Oxford Reading Tree - help needed!

[backofthewardrobe]

Could someone please explain this reading scheme to me and why some parents are so obsessed with the various coloured levels.

I keep hearing “He’s reading pink books he should be on red books he’ll never get to gold books!” in the playground and I realise that the books get “harder” but the children have been on be same level that started at all year, when do they change?

Are there different levels within the coloured bands? Does it actually matter as long as your child is reading?

TIA

A book band will of course have a broadly similar level of difficulty for an average child. Of course in reality some children will pick up a level 6 book and read it fluently while they might falter a bit on a particular level 5 book. Such is reality.

"So you can't use the word "come" or "said" or many others which will serious limit what you can say." What utter nonsense
"None of mine used their phonics knowledge much in reading anyway although I know others - particularly weaker readers do." Good readers (even fluent adults) use phonics while weak readers have to rely on ineffective strategies.

"Just by random variation it's not possible to make a book which is precisely" book bands were created to group books with the same level of difficulty based on whole language criteria such as number of words per sentence and number of sentences per page ...useless!

Sorry to derail but there is actually very little evidence that SSP in particular is any better than any other phonics method although it is favoured by the government and some of it's more religious proponents. Since children are usually taught according to the NC phonics for each level most stronger readers will have an ability to read beyond their phonics knowledge so will pick it up in a more natural manner. No one decodes "said" as they will have seen it enough times to pick up as a sight word long before it would be taught in a codable way.

It's also natural that although the books within a band are meant to fit loosely within a certain difficulty that there will be some natural variation since difficulty isn't a binary quantity. Whether or not this difficulty variation was intended when writing the books is irrelevant.

book bands were created to group books with the same level of difficulty based on whole language criteria such as number of words per sentence and number of sentences per page ...useless!

Don't be ridiculous. Even if the sentences have exactly the same number of words and use the same phonics some kids will happen to struggle with one word more than another and for most kids it's similar words for whatever reason.

I would add that this is probably why everyone finds the books so awful as they're more interested in producing a regimented reading scheme than anything any child might like to read.

There's also a lot of evidence that the familiarity of the content of the book has a large impact on whether the book is readable.

"kids need motivation to read" kids need to be able to read to be motivated to read giving them books that effectively require them to recite and look at the picture isn't teaching them to read and while it may look as if they're progressing they soon become unstuck when they can no longer fill in the gaps from the pictures.

"Don't be ridiculous" since when are facts ridiculous? When they don't fit your mistaken belief?

A book band will of course have a broadly similar level of difficulty for an average child. Of course in reality some children will pick up a level 6 book and read it fluently while they might falter a bit on a particular level 5 book. Such is reality.

Suggest realigning your books to match the NC (which is what you statutorily should be doing anyway - it's not optional!) and concentrating on a)your 'average ' readers who you say 'may not be able to access level 5' . Why? It's vital that you find this out. Gooc reading instruction should not be hit and miss like this and b)what is happening with your below average readers if your average are struggling?

"Suggest realigning your books to match the NC (which is what you statutorily should be doing anyway - it's not optional!) " good advice

Our book bands are already fully in line with the NC. The reality is there is a trend within the book band of books which children find more or less difficult. There just is and it's common sense that there would be variation as it's not a binary quantity.

In fact there is little evidence for the massive push towards SSP that is being pushed by the government lately.

I generally know exactly why a child finds one book more difficult than another. It will have a lot to do with their vocabulary and their interest in the book.

them books that effectively require them to recite and look at the picture isn't teaching them to read and while it may look as if they're progressing they soon become unstuck when they can no longer fill in the gaps from the pictures.

None of the kids have needed to look at the picture to prompt them to read. That would be largely impossible for all but the very simple books anyway. You could glean what the book is generally about but you certainly couldn't guess your way through 5 sentences by looking at a picture. Ridiculous!

I think this is getting quite far from the point but despite the almost religious ferocity the proponents of phonics my experience lies exactly with the evidence. Phonics is useful, particularly as you begin to learn to read but it shouldn't be used in isolation. No parent is limited by the national curriculum so by all means support phonics learning for early readers but don't listen to the people who think it should be taught to the exclusion of all else. As long as the child can read the book with reasonable fluency isn't guessing words although may not get every words right immediately, and more importantly are enjoying the book that's enough.

In fact there is little evidence for the massive push towards SSP that is being pushed by the government lately

Y.es. Yes, that is completely true - if you have lived under a rock and ignored any international reports on reading for the last ten years.

iferi.org/evidence/

"In fact there is little evidence for the massive push towards SSP that is being pushed by the government lately.l seriously! Have you been asleep for the last thirty years? A good place to start is Professor Dehaene's lecture https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MSy685vNqYk

This is not a stealth boast but my dd and many of her friends were free readers by middle of year one. I was not going to sit here reading bloody chip and biff with her when she was reading Jaqueline Wilson fairy book series in her own. Don’t worry about the levels. Encourage a live of reading and your child will find their way. My dd is yr4 now and I don’t think they put the same emphasis on it as long as they know that the child reads. Mine is now really into happy potter but a lot of her class mates have already read them all!

While I am clearly illiterate or should find my glasses before posting!

Hi OP

Gosh, this thread has got a bit fighty. I think the books within the same coloured band should be pretty much the same level of difficulty. No, I don't think this sort of thing matters if your child is reading at home.

Parents are obsessed with the coloured levels because parents are (largely) obsessed with their children. People who are very focussed on making progress will look at whether their child is moving up the book bands as a sign of whether they are making progress in reading. It must be quite disheartening for those people if their child has stayed on the same level all year.

It sounds as though parents at your school are very focussed on the reading scheme. However, I've heard of people going through other children's book bags (only on here, not in real life) so this is really important to some people.

Out of nosiness, what are you reading at home?

Don't really want to engage in the phonics fightiness but the youtube video definitely doesn't provide evidence that phonics should be taught to the exclusion of all else. If you do a literature review of published papers the evidence just doesn't exist. It's quite frankly strange how obsessed some people are by it. It's useful to a degree in the early stages of reading. Like PP by the middle-end of Y1 most of the class were well able to read what they liked (including books with no pictures without having to bother with the awful biff chip and kipper.

CruCru Anything and everything from Julia Donaldson to Harry Potter! We just go to the library and get 5 books a week.

Agree with PP don't worry about the obsessive phonics push. If a book interests your child and they can read most of with just a bit of help go for it. Most of the reading happens at home with books from home so just nip through the boring Biff, Chip nonsense and get on with fun reading.

"but the youtube video definitely doesn't provide evidence that phonics should be taught to the exclusion of all else" has anyone said that phonics should be taught to the exclusion of all else? Phonics should be taught within a language rich curriculum. What should be excluded is the teaching of ineffective strategies.

"you do a literature review of published papers the evidence just doesn't exist.l you obviously haven't looked ...try the National reading panels report -they concluded that the research literature provides solid evidence that phonics instruction produces significant benefits for children from kindergarten through 6th grade and for children having difficulty learning to read. The greatest improvements were seen from systematic phonics instruction. This type of phonics instruction consists of teaching a planned sequence of phonics elements, rather than highlighting elements as they happen to appear in a text.

"The NRP reviewed 38 studies on the teaching of phonics and found that teaching children the relationship between letters and spelling patterns and pronunciation and how to decode words improved reading achievement. Young children who received such instruction did better with decoding words, nonsense words, spelling, fluency, and reading comprehension."

"The evidence is clear, whether from research, good practice observed in schools, advice from submissions to the Inquiry, consultations, or from Committee members’ own individual experiences, that direct systematic instruction in phonics during the early years of schooling is an essential foundation for teaching children to read. Findings from the research evidence indicate that all students learn best when teachers adopt an integrated approach to reading that explicitly teaches phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary knowledge and comprehension."
National inquiry into the teaching of literacy.