Activity 3-3:
Applying a
Readability Formula
Purpose: This activity is designed to help participants evaluate whether a print sample is written at a level that will successfully communicate information to the intended readers.
| Coach Preparation Notes: This coaching activity should be used with staff who have reading skills at or above the high school level and who are comfortable with basic math computations such as division and averaging. |
Materials
Handout 9 (page 3)
Head Start writing sample (selected by facilitator)
Process
Use the information on pages 49-50 to review the values and limitations of readability
formulas.
Note that Head Start staff need to ensure that written materials they supply to parents match the reading abilities of those parents. To reach the broadest possible range of parents, staff may want to aim for a 6th-8th grade reading level.
Distribute page 3 of Handout 9, Instructions for Using the FOG Index. Using a sample from the Head Start program that you have collected yourself, walk participants through the steps of applying a readability formula.
Direct participants to collect a sample of writing that their Head Start program uses with parents. This sample should contain narrative writing of 500 words or more. Instruct them to apply the readability formula to at least two, and preferably three, different 100-word sections.
| Coach Preparation Notes: Encourage participants to do this exercise in pairs so that they can check each other's math work. Also, see that participants have access to a calculator and know how to use it to compute averages and do division. |
Debriefing
Have participants describe the subject matter of each writing sample, its intended
audience, and the reading level according to the FOG index.
Ask participants:
- Was there any relationship between how the passage sounded as it was read and its reading level?
- Do the writing samples appear to be written at an appropriate level for parents?
-
What impact on communication may occur if writing samples that measure at a high reading level are distributed to parents?
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