Does this sound right? Year one reading

[Northlondonma]

My daughter is in year one and they read in groups once a week. She brings home her book and tells me that she gets to read one sentence out of the book each week. Does that sound right to you? She doesn't seem to do any one on one reading only in weekly group. Parents evening next week so didn't know whether to bring it up or is this just normal?

I had to google guided reading from this thread. Parents evening next week so will tread carefully and ask how often they read one to one. Do people know this from having older kids? Honestly never heard of guided reading before. Also looks like will have to teach myself how to teach phonics!

I think guided reading is where all the children on one table read the same book together, and then do comprehension questions about the text (well- that seems to be what my Y4 child does. My Y1 child doesn't do guided reading yet. He does get 1:1 reading to an adult in school every day though, but it is a fee-paying school).

We also had parents' workshops on the phonics teaching- in Reception and Y1, so that we could reinforce what they had been learning in school, and use the same sounds for the letters etc.

Is it possible that she's been introduced to the rules for separated vowels, but just not retained the information (as it's a pretty weird concept when you break it down , and yes, only works for some of the time).

Learning English is so hard! Almost everything seems to be an exception.

When I have (only rarely) heard children reading in guided reading groups they have at least read a page each, not just a single sentence. These were children in higher year groups though.
Our school have never taught 'magic e' since they started teaching phonics. They teach a split digraph i...e or a...e etc with a little curve joining the letters over the top rather than dots between them. DS3 is in year 1 and he has recently done some - he was learning which words used 'a...e' and which were 'ay' one week for homework.
In year 1 the teacher does listen to them read once a week, then other reading with the TAs.

I hear all my y1 reading groups (max 6 children per group) daily but have to do literacy input to main group first - set them on task, while other groups are doing spelling/phonics activities, do their inputs, set them on tasks, then hear the 5 groups plus one individual. It's manic! I also have drawers of early finisher tasks fir those who completed their with. No other support so this is the way it has to be!

OP you don't need to teach phonics. They get all that in school. Just reading with them is enough. Google paired reading - you can just tell the child the word, it's less pressured that way and it's fine.

It took me far too long to learn that reading to a child with a pointy finger, or reading 95% of the words while they just do the 'a's and 'the's, is also teaching them. DS learned loads this way. He is on purple so doing really well for Y1 and some nights he will just read the name of the main character, and I'll do the rest. But he is processing every word I read. It doesn't need to be a big instructional session or a test every time.

Something has to give pip pity (my lunch break usually) but it's a matter of priorities. If children can't read fluently they can't access the curriculum.

How old are Y1 children?

I'm American and our school system is different; my DS is in first grade and is seven.

Year one is age 5/6. The kids will turn 6 between September 2014 and August 2015.

Regarding reading in Y1, I'm not sure what's going on in my DC's class. There are no notes from the teacher in the reading diary for the last two weeks. She's getting reading books that she did in reception despite her reading improving significantly over the summer. We are going to do more reading at home to make up for it.

Thinking back, we didn't do guided reading in year 1 - it started in year 2, when dc could read better so they could concentrate on the meaning of a story, not just on reading it. Each dc read a page each, then did activities and answered questions linked to the book.

You're all right about the magic e too - dc learned it is a split digraph. Sorry!

No , not normal. Every chi.ld gets read with individually at least once per week, more likely twice. For slower readers they do it every day.

If my DDs reading record was accurate she was heard 1:1 by an adult about 5 times in reception, 3 or 4 times in year 1 and not at all so far in year 2. She does Guided reading once a week with an adult.

My dd does guided reading with her reading group twice a week, once with the TA and once with the teacher.

She also reads her home reader one to one with the TA twice a week (that is also when the home reader is changed). The TA also signs the reading record and passes any messages from the parents onto the teacher at this time.

We don't follow guided reading in any year group as we don't find it effective for our pupils.

IMO this is part of the reason there are children leaving Primary with low literacy levels.

There may be limited time in school, but parents are not trained as teachers and some cannot effectively teach their own children to read for a variety if reasons. They could have poor literacy levels themselves or other very pressing family / work commitments. The teaching of reading is what our education system us supposed to provide. Not providing this just increases educational inequalities because, as mrz says, reading is needed to access the curriculum.

IMO reading needs to be made a priority. In many schools a lot of time is spent on 'enrichment' activities, with no actual academic work linked. I think schools should concentrate, instead, on making the academics fun and enriching. After all many of us do read for pleasure...

If you look in the MN Book Reviews, in "Children's educational books and courses" you will find a book that may answer most of your queries. The Oxford Phonics Spelling Dictionary is an easy to use book, and is colourful and entertaining. It will see children right through primary, and into secondary school. There is a link on the Review so you can see sample pages, and also purchase if you wish.

I was a TA and helper in primary for over twenty years, during which time methods changed considerably, but today's Phonics probably gives children the best reading, spelling, and writing experience.

Papermover I am in haringay. Have been going through jolly phonics with her this morning (I have flash cards) and it seems she does know about the split digraph although she calls it the invisible e. Have talked to some other mums and they confirmed that their kids do the one guided reading group each week. The thing is that she is advancing with her reading. She couldn't read at all when she started so progress is remarkable and that has to be thanks for the teaching methods that they use. I absolutely love the school that she is at. Will speak with teacher next week to see if they do one on one throughout year and see what they say.

Thanks ferguson. Will look to get that book.

in Reception my daughters both read to an adult twice a week individually.

In Yr1 they have both read 2-4 times a week individually to an adult.

in Yr2 it seems more like once a week to once a fortnight but they do also do group/guided reading with the teacher.

Individual reading is to a TA or parent helper not the teacher.

I have to say I am particularly impressed with the Yr1 TA who believes that this one to one reading time is so important. Both my daughters have had her and I honestly believe her efforts are a large part of why the class is actually very good at reading across the board even though over half have English as a second language and many spoke no English in Reception.

Seems like rather a waste of time? Perhaps it might be better if they get five minutes one to one? It would take up the same amount of lesson time and would be much more useful for the individual children.

I would bring it up, and suggest a parents' reading rota if your daughter is getting no one-to-one reading. It's an important part of learning to read - actually reading to someone who knows how to read! - so your child should be doing it. A parents' reading rota would be really helpful.

A parents reading rota does sound like a great idea. Only thing is most people work or have smaller children/babies but will def suggest and see what feedback I get.

Good luck with it! Our rota had mums with babies putting their buggies/prams by the reading table, it wasn't really a problem. You call out the first child then after reading they go back in to the classroom and touch another kid on the shoulder. If it's a good rota, you cross every child off the list in one day. It's marvellous. There was a wee table outside a classroom next to the shelves of books. Every classroom had a tiny table outside for parent reading.