Charmaine Cureton
CTRD 6710
Mathematics/Reading-Learning Plan

Introduction

Title: CNN Student News One-Sheet: Electoral College
Author: CNN (No one specific given)
Publication Information: CNN
URL: http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/studentnews/07/22/one.sheet.electoral.college/index.html
Last Update: October 22, 2008

Credibility of Author:
Although there is no author given on this text, CNN is a reliable resource for news and information. The material used from this text was referenced by The National Archives as well as the CRS Report for Congress. CNN gives clear references to The Constitution of the United States and where you can find additional information about the Electoral College. All resources that are provided are government issued documents.

Total Pages:
The total number of pages is hard to determine. If one were to print out the text it would be around 2 pages. However, this material is written in extremely small text. When placed into a writing program such as Microsoft Word, the text is approximately 4 to 5 pages long using 12 point Times New Roman font and double spaced.

Text Selection:
This text is similar to an article or fact sheet for people wanting to know more information about the Electoral College. It is written in paragraph form to clarify the process of voting and how the Electoral College plays a crucial role in who is selected as the President of the United States.

The text selection can be used in multiple classrooms. The text has a basis in social studies, but can clearly be used in a reading or mathematics course. It covers a wide range and includes historical events that are crucial to the history of the United States.

Analysis of Readability:

As one can see from the chart above that the readability level says that this text is for those who are in their 5th month of their freshman year of college. However, I do not believe that the Grade level is accurate. There are repeated phrases and words that contribute to the grade level being increased. “Constitution” is mentioned several times in the document, which is a 12 letter word. Other longer words that are not difficult are “disqualification,” “Representatives” and “presidential.” These are all words that students and readers should have heard by this point in their lives.

If you look at the chart, the average number of sentences per paragraph are 2.1 but the average number of words per sentence is 21.5. This increases the level because there are more words per sentence. The reason for the increase of words per sentence is because there are colons, semicolons, and brackets/parentheses used. The number of paragraphs is deceiving because they are counting the headings as paragraphs.

Score Averaged across 3 100 Word Passages:

From the above chart, the average readability level is very close to that of the readability level for the entire document. However, the first passage has a readability level of 11.9, while the second passage is 15.4. As stated above, one of the reasons for the disturbance was the use of longer words. Although they are longer words, they are words that are used frequently in a school setting. These are also words that you cannot substitute for smaller words since "Constitution" is the name of the official document.

I believe that students at the 8th grade level or higher can read the text with ease. As stated before, students will be able to understand the material in the text even with "long" words.

Analysis of Text Structure:
The text is very reader friendly. It provides headings for the reader to guide their thoughts and easy to see where information should be located in the text. The headings make it more like a list format, making the text seem hierarchial. The information in the text is also arranged in a chronological order of typical questions a voter might have about the election process and the Electoral College. This makes it more coordinate. At the end of the text, it gives a pros and cons section to our system of voting in the United States. This would fall under the Compare/Contrast portion of coordinate structures. The text is easy to read and readers are able to direct their focus on what they want to know more about.

The text does not contain any graphs. However, the links on the page contain the resources that CNN used for this text. The links are documents that contain graphs that can be used in later lessons. There are also links that may be distracting to students because they have nothing to do with the topic. If you feel that students will be distracted from the advertisements, you may want to direct them towards the printable version of text. There are still advertisements, but not as many. On the original source, there are suggested readings for students to look at if they want to find out more about politics and the upcoming election. Those links may be helpful to students for their own purposes outside of this lesson.

Analysis of Coherence:
The text opens up with the purpose of the document. It states that this is a resource to use in order to obtain answers to the most frequently asked questions about the Electoral College. The text is very easy to understand. At times there are “big” words however, they are words that readers should have heard by this point no matter how far they went in their schooling career (i.e. Constitution). All other terms are clearly defined once they are mentioned in the text. The text also uses the correct terminology and sometimes follows through with a more student friendly version of that term or phrase. Once again, words should not be omitted from the text because they are crucial to the purpose of the text. They support the authenticity and credibility of the author and the text.

The text does not use pronouns. I believe this is so that the reader will not think the text is directed at particular individuals. The text makes it clear that its purpose is to inform all individuals who are willing to learn.

Analysis of Audience Appropriateness:
The text should engage the interest of all readers including students in the high school grades. This is because students in the high schools will soon become legal adult citizens, some while still in high school. We as teachers are trying to prepare them for the real world. One of the privileges that come with being an adult is the right to vote. This is an election year, so everyday when you turn on the news there are statistics about the election. In the 2000, the Electoral College played a major role in the Presidential selection by not having the popular vote winner obtain the presidency.

The text should enhance the knowledge of the reader in many ways. There are several misconceptions when it comes to voting. It will clarify that each vote really does matter, however the common citizen does not have the last say in who gets voted in as President of the United States. The information is organized in a manner to where it is very informative for the reader, but not overly informative to where it overwhelms the reader.