https://teachlikeachampion.org/blog/on-text-complexity-and-reading-part-1-the-five-plagues-of-the-developing-reader

The "readability" of a text (Lexile Level) is based on things like how many syllables the words have, and how long the sentences are.

But there are other things that make a text more approproate for an older audience or more difficult to read.

Archaic Language

Non-Linear Time Sequences

Misleading/Narratively Complex:
-unreliable narrator
-multiple narrators
-non-human narrators
-multiple intertwined and apparently (for a time) unrelated plot lines

Figurative/Symbolic Text
- allegorical
- symbolic

Resistant Texts—"texts written to deliberately resist easy meaning-making by readers"

I believe Lord of the Flies is symbolic, and probably has archaic language or makes references to life in England during WWII/Cold War that would likely not be familiar to students in the US today. eg saying a boy was "chapter chorister and head boy" doesn't give any information to a US high school student of today.

Anonymous wrote:Good god Lord of the Flies is not developmentally appropriate for 5th grade. But whatever. I think I read it in 9th. It is an easy read, but the themes are dark. Also, a good teacher can use any book at any grade and make the activities academically rigorous.

Agree. 9th grade is a perfect age for this book. By 10th, students need to be reading more challenging texts. Reading lord of the flies in 5th is silly.

Maybe the language is for 5th grader but not the content.

I worked in a 3rd grade class in which a girl student was reading The Help during her free reading time. Teachers thought it was a bit odd but she got it from her parents so nobody objected. I am totally in favor of kids reading what they want, including adult books, but even I thought this was a bit much.

Anonymous wrote:I read Lord of the Flies in 11th grade honors English 30 years ago. Not sure why you are bragging about having read Ethan Frome - I read it in 10th grade and it was one of the most awful books I have ever read. Let your 10th grader enjoy the book instead of acting like it is beneath him to read it now.

Oh I liked ethan frome! I’m definitely in the minority though, I know, and I’ll say that it was not a particularly difficult book from what I remember.

I read Lord of the Flies in 11th grade honors English 30 years ago. Not sure why you are bragging about having read Ethan Frome - I read it in 10th grade and it was one of the most awful books I have ever read. Let your 10th grader enjoy the book instead of acting like it is beneath him to read it now.

Anonymous wrote:I reread Lord of the Flies as an adult and got so much more out of it then when I read it the first time in 8th grade.
There's no wrong time to read quality literature about deep themes of the human experience.

+a gazillion

I do think that we are getting away from teaching kids to read challenging language, which is a shame. But just because something doesn't have challenging language doesn't mean it can't be taught and analyzed with rigor. To add to the comment about reading The Wind in the Willows in college, my high school senior AP lit class was very rigorous, and one student picked a Dr. Seuss book for her big paper. She picked it because it was easy, sure, but the paper was still academically rigorous and she wasn't really getting out of much work.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, give your kid a copy of AARP Magazine. It is recommended for ages 55 and up, so will be a stretch challenge for your genius child.

Funniest post ive read here in a while.

Very sad to see tiger parenting reach the level where one would brag about their elementary school child reading Lord of the Flies, Heart of Darkness, and other books with dark depressing themes. Oh but the books have big words! If your child is verbally gifted, let them do the NY Times crossword or read Anne of Green Gables.

+1 After you get past a certain reading level, it's far more important to think about themes and interest: Wind in the Willows and Anne of Green Gables both have higher lexile levels than Crime and Punishment, but I'd rather have my kids read the former at a young age than the latter. Watership Down and the Plague are both about the same, but warring clans of rabbits are just more appropriate for most 12 year olds than French existentialism.

My son is reading it now in 9th grade. I believe I read it in HS as well. I am not bothered by them reading it in this grade. By HS reading levels are more or less all the same IMO.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, give your kid a copy of AARP Magazine. It is recommended for ages 55 and up, so will be a stretch challenge for your genius child.

Funniest post ive read here in a while.

Very sad to see tiger parenting reach the level where one would brag about their elementary school child reading Lord of the Flies, Heart of Darkness, and other books with dark depressing themes. Oh but the books have big words! If your child is verbally gifted, let them do the NY Times crossword or read Anne of Green Gables.

DP. It was a funny post. I also agree that it's strange to brag about what young children read. However, I have a 5th grader who LOVED these books and other darker themes. I was actually worried, but she popped out of that phase in 6th or 7th grade. Now she's reading the classics 9th grade. I told her to get a list of banned books and read those next. Fahrenheit 451, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Scarlet Letter were among my favorites. As long she enjoys reading, to me, I don't care what "level" it is. She could revisit Richard Scary books if she wants.

Anonymous wrote:I read it in honors English freshman year. Yes, it's an easy read, but I would guess older kids more out of it thematically?

This. The discussions can happen on different levels. My DD read it in 5th grade (private school). She changed schools in 6th and is reading it again in honors English 8th grade (also private school). The discussions are just different.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You were 13 in 5th grade? That explains a lot.

I laughed out loud at this!

You laugh at stupidity and meanness? Wierd. Says a lot about who you are as a person. You should work on that.

Anonymous wrote:That book is very gay. Surprised they allow it.

Why are you here? Don't you have a book to burn somewhere?

Anonymous wrote:Lord of the Flies was assigned in 6th grade in PA. Also, 1984. And, City of Ember, etc. They all have dark themes.

It's not about the darkness in my opinion, but more the abstractions around how societies form and collapse, how power dynamics emerge. 6th graders can read these Lord of the Flies and 1984--they don't have very high lexile levels-- but they wouldn't get as much out of them as you would once you can think more abstractly and complexly about the world around you.