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.

satellite and telescope are easily decoded they don't need to be taught the only word that I would expect to cause a problem would be television (child would need to know that si represents sound ) ~Having said that I wouldn't expect most Y1 children to read that (but I have taught children in reception who would have had no problem with it).

LOL at stickyfingers

I am quite capable of exchanges like this:

BoffinMum stands at the window. "Look! A Planet!" she says. BoffinDad says, "It is not a planet. It is a plane". BoffinMum looks sad. She has always wanted to see a real planet for herself, not one in a book. She says to BoffinDad, "It is not a plane because it is not moving". He says, "It is a long way off. That is why it looks like it is not moving". BoffinMum looks sad again. "This telescope is rubbish. Can we get one for grown ups instead of this Tesco one?" "No," says BoffinDad.

DD1 is top of her class and reading at stage 7. She couldn't read that without help and has just given up as it is too hard.

BoffinMum I like your rewriting. And especially the latest post about the planet :)

8 might try and see hoe DD gets on with the original som3 time though - am strangely interested

DS1 is in Y11 and reading white band. He would have had to have help with "communications" and would have been dubious about "Sputnik".

I would be questioning the teacher if a child was on white band and couldn't decode S p u t n i k

I think DD would decode Sputnik but would still be a little unsure of it.

Ds1 (year 4) would struggle with that

I heartily recommend Terry Pratchett's "Where's my Cow" in that case.

My second oeuvre, hommage to Sir Terry. It's entitled "School gate, 3pm".

Is your DD clever?
My DD is clever. She is on Level 1. That is very clever.

Is your DS clever?
My DS is clever. He is on Level 2. That is even more clever than Level 1. So he must be clever.

Is your DD clever?
My DD is clever. She is on Level 3. That is even more clever than Levels 1 and 2. So she must be even more clever still.

Is your DS clever?
He is not clever. He can only pick his nose. But his daddy is a psychologist and his mummy is a university lecturer so we couldn't care less for now.

mrz of course he can sound out sputnik :o. But is it sput as in put or sput as in but? That's what he'd ask

Loving boffinmum's stories - pleeeease can you turn these into proper books? - (a mumsnet project? - any good illustrator mums out there? - for charity? - just thinking aloud :) ) - as my science-mad ds would so love to read these, and the reading level is just right-but-a-bit-stretching for him in yr 1 (average-ish reader). I'd write them myself but my knowledge of science is approximately equal to my 5 year old ds's :) Plus your style is fantastic.

mrz - re sputnik, I think the problem isn't that the children couldn't sound it out in year 1, it's that they wouldn't have a ruddy clue what it meant or if they'd got it right - it's 1950's Russian, isn't it? Bit hard for a 5 year old, no matter how good their decoding skills may be.

I too was thinking about sput as in put or sput as in but. And then found myself saying them out loud. As I was walking down the street. Possibly made a few people go

Haha. DS2 would still struggle to read that OP. And he's in Year 6!

Boffin

That poem needs to be on every reading level thread...

OK, so he's just proved me wrong by reading it without a hitch! Shows what I know . Definitely would not have managed it in Year 1 though.

I would love to write books like this but I have learned from hard experience that unless you have been on the telly nobody mainstream will ever publish anything you write.

boffin that's a crying shame, you're hilarious!

notyummy PMSL. I would definitely study physics at the university of NotYummy, and it would make so much more sense to me.

boffin - you really should. I do feel there is a gap in the market in that the science books aimed at early readers just name things but don't explain them - I'm sure that, with the right knowledge, it is possible to explain things in simple language too (as you do in your satellite text), but most science texts that do explain things for young readers are just like the text in the OP, with far too many long words and far too excruciatingly dull.

Whereas with texts like yours (plus some good pictures), our dcs (esp dss) would WANT to read. So it would be helping their reading AND their understanding of science.

Pretty please. :)

I got dd to read it earlier. She read it all (although she did pronounce kilometers as kill oh meters), asked what a kilometer was and how long a quarter of a second is. She did understand it BUT her aunty and uncle are both space scientists so have talked to her about satellites, orbits and bouncing signals etc a bit already. She is also a very high reader so by no means at a typical level for y1

LOVE boffinmums stuff

Hi

I've been TA in KS1 for over ten years, and NO, we would not expect Yr1 to read at that level.

We send home a 'scheme' book, (no longer ORT as the older ORT do not conform to phonics requirements, though newer series does.)

But the child also chooses a library book which may be story or non-fiction, and it is for child and parent to SHARE, talk about, look at pictures etc.

Or you could read it together, DD doing any words she knows -- the, was, to, and, big, (maybe also) first, very, reach, then. And, ironically, Satellite can also be sounded out, bit by bit, if she knows 'split digraph' - what we used to call 'magic e'!

But try not to fret about it: Yr 1 she's hardly started school! Just enjoy sharing any printed matter with her, read to her lots, and (if possible) let her see YOU reading for pleasure.

Of course, if more too-difficult books come home just ask the teacher about it. (Is DD particularly interested in Space? We have a Yr 1 Polish boy crazy about volcanoes, and now he's onto the Solar System !)

cheers