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Original poster

For those that wanted the coloured book bandings levels

34 replies

rosieroseanna · 21/01/2010 18:12

I saw a while back some of you were wondering what the colours equated to in levels so I remembered to bring home my books levels info. Children are given the colour for the level they are working towards. Hope this is helpful!

Pink - level 1
Red - level 1
Yellow - 1c
Blue - 1b
Green - 1a
Orange - 1a
Turqouise - 2c
Purple - 2b
Gold - 2a
White - 3c
Lime - 3b
Grey - 3a
Burgundy - 4c
Sapphire - 4b
Brown 4a
Black - 5+

OP posts:
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lovecheese · 21/01/2010 18:55

Wowzers! so my DD in yr 1 is already reading at a 3c level; I knew her reading was good but flippin heck. Not boasting just proud of her.

norksinmywaistband · 21/01/2010 19:07

What do those levels equate to though - I am very confused about all of this. DD is reception and has been reading purple books atm but finds them far too easy, and the teachers are pushing her on rapidly - apparently they have bought in a new reading scheme which we will see next week.
Why not just move her up a level, why would you go for the new reading scheme?

Sorry if this is in the wrong place but just had a meeting with her teacher who said she had already "got" all the sight words for KS1, and she was putting her into a special group.

dilbertina · 21/01/2010 19:10

But don't different reading schemes have different colours? and different schools often use their own colours again?

pedaltothemetal · 21/01/2010 19:30

Being able to decode a book is not enough. There are skills to be learnt at each level.

Book Bands & Nat Curr levels

dilbertina · 21/01/2010 19:39

DD is currently yr1. She was at a different school for reception where she seemed to do well and raced through the bands...however her new school take a different approach, she started a band down from where she finished reception and progress through the bands has been MUCH slower. IMO though this is really working for her. Her confidence is much greater, she only gets stuck on the odd word and I feel she is really gaining a good base for reading. Without a doubt she would be able to read most of the next band up and even the one after that but I think confidence and enjoyment of reading are more important at this stage. Who cares what band she's on?

smee · 21/01/2010 19:44

But as dibertina says the colours are different dependent on the reading scheme. Which scheme is it OP is it ORT? Lovely of you to take the time to post though.

3isthemagicnumber · 21/01/2010 19:46

Whilst that may be a recognised list, a lot of schools do band their own (under the guidance).
At my school, for example, yellow is pre-reader, white approximates to roughly 1B ,red is much higher etc etc ...
so think you need to ask each individual school their band order.

OmicronPersei8 · 21/01/2010 19:52

There is a national book-banding scheme (the list from the OP), most schools if they refer to books being book-banded are referring to this. There is a book which lists all which books from each scheme go in each band. So you could get 3 or 4 reading schemes at once, and not necessarily in the 'right' order for the scheme. Book banding is not the same as the ORT colours etc. If you just have ORT chances are your school doesn't use book banding.

Book banding helps as it is easy to match reading to NC levels, also a range of schemes (and non-scheme) books can be used.

LarvaeLamp · 21/01/2010 19:55

As this thread may have some experts on it, can I ask a question? My dd is in yr 2 and reading gold level books (as per the OP's national Book Band colours) - so ORT level 9 or so, although the school does use other schemes.
At home, she is reading the magic fairy books by herself, and things like 'Fairy Dust', so chapter books. However, she always reads out loud. I would have thought now she is reading longer books, she would be reading in her head by now? Is it a problem do you think? I notice from pttm's link that a child reading gold level books would be reading in their heads

OmicronPersei8 · 21/01/2010 19:56

That list linked to by pedaltothemetal is great - it has all the reading behaviours for each band. These are good for seeing how children what children are assessed against and what to look for /encourage in your own DC. I think book banding was great when it was introduced because it made teachers think about how children learn to read, and how teachers could teach reading. Book-banded books are often used for guided reading.

OmicronPersei8 · 21/01/2010 19:59

LarvaeLamp, maybe consider it her reading target - so she stays at gold level until she is reading silently and then she moves on. Or if she does every other thing on the list she might move onto the next level at some point at start reading in her head a bit later.

Original poster
rosieroseanna · 21/01/2010 21:14

We have many many books, all different schemes and they were been banded into colours by our literacy co-ordinators, our levels/colours are the same as those used in other schools in Hertfordshire.

OP posts:
LarvaeLamp · 21/01/2010 21:24

Thanks Omicron. I think dd is doing very well with her reading, and am not pushing it at all. I just assumed she would be reading silently by now. Oddly enough, I haven't asked her about it. Maybe she does it because no-one has suggested she reads in her head? Do you think it is something you have to learn, or something you just do by instinct? It takes so much longer to read out loud - I hate doing it!

OmicronPersei8 · 21/01/2010 21:32

LarvaeLamp, I'm a bit rusty on all of this - I used to teach mainly Year 1, but have been knee-deep in nappies and babies for a few years now. Not many children in year 1 read in their heads, either!

In terms of reading in her head, maybe next time you are reading something (magazine, newspaper, MN!) you could talk about how you do it in your head. If it were a focus in a guided reading book, I think I'd set a bit for everyone to read silently then we'd all talk about that bit - if she appears interested you could try something like that. It could even be something fun like a secret message (hence it needing to be read silently!).

LarvaeLamp · 21/01/2010 21:49

Thanks again Omicron. I like the idea of 'mentioning' it, rather than asking her to do it/asking if she can do it - she might perceive that as a criticism (she is rather highly strung!).

Do you plan to go back to teaching at some point? It sounds like you are a teacher by instinct .

OmicronPersei8 · 21/01/2010 21:57

Thank you! I'll probably go back in a couple of years, I love teaching but it was hard work, I'm quite enjoying being a SAHM for now - no paperwork for starters!

Good luck with your DD - one day I'm sure it will click and she'll make that big leap to reading silently.

SchnitzelVonKrumm · 21/01/2010 22:25

How do the bands relate to the 30 primary school reading levels (reading recovery?). And why so many systems?

MollieO · 21/01/2010 22:30

pedaltothemetal what does 'W' mean on your list?

NoahAndTheWhale · 21/01/2010 22:34

I think W is working towards (ie not yet at level 1). That is dredging up my teacher memories (I was a teacher 10 years ago)

NoahAndTheWhale · 21/01/2010 22:40

There are times whem I wish there were more than ORT at DS's school (I think once you get past a certain stage there must be) as going through the books in ORT order does rather shift around the bands.

I remember someone linking to this which suggests at the moment DS is on gold band, but when he goes up an ORT level he will be on purple band (ie down a level).

I know he is fine - I think I shouldn't look at these sort of charts really

OmicronPersei8 · 21/01/2010 22:40

The bands are I think in part based on the reading recovery levels, so they are compatible. I think it took the idea of RR levels and matched them to NC levels, so in a way it is supposed to simplify and bridge the different systems.

W is working towards - you can get w broken down into smaller steps (called P levels) for children with SEN.

OmicronPersei8 · 21/01/2010 22:44

ORT was worked out to have a logical progression, building vocab etc, book bands also progress logically but they don't always match up.

As long as the school is consistent and sticks to one or the other I don't think it matters too much, although personally I liked having the choice with book bands, some children get on better with books from different schemes. And you can include 'real' books. IMO it just makes the whole learning to read process explicit rather than teachers only being required to move children onto the next book in a list.

MollieO · 22/01/2010 12:52

Thanks Noah. I thought my ds's reading was rubbish and the fact that he is on 'W' proves it!

Omicron ds is on W but doesn't have SEN or any extra reading help. I think I might have to become a pushy parent to get it sorted. His reading hasn't really improved much since nursery and he is reading easier books now he is in year 1 than he was a year ago in reception (at the same school).

Builde · 22/01/2010 12:56

Many reading schemes such as Rigby Star, Ginn and Collins use BookBands.

I think ORC also has a page which relates their scheme colours to the bookband system.

Builde · 22/01/2010 12:59

Reading out-loud...I could do it aged 7.5 but not before.

I actually remember the day I got it and where I was (lying on parents bed).

So, I don't think anyone need worry if their year 1 child can't do it. (I'm quite bright!)

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