Can your year one child read the following?

[soandsosmummy]

The first satellite was called Sputnik and was the size of a football. Now satellites are very big.

The communications satellite orbits the earth at 36 thousand kilometers. Television signals take quarter of a second to reach it and then another quarter of a second to bounce back to our television screens.
_

DD had a bit of trouble with this and I'm wondering if its a normal expectation for a child in first term of year 1 to be able to read this or if they've given her wrong book by accident. It was a 32 page book with 6-8 sentences a page all at a similar reading level to above.

Ds would not have been able to read that in yr1. Some of the reading books are a bit random sometimes.

hahahaha!

DS is reading at a level typical for his Y1 class and would only be attempting

the ... first ... ??? ... was ... ???called??? ... ??? ... and ...of ... a ... foot-ball etc etc.

I would read that book with him, me doing most of the reading, occasionally asking for his 'help' with some of the easier words.

DD would manage that, but would need help over 'satellite' and 'communications' I suspect. She has a good memory for words though, so once she had help with them, she wouldn't need it again. She is not a child genius/ g and t but her reading is above average and she does reading and writing with Y2 for a session a day (along with a few others from her year.)

Given the contect I explained above, I think the except you included is hard - but some of the non-fiction books are because of the nature of the their subject matter meaning they use quite unusual words.

context and excerpt.

She obviously doesn't get it from me

DS would not have been able to read that in yr1. We did not teach him to read before he started school.

DS (now yr2) could probably have read 99% of it correctly in yr1 but I don't think he would have a clue what he was actually reading about iyswim.

DS is Year one and on the red level of ORT, so only reading things like "kipper went to the parade,he saw a lion"
He is in a good school, but is still only one of a handful of children reading that level. I think this is because the school have really prioritised the informal foundation phase learning system, rather than teaching reading and maths early.
It was the same for my DD in year 1. Now aged 9 in year5, she has a reading age of 12 and is well ahead of herself so I'm not convinced that there is a correlation between early reading and later ability.

It sounds like your DD may have been given a later stage book - that seems like a key stage 2 book to me. While advanced readers definitely need to be encouraged, you don't want to get in a position where they are struggling with words and it's putting them off. Maybe a note to the teacher to confirm if it was the right level for her?

< would have been my face if we'd had this book home in year 1

having said that DS could have probably stumbled his way through it, but IME they give them reading matter that they can easily read while improving their expression and learning to read speech marks etc correctly.

DS seems to have been on the same level for ages although he can read more complex matter, and they keep throwing poem books in at the moment which he hates

My daughter is top of her year1 class for reading at level eight and she'd struggle with that. She'd get there with help, but there would be a good few words she couldn't do.

Ds is year 1 and about average in his class and there's no way he could read all that

Dd is Y1 and around/above average ito reading levels. She would manage about 1/3 of those words - and understand the first sentance only. Did you check the colour coding on the book? Very easy for books to get muddled etc

My DD is on dark blue reading books - she was giving a light blue reading book this week which looked very similar to the one that you have written here. Could something similar have happened?

DD wouldn't be able to start! Might manage 'football' but the rest might as well be in Chinese.
But a very young yr 1.

DD would have had a good go but struggled with the longer words. I think non-fiction books tend to be harder than the fiction ones (and our school also mixes in "real" books, where you are expected to give your child more help than usual).

I recognise that text! Level 6, right? Your child is obviously very bright as usually the brighter children (in the school where I help with reading) reach this book during the summer term of year one.

Not a chance of it.

DD is above average at reading but suspect she would struggle with some words such as satellite and communications. Not sure quite how much she would understand although we would discuss it together. As others have said, non fiction is often more difficult than the corresponding fiction books.

thanks everyone feel a bit better now. Its odd because IMHO her reading is pretty good for her age but she really stumbled with this .

You're right Organa it is level 6 Ginn. She managed most of it but some of it was a bit beyond her. I've put a note in for her teacher. Oddly enough the rest of the book was alright but the chapter about satellites eluded her!

Mine would have been able to read it but no way would he have understood what he'd read! The non fiction books at our school are dire. It's very painful to listen to children who can read way above their 'expected' level when you know they don't have a chance in hell of comprehending it

Are you sure it wasn;t meant to be a story book rather than a reading book? DS gets reading books at a lower level allocated by the teacher but he chooses his story books and quite often they are beyond his reading capabilities.

My ds and dd would have been able to read it but their comprehension of it would have been lacking.

My dd (level 8 ort,) would manage most of that but I reckon she'd have been phased when she looked at initially and once she startedIi suspect she'd have needed help with 'satellites' 'Sputnik' & 'communications.' Seems quite hard for a level 6! But I have noticed the non-fiction books do tend to be harder than biff & chip.

Ds1 (Y1) would probably be able to read that, especially as he is interested in space and is pretty familiar with the specialist vocab. I wouldn't say that the 'typical' child in hi class could read it though, average for his class is ~ORT level 4.

I agree that the non-fiction books tend to be more difficult than Biff, Chip and Kip but they really grabs some kids. Yesterday I listened to a little boy read a supposedly ORT 2 book about the formation of the earth. In reality it was far beyond his reading ability but he was fascinated by the content, so practised the hfv (the, it, and, on, under etc) whilst I supplied erosion, smoothing, liquid etc etc. No doubt he would have done better with 'A Trip To The Park' or whatever but this book made him really want to be able to read. It was great to see.

Like other upthread, my Ds would have a go at it and could probably manage all of it bar communication and satellite. However I doubt he'd have a clue what it actually meant, which ia a major part of expanding their reading skills during y1 according to his teacher. We've been encouraged not to dismiss lower level books if and when they come home, but to use them to prompt wider ranging discussions, and to concentrate on understanding and empathy.

My dd in Year 3 would struggle with this!! :(