Learning to read is a formative memory for many of us – it’s an exciting part of our early educational experiences and how we access almost all other kinds of learning. Whilst it might feel like it happened a long time ago, it’s important to remember that it didn’t happen overnight: it’s a process that takes well in excess of a decade.  

And as we engage in this long-form development, it’s essential that we’re reading the right content for our skill level. That’s why reading schemes (sometimes called ‘reading programmes’) and reading levels exist – to ensure that we’re constantly progressing and getting ready to tackle the next stages. 

What is a Reading Scheme? 

A reading scheme is a series of books that have been carefully created to support the reading process. They’ll start off with books with simple narratives, using simple lexis and uncomplicated plots, and the titles gradually get more complex and challenging as the series goes on. 

There’s also an evolving blend of words and pictures – early books will have most of the page taken up with an image, and the reading phase is mostly about looking, finding, discussing and relating keywords with the image readers see. As they progress, images will become smaller and less critical to understanding the story – the text will take over the narrative as their comprehension increases. 

Why is working at the right level on a Reading Scheme important? 

Reading schemes have a carefully designed structure that introduces new challenges at a rate that a developing reader can deal with. Books that are too hard can be frustrating and risk putting a child off reading, and whilst books that are easy and can be fun, they’re not adding that element of challenge that develops reading skills further. Reading schemes are about being able to find a happy medium, a book that’s easy enough to understand (or mostly), and complex enough to keep those skills moving forward.  

What are Reading Levels? 

‘Reading levels’ are the different skill bands within a reading scheme. They’ll range from very simple books for beginner readers to more complex ones for more confident readers. There are several different ‘levelling’ book systems in use today, including Oxford Levels, Reading Recovery Levels, Read, Write, Inc., and Cliff Moon Levels. The most commonly used, though, are Book Bands. 

And what are Book Bands? 

Book Bands are a system that uses colour to designate between different skill levels. Each colour corresponds to a level of reading fluency and developing vocabulary. Different schemes use different colour orders with varying amounts of waypoints, but traditionally most book bands start with the colour pink. These marks are usually found on the spine of books or as a header to the title, but some incorporate the colours more visibly into their cover designs, such as a background or a frame.  

Book Bands can also be translated across most other schemes using a chart like this one, designed to compare Oxford Level with the appropriate Book Band. 

How do we know when it’s time for a reader to ‘move up a band’?  

The point at which a child ‘moves up a band’ is often to do with a few factors including their confidence as well as their skill. Children develop reading skills at different rates, so it’s important to remember that staying longer in a band than their peers doesn’t mean they’re growing into a weak reader – it could just mean that they’ve still got work to do on their pronunciation, fluency or expression. Often, during the early years of their reading journey, they’ll move up a band quite quickly. This will slow down as they become more confident, bands get larger, and the breadth of materials available to them widens.  

What happens when readers come to the end of a Reading Scheme? 

After they’ve got to the end of the banded system, most developing readers are ready to start tackling books that are off-system. They’ll probably have been already. It also marks the watershed where we tend to become more ‘hands-off’ about reading materials, allowing them to make their own decisions about what’s an appropriate level of ease and challenge. We call this ‘free reading’, and it means that they’re ready to take on a much greater wealth of information, as well as start exploring other forms of writing. 

It’s an achievement in any educational career, and it means that as well as developing the ability to read a wide range of materials for pleasure, they’re also getting ready to take on different modes of study and start learning more independently too. It’s an exciting time, and should be celebrated – but it’s important to celebrate the smaller milestones too, and make sure that at every step of the way, reading continues to be encouraged and rewarded both in class and at home.  

With the start of every new semester, educators face the same challenges – but this year, the need for support that works is even more vital as we enact a long-term learning recovery. C-Pen Reader 2 has the power to change the narrative for hundreds of thousands of learners and open up learning across all areas of the curriculum.  

You can find out more about the difference Reader 2 can make and how to claim your 30-day free trial right here.