G&T guided reading (y1)

[bobthebear]

DD has been classed as 'exceptionally G&T' in reading. Her current reading book is a book the year sixes have as their guided reading book (I have a relative in y6 who is in the top group so know the books are the same). But she's being forced to read this book she read in nursery in guided reading!

Is this normal? Should I mention it or just hope her y2 teacher manages her guided reading better?

just write in the feedback book "Too easy, no challenge, please can we have a stage whatever book?"

No, it's not normal (we have that book as green level, iirc) and yes, it is worth mentioning. My best readers (Y1) have reading ages of >8 and are reading white level i.e. chapter books with lots of discussion and comprehension questions. We read a book today that seemed quite straightforward on my skim reading, but we soon came across a number of unknown words eg hutch, celeb, gruelling, rehearsal - they could work them out but didn't know what they meant.

It's a guided reading book chocs so I can't really comment on it in her diary and ask for a different level although they weren't doing guided reading before so this is a slight improvement

postman that's what DD needs!

We read whatever the school sends commenting on what we did to spice up the too easy shit boring wank. Eg DS read book with expression and we discussed norse mythology and researched .....

I then add a comment on what he is reading at home which in year one was mostly Mildred Hubble, or something like Matilda. He was placed with the year above for all literacy and group reading and was then removed from the scheme as he was deemed a free reader and just allowed to pick from the library (with a guiding hand if necessary).

Unfortunately we then moved areas for year two and the new school wanted to start him off with his peers so we were back on biff and fucking kipper. they don't do off scheme readers so we just top up at home. So he gets sent year six non fiction books and he is currently 4 books into Narnia at home with the borrowers lines up in the wings.

We do struggle to stretch him keeping to his maturity level. He is a summer born and a bit of a delicate flower so we have gone for older classic literature as it has all the tricky words in but nothing too racy or scary.

sneaky school don't send anything home. They rely on us choosing her school books, and strangely she's reading Narnia too!

It's hard because she'll read to herself all day every day but I need to check her comprehension, she is only 6 after all and doesn't know everything even if she thinks she does

Guided reading is about discussing the text, talking about what the writer does to make the book interesting etc. I've analysed Dr. Seuss with Year 9s. So I'd say as long as the level of discussion is high enough, she'll still be learning from that book. Great they're giving her appropriate reading books.

The level of discussion was way below her level, hence her mentioning it to me. They talked about the pictures which DD did with ease, not unexpected considering she's been reading it independently for over 2 years!

Wouldn't she have to do guided reading with a different group, maybe even a different year if you want her to use John Grisham books as texts?

I find the concept of being G and T at reading rather difficult. Once you can read, you can read, surely? It's not like Maths, where you can keep on getting better and better and doing more and mor difficult stuff. My ds was reading whatever he wanted by year 1- but he wasn't g and t, he'd just mastered that particular skill earlier than the others. With guided reading it doesn't actually matter what book you use, it's the discussion that's the important bit.

Why would I want her reading John Grisham?

But the book they read this week was the eqivalent (sp?) of a y6 doing sums like 5+5!

I'll not mention it to her teacher though. I just find it frustrating that her group arent been challenged

I'm not that phased by the concept of G&T reading. To me it just means that you can read very well very early, surely an aspiration for all children. We didn't have concepts like this when I was an infant. But then you were expected to read. Reading wasn't divided up into steps of decoding. You just got given a book and you read it. I don't remember reading schemes as such either, just reading books. So, I think part of G&T reading is a product of the current rather tortuous scheme process and a recognition that for some pupils it isn't necessary.

I suppose a side effect of G&T reading is that it makes something quite intrinsic to our social system, ie reading, seem extraordinary, which perhaps is a shame. But I guess all systems have their downsides and G&T reading isn't exactly a big downside.

DD is in a G&T guided reading group in reception and reads stage 7 (which is far too easy for her) but (a) there is no one else at her level of reading (yet) so she has to read with someone (b) it is more than the actual reading. She is learning (again) about beginning, middle and endings of how stories are structured.

She sometimes has comprehension type questions to do at home (using the guided reading book), she has also had to re-write the story in her own words before.

This weeks guided reading task was to practise reading with expression (which DD does perfectly) and we went off on a bit of a tangent and I taught her what an apostrophe was (it was in the title of a book).

So basically, amid my ramblings what I am trying to say is that whilst DD's guided reading does nothing for her actual reading it helps in other areas ie writing.

I think G&T at reading is bizarre too.

All of mine were reading very early.One taught himself before school and was free in rec,the other 2 were free in first term of year1.

Now in year 3 and 4,the vast majority are the free too.Reading is just a skill,how can you be gifted it it?

I never got snitchy re guided reading as there is a shed load of stuff covered you don't really do at home.I was a teacher.

The thing re reading is the more you read the better you are.If you fly off early but stop reading the skill gets rusty. If you start late but read avidly later you can race ahead.The more you read the better your comprehension,spelling etc.

My 3 are avid readers,hours a day.It is this that keeps them able readers not their guided reading sessions imvho.

And op how do you know they weren't challenged,did you hear the whole content of the lesson?Kids can brag about things being easy a lot in year 1 as they are no longer the school babies.

I disagree re gifted and talented not being applicable to reading because it is a "skill" that you can learn. Maths, sports, music are all learnable skills that some children will find quicker and easier to learn than others in a way that is not different from reading and therefore you could make an argument that there should be no idea of picking out specific children with talents in anything (and I'm sure there are plenty of people who would in fact say just that.)

You could teach all children to play piano and the vast majority would be able to reach grade 8 at some point but not all would have the ability to be concert pianists and a few exceptional children might progress extremely quickly through the grades.

Reading isn't just about decoding a series of symbols or simply saying a string of words it's about understanding the meaning of individual words and also what they mean when they are put together in a particular way. There is also the need to be able to develop relatively abstract thoughts about what has been read. Some children will develop these skills earlier than others but not all children are at the same level by year 6 or even at GCSE level. You could give Great Expectations to a child of any age that had the ability to decode most words but generally speaking most young children would not get an awful lot out of it. Skills in reading clearly extend beyond infant or even junior level in the same way that maths skills do.

The book does matter to an extent- the level of questioning you can apply to a stage 2 book is very different from that you can apply to a stage 9 book because there is more content to consider.

I don't think there is anything wrong with identifying a child as having a talent in a particular area and allowing them to develop it to the best of their ability by giving them challenges appropriate to their level rathe than their age.

I agree to a certain extent however year 2 for reading I think is a tad early as there is the summer birth issue and the home environment.

Surely a child living in a home with high literacy,surrounded by books and heard to read every day is hardly gifted if they're flying.In some schools in leafy areas the maj will be and it all does even out in year 3.

Have to say you could get masses out of the book the op is talking about and link to other books he has written on a similar theme.

I agree some children just master the skill of reading and decoding earlier than others but I don't see what the problem is with saying they have a talent for it! I see kids who get trundled off for g & t maths sessions after all - why can't reading be developed in the same way..

I want to think my dd is being encouraged and supported to her potential by the school as well as at home but feel, like others do that she's merely treading water until the others catch up.

I have no advice sorry OP as am similarly hoping yr 2 will be different!

I don't see why there are comments about being gifted in reading.

I agree with another poster that it is a skill to learn and some are better than others.

However if a child is simply good at decoding then they are not necessarily gifted in reading IMO.

DD just "gets it" and can answer inference questions that her yr3 brother struggles to answer (and he is pretty good at reading too).

But I do think if a child is very able at reading then the best thing to do is to encourage them in other literacy areas ie speaking and listening, writing etc...which is what guided reading helps with.

DS was very strong in reading by the end of reception and all the way through KS1 he was way ahead of everybody else and now in yr3 yes, other kids are catching him up (which is fine obviously) but DD is a whole different ball game (can't explain it really) and has made the equivalent of 2 school years progress in just 6 months.

She is totally focused on reading (and now writing) which DS never was and is making very rapid progress that I am not convinced the "it will all even out by yr3" will apply (but I won't be bothered if it does iyswim).

It is an interesting discussion.I find the whole G&T thing a croc to be honest,I thought they were getting rid of it.The courses are lovely though.

As an aside in the uni G&T course syllabus my primary dc go on there are no G&T reading courses across the whole age range.There are s&l and creative writing courses which I guess you'd need to be an able reader to get the most out of it as they'll look at texts but the focus and titles are definitely creative writing.

DD2 is in Yr5 and is in a G+T guided reading group - they call themselves the Bookworms Club and do their work entirely separately from the other groups. She's just read War Horse, which has been great - not enormously challenging from a text pov, but with plenty of material for them to think and discuss. That's how it should be done, guided reading is not about dumbing down - it should be a challenge for everyone in the group. The OP's school is letting her DD down.

Guided reading is more about comprehension and discussing issues that the book covers than simple decoding.

It's important a child gets to read for pleasure too and to know that picture books are not 'below' them, whatever age they get to. Many picture books are illustrated by incredibly gifted artists and many writers choose the picture book format when writing for an older and more 'sophisticated' audience. When the challenge of decoding is removed, the message of the book can become the focus.

So, if OP's child is gaining pleasure from the book, then it is still worth reading since she is clearly also getting to read books at a much more challenging level from her own reading books. If all the books she reads are at a challenging level there is a risk that she could eventually be turned off reading as she will see it as a chore.

My son has been classed as g&t reading in reception - although compared to mn kids he'd be in the bottom third based on reading levels . the school have identified that he has deeper comments and questions about a text than other kids. Decoding is a different skill. Tbh i don't care whether they've put him on a list, what i care about is that someone is having a challenging and interesting discussion with him about books, regardless of the colour of the sticker someone has used on it! We've begun the chronicles of Narnia at home and he is literally spellbound, for me the look on his face is what reading is all about.
They are currently not doing guided reading with him as nobody to group him with yet, I trust their judgment on this, am sure by next year he will have a kindred spirit!