'Oxford reading tree' books, a question.

[TotorosOcarina]

Hiya,

In school DS (5.10) is on 'band 3 yellow' books.

I feel they are a bit unchallenging for him.

We have oxford 'read at home' books - level 4, which seem to be more up his street.

Does anyone know what the 'school' equivalent of 'level 4' at home is?

They seem to be alot 'harder' than the ones he gets at school.

I'd guess level 5 in the school books but it's a guess. They do seem harder than the normal ORT school books.

Do you think, if he is reading them well at home I should talk to the teacher?

DS has only ever read with the classroom assistant, his book has never been signed by the teacher.

Its parents evening in a few weeks and don't want to come across as a pushy mum, but he just speeds through the yellow school ones, he doesn't fluently read the home ones, but he gets 90% of the words and I feel that its more of a challenge to him figuring out the rest if that makes sense?

Plus he has the same 'yellow' book for over a week - and we 'have' to read it everynight and he just speeds through it and seems bored.

I think one of the important things with reading at this stage is that the child feels really comfortable and confident with what they are reading. I can't remember the exact guideline, but I think its something like one word per book they don't know as a maximum.

However, if he's speeding through I would ask the teacher for more books, changed more frequently.

They do sound too easy. The figure is meant to be 90 to 95% accuracy for home reading I believe. Does he understand what he reads?

Maybe put a note in the diary asking if there should be more new words and if so could they consider moving him up.

Go to the library and ask the librarian to suggest books at the same level as issued by school and maybe one or two upwards.

Comprehension, and discussions are very important as well. Talk about the story, characters, pictures, what is happening, how are they feeling, what do you think would happen if you changed the story slightly. what do you think the ending might be (before you get there).
Can he retell the story in his own words?

Look for similar spelt words, similar sounding words, look at punctutation

Use the book as a tool rather than just something to read through very quickly. Lots of kids can read the words, but dont understand or remember anything that they have just read.

Its better for children to be able to read books fluently and be confident and comfortable with their reading, rather than asking them to read harder books and they struggle through them.

The ORT introduce something new at each stage and it really helps if they read a few books at each level so that they understand / see what they are learning (sometimes its not so obvious though). Each next level incorporates the knowledge of the previous books whilst introducing something new.

Thankyou RoadArt thats really helpful.

We do tend to just rush through the books as he recognises the words and says them straight away, so tomorrow I will try slowing it down and discussing the story, see if that helps.

I'll do that for a feww weeks and maybe talk to the teacher at parents evening :)

Lots of schools deliberately send home books which are well within the children's comfort zones, especially if they think some of the parents may struggle to help.

If you're happy to offer stronger support then a note in the book saying "read perfectly, perhaps he's ready for something a bit more challenging?" will normally do the trick.

Personally I'd take your ds to the library and look at the young readers section and let him pick something. Flick through yourself to see if they're a similar level/slightly harder than the ones coming home. ORT have their place in teaching children to read however, using extra ones at home is likely to turn them off reading forever!! Sorry ORT, I'm not a big fan!
The library always has plenty of choice including stories about football, fairy tales, the farm, etc. Plus they usually have a selection of non-fiction books for young readers which although have a number of words specific to the topic of the book will still practice core words (you might have to ask where to look). Just bear in mind they are often that bit harder!

If nothing else it will mean that you could do your school ORT every other day and an alternative book the other days. From personal experience of having a child who would only read the book once during the week no matter how much you begged, the school preferred I got him to read ANYTHING else on the other days on grounds it was better than nothing - they suggested comics, newspapers, cereal boxes even. Plus our school has a mini library sort of thing with banded books which they call 'home readers' which we go and pick and change as often as necessary. They just suggest which band to go for! Obviously your school may not be the same, but IMO they won't mind you supplementing the reading a little to add variety. And as the literacy team at my dd's school said yesterday 'we want readers not Oxford Reading Tree readers' meaning it's good to read other things. DD's has added other books to the standard ORT scheme to give a broader experience including non-fiction and poetry.

Sorry post was massive!!

Hi there, sorry don't want to hijack the post but just wanted to check something re the accuracy thing. My little boy 5.8 is on the same reading level (ORT3) and exactly the same as op finding them not very challenging no help with any words needed, however until recently lots of blending of words rather than reading fluently - does this count within the accuracy % or does it have to be words read without blending. In the last week or two he is reading alot more fluently and only having to sound out a few words in each book, but seems to read a level or two ahead with his books at home with ease, but again sounding out some of the words. Just a bit confused about whether I should be focusing on more simple books to improve the fluency or letting him read books that challenge him a bit more. I guess as long as he is enjoying it that is the main thing, but would be interested to know from those of you who know more that me :)

Different teachers use the books in different ways. Some want high accuracy, some just let the kids read and then move up without really understanding what they are reading.

So dont compare with your friends, especially when they are at different schools.

Fluency and understanding encourages the children to want to read. If they continously struggle and have to break lots of words down, they lose interest and dont want to read at all.

A mixture of books is probably a good idea. Kids like to know they have read a book well, but more challenging books vary their interest and gives them an idea of what they might soon be able to read.

I used to get parents complaining that the books their DC were given were too easy and that their kids were reading harder books at home, but they couldnt read the school books. Sometimes they couldnt decode, or they didnt understand what they were reading.

Also, just because a book has more words in doesnt always mean the book is a higher level. Its the actual words that grade the books

Thank you RaodArt, I have noticed that since he is having to decode less he is enjoying reading more.

I am not bothered about what level he is on in relation to others and am happy for his school books to be whatever level the teacher feels is appropriate just wanted to check that letting him vary the books he reads with regards to levels or the amount of words or difficulty is the right thing to do.

When we get books from the library often I don't know what level they are, so he just picks and gets a good mix. I would never say a book is too easy at the moment for him because I can see even with the shorter books with simple words he gets something out of it. In fact I think reading these is what has improved his confidence and fluency recently. I like to trust his teacher with his school books, but just wanted to make sure I was doing the right thing at home to support that. :)

Happy to help!

Just thought of something else that is good practice to get into.

When your DC gets spelling words to learn, look for these words in the books. Once he has learnt them, keep looking for these words.

Can you find "xxxxxx" and point to a word and ask him to read it.

or, can you find a word that sounds like "xxx" ie cat/mat, he/we

This is a good way to check they have learnt the words and in time, understand their meaning.

Once children see spelling words in books, it does help them and gives them a purpose of why its good to learn them.

Cant remember how early I started this, but introduce it when your DC is ready

The comprehension aspect is really important too. I find the more fluently they can read, the more clearly they can understand what they have just read. Stumbling over lots of words and slowly sounding them out does not make good comprehension easy.
My dd is a pretty fluent reader and is on turquoise books, but there are more words than I initially realised that she does not fully understand - although she can read them. She currently has a book about things which travel fast which includes the words "streamlined", "bobsleigh" "faster than the speed of sound" and "supersonic" - all of which she could read but had no idea what they meant. If I'd just let her read it and ticked it off as complete she would have moved onto another book none the wiser....

Interesting - The ORT books encourage a lot of recognition of high frequency words and are usually read alongside a phonics programme.

A guide is getting 90% correct but having 'easier' books encourages confidence and recognising the words at a quicker speed increasing fluency. As your DS fluency isn't developed yet I would be hesistant to ask for harder books. Interestingly the book levels can cross bands. EG DS 6.1 reads ORT level 6 and 7, Read write inc yellow level. They are all in the same band even the differet levelled ORT books.

I would however just discuss it with the teacher bearing in mind a child reading at home often has less distractions than when reading at school.

Depends on if there's actual understanding of what is being read. Sometimes I keep kids on a lower level book for a few weeks to boost their confidence, usually it's because they're a child who can decode words till the cows come home but haven't got a clue what they're reading!

Prime example of this - I once worked at a very very pushy private school (biiiiig career mistake but let's not go there) where parental pride absolutely hinged on what reading book your child was on - to the level we actually had a parent sneak into class before school and go through book bags to make sure her child was "ahead" of her arch rival's child (the kids were resolutely the best of friends despite the parents hating each other to the extent of a physical punch up outside school where the staff had to separate them)... anyway - I had a child in the class whose parents were adamant that they didn't want him reading scheme books, or the school library stock - they wanted him to read Lord of the Rings. Head's policy was always to give into whatever parental request was the flavour of the day - so Tolkien it was. Week after week we ploughed through this book - with the kid in question having absolutely no understanding of the plot at all (I love the story - but he's not the most easily readable authour bless him)!

Finally one of the other lads, whose dad had read him the trilogy as a bedtime story over a year or so decided enough was enough - and spoilt the whole ending for him (this was just as the first films of it were coming out)! Wasn't at all maliciously done - was just another lad in the class who had a habit of engaging mouth before engaging brain at times.

Hello,

Just write in his reading log that you think this level is too easy for him now, the TA or PH should move him up then.

I am a parent helper and do reading with kids at school, and it is quite a normal thing to do.

Nothing to agonise over. Just ask.