Yahoo Education has the Cliff Notes - it's definitely worth a look -
Click here to link to Yahoo Education.
I am two pages in and I am DYING here. I have 16 vocab words and phrases. Things that I understand through connotation and context and experience with the words - things that an average high schooler will not have heard of and an academically challenged high schooler - no chance.
In looking online I am seeing again and again that this book is at a high school level. I have found information indicating it has a Degrees of Reading Power (DRP) Score of 54 here. I have seen it stated that it has an 8th grade reading level, Amazon lists it with a Fog Index of 13.2, Flesch Index of 53.8 and Flesch-Kincaid Index of 10.4. I used an online readability calculator and at the end of the first five paragraphs had a calculated Flesch-Kincaid Index of 14 and an a Flesch-Kincaid Reading Ease score of 45. So while overall this book should be more or less appropriate for 9th and 10th graders, the bang at the beginning is incredibly difficult - So we have to look at how to make this a positive start for all your students.
Did you know it takes approximately 15 exposures to a vocabulary word to make it start to take meaning for a student?
As I tackle this project I will be doing my best to figure out how to make this more accessible to your below average student. This is important, because as soon as your lower ability students realize this is unfamiliar territory, if they cross the line into believing they aren't going to understand this no matter what they do, they will tune out and all your behavior problems are soon to begin attracting attention.
