Literature - What Makes a Text Complex?

The Common Core State Standards/Missouri Learning Standards place a strong emphasis on the role of text complexity in evaluating student readiness for college and careers. The importance of both increasing the complexity of texts students read and the need for teachers to understand more about what makes texts challenging arose out of research that showed students who are college ready have the ability to comprehend complex texts. 

Text complexity will look different at each grade level.  Here are guidelines to think about when choosing complex texts in literature for read alouds, shared reading, mini-lessons, small group reading/discussions, writing about reading, and independent reading:

Level 1 - SLIGHTLY COMPLEX LITERATURE TEXTS:

• MEANING: One level of meaning; theme is obvious and revealed early in the text
• ORGANIZATION: Organization of text is clear, chronological or easy to predict
• USE OF GRAPHICS: If used, extensive illustrations that directly support and assist in interpreting the written text
• CONVENTIONALITY: Explicit, literal, straightforward, easy to understand
• VOCABULARY: Contemporary, familiar, conversational language
• SENTENCE STRUCTURE: Mainly simple sentences
• LIFE EXPERIENCES: Explores a single theme; experiences portrayed are everyday and common to most readers
• INTERTEXTUALITY AND CULTURAL KNOWLEDGE: No references or allusions to other texts or cultural elements

Level 2 - MODERATELY COMPLEX LITERATURE TEXTS:

• MEANING: More than one level of meaning with levels clearly distinguished from each other; theme is clear but may be conveyed with some subtlety
• ORGANIZATION: Organization may have two or more storylines and occasionally difficult to predict
• USE OF GRAPHICS: If used, a range of illustrations that support selected parts of the text
• CONVENTIONALITY: Largely explicit and easy to understand with some occasions for more complex meaning
• VOCABULARY: Mostly contemporary, familiar, conversational; rarely unfamiliar or overly academic
• SENTENCE STRUCTURE: Simple and compound sentences, with some more complex constructions
• LIFE EXPERIENCES: Explores a single theme; experiences portrayed are common to many readers
• INTERTEXTUALITY AND CULTURAL KNOWLEDGE: A few references or allusions to other texts or cultural elements

Level 3 - VERY COMPLEX LITERATURE TEXTS:

• MEANING: Several levels of meaning that may be difficult to identify or separate; theme is implicit or subtle and may be revealed over the entirety of the text
• ORGANIZATION: Organization may include subplots, time shifts and more complex characters
• USE OF GRAPHICS: If used, a few illustrations that support the text
• CONVENTIONALITY: Complex; contains some abstract, ironic, and/or figurative language
• VOCABULARY: Somewhat complex language that is sometimes unfamiliar, archaic, subject-specific, or overly academic
• SENTENCE STRUCTURE: Many complex sentences with several subordinate phrases or clauses and transition words
• LIFE EXPERIENCES: Explores theme of varying levels of complexity; experiences portrayed are uncommon to most readers
• INTERTEXTUALITY AND CULTURAL KNOWLEDGE: Some references or allusions to other texts or cultural elements

Level 4 - EXCEEDINGLY COMPLEX LITERATURE TEXTS:

• MEANING: Several levels and competing elements of meaning that are difficult to identify, separate, and interpret; theme is implicit or subtle, often ambiguous and revealed over the entirety of the text
• ORGANIZATION: Organization is intricate with regard to elements such as narrative viewpoint, time shifts, multiple characters, storylines and details
• USE OF GRAPHICS: If used, minimal illustrations that support the text
• CONVENTIONALITY: Dense and complex; contains abstract, ironic, and/or figurative language
• VOCABULARY: Generally unfamiliar, archaic, subject-specific, or overly academic language; may be ambiguous or purposefully misleading
• SENTENCE STRUCTURE: Mainly complex sentences often containing multiple concepts
• LIFE EXPERIENCES: Explores complex, sophisticated themes; experiences are distinctly different from the common reader
• INTERTEXTUALITY AND CULTURAL KNOWLEDGE: Many references or allusions to other texts or cultural elements

Check back next week... 
and find out what makes informational text complex.