Learn How To
Begin by searching for excerpts appropriate for your students’ reading levels, then
- Have students answer comprehension questions and share their thoughts about the excerpts
- Have students create reading lists for Independent Reading by sorting and grouping the excerpts that interest them
- Encourage students to lead discussions of their selected books
Connect with your students through the stories they choose.
Begin by searching excerpts for specific vocabulary words
- Have students read the same excerpts or have students read different excerpts with the same vocabulary words then discuss, compare, and refine definitions based on how the words were used
- Have students create Vocabulary Journals by listing vocabulary words and definitions
Search for excerpts by your lesson themes and topics.
- Refresh your lessons and discover new authors and stories that reflect your students’ identities, experiences, and interests
Ask families to bring in books from their home collections or that they have checked out from the library for you to submit to Diverse Reads. Parents and caregivers can also give you page numbers or bookmark the parts of the book that they think would be good excerpts. Invite parents and caregivers to read aloud to the class or to a small group their favorite excerpt and lead a discussion.
How to pick a book
Books should reflect the various social, economic, and cultural backgrounds and various lifestyles, experiences and interests of our diverse communities. Contemporary books are better choices than classic books, simply because classic books are already widely available.
How to pick an excerpt
Excerpts should be interesting on their own as we aim to “hook” readers to inspire them to read the rest of the book. Thus, the length is variable. Sometimes a few paragraphs are enough. Other times, an entire chapter is needed. Also, pay attention to the Fair Use legal doctrine. Do not submit a significant portion or the most important chapter or include plot spoilers. Anything that risks the publisher being able to sell the book could be in violation of Fair Use. Selecting from the first few pages/chapters is a good way to stay within the Fair Use doctrine. Amazon, Google Book Finder, and Book Browse all post book excerpts within Fair Use, so explore those sites to get a stronger sense of what is allowed.
How to find the Lexile Level or use the Analyzer
Finding the Lexile Level is pretty easy, just go to the Lexile Hub Book Finder, type in the title of the book, and make note of the numeric Lexile Level.
If the book you selected is not in the Book Finder, you can use the Lexile Analyzer. The analyzer requires you to login, but the account is free for educators. Enter up to 500 words to get a Lexile Level. Your excerpt can be longer than 500 words, its just the analyzer that has a limit.
How to write Comprehension Questions
The submission form also includes 2 comprehension questions. The first question should be a “who” or “what” question that can be answered directly from the excerpt. The second question should require a little more thinking, such as a “how” or “why” question, or a question that requires inference.
How to use your phone’s Optical Character Reader
Although book excerpts found digitally and copied into the submission form is the easiest way to go, there is a way to submit passages from paperbound books. Open the camera on you smartphone and focus it on the page. On iPhones, the Optical Character Reader (OCR) will automatically appear in the lower corner. It looks like the outline of a square with 3 horizontal lines inside. Tap on that and then you will be able to drag your finger to copy text from the image. Paste the text into an email to yourself so that when you get to a computer, you can copy from your email into the submission form and correct any formatting issues. Most Android phones also have a built in OCR with the camera, but each varies a little.