DD reading books off own back, Spiderwick, lemoney skinicket, dick king...what reading level should she be...

[rainraingoAWAYNEVERCOMEBACK]

I know its not comparable, teachers have reasons for keeping school levels, low and so on, I was just asking out of sheer interest, if anyone elses child was picking up books because they have got into reading...and what their corresponding ORT book was. My DD is year one, level 6.

Purely out of interest, I used to get worked up about ORT levels but not now.

... unless you can bear story after story of children who have ridiculous numbers of formulaic adventures.

The higher level a book is the more there is that can be inferred from the text (As opposed to direct comprehension of exactly what is written). This is the text from a higher level book which I found on the internet...
The room was warm and lit by candles.
Franklin wondered why the candles hadn’t
burnt down. There were some bits of
furniture; a faded armchair, and a grandfather
clock, still ticking.
A miaow came from behind him. Franklin
shone his torch and Jackson’s green eyes
glittered in the beam.
The cat was sitting on top of a shelf
stacked with old books. Franklin had never
seen anything like them. Each book was as
big as a Bible and bound in red leather. He
pulled one out with an effort. Wiping the
dust from the cover, he could make out the
title in strange, curly lettering:
A Booke of
Spelles and Curses
Volume 5
Franklin caught his breath. It was a book
of magic. He turned the gold-edged pages.
‘A spell for curing warts … A spell to make
your ears grow … A curse for a plague of
frogs …’
So it was true: his gran really was a witch.
Franklin’s head was reeling. All these years
she had kept it from him. And now he’d
stumbled on her secret in the cellar.
Just then Franklin heard his gran’s
footsteps overhead. She was coming down
the stairs. What would she do if she found
out he’d discovered her secret? Franklin
turned cold with panic. She might even put
a witch’s spell on him.

I'm not a teacher, but if reading with DS2 just from the first paragraph I would ask questions like - why is the armchair faded, why does he think the candles haven't burnt down, why is it strange that the clock is still ticking (This would require knowledge that a grandfather clock needs winding for example).
He can easily answer questions that are direct from the text "How big was the book?" "As big as a Bible", but might struggle more with "But how big is that - show me?". I've no idea if he could answer the above questions. When he last had a book of this level (by mistake a year ago) he could read all the words, but he was completely missing all the inference from the text. He could read and understand this at a simple 'enjoyment level' though.
So it can be easier to teach inference from simpler texts as they build up the level of inference in the same way that the words become harder too.
At least, that is my understanding.

teenandtween and nobutreally Yes very helpful pointers thank you....

In the nicest possible way, I have asked before about reading when it was taking off and I was told loads of crap....they have finally realised she is becoming a good reader and move her up quite regularly. I have no illusions about the school she has a good teacher whom i like very much....but I am under no illusions this is a state school with 30 in the class.

What matters to me is that they have taught her to read and she loves books.

I was just idly wondering what other DC reading level were, I suppose more than anything to gage..how far off the school is!

Rabiit
Level 6 is a very low level to be on for a child free reading and enjoying a wide variety of books. But then surely you didn't need to ask the question when the answer is so obvious?!

The answer as to what reading levels other children reading similar books, it not obvious. I am not very good at expressing myself and /or maybe you are not comprehending the op .

No its not obvious to me what teachers do or what they get up too because...I am not a teacher and what goes on is all like Chinese to me and I struggle to understand the teaching jargon and this stage and that.

Which...is why I am throwing it out there, as said in my op, as an idle wonder..

As for understanding story lines as an adult I re watch films and see stuff I missed, or interpreted differently and with books too...a decade on the book can be a different beast.I am pretty sure she is understanding whats going on and she is enjoying it, she doesn't get easily spooked at all.

Going to ask some more in depth and different questions this weekend.

Meita

I have read before for instance on here that some children have great de coding but cant understand content so they are getting little out of the books, like working out a maths sum but not getting any information from the text.

That was one repeated reason I have heard from teachers keeping good readers down because they are not happy with the level of comprehension.

Sorry, I still don't comprehend why other children's ORT reading levels are relevant to you? That won't answer the question as to the level YOUR dd should be on.

littlemiss

thanks for those excerpts and examples, this is what I need to help me understand!

To get a rough idea Rabbit, there are no other words I can explain it in. If you live close to me, maybe you could come round for coffee and we could trawl though my thinking further and that may help?

Hmm. I've just made myself a cup of tea. Would love a coffee some other time, though, and we could talk about how you aren't worked up about ORT levels and what they mean.

I would suggest talking to your dd's teacher about it, though - I don't think you would come across as pushy to ask her to explain how the reading levels work and what you should be doing to support comprehension and enjoyment when your dd is reading more complicated books at home. I'll bet she could give you a list of the sorts of questions you could ask, etc.

Most parents who want to send massive hints to the school then start writing lots in their children's reading diaries about all the things they have talked about together when their children have read at home, about how much their child has understood, and they stop reading the school books altogether at home. Or so I have observed as a volunteer who goes in to read with children at school.

When dd1 was year 1 she read Harry Potter to whatever it had been published to (either 5 or 6). However the policy of the current head then was that in year 1 they only did guided reading and they couldn't read above level 6.
I asked at parents' evening about the level, hoping for the response along the lines of "we have a few at that level, so we'll be moving them on quickly". Unfortunately this wasn't the case.

However, boring though it was, at least it didn't take long boring, and, i think, going over very simple (for her) books to do guided reading really helped her later to be able to dig right down into a book.

Oh shucks, ok, maybe some other time Rabbit, we could also discuss, if time, why you are so concerned with what and why I am thinking...what.

After my last talks with the teacher I have decided not to bother any more.

As long as it wont impact DD in anyway to be on band 6 which I don't think it will..I am happy for them to move her up at their own pace.

My DD was a slow starter with readong but really took off in Yr1. She's Yr2 now but still 6 and also reads silar titles to yours at home. I think her comprehensipn is very good but not 100%.
Am bad mum and don't know her readong level but don't think she is free reading yet.
Apols for typos!

My DD was a slow starter with readong but really took off in Yr1. She's Yr2 now but still 6 and also reads silar titles to yours at home. I think her comprehensipn is very good but not 100%.
Am bad mum and don't know her readong level but don't think she is free reading yet.
Apols for typos!

apols for doible postong too. blpody phome!!

Now, now, rainrain, I am no more concerned with what you are thinking than you are concerned with what I am thinking. I never invited you around for coffee, after all.

DD also reads similar books - Dick KS, David Walliams, Lemony Snicket etc. She is reading Brown level books (ORT 14 I think??)

At our school, I think they would be very reluctant to move a yr 1 child into 'free readers' as most stay on book bands into KS2 . If your DD is not only decoding these books but has a good understanding of the plot and subtext, I would be asking for her to be reassessed.

DD2 is 6 and in yr1. She reads similar books to your DD at home. She is ORT level 8 for school books. She finds them easy and reads them quickly and adds that much expression in them that she is practically acting them out. The school mix up the reading schemes occasionally which is good as one schemes challenge her more. I'm happy with the school level as she supplements that nicely with her own choice. I also know the school will move children on to free readers in Year 1 if appropriate though. I think they have their reasons for not challenging her too much.

The teachers either know what material the child can read and understand or they don't. If they don't there's not much you can do about it. And if they do then you'd probably not be writing on mumsnet about it.

It's an already won or lose situation.

blackpuddding love your name

Its a funny stage isn't it...and reading itself is a strange thing!

What constitutes a free reader I wonder..

Now that she can do it, I am happy with her home progress and not being given longer school books means we can concentrate on her HW more...maths and writing and so on...where she needs work.

There were 'free' readers (ie children using the library as opposed to reading schemes) in Y1 in both my dds' classes. Both my dds became 'free readers' towards the end of Y1/start of Y2 respectively.

At that age, neither would have been given Lemony Snickett at school - which I both understand and, tbh, am grateful for. I might have read it to them (dd2 is just 7 and loves the film) but the content wouldn't suit many 6 year olds, and the language would mean a degree of not understanding that, frankly, would have left them skipping over lots of phrases or words. My 10 year old is in love with Lemony and has read 10/13 books since the beginning of January, but even she (and she has a great vocabulary) has to ask what some expressions mean from time to time.

OTOH, rigid reading schemes that mean kids being bored stiff is just daft. I think schools want the kids to have books they know they can understand without having to ask adults for explanations, but Roald Dahl, for example, might beat Biff and Chip!

Love how a thread goes totally off topic, and has morphed into whether LS is good for 6 year old.

I asked her some more questions this evening on it although she hates being questioned I am very confident she has a good understanding of whats going on.

She can't put the books down, falls asleep reading them,grabs them first thing...and I am not bothered if she is missing or skipping phrases, she reads them out occasionally and gets me to read some to her...she adores it, and has not shown any signs of unhappiness.

When I was little no one controlled my reading!

Not sure why you ever posted, then, tbh, rainrain... Surely not just to find out what levels other children who read Lemony Snicket are on?!!!!! As we've comprehensively proven, children of all sorts of ages and levels of ability read those books... some understanding more of the subtext than others. Still, whilst you don't want to control what your dd wants to read at home, you clearly desire to have more control over what goes on at school. Why not just be honest about it and go in and complain to the teacher (and, while you're at it, admit that you are still worked up about ORT levels)???

In all honesty, you give the strong impression that despite all your protestations about liking the teacher and being virtually horizontal about reading levels, you don't think the school understands your dd at all and that your dd is doing most of her learning at home, so you might as well give up on the school getting anything right and not bother to talk to them. I would cease the idle speculation and do something about your obvious dissatisfaction, rather than pretend you think it's par for the course for a state school with 30 children in a class.