Google has some interesting tools that can help educators find articles and materials based on what they need for their lesson plans. Users can easily refine search results with Google's Advanced Search filters. This means teachers can filter results by student needs, such as reading level. Teachers can also make sure their search results meet practical needs, such as being able to adjust the font in a document.
How to Filter Google Search Results by Reading Level
It is now much easier to differentiate reading assignments because Google's Advanced Search options will allow teachers to quickly find results based on reading level categories. There are three categories; you can choose from basic, intermediate, and advanced search results. To filter your search results, you need to use the Advanced Search tool.
- Click on "Advanced Search" to the right of the Google search box.
- When you are in "Advanced Search" choose the "reading level" filter.
- Choose the "annotate results with reading level" filter.
This means that when you get your search results, you will be able to sort them by reading level and see a little note indicating if the result is basic, intermediate, or advanced.
A search of "Water Cycle" resulted in a basic reading level result from Scholastic.com, intermediate results from the U.S. Geological Survey, and advanced search results from the New World Encyclopedia. This is great news for a teacher who is working with a wide range of readers; gifted students can be reading advanced materials while struggling readers can be using basic reading level materials on the same topic.
How to Filter Google Search Results by File Type
It is also possible to filter results based on how it will be used. If you need to change the font size so that students with low vision can read the paper more easily, you can exclude the PDF files by choosing to only find documents that can be edited in Microsoft Word. Use the "Advanced Search" option to make sure you get the kind of file you want to use.
- Choose "Advanced Search" on the Google search page.
- Filter your "Advanced Search" results by choosing "File Type" in "Need More Tools?"
- Choose the file type you want.
You can also find Power Point files and Shockwave files if you want to find results that will look interesting on a large screen presentation or on a SMART Board. You can be sure that your materials are allowed to be shared by filtering results by "Usage Rights" in "Date, usage rights, numeric range, and more," which is also an the "Advanced Search" filter.
Although you can't perform these searches from the quick search tool in the personal toolbar, you can refine your search results that you have made by clicking on "Advanced Search" under the search box in a page of Google results. You are then brought to the same Google Advanced Search section, where you can filter results by reading level and file type.
Alex Sharp - Alex Sharp is a teacher who has been keeping Suite101 readers up to date with the latest in audio- and e-book gadgetry since 2008.
