As Common Core has insisted, students need to be reading more complex text - regardless of what grade level you teach.
One way to do this is by teaching students what specifically makes a text rigorous and complex. (This is explained in the appendix of the common core standards.) Then, after teaching this, provide students with the ladder of complexity (see below) so they can track how they are increasing their text complexity as they read.
Here students list the book of their choice and as they move from book to book, they should also be moving up the ladder from a least complex book to a more complex book.
This is a great way to hold students accountable and make sure they are increasing with complexity!
You can download this FREE sheet by clicking here. It will take you to my website where more information is provided and of course to get this fantastic sheet!
Happy Teaching!
