At Redwood Primary School we aim for all our children to become fluent, confident readers who are passionate about reading. Children who read regularly or are read to regularly have the opportunity to open the doors to so many different worlds!

 

More importantly, reading will give your child the tools to become independent life-long learners.

We can achieve this together through:

• Read Write Inc, a program to help to your child read at school

• Encouraging children to develop a love of books by reading to them daily, at home and at school

• Giving children access to a wide range of books at school and at home

We use Read Write Inc Phonics (RWI) in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 to give your child the best possible start with their literacy. We have put together a guide to how the RWI programme works together with some useful links. Please take the time to read this invaluable information as it will help you to support your child with their reading.

 

What is Read Write Inc?

 

Read Write Inc (RWI) is a phonics programme which helps all children learn to read fluently and at speed so they can focus on developing their skills in comprehension, vocabulary, and spelling.  It also allows them to spell effortlessly so that they can put all their energy into composing what they write. The children are assessed by the RWI team and grouped according to their ability. Small group phonics lessons are taught daily by trained staff and there are consistent expectations across the range of abilities. At the end of each half term the children are assessed to check on their progress and regrouped.

 

Children learn sounds in school which help them to read and write. They then practise these skills through reading 'Book Bag Books' at home which are specifically pitched to both consolidate learning and provide challenge in an engaging and fun way! This is what they look like.

 

Five key principles underpin the teaching in all Read Write Inc. sessions

 

Purpose – know the purpose of every activity and share it with the children, so they know the one thing they should be thinking about

Participation – ensure every child participates throughout the lesson. Partnership work is fundamental to learning

Praise – ensure children are praised for effort and learning, not ability

Pace – teach at an effective pace and devote every moment to teaching and learning

Passion – be passionate about teaching so children can be engaged emotionally

 

Reception

In Reception all children will learn how to ‘read’ the sounds in words and how those sounds can be written down. Those who are ready, will begin to read simple words within books and write some of these.

 

Year 1 and above

Children follow the same format as Reception but will work on complex sounds and read books appropriate to their reading level. Daily sessions of RWI phonics last for 30 minutes.

 

The children are taught the sounds in 3 sets. 

 Set 1 Sounds are taught in the following order together with rhymes to help children form the letters correctly and instantly recognise sounds ready for blending.

 

Please do not use letter names at this early stage. Click on the hyperlink below to watch the films that show parents and carers how we teach children to read and write with Read Write Inc. Phonics.

 

https://www.ruthmiskin.com/en/find-out-more/parents/

 

Set 2 Sounds

ay: may I play  

ee: what can you see 

igh: fly high  

ow: blow the snow  

oo: poo at the zoo  

oo: look at the book 

ar: start the car 

or: shut the door  

air: that’s not fair 

 ir: whirl and twirl  

ou: shout it out  

oy: toy for a boy 

 

When they are very confident with all Set 1 and 2, they are taught  Set 3 Sounds

 

Reading at Home Booklet 1

Reading at Home Booklet 2

 

Fred Talk

 

We use pure sounds (‘m’ not’ muh’,’s’ not ‘suh’, etc.) so that your child will be able to blend the sounds into words more easily. Fred is our Read, Write Inc. friend. He can only speak in sounds, so we help him learn to say words instead of sounds. For example, Fred says 'm-a-t' instead of mat. We also teach him not to add 'uh' to our sounds to keep them pure. For example, we say 'c' and not 'cuh'.

 

Reading  

Children will: 

• learn 44 sounds and the corresponding letters/letter groups using simple picture prompts 

• learn to read words using sound blending 

• read lively stories featuring words they have learned to sound out 

• after meaningful discussion led by an adult, children show that they comprehend the stories by answering questions 

Writing 

Children will: 

• learn to write the letters/letter groups which represent the 44 sounds 

• learn to write words by saying the sounds and graphemes 

• learn to build sentences orally using adventurous vocabulary 

• start with simple sentences and develop towards more complex ones by the end of the programme 

Talking  

Children are assessed so they work alongside children at the same level. This allows them to fully participate in all lessons.  
They work in pairs so that they: 

• answer every question 

• practise every activity with their partner 

• take turns in talking to each other 

 

Blending 

Help your child learn to read words by sound-blending (Fred talk) eg. c-a-t = cat, sh-o-p = shop. Children learn to read words by blending the letter-sounds that are in the Speed Sounds set. Help your child to say the pure sounds ('m' not 'muh', 's' not 'suh' etc.) as quickly as they can, and then blend the sounds together to say the whole word.

 

 

Nonsense words (Alien words) 

Research has shown that incorporating nonsense words into teaching reading can be an effective way to establish blending and segmenting skills. However, it is important to ensure that children understand that they are reading nonsense words (and why) so that they are not confused by trying to read the words for meaning. By reading nonsense words children develop their ability to decode individual sounds and then blend them together to read. They are an indicator of early reading skills and work as a quick, reliable, and valid way of assessing children. However, reading nonsense words is only a small part of the Read, Write Inc. phonics teaching.

 

Spelling with your Fred Fingers

Children are taught to use their fingers to help them write words. The children say the word out loud and break it down into its individual sounds. If a word has 3 sounds children hold up 3 fingers, 4 sounds 4 fingers etc. Children pinch each finger as they say the sounds needed in the word then they write the letters that represent each sound. 

When using Fred Fingers each finger represents one sound. When children reach yellow Read Write Inc. storybooks, they will learn to trace the letters onto each finger and say the letter names.

 

 

How can parents help?
Your child will bring different sorts of books home from school. It helps if you know whether this is a book that your child can read on their own or whether this is a book that you should read to them. Please trust your child’s teacher to choose the book(s) that will help your child the most.
Help your child to sound out the letters in words and then to ‘push’ the sounds together to make a whole word. Try not to refer to the letters by their names. Help your child to focus on the sounds.
 
Sometimes your child might bring home a picture book that they know well. Please don’t say, ‘This is too easy.’ Instead, encourage your child to tell you the story out loud; ask them questions about things that happen or what they think about some of the characters in the story.
We know parents and carers are very busy people. But if you can find time to read to your child as much as possible, it helps him or her to learn about books and stories. They also learn new words and what they mean. Show that you are interested in reading yourself and talk about reading as a family.