Step 2: Let them decide if it’s at the appropriate level using the five finger test. The Five Finger Test Book Banding is a popular way of organising children’s reading books. It’s a system that allows schools to choose books from a range of reading programmes and know that they are of the same level of difficulty. Lime (Year 2–4): Contains sophisticated word plays and puns and the narrative voice is distinctly separate from the characters’ point of view. Some silent and some aloud reading. These varied titles offer pupils breadth in their overall reading experience. Starting out with predictable and patterned texts, titles broaden to poetry, traditional tales, varied genre fiction, information books, play scripts and biographies from a host of popular children’s authors. Each book looks unique and enticing, guaranteeing your pupils never get bored of reading their Big Cat scheme books. Big Cat for Phonics for Letters and Sounds

The book band system is invaluable for schools, but it’s not a system optimized for reading at home or 1-to-1 tuition situations like homeschooling. It’s a system made for teachers and classrooms. As a parent, don’t get caught up in book bands outside of a supervisory capacity. It’s great to be able to understand the system and keep an eye out for slow or too rapid progress, or as is often the case, your child’s reading book not matching their reading level, but that’s pretty much the most use you’re going to get out of it. Collins Big Cat Phonics - Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised | Big Cat for Little Wandle Fluency SetsSometimes you may find a book that has two book bands marked on the cover. These are called dual-banded books, and they have been written for children whose chronological age is higher than their ‘reading age’. These books tend to be about topics and experiences that are relevant and interesting to children in Key Stage 2, but with words and sentences that best support their current reading level. So, for example, if you found a book with a Pearl (18) and Green (5) label, it would be written for a Year 6 child reading at book band level 5.

For more details, Booklife has produced an excellent leaflet on what children are expected to achieve in each band. Children reading books from bands 1 – 7 (Pink to Turquoise) are early readers who are still developing their understanding of phonics. To reflect this, many books in these bands are written to complement phonics teaching. This means that children can apply their growing phonics knowledge when reading independently or with a teacher or parent. A challenging read, may need some help from a parent or a dictionary. Will probably require a second read through to fully understand it. A popular reading scheme in schools for a long time we know, but we are big fans of the Collins Big Cat range. For breadth of range, scheme design, and the look and feel of the books in your hands, we think it is hard to beat them. The range is exciting, features top authors, different text types and a wide variety of subjects and styles. We offer a variety of Big Cat schemes. Big Cat books for Key Stage 1& Key Stage 2

Developed in collaboration with two English Hubs, Wandle Learning Trust and Little Sutton Primary School and validated by the DfE. It comprises classroom resources to support the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised SSP and a range of phonic readers that together provide a consistent and highly effective approach to teaching phonics. Big Cat Progress