the more I see the need for fewer whole-class texts, and a more individualize approach to text selection.
Right now my school requires all 5th grade students to read two core novels. The rest of the texts students read throughout the year is up to the
discretion of the teacher. Sometimes I try to find books for the whole class to read together, but often that doesnt work very well as the books are
too easy for some and way too challenging for others. In doing a text complexity analysis, I can anticipate some of these struggles, and provide
support for the students who need support and enrichment for the students who need enrichment. However, thats really not doing anyone any
favors. What I need to do is focus more on small groups of readers and finding texts that better meet their reading abilities and help them to grow
as readers. Ive been doing this for several years, but have focused mostly on Lexile numbers and my own experience with texts, rather than
looking closely at what will really work for each student.
Text complexity is also a huge piece of the content area reading that I do with students, as most of the time students are reading the same texts
(whether it be articles, textbooks, or picture books). This is where text complexity plays a more critical role, as I need to make sure I am providing
my students with enough prior knowledge and reading strategies to help them with these nonfiction texts. I also need to be more thoughtful with
what I select for reading material. Usually I focus on the big ideas being presented in the material, but if the text is not a good fit for students, they
wont be able to uncover that big idea and therefore will be missing the focus of the reading. I need to focus both on the reader, and the task at
hand to make sure students are learning the concepts Im intending for them to learn. Just because they were able to physically read the text Ive
given them, doesnt guarantee they are understanding the ideas I intended for them to learn.

4. What challenges do you see with this process?

One challenge I noticed when going through this process was how subjective much of it was. While there is a rubric for the qualitative piece,
which adds guidance, it was still left to my opinion to decide what a text was inferring or how complex the vocabulary was based on my
knowledge of the students I would be teaching and their abilities. In some ways this subjectivity is a good thing; it will allow me to look at a text
with my own experience, knowledge, and understanding of the students I am working with. However, this same subjectivity means that I may
assume a book is too challenging (or too easy) for a class or individual and miss out on opportunities for a rich learning experience. For example,
I have used this particular book in the past with my students as part of a unit on the American Revolution. While the language and historical
context is sometimes a challenge, I arm students with enough background knowledge and support during reading to make it a worthwhile text. I

feel if I had done the analysis first, I would have been hesitant to use this text with my 5th graders because it does require so much background
knowledge and interpretation based on the historical context.
The other way this subjectivity could be an issue is that it may not be reliable. I wavered back and forth on many of my ratings and found myself
going back and changing a lot of my results as I thought about them more. Things I rated as middle-high this week, might earn a middle-low
ranking next week or vice versa. It might be difficult to be consistent in analyzing text.
Another challenge I found in this process was the extensive amount of time it takes to really delve into the complexity of a text. It was very time
consuming to analyze each feature of the text that may make it easier or more challenging for my students to comprehend. Once Ive done the
initial analysis, there is then the development of appropriate supports and scaffolds for varying reading abilities and knowledge bases that exist in
any given group of students. With all the reading my students do on a daily basis in each subject area, it doesnt seem reasonable to try to do an
in depth text analysis on each piece of reading material. Knowing myself, Ill attempt to do a text analysis on each textbook, novel, and article I
share with students and Ill end up completely overwhelmed and frustrated.
In applying this knowledge to my own classroom practice, I need to be aware of what a monumental task it is, and focus on the bigger pieces.
Clearly its important for me to analyze the core novels and textbooks that are a required part of my curriculum. Then I can branch out from there
with literature circle books, read alouds, and other texts that will be used with more students and for longer periods of time. As I get better at this
process, I will build my own skills (so I can do this faster) and a collection of information (so I can be comfortable with texts and their complexity)
so I can make decisions based on that information.

References:
Giblin, J.C. (2000) The amazing life of Benjamin Franklin. New York, NY: Scholastic.