Why is the grammar school library full of books for 7 year oldS?

Johnny

I agree that the majority of newly published books are of a type, and if that type isn't what suits your child, you have to dig around, but my DD is a voracious reader, and I know a lot of what she reads might not appeal to a boy (eg Anne of Green Gables / Jacqueline Wilson), but just off the top of my head, books she's enjoyed recently are:

The Lost series by Michael Grant
Tom Sawyer / Huck Finn
The entire output by Arthur Ransome (she started these age 8 but is still finishing them off)
Hunger Games
Malorie Blackman - Noughts & Crosses etc
John Greene (Fault in our Stars etc)
Hitchhikers Guide series
Anything by Terry Pratchett (she hasn't started on Discworld yet but I think she will soon)
All the Horrible Histories books.

All or most of these would be just as suitable to a Y7 boy I would have thought.

I appreciate there isn't the same range for boys, but there's still more than enough.

As a PP said, if you can still manage to read with them it makes a massive difference. There are some books (eg Hitchhikers) that my DD wouldn't have read on her own. I read a few chapters each night, and then once she's hooked she carries on by herself.

This also means we can explore some books that would be much too hard for her on her own, eg Dickens, which she loves, but really needs to hear out loud, rather than try to read by herself.

Is there actually anything for your average 12 year old to read though? Boys, particularly?

Everything pushed at them seems horribly mawkish and miserable (Private Peaceful) or it's still toilet humour, which never appealed. And then people label other, possibly more suitable books (Dahl, Colfer) as being for younger children (a point I disagree with).

It's only now, at 13, that ds is finding things he quite likes. It's been a fight, though.

What Kids Are Reading 2014:

The average book difficulty rises as students get older, but not in proportion to the rate at which the students should be improving in reading. At secondary school (Year 7 onwards) difficulty tends to plateau. The book difficulty level declines below the actual age of the students. After Year 9 it tends to decline absolutely, which is alarming.
...
There is a marked downturn in difficulty of books at secondary transfer - even with highly motivating books. Secondary teachers and librarians need to get better at encouraging children appropriately.

Struggling readers and high-ability readers are seriously under-challenged.

There's obviously a lot happening at secondary age to derail what was happening in those more innocent primary days, but...

MrsT - it sounds very much like the school isn't doing it right. In order for AR to work, it needs to be far more frequent than once a fortnight.

At my school, children's reading ages have increased by years in months. From my understanding, the "plateau" can be a result of the decrease in frequency of reading when students get to secondary school. This isn't hokum - clearly ANY skill will decrease if practise is stopped or decreased. How many of us read with our secondary school age children? Very few, I would imagine, but some children NEED that 1-2-1 attention. I have seen children's reading skills plateau, the fact is that many GCSE papers have a reading age above the reading ability of a number of students. Children need to be able to access the secondary curriculum and if their reading ability is preventing that, then surely a programme which addresses that is a good thing.

FWIW, we also have a librarian. The two are not mutually exclusive. Does it encourage reading for pleasure? I don't know, but in many cases, that's not the priority and anyone who thinks it should be is rather naive.

both my DC are still at primary, but it has always amazed me that books are graded into yr groups, especially Roald Dahl. The school covers him in yr2 - but some of the themes and ideas behind those stories just aren't grasped at that age, and it seems such a shame that older children aren't encouraged to revisit them.

that said, I don't think you should rely on just the school library - Grammar school or not..

I'm really surprised at the limited book choice for your son.

I think it has been a fantastic scheme for my DD. I appreciate all kids are different, but she was getting a bit stale with reading towards the end of primary. She'd had a really good few years where she loved reading, and by Y6 she'd just lost interest and was just rereading old Enid Blyton books.

She really took to the quiz aspect of reading, and although she picked some very easy books in the first half term, it's really seemed to spark an interest again, and she's loving reading again now. She's come on leaps and bounds, and is reading a book most weeks.

I just checked her planner, and she got 3.0 points for Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Her highest score is 15.0 points for Swallows & Amazons. This is just from term one, so I'm not sure what she's been getting for the book she's been reading more recently.

The problem she's had is that most of the books at her level are about vampires and ghosts, and she hates that sort of thing. She's just been reading her own books, from the library and the charity shop, and all but one have been available to be quizzed.

When my DD2 was in Yr5 her teacher suggested Hunger Games as appropriate for her. I had a look at it and thought 'No'.

Just because a book is suitable in terms of its complexity that does not mean it is suitable in terms of content.

I'm beginning to be really glad our local secondary does not use this system.

TBH I am surprised that Beast Quest is aimed at 9-10 year olds. Children, ime, tend to read them in Y2/3/4 - so much younger than this.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid seems more accurately placed.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid, according to the AR link, is in BL 5 - aimed at 5th grade - Wiki tells me "Students are usually 10 – 11 years old. " I assume it is a US scheme. Maybe here is a UK version too?

Beast Quest, according to the AR link, is in BL 5 - aimed at 4th grade - 9-10y.

If your DS was assessed at 13y surely he should be on Book Level 7 or 8?

MrsTara - it does sound like the school library is not equipped to give a broad enough range of books in the levels. I would check the level he has been given too. My DS is in Year 5 and I think he can read anything up to 6.0 - The Hunger Games would fall in that category. I have just looked up Wimpy Kid and am surprised to see that it is around the same level. Beast Quest tend to be in the 4.7 area.

I think the system is brilliant and DS reads so extensively it makes me very happy but you have to have a library with a huge choice of books - it sounds like that may be the issue.

Hulababy Agreed. I'm counting my blessings that there is nothing like that at Y6 DD's state primary and the upstream state secondary has an old-fashioned creature known as a 'Librarian' who is apparently quite good.

DD curls up and reads for pleasure, attempts to smuggle the current book to bed nearly every night and is quite prepared to read challenging books. I really wouldn't want that broken by the blanket imposition of some reading system (which may well contain 'perverse incentives') regardless of the effect on reluctant readers.

www.arbookfind.com/default.aspx

www.arbookfind.com/default.aspx

The above link lets you search for books and find out what they are "worth" re AL.

TBH I am not convinced overly from reading about it, as yet. Seems like big business to me and a lot of money making going on, and not much to promote reading for pleasure.

*EvilTwins "Accelerated Reader is a good system with proven results."

But what proof? The annual Rennaisance Learning reports (presumably based on data they capture from school using AR) claims progress in reading stalls at secondary age. 'Plateau' was their word.

I'm completely on side with promoting reading - DD1 has a reading book at school and yes, she reads for half an hour every day. No quizzes though, that would kill the enjoyment for her - she is already doing a lot of high intensity stuff in English literature, that's quite enough.

Has it been shown to have a positive effect on encouraging reluctant readers to read for pleasure (rather than for a material reward)? That would be the benchmark for me.

AR books are not always banded correctly. I've seen books banded as 4.5 with kids struggling to read them, yet whipping through higher band books in no time. The tests are more of a memory quiz than anything to do with comprehension.
I hate Accelerated Reader with a passion.

Oh, and the prizes are for getting 90% or higher on quizzes, not for reading more difficult books.

They can't. They have to read a book within the range they're told to. That's based on ability. They can move up when they need to. The range is pretty wide, but means that they are choosing books which are suitable for their ability. If it's run properly, teachers keep a check on their habits. In my school, they do it every day for half an hour. If a child was reading a book a day, doing the quiz and scoring 100% every time, it would be picked up on and they would be reassessed..

Maybe, EvilTwins but I would have hated to see DD1 come home in Yr7 with Diary of a Wimpy Kid just so that she could whizz through it and get points. I mean, Diary of a Wimpy Kid gets you 3 points. The Fellowship of the Ring gets you 29. However, you can whizz through the former in a couple of hours, whereas the latter is much more of an investment of time and effort. If children are competing for points and prizes, aren't they deliberately going to pick easier books to read?

DD is in Y7 and can read whatever she likes. No one restricts their choice at all. They have a quiet reading session once a fortnight where the English teacher will chat to individuals about their books, content, etc but sounds pretty informal and relaxed. DD takes her Kindle in and reads with that in the sessions.

Not sure DD has even brought a library book home for her high school at all, though has been in there to work.

DD would hate to have to be on some form of scheme now.

Accelerated Reader is a good system with proven results. It does not mean than students aren't allowed to read anything else! They do a quiz once they've read the book, and at my school, at least, they get prizes (book tokens) if they do consistently well. It's not just for poor readers.

My dd grammar school doesn't have a library, now I remember it did have when I was there and hardly anyone used it apart from me

They don't have time to read in school, too much work to do! They read once a week in form time