Question for teachers and TAs about reading

[mychatnickname]

If you do guided reading groups by reading ability, what is the biggest variation in book band terms that works i.e. from best to worst reader?

How many book bands ahead or behind would an individual child have to be from the rest of the group for it not to 'work' well or doesn't it matter?

In guided reading children would be grouped by similar ability so I wouldn't expect children to be on different levels (bands)

I'm curious about this too. Mrz, what happens if there are no other children in the class on the same "level"?

Does it actually matter if the text is very easy for some of the children? What is the guided reading actually supposed to promote/achieve?

I've wondered about this too. I'm pretty sure most kids in dd's class are reading yellow/blue/green band and dd is reading turquoise. I guess all reading is good practice?

It has been my assumption that the guided reading was more about comprehension and discussion rather than "just" reading, and presumably the more able readers would still benefit from talking about what they have read?

But I don't really know what guiding reading is or what it's for, so it would be useful to hear this from a teacher.

They do need to be pretty close. I don't know a lot about book bands (am in KS2) but they need to be able to read the same text at a reasonably similar level of fluency, and I would expect all children to be able to answer simple questions about the text.

However, I might put a child in a group where the text was 'easy' (ie able to read it very confidently)if they were really struggling with comprehension.

If there were no children of a similar level in the class I would just do individual reading with the child and get the TA to provide more individual support as well.

As for what it is for- yes, it's a lot of discussion, especially in KS2 or where the children already read fluently. But teachers will also discuss and model reading strategies e.g. phonics, reading ahead etc and highlight high frequency words or unfamiliar words.

Pozzled, my dd was moved from lime band to "free reader" books at the end of last year. Her comprehension is excellent. She currently does guided reading in a group with a group of children from her class - as far as I know, the next best readers are on around the orange and turquoise bands.

She seems to be quite happy with this arrangement, and I have assumed that she just enjoys talking about the books etc. I am certainly not going to go marching into the school about it, as she reads plenty at home and we talk about books a lot too. But are you saying that she might not really be getting very much out of this arrangement as it stands?

I would hear a child individually if they were reading at a much higher level than any other child in the class. I don't actually do guided reading with my class any longer.

Magicmummy1 my DD is on the highest book band in her class - not a boast, a fact - but still does guided reading in her top group with children who are, obviously, on lower bands. But she loves it, the sessions promote all kinds of discussions between them, so she tells me, and as long as she is getting enjoyment and appreciating the text from someone elses point of view etc I am happy too. I think you would have to have a MASSIVE difference between levels for it not to work.

lovecheese, thank you - my dd also seems to quite enjoy it, and so I am not worried at all. I was just curious about what pozzled was saying with regard to the levels needing to be similar in order for the kids to benefit.

mrz, out of interest, why is it that you don't bother with the guided reading any more? I'm quite interested in how schools teach literacy, and I have never really "got" what the guided reading is meant to be about!

mrz - what would count as too big a difference then? How many NC book bands?

The cynic in me thinks that although a discussion in a guided reading group is really valuable that this should be as well as individual reading but in some schools it's instead of because it's easier than trying to hear 30 kids one-on-one....

If one child is fluent and others are still sounding out every three letter word on the page there is too big a gap.

I just find hearing individual readers when children are still "learning" reading skills more useful.