Text Complexity Analysis of The Fighting Ground by AVI

Text Type:

Text Description Recommended Complexity Band Level

During the Revolutionary War, a 13-year-old boy can only think about Based on the quantitative measure and the qualitative measure, I recommend the
what to figh and doesn’t understand why his father won’t let him. complexity band cover grades 3-5.
Unexpectedly, he finds himself fighting. He is taken prisoner and finds that
his life has changed. He discovers the real war is being fought within
himself.

Quantitative Measure
Quantitative Measure of the Text: Range: Associated Band Level:
580L 415L-760L 3rd Grade

Qualitative Measures
Text Structure:
Organization: Moderately Complex
Chronological order- Each section gives the time of day things are happening. A second story line involving a child comes into the text. There are many
complex characters with unexplained backgrounds.
Use of Graphics: no graphics are used
Language Features:
Conventionality: Moderately Complex
Text is mainly explicit and easy to understand. It is written as a boy’s account of what is happening. There are some occasions that the text becomes more
complex and uses figurative language.
Vocabulary: Exceedingly Complex
There are complex words that could be unfamiliar for students. There is a lot of subject-specific vocabulary related to the Revolutionary War. Text contains
some German.
Sentence Structure: Very Complex
There is a good mix of sentence types including simple, compound, and complex with several subordinate phrases and clauses.
Meaning/Purpose:
Meaning: Very Complex
There are multiple themes that are revealed over the entirety of the text, and you do not understand the true meaning of the text until the end.
Knowledge Demands:
Life Experiences: Exceedingly Complex
The themes would be hard to understand if they have not experienced loss or self-conflict. As students will not have been in a war, they may have trouble
understanding the boy’s feelings.
Intertextuality and Cultural Knowledge: Very Complex
Students must have prior knowledge of what started the Revolutionary War and who it was between.
 Text Complexity Analysis of The Fighting Ground by AVI
Text Type:
Considerations for Reader and Task
Possible Major Instructional Areas of Focus (include 3-4 CCS Standards) for this
Text:
RL.5.5 Explain how a series of chapters, scenes, or stanzas fits
together to provide the overall structure of a particular story, drama,
or poem.
RL.5.2 Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in
the text, including how characters in a story or drama respond to
challenges or how the speaker in a poem reflects upon a topic;
summarize the text.
RL.5.6 Describe how a narrator's or speaker's point of view
influences how events are described.
RL.5.1 Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text
says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
Created by _____________________________________________ (name, state, email, date)
Below are factors to consider with respect to the reader and task:
Potential Challenges this Text Poses:
This text requires prior knowledge of some aspects of the Revolutionary War that
some students may not have. While the story is in chronological order, the
changing scenes may be hard for students to understand. The themes are not
explicit and students may have difficulty determining the theme.
Differentiation/Supports for Students:
 This text could be read in a whole group setting to allow for discussion.
 Printing a handout that translates the German portions of the text would
allow students to have a better understanding of the text. (However,
giving students these translations would give them a different opinion
about the text).
 Giving students a glossary of the words related to the Revolutionary War.
Reviewed by ____________________________________________(name, state, e-mail, date)