Page 9 - Ziptales Program Manual - AU

What’s My Reading Level?

Ziptales has a ‘placement’ test which allows teachers
to easily determine what level of text (see page 6) is
appropriate for a child. This is the ‘What’s my Ziptales
reading level?’ assessment. The test can be accessed
on the Student Dashboard. Full details of the test
and our reading lists are provided on the Teacher
Resources page.

Here’s how it works. The teacher ‘logs in’ to the test
instrument.*

The student, under the direction of the teacher, is offered a list of five story titles, aligned to broad age ranges:

Foundation/Year 1 Tom and the Mouse
Year 2 Bad Dog

Years 3 & 4 Three Wishes
Years 5 & 6 Over the Rainbow
Advanced readers The Education of Amelia

Each story represents a carefully designed reading skills test for different age and ability ranges.
For example, Test 1 (Tom and the Mouse) suits children in early primary who can read RR Level 10 guided
reading texts. Alternatively, Test 5 (The Education of Amelia) suits children in senior primary who are reading
at an advanced level.

The child reads a test story, selected by the teacher, that corresponds to their approximate level of reading
ability. The child reads the story and answers the comprehension questions that follow. The engine then makes
recommendations for reading on the basis of the child’s level of accomplishment on the test.

A list of stories (eg Zip Stage 4 - with 38 titles) is then made available for the child to read. The child is told to
advise the teacher about the Zip Stage level recommended by the test.

Like our overall readability scheme, this is a suggestion only. On the basis of a five minute assessment, the child
will be given a recommendation to one of the Zip Stage levels. This recommendation should provide the child
with a very ‘comfortable’ reading experience - not too simple, and not too challenging.

However, to repeat, Ziptales is an ‘open’ library, and a teacher can choose to direct the child wherever seems
suitable to their interests and needs - to another level completely (up or down), if needed.

What’s my Ziptales reading level?

*The password for the What’s my Ziptales Reading Level? test is “readability”. The test is password
protected to prevent students from attempting to self test.

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