Handout 9: Sample Reading Passages

Note: The four passages here are adapted from materials used in the field by actual Head Start programs.

PASSAGE #1

Parents! You are always welcome in the Head Start classroom. At home you are the primary teacher of your children. At Head Start, you have a lot to contribute, too. What can you do in the classroom? You can:

• Tell a story
• Read a story
• Teach a lesson
• Teach a song or dance
• Prepare a snack
• Create teaching materials
• Work with children at their play and learning
• Help on a field trip
• Help with playground duty
• Welcome other parents

We have parent meetings that help decide the goals for the classroom. We have a newsletter that parents write. We have workshops that can help you understand how your children grow and learn. We even have classes for parents who want to improve their reading and writing skills. We want you to be involved. We need you to be involved!



PASSAGE #2

Volunteers are a vital part of our Head Start program. We can use men and women of many ages — retired people, college and high school students, anybody with extra time. Here are some of the specific things that you can do as a volunteer working with Head Start teachers:

• You can take small groups of children on outings.
  
• You can supervise outdoor play.
  
• You can take part in indoor creative play such as blocks, dress-up or table games.
  
• You can take part in music activities.
  
• You can tell or read stories.
  
• You can talk with the children about everything they do in a way that will help them learn, understand and use more words.
  
• You can drive or escort a child or a small group of children to medical appointments.
  

PASSAGE #3

The Head Start Program is based on the premise that all children share certain needs and can benefit from a comprehensive developmental program to meet those needs. The Head Start program approach is based on the following philosophies:

• A child can benefit most from a comprehensive, interdisciplinary program to foster development and remedy problems as expressed in a broad range of services.
  
• The child's entire family, as well as the community, must be involved. The program should maximize the strengths and unique experiences of each child. The family, which is perceived as the principal influence on the child's development, must be a direct participant in the program. Local communities are allowed latitude in developing creative program designs so long as the basic goals, objectives and standards of a comprehensive program are adhered to.

PASSAGE #4

The overall goal of the Head Start program is to bring about a greater degree of social competence in children. Social competence takes into account the inter-relatedness of cognitive and intellectual development, physical and mental health, nutritional needs, and other factors that enable a developmental approach to helping children achieve social competence. To the accomplishment of this goal, Head Start objectives and performance standards provide for the improvement of the child's health arid physical abilities, including appropriate steps to correct present physical and mental problems and to enhance every child's access to an adequate diet. The performance standards also provide for the improvement of the family's attitude toward future health care and physical abilities.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR USING THE FOG INDEX CREATED BY ROBERT GUNNING

1. Count off a 100-word sample.	Sample 1	Sample 2	Sample 3	Sample 4
2. Count the number of complete sentences in the sample.
3. Count the total number of words in the complete sentences
4. Find the average sentence length (#3÷#2).
5. Count the number of words of three or more syllables in the entire 100-word passage.
6. Add the answers to #4 (average number of words per sentence) and #5 (long words).
7. Multiply your answer to #6 by the constant .4 .4(4/10) to get your approximate grade-in-school reading level.

NOTES

• For longer materials (more than one page), this process should be repeated every few pages to obtain an average readability across the whole text.
  
• Count numbers and symbols as words.
  
• Count each part of a hyphenated word as a word (for example, "merry-go-round" is three words).
  
• Count the syllables that you hear (for example, "advised" is two words and "advising" is three).
  
• Count the part of a sentence after a colon (:), semicolon (;) or dash (—) as a new sentence.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR USING THE FOG INDEX CREATED BY ROBERT GUNNING

Note: Do not distribute this key to workshop participants. It is for trainers only. Readability measures are not exact. Allow for some interpretations about where the sentence ends or the number of syllables in a word. The readability level will still only vary by one grade level or less.

1. Count off a 100-word sample.	Sample 1	Sample 2	Sample 3	Sample 4
2. Count the number of complete sentences in the sample.	18	7	5	3
3. Count the total number of words in the complete sentences.	90	80	84	96
4. Find the average sentence length	5	11.4	16.8	32
5. Count the number of words of three or more syllables in the entire 100-word passage.	3	8	16	23
6. Add the answers to #4 (average number of words per sentence) and #5 (long words).	8	19.4	32.8	55
7. Multiply your answer to #6 by the constant .4 (4/10) to get your approximate grade-in-school reading level.	3.2	7.8	13.2	22

Module 3 | Handout 10

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