Using Choosito! to Differentiate by Reading Level

@joe_edtech / @LisaBerghoff

Technology changes. Sometimes, I don't like the changes. But it happens and I learn to get over it. For instance, I have spent a lot of my time teaching people how to search well using Google's Advanced Search features - and one of the things I loved to teach about was sorting results by reading level. OK, Google didn't give you Lexile levels or anything like that, but the search engine used to categorize the results by Basic, Intermediate, or Advanced reading levels. Alas, Google giveth, and Google taketh away - reading levels are no longer available in Google's Advanced Search. 

However, Choosito! is a free Web2.0 tool that will allow you to search the web, and their curated library, and filter by both content and reading level. Here's a short video to help explain Choosito! a little better:

Once you create a free account and log in, you can go to Choosito! Search. Simply enter the topic as you would on Google, then choose your categories. What reading level do you want? Are you looking for that topic in Humanities or Business & Career? And are you searching the web, the Choosito! Library, or are you searching for a school safe image?

When you get your results, you get a little more than a link to a website. You get a preview of the page, the website "ranking" from other Choosito! users, and the ability to add the resource to your own curated page (click the "+"). Some of your resources may have an icon that looks like a little red schoolhouse. That means the resource has been vetted by a number of other teachers and librarians and added to the Choosito! library.

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If you've found other ways to get differentiated Internet search results, please tell us about them below.