St Patrick's Newsletter

Reading at St Pat's

READING LEVELS

READING LEVELS EXPLAINED

The formal reading assessment tool we use at St Patrick's is the PM Benchmark system (with levels from 1-30). The books are designed so that with the earlier levels (1-14) the difficulty/ challenge between levels is generally minimal, therefore children can gradually move through these levels in small steps. The next range of levels (15-24) sees greater challenges and larger steps between each level, so progression through these takes longer. And the final range of levels (25-30) involves significantly greater challenges and much larger steps between levels. Progression through these upper levels takes a much longer time; often children remain on the same level for up to six months.

 

WHY IS MY CHILD BRINGING HOME READERS OF A PARTICULAR LEVEL?  

Parents need to know that the ‘home readers’ your children bring home are based on what is known as their ‘independent level’. This means that the books are not meant to be too challenging. The purpose of ‘home readers’ is for children to enjoy reading and develop confidence as they practise their skills at home with their parents. At school however, the teachers work specifically with your child at a more challenging/ higher level known as their ‘instructional level’. 

 

HOW DOES SCHOOL TEST READING AND KNOW WHEN TO MOVE A CHILD UP A LEVEL/S? 

Parents are often not aware that there is so much more to assessing a child’s reading than simply hearing them read a book. Whilst teachers informally hear your child read every week during guided reading sessions, they formally monitor and test your child’s reading through a very explicit and complex process (known as conducting a ‘running record’). This detailed assessment takes up to 20 minutes for each child. Through careful analysis and by applying numerical formulas, they can then determine a child’s ‘instructional reading level’.  Our teachers are experienced and trained in assessing and analysing a wide range of technical elements of reading such as:

  • errors and self corrections (and identifying if these involve meaning, syntax  or visual cues)
  • word omissions, substitutions and insertions
  • word attempts, repetition or appeals
  • comprehension (literal, applied and inferential) of both fiction and non-fiction texts . Often we find that a child can read every word in a text but their deeper levels of comprehension are not yet evident.

In short, even if your child’s progression through the levels appears to take time, rest assured that they are receiving quality reading instruction every day at school. We hope this information assures you that there is more to your child’s reading development than the number on their home readers. 

 

Please don’t forget to continue to enjoy the simple pleasure of sharing a book of any description with your child.....just for the love of it!