Guided reading group way below DS level - does it matter?

[Legomania]

DS (year 1) has just started guided reading. He on lime, teacher happy with his comprehension etc. But the book they're reading is at blue level (ie 7 down). Is this something to question with his teacher, or just ignore, since he's a very capable reader anyway? I assume they don't have a big group of kids up at bands 10-11 but surely some a little closer to his level.

Just ask. Ask why the levels are so different. The teacher should be able to explain clearly why that book has been chosen and why your ds is in that group.

Lime at the start of Year 1 is quite extraordinary in most schools, and the problem the teacher is likely to be having is that there isn't a group of 6 or so who will be able to read with a text.

Once children have cleared the phonics hurdle, guided reading is not about decoding/levels particularly, it is about developing children's thinking, comprehension and inferential skills. That is - theoretically - possible with some blue books for an able child, if the right questions are being asked eg about how characters are feeling, why they did certain things (with the rider that many blue books are not of sufficient quality for this!).

However, I would say, don't worry too much. When your child is sitting on the carpet in the daily phonics lesson they will be working well below their ability level - schools can't provide bespoke learning for every child every minute of the day. The important question for a Y1 lime reader is how - over the course of the week - they are being stretched and challenged at their level.

I don't think it matters as long as he's reading his own level too.

When dd1 was in year one they only did guided reading, so no other reading books. They were on level 4 Oxford Reading tree. She read Famous Five at home over the holidays and had moved onto the Roman Mysteries. So the school reading was very easy for her.

But actually it was quite good for her. She learnt to unpick the stories without having to think about the reading and comprehension. They did things like turn them into scripts which would never have occurred to her to do. If they'd been reading books at her level that sort of thing would have been far harder to do. It opened her eyes to see different things.

And at home she read the harder books and enjoyed them for herself.

I think you have to accept there won’t be many children at his level. My year 1 child is reading chapter books at home (although Stamina not great) and is on green at school but could be a few bands higher I think. There are about 5/6 of them on green and a big chunk of the class still on red/yellow.

Realistically in most classes, he’d probably be closer to the year 2s than the year 1s so teacher is probably in a rock and a hard place re difficulty level.

Thanks all.
I know some schools do mix year groups by ability for guided reading, so I am slightly hoping he could read with the Y2s, though obviously that can come with its own issues.

Mine was lucky and there was at least one child (sept born) who was reading chapter books so i imagine mine was in a group with them.
My youngest is much lower after lockdowns and school not moving them onto the digraphs when they should have.
Its mainly y1 though when they are ahead as lots catch up towards free reading in y2

@Legomania

Thanks all. I know some schools do mix year groups by ability for guided reading, so I am slightly hoping he could read with the Y2s, though obviously that can come with its own issues.

If they don’t already mix year groups for reading I wouldn’t push that. I’d be asking what opportunities you DC has to push themselves during the week.

I was your DC whilst I was at school and never wanted to be excluded from my class, but simply challenged where I was with my friends.

If the teacher is a good teacher, they will be pointedly picking out harder questions for your son (the in depth understanding ones) relating to the group texts and developing him that way.

A child with above average reading skills doesn't necessarily have the comprehension skills to match so don't assume he won't be learning from the sessions.

What does your DS think? I had one dd who found listening to others stumble excruciating and much preferred reading one-on-one with the teacher. That arrangement lasted from Y2 to Y4, after she got really upset in the group guided reading in Y2.

The other dd hated being made to look different, and preferred being in a group right the way through while (I suspect) clowning around and chatting.

Didn’t make any odds to their reading (they read lots a home, of all levels and types), but they did need some tutoring on how to do more complex comprehension questions when 11+ came around, as they just hadn’t done that at school.

My yr1 DS does literacy with the Yr2 class which he loves. It worked really well going from reception to Yr1 as he already had a working relationship with the teacher. Would school be open to letting him join the older group?

Ooh and he is reading white, so not quite at the level of your DC

Just ask school if he's meant to be reading that one or if he's been given the wrong one. He's normally in chapter books but came home with a really basic one. She said oops and took it away, next day he came home with the right one. It happens, he still read it.

My DD1 was the same - white by end of reception and lime by year 1. (
She came home one day and I was really sad because she wasn't in a guided reading group and I asked the teacher what had happened. She was in a guided group with the teacher ..
They did put her up to Year 2 for reading so she could be with 'peers' but it a got a bit tricky with the scheduling and eventually some others caught up.
I think they probably need to make a bit of provision but broadly he will be fine.

She's now 11 and mega lazy with her reading .. but still at greater depth)

Just to add - broadly I was quite relaxed about it - my DH was working at a leading publishers and got two free books a day... The house was crammed with books so it was just the 'left out ' element I focused on