Here's another pound..."Not getting enough of the story from the pictures..."

[blackeyedsusan]

Kerching... here's another pound for all those teachers who say, "If I had a pound for every parent who said...."

Queried with school about why dd is on the books she is on due to lack of any comment in reading folder about what she needs to do, can do or struggles with. She reads better at home (there's your pound!) but I have a sneaky suspicion that she is too shy to read at school, fair enough, if so keep on that level at school to build her confidence and we do what we do at home.

During our very quick chat the teacher says that dd is "not getting enough of the story from the pictures" and this is the reason that she is not moving up a level. It just sounded a bit odd and I am not sure what she meant. (We do a lot of talk about the books she reads, but I am aware that this is an area that needs working on and am not moving her onto harder /longer books from the library but broadening her reading and talking and filling in gaps in phonics for this reason)

I guess what I am asking is does that comment sound strange in the light of phonics teaching or does it mean all the talking and understanding of the book?

She could be meaning your dd is not comprehending the story and using the pictures will help her do that.

Thats possible but when my dds teachers have said it to me what they actually mean is that dd is not using the picture to help decode the text which schools shouldn't be telling kids to do, as it goes totally against good phonics teaching as outlined in the Rose Report that schools are meant to follow. However a majority of schools teach very basic sounding out but then carry on with all their old pre-phonics methods.

The reason you shouldn't use 'picture cues'is because the weight of research shows that relying too much on cues other than the letters is a strategy only used by weak readers. Strong readers don't need anything but the letters on the page. Mostly when kids use the picture they guess without paying much attention at all to what the letters actually say.
Comprehension is different. The picture can often add to the understanding of the story.

You can judge whether you dd can understand the basic storyline of the book she is reading. If she can is getting something from them then there is no reason not to moveher on.

During our very quick chat the teacher says that dd is "not getting enough of the story from the pictures" and this is the reason that she is not moving up a level. oh dear!

Mrz and Feenie, I am out of date, the only in date stuff I know is mainly down to mumsnet teachers and links you have provided. (Thankyou!) We did use picture cues way back at the beginning of teaching dd, but always linked in with the phonics, for example, "What does it begin with then what can you see beginning with...?" Then later sound it out and use pictures to "correct" difficult phonemes. (probably a mix of old and new teaching styles ) However, I find that if she relies on the picture now, it is best guess (picture/initialsound/word shape) rather than what she reads when I tell her to go back and look at the words carefully, so not that helpful.

I think I am going to have to read up a bit more ( have been trying to educate myself slowly) and go and talk to the teacher to see what she means as she could have explained it wrongly. It just seemed the opposite of what mrz in particular has been saying about phonics. I am sure others have said it too but can't remember who/ when (sorry)

This is the same teacher I had this conversation with,

"How many words do they need to know before they get a book with words in?" (after we were told they need a bank of words before they get a book with words)

reply: "Five or six reading games"

Me, (incredulous and forgetting the carefully considered statements I had come up with )

"What, even if she knows them all already?"

Meaning the 45 reception words that I think they are learning still. (See I said I was out of date)

I am going to carry on with reading library books and the comprehension type questions (from mners) and read the books from school
because if we don't we will have to stay on pink forever

Gosh if shes on pink there is no way that she is having comprehension issues...
When my dd2's school went from using synthetic phonics back to the old 'look say' approach (due to a new head) I did my own research and stumbled across the Rose Report. In the appendix it sets out with real clarity why one shouldn't use other cues like pictures. I'd google it if you want to find out more. Theres loads of stuff out there but schools should be following the Rose Report so its a good place to start.

So you are reading Rigby Rockets? (star independents) At the Park...
I can see why they are saying she is not getting enough from the pictures ... they are encouraging guessing because the books aren't a phonics scheme and include words she hasn't yet got the skills to read because she hasn't been taught them yet!

The 45 HFWs for reception went out with the Rose Review but some schools haven't moved on.

We read yellow/blue band books from the library. she doesn't need to guess, she is well on the way to reading, could decode harder, but not the stamina or comprehension to move on yet, especially now someone has pointed me in the direction of what she needs to do for a 1c (ie not there yet). However, I think she is lacking in confidence at school.

kerching there goes another pound

Thats not the issue, it was the getting more of the story from the pictures which made me She is perfectly capable of reading the words in the pink books if she has the confidence at school which she may not.

going to google if I get the children in bed and settled enough to try.