A continued cataloguing system of school reading scheme books, Book Bands, perpetuates the myth that it's OK to ask children to read books that they really cannot read!
http://ssphonix.blogspot.co.uk/2016/11/ ... bands.html
Too bound by Book Bands
I have already explained in earlier posts here why the continued teaching of multi-cueing hinders children rather than helping them to become readers in the fullest sense.
One big problem still impeding the application of systematic synthetic phonics teaching principles, and the progress this would bring, is that many schools continue to present beginner readers with non-phonic books for read-aloud practice. In some cases this is alongside, or intermixed with, strictly phonic-based (‘decodable’) books.
This approach persists in the mistaken belief that a mixture of book types given to children for early practice broadens their reading experience and develops comprehension. However, the reality is that when children are asked to read aloud books that are not decodable, it puts them in a position where they have no alternative but to guess many unknown words, a strategy that impedes the development fluent, effective reading. Non-decodable books also encourage those 'hearing' the reading to teach multi-cueing, whether explicitly or implicitly.