ORT All Stars

[squashpie]

My DS came home with these before half term. They were brand new books. They said Pack 1 and were Book Band 9 gold. I'm still a bit hazy about all this book banding. He had been reading Stage 11A etc, sometimes white or lime book band (I think!), so I'm a bit confused about why he's back on gold. I couldn't find an overall chart that included the All Stars books. Are the All Stars very very new? Does anyone know anything about them. Has my son gone backwards?! He seems to read very proficiently and with understanding and enjoyment to me !

does the actual book seem easier than what he was on before then?

All Stars are short chapter books so it could be the teacher is giving slightly easier books because they are longer.

squashpie, has the gold band on the book been put there by school, or is it ORTs own banding? I find ORTs system confusing at times too, especially when there is a colour for KS1 and KS2 on the same book! Did he choose the book himself? Maybe he just fancied the look of it?

Crossed with mrz!

The gold band is an ORT band. He's been reading the Corgi Sprinter books (I think probably all of them - aprox 20?)and some ORT Wild Life ? books, so stuff that's fairly long and with chapters.

At home, he's happily reading Horrid Henry/ Flat Stanley and loves a collection of Paul Cookson poetry he was given, so I think he's quite prepared to tackle something long-ish (apart from applied face-washing/ toothbrushing, obviously ).

I'd just not come across the All Stars books before and didn't know 'what to make of them'. So many of the book choices (the TA chooses them) he's been given, seem all over the place in terms of level/ band, I'm not sure how much rhyme or reason there is, or if books are chosen simply on the basis that they are available?!

ooh while you are here Mrz - how do the treetops and robins ones compare to others at the same level? They seem a little more complex story wise but not in terms of vocab. Is that right?

The Robins are extension stories for giving good readers practise with longer texts. Tree tops are the main junior (KS2) scheme.
Books within the same band should offer roughly the same challenge to the reader but as with the Robins may have a slightly different purpose.

Thanks Mrz.
Ds is finding the vocab in the robins not very stretching at all but the stories possibly a bit too challenging to understand I'd say.