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Dropping reading levels after the summer holidays

33 replies

Giddly · 09/09/2011 16:49

DD has just gone back to year one. At the end of reception she was on level 7 of ORT which she was managing very well. We did some reading over the hols but not is such a structured way, so I wouldn't have bee surprised to find her dropping a level for a bit, but she came back with a level 4 book and a note saying she needs more practice at this level. She read the book very easily and fluently - not needing to sound out words. She's upset and demoralised by this - is it common for teachers to drop levels to drop so sharply over the summer?

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AbigailS · 10/09/2011 08:43

I think it all depends on your definition of ?easily and fluently?. As a teacher I would say your child is doing well, but if they are needing to sound out 10% of words and needing help with others I wouldn?t define it as easily and fluent. Maybe the old teacher was optimistic and the new teacher of the same view as me?

mrz · 10/09/2011 09:12

I would expect a child who is reading "easily and fluently" to be reading with a confident steady pace (no stopping and starting) only needing to sound out unknown words (never previously met) and requiring only minimum support.
I move children on more quickly than the previous teacher but expect children to be more independent.

dizzyday07 · 10/09/2011 09:39

I was assuming that my DD would drop after the summer as we haven't been making a concerted effort to do much reading - though she did devour a "Me & My Monsters" book that she got!

She has stayed with the same teacher (just gone into Yr2) and came home this week having gone up a level - to ORT 11

BallantyneBird · 10/09/2011 11:28

I don't know, as others have said there doesn't seem to be an absolute standard of what constitutes an appropriate book band for a child, so there's not much point in taking them too seriously.

There also seems to be a lot of variation in how often children are properly assessed for reading ability, even within a class.

My DD was in Reception last year, and I think it's fairly likely that I know much more about her reading ability and progress than her teacher did. Her reading progress book was only written in twice during the whole year, once by the teacher (during the first fortnight of the first term) and once by the TA at the end of the first term. (I wrote in it several times each week.)

As far as I can make out, apart from these two occasions, she wasn't heard reading by the teacher, the TA or the parents who came in to help with reading, as by their own admission they would focus on the children who weren't getting much help at home.

Another complicating factor is confidence in 'performing' in front of teachers - I know that if DD was to read to a teacher at school, she wouldn't be confident enough to read with the style and expression that she does at home. So it would be very difficult for a teacher to properly assess whether she is actually capable or not. As it happens she is totally capable and a very good, expressive reader, but I would be very surprised if a teacher was able to elicit this in a school environment.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is don't set too much store by which levels your child is 'put' on, as long as you are confident that your child is progressing well and enjoying reading.

newtermnewname · 10/09/2011 11:47

BallantyneBird My DD sounds exactly like yours in terms of not replicating what she is capable of at home in front of a teacher. we had a bit, actually a lot of a problem, half-way through year 1 when her teacher moved her down a level and was giving her ridiculously easy books - in addition to the banded scheme ones - to "Practice her comprehension" with. Turned out that there was nothing wrong with her bloody comprehension and fluency as she far exceeded the teachers predicted level at the end of year 1 Grin.

The important thing, though, is that we put up with the situation and went along with it at the time and I was very careful not to slag the teacher off or question her motives in front of DD, even though I was fuming and confused inside, and encouraged her to get through the school books and then she could enjoy her own books for pleasure.

She has just entered year three now and still loves reading and has not let the silliness of that episode dampen her enthusiasm.

MammyT · 10/09/2011 15:40

My dd was put on a green book starting Y1 even though she was orange for a long time in Reception. I'm really not bothered though, as the Orange level had books that exceeded her world experience, eg 'Captain Scott's Expedition', a tricky one for a barely 5 yo.

I also think it's how they wanted to record her grade at the start of the year.

Giddly · 10/09/2011 19:46

sorry - just t o confirm, she reads stage 4 what I would describe as easily and fluently - no sounding out and no unknown words. It's at leve 7 (her previous level) she would be sounding out maybe 10% and having trouble with a few words in each book.

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madamarcati · 11/09/2011 11:46

Giddly-Sounds like she should somewhere between the two then

MammyT 'he Orange level had books that exceeded her world experience, eg 'Captain Scott's Expedition', a tricky one for a barely 5 yo.'

Do you mean exceeded her comprehension level? It's kind of the point of reading to stretch your experience of the world!!!

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