Why is the grammar school library full of books for 7 year oldS?

[MrsTaraPlumbing]

I don't understand it and hope some of you can give me some perspective.
My son is in year 7 of GS. In SEpt he was assessed with a reading age of 13.
He says he has to choose from a selection of books (Yellow band) and they are rubbish - he would never read any of them but when forced to choose something he has bought home:
James and the Giant Peach
Adam Blade Beast Quest.
Books for 7-8 year olds! My mind boggles.

He never read them, in fact those books didn't appeal to him when he was younger either.

Pointy - you misunderstand. When I say accessing the curriculum, I 'm not talking about analysis in English Lit, I'm talking about kids who cannot read well enough to understand an exam paper, or to be able to read a text book in Science, or read a problem in Maths. This is why programmes like AR are good - it is hopelessly naive to assume that the purpose of reading is to develop an enjoyment of reading. I'm talking life skills - you can't apply for a passport if your literacy skills mean you can't read the form. Many secondary schools are dealing with this.

We have done a lot of work on this in school. Our SENCO showed us a way of testing the reading ages of any text (wish I could remember - it was on a university website) It was quite shocking that so many text books have such a high reading age, and also that a lot of the worksheets we produce as staff were potentially inaccessible to some students. It has certainly made some of us review our work.

"Does that mean the Comprehensive , has books aimed at 3-5 year olds then ?."

motown3000:you are aware that Comprehensives cater for Grammar ability children? As part of the comprehensive offer?

DS and all his class read Oliver Twist in Yr7.

At grammar they would have been reading War and Peace. In Russian.

And learning it be heart.

I think it's important to encourage children of that age (and in general it's more likely to be a problem for boys than girls) to read full books regardless of their assessed reading age on short passages - so if AR achieves that then I'm in favour. There are huge numbers of adventurous novels for 9-12 year olds (Rick Riordan + Eoin Colfer + Young Bond + Alex Rider will keep them going for months without needing to venture into classics or more offbeat choices).

ImAThrillseekerHoney - luckily my DS's school doesn't use this system, because he read all the books you listed in primary school - Alex Rider when he was 7 or 8, followed by Rick Riordan etc - and he would have been extremely frustrated to be given books at that level when he started secondary school (and he is August born, so young for year). It would have put him off reading altogether. DD is in yr6 and has read some of those, but has now left them behind and read all the Hunger Games, Noughts and Crosses etc.

It sounds like the problem at the OP's school is either that the children's reading level has not been properly assessed, or that the AR system is very rigid and can't deal with children who are reading at a higher level than their chronological age. If so, it can't be a very appropriate scheme to use at a grammar school, where you would expect the majority of children to be reading at or above their age level.

But Twins in a post above you say that AR is not just for poor readers. I get the need to ensure that all children are up to a level where they can read textbooks, GCSE papers, do their own independent research and so on. I am aware that there are children who can't access the teaching materials, the exams and so on and yes, help needs to be available. That still implies that this is mostly a remedial programme.

What I question is its usefulness for children who are already very able readers, who are progressing rather than regressing in their choice of reading matter. What value does it add for them to do online quizzes and get prizes? Fair enough if they want to, but what if they do not? I would hope that there is some flexibility in participation in AR.

The main difference between my dd's experience of AR and your ds's is that the level and bands are a guide but she's not prevented from getting higher level books from the library or quizzing higher level books of her own.

Also i asked her tonight and she said they were reassessed in January and her top level went from around 8 to 11. Not sure what these numbers relate to but she said she was already reading the high ones anyway.

So it sounds like it's working much better at dd's comprehensive school. Also they have a librarian who seems to already know dd well and recommend books.

You'd be amazed how much kids of all abilities like recognition and prizes. Why so cynical? Are you suggesting only thick kids like quizzes and prizes?

AR isn't a remedial programme. I said up thread that it was naive to suggest that reading for pleasure is the only purpose of reading in schools and I stand by that. However, for students who DO love reading, getting half an hour of quiet time every day to lose themselves in a good book is bliss. And even able readers sometimes have other things to do in the evenings , so this means they get a bit of time to do it. All KS3 kids in my school do it every day. I am really struggling to see why anyone would think that was a bad thing.

Info here

I don't think it is necessarily a bad thing, I just think that there are other ways to achieve the same thing. Reading every day is definitely a good thing. At DD's school for example they definitely do have half an hour a day for quiet reading. They bring in a book of their own choice, teacher may make suggestions, they read. DD enjoys it. She would hate getting quizzed on it though, because then it would immediately be classified as 'work'.

I just wonder why a programme like this is needed when the same could be achieved by having a well stocked and properly staffed library, and dedicated reading time during school hours. It's sad that we think we need a piece of software to do this work instead.

However, I do think the points ranking system is sophisticated enough -have just looked up what they have made of Terry Pratchett's Discworld books (current family favourite) and yes, they are doing a good job picking out which ones have more challenging content and which ones are an easier read. I would not for instance hand DD1 Snuff without having read it to her first, it deals with some tough stuff.

It's just a tool to help the librarian and/or English teacher ensure that students are reading books of the right level. There is a heck of a lot on there. It's more about ensuring that kids aren't reading a book which is too easy than holding them back. The quizzes are generally fun (we did some in a staff literacy training session - I was thrilled with how much I remembered about stuff I read as a child, let alone more recent things) In a large school, a librarian can't possibly know all the reading levels of all the children, so how is she/he to know if a child is checking out a book which is too easy, and then reading that during private reading sessions? If they are doing AR, then the librarian will have some way of offering guidance. It doesn't replace a well-stocked library - you still need the books! They still get to choose - it's just that they are guided to books which are of the right level of difficulty for them. No different from going to Waterstones, where they have shelves arranged in age (or reading age if you like) order.

I have had a long email from the librarian. I've read some of the AR website but more importantly I now understand the AR database that people linked to earlier.
I realise the AR database is an excellent resource for any of us to use, even if our schools do not implement that programme and I'm very much with EvilTwins, now I understand what the school are trying to achieve - I will explain below...

But first, the real problem was that my son did not understand the system, what was expected of him etc...
Was that his fault or the schools?
Well, the school set half terms targets to be achieved and measured by taking those quizzes. My DS he is just about to end the 4th half term.

He has not taken ONE single test.
When were they going to do something about it?
I had specifically contacted the English teacher twice since Christmas about DS and reading & English generally.
Why had the English teacher not joined the dots?
The librarian runs the scheme but the English teacher is in charge of the library lesson that takes place for 1 hour once per fortnight.
At parents evening in February the English teacher ONLY told me that at the beginning of Sept DS was assessed as reading age 13 and this was amonging the best in his year group.
It seems that despite being in charge of the library lesson he didn't know that DS is not participating in the scheme.

Anyway, it turns out that for the reading scheme DS was assessed with RL of the range 4, which was the same as the vast majority of year 7 boys in his school.
RL is about the complexity of the words, sentences, vocab.
The books are also divided between Lower (primary school), Mid (perhaps years 5-8) Upper (age 14+) as an indication of the age the book may appeal to.
The points relate to the length of the book.

All boys were recommended that the first book of the term should be from their reading level and in the MID section - excellent advice. Here is where the problem began - DS couldn't find anything on that library shelf to appeal so he switched off.
In fact at the time he was reading a Riordan book that was exactly at that level but he didn't realise he was allowed to include books that were not from the library.
When he finished that book he should have taken the test - this means the school would have a record of the book he had read and to what extent he understood it.

The RL are guides, he CAN choose ANY book from anywhere, read it and be tested.

Over time the tests reveal:

1. what RL he is reading at - so obviously harder books can be recommended if appropriate
2. whether he has understood what he read - it may be the RL is too high and easier books should be chosen
3. how much he is reading. The points for each book relate to quantity. A 20 point book is a big book and may be 5 times as great as a load of smaller books.

I'm not surprised to discover on the AR database that Harry Potter is far more complex in language than Percy Jackson and as such would be very appropriate for children in year 7 or 8 to read when the purpose is to improve reading ability.

Personally I love reading and I read many kids books for my own pleasure so I know ow good they are. But my DS like many others does enjoy the books he reads but would prefer to watch TV or play video games. Reading for pleasure would not be something he would do. Sad but true.

So I have to agree with EvilTwin in that reading for pleasure may be an ideal but it is not the main objective. The objective is to improve the SKILL of reading - because he will always need it even if he never reads fiction as an adult:
1.he is faster at it,

1. has better comprehension of what he is reading.
2. hopeful will improve his use of English
3. improve vocab.

I am far better informed now than I was a few days ago. Thank you. I hope this helps others too.

ooops - slight clarification.
roughly level 4 books are ideal for 5th year etc so on average kids in year 7 should be reading around level 6.
My son was NOt assessed at level 4 as I said earlier but advised to read between level 4 to 8.
This does indeed correspond to the other information about his high reading age.
It seems most boys were asked to read a book at level 4 for their first book. As there are many great books like those by Riordan at this level I don't think that should be a problem.
Going back to my very original query. Beast quest is also level 4 as in the language has been assessed to be equally as difficult or easy.

An interesting thread. My DS1, also Year 7 with a reading age of 13, has a vast collection of Beast Quest books which he read between the ages of 7 and 10. I've just picked up an early book to flick through and remind myself how surprisingly well written most of them are. A few extracts from one very short book: "Dozens of boulders tumbled down the South Mountain, smashing into the ground and careering in every direction, gaining speed." "Tom held up the Amulet. On one side, brilliant blue enamel gleamed in the centre. On the other was etched an intricate map of the kingdom of Gwildor, directing them on their travels." "Slowly at first, the rocks began to slide along the ground, smashing together, the impact sending jagged shards shooting into the air." "Immediately, one of the bats broke from the circling formation and swooped down through the air to swipe a cruel claw at her face." He also enjoyed Roald Dahl but wouldn't entertain Diary of A Wimpy Kid (that is colloquial rubbish). DS1 is at the top end of the year group for English in Year 7 and writes very well, partly I think because of the Beast Quest books which provide excellent building blocks for writing short stories.

The US school my kids went to it would be a problem. They assess a student's lexile level. Then you read books within 100-200 lexile points of your score. this gets you to the next level by ensuring you read books not too challenging or too easy.

You take a quiz after each book and if you pass - you comprended and the book was the right interest lexile level.

I know it sounds a bit messed up, but it seemed to work for my 9 year old.

Clave that's interesting.I have 10year twin boys with very different reading tastes and writing styles,both top group.One was Beast Quest addicted from 7-10 and has I'm ashamed to say racks of them.He has a lovely use of language and has the edge re writing style.He did move on to Rick Riordan after and devoured everything he's written.The other never read even one of them

Off to look closer at said Beast Quest, I'd written them off as Rainbow Fairyesque bilge.