Choosing a text
Word's menus differ by version. The steps here are from Microsoft's help pages and have not been checked against the college's Word.
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It is usually the text
When a reading task goes wrong, the strategy is rarely the problem. The text was too long, too hard, out of date, or not really about today. Two minutes checking it before you copy it saves the lesson.
For exampleCheck length, relevance and level before anything goes on the photocopier.
Your jobChoose what you would do to the page at each moment. Every option is something a tutor really does.
Level 2 Health and Social Care · what goes · turn 1 of 3
The handout
Falls and older people
Millbrook Community Care, March 2026. 640 words in all; four sections shown.
1. Why falls matter. Falls are a significant cause of injury among older people. One fall can mean a fracture, lost confidence and a long hospital stay.
2. Hazards at home. Common hazards include loose rugs, trailing cables and inadequate lighting. Frailty and unsteady footing make every one worse.
3. Medicines. Some medicines cause dizziness, which raises the risk of a fall. Report any change in balance.
4. Funding. Local authorities and care boards agree funding for falls teams each year.
The lessonThe lesson is on spotting hazards on a home visit. Fifteen minutes, and a 640 word page: room for two sections.
What do you do?
Pick one.
Two minutes on any text before you copy it.
Why this works in your room
The right text is half the reading lesson.
For your learners: They get a text they can read, about their subject, from a source worth trusting.
For you: You check a text in two minutes before you copy it, and prepare each one only once.
Short
100 to 300 words
Works for most lessons. Over that, trim to what the lesson needs.
Relevant and current
Today's topic, recent
Linked to today's learning and the industry.
Recent, real examples: rules and products change.
Readable
Trim, then a box of three
Check the level. Add a glossary box for the three words the sentence cannot explain.
Credible
Named author or organisation
A manufacturer's page is clear, and written to sell.
See its level in Word
Reading age is the grade plus 5
File, Options, Proofing: tick Show readability statistics.
Run Spelling and Grammar to the end, then read the Grade Level.
Where to look
Then save it once
BBC News and Sport. Trade magazines and professional bodies. HSE and the NHS. Data sheets. Company reports.
Keep it in a shared folder by topic.
Elsewhere in Bradford ThreadWorks
Big 4Copilot can write the same text at different levels, and Teams is where you share the prepared one.Open Big 4 (opens in a new tab)
Lesson WeaverGo Read writes a text in your subject at the level you choose, with an easier version for a mixed class.Open Lesson Weaver (opens in a new tab)
Prompts to paste into Copilot
Two prompts to paste into Copilot. They are our own wording, not Big 4 training. Change what is in brackets, and leave out learners' names.
Trim it, keep the subject
Here is a text I am giving to [level] [subject] learners. [paste the text]. Cut it to about 250 words. Keep every subject term and the facts the lesson needs: [say what they are]. Do not add anything new. Then list the three hardest words with a meaning in under ten words each, for a glossary box.
Is this one any good?
I want to use this text with [level] [subject] learners for a lesson on [topic]. [paste the text or its link and date]. Check it against five things: short, relevant, current, readable, credible. For each, say whether it passes and why in one line. Flag anything that may be out of date.
Help them read hard texts
The Education Endowment Foundation's literacy guidance asks for learners to be supported to read complex subject texts, not kept away from them. Choosing and preparing the text is where that support starts.
EEF, Improving Literacy in Secondary Schools (opens in a new tab)Readability in Word
Word's readability statistics give the Flesch Reading Ease and the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level of a document. Both count only sentence and word length, so they are a quick check, not a verdict: a short text full of new subject words can score as easy.
Microsoft Support: get your document's readability and level statistics (opens in a new tab)How sure is this?
The five checks are the college deck's practical advice, not tested research. The reading age rule, grade plus 5, is the one the college's reading project uses for every text, so a number you get in Word means the same as the one on a learner's record.
No source claimed