Bronze (Br)

What is a Br Reader?

Bronze-level readers see the author as a writer—a human being with his or her own biases, motivations, and blind spots. They have developed a critical eye towards writing and can discuss an author’s use of literary techniques. They can locate a particular book in its genre and make comparisons across texts on a wide variety of both themes and writing techniques. They read actively, talking back to the author, questioning and probing the ideas presented. Comfort with the 16–20 literary words per page requires extensive experience as a reader.

Standards-based Objectives for Br

Wide Reading and Motivation

• Has established an academic reading lifestyle, reading at least 30 minutes a day, or 100 hours per school year
• Has established a home reading habit and reads for at least 30 minutes each night
• Can sustain reading for long periods of time as required by 8th grade exams (45 minutes–2 hours)

Decoding/Word Solving Strategies

• Uses rules of syllabification and other word-attack strategies to approximate the pronunciation of any word
• Is able to use diacritical marks to help with pronunciation of unfamiliar words

Fluency

• Reads with 98–100% word accuracy in Br-level texts and self-corrects all errors that interfere with meaning

Vocabulary and Background Knowledge

• Has a literary vocabulary of 6,000–10,000 words
• Explains connotation/denotation, antonym/synonym, analogies, and words with multiple meanings

Comprehension of Informational and Literary Text

• Creates graphic organizers to compare, contrast, and categorize ideas and information presented
• Differentiates between primary and secondary source materials
• Explains the relevance of any of the literary elements of a story, how they influence each other, and how they affect the theme and tone of the story
• Identifies and explains the effects of literary devices, figurative language, and sound techniques in prose and poetry using examples from the text
• Discusses author’s perspectives and biases, cultural background, and historical context and how these might influence the text
• Describes the author’s primary goal and whether or not he or she accomplished it, using examples from the text