Early Reading

Read Write Inc

At St Mary's C of E we aim for all of our children to become fluent, confident and passionate readers committed to becoming lifelong 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) to give children the best possible start with their literacy.

 

Read Write Inc website

 

 

What is Read Write Inc?

Read Write Inc 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.  The programme is designed for children aged 4-7, however, we will continue teaching RWI to children beyond the age of 7 if further support in their reading is required.

 

How will RWI be taught?

In Reception all children will learn how to ‘read’ the sounds in words and how those sounds can be written down.

 

 

Reading

The children:

• learn 44 sounds and the corresponding letters/letter groups using simple picture prompts
• learn to read words using Fred talk and sound blending
• read from a range of storybooks and non-fictions books matched to their phonic knowledge
• develop comprehension skills in stories by answering 'Find It' and 'Prove It' discussion questions

 

Writing

The children:

• learn to write and form the letters/letter groups which represent the 44 sounds with the help of fun phrases
• learn to write words by using Fred Talk
• learn to build and hold sentences by practising sentences out loud before they write 

 

Talking

The children work in pairs so that they:

• answer every question
• practise every activity
• take turns in talking and reading to each other
• develop ambitious vocabulary

 

In Year One and Year Two children follow the same format as Reception but will work on complex sounds and read books appropriate to their reading level. 

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. At school we use a toy frog called Fred who only speaks using ‘Fred Talk’. E.g. m-o-p, c-a-t, m-a-n, sh-o-p, b-l-a-ck.

 

The children are taught the sounds in 3 sets.

 

Set 1:

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

Sound	Rhyme
m	Down Maisie then over the two mountains. Maisie, mountain, mountain.
a	Round the apple, down the leaf.
s	Slide around the snake
d	Round the dinosaur's back, up his neck and down to his feet.
t	Down the tower, across the tower,
i	Down the insects body, dot for the head.
n	Down Nobby and over the net.
p	Down the plait, up and over the pirates face.
g	Round the girls face, down her hair and give her a curl
o	All around the orange
c	Curl around the caterpillar
k	Down the kangaroos body, tail and leg
u	Down and under the umbrella, up to the top and down to the puddle
b	Down the laces, over the toe and touch the heel
f	Down the stem and draw the leaves
e	Slice into the egg, go over the top, then under the egg
l	Down the long leg
h	Down the horse's head to the hooves and over his back
sh	Slither down the snake, then down the horse's head to the hooves and over his back
r	Down the robot's back, then up and curl
j	Down his body, curl and dot
v	Down a wing, up a wing
y	Down a horn, up a horn and under the yak's head.
w	Down, up, down, up the worm.
th	Down the tower, across the tower, then down the horse’s head to thehooves and over his back
z	Zig-zag-zig, down the zip.
ch	Curl around the caterpillar, , then down the horse's head to the hooves and over his back
qu	Round the queen’s head, up to her crown, down her hair and curl
x	Cross down the arm and leg and cross the other way
ng	A thing on a string
nk	I think I stink

 

 

 Set 2 and Set 3

Sound	Set 2 Speed Sound cards	Set 3 Speed Sound cards
ay	ay: may I play	a-e: make a cake	ai: snail in the rain
ee	ee: what can you see	ea: cup of tea	e: he me we she be
igh	igh: fly high	i-e: nice smile
ow	ow: blow the snow	o-e: phone home	ao: goat in a boat
oo	oo: poo at the zoo	u-e: huge brute	ew: chew the stew
oo	oo: look at a book
ar	ar: start the car
or	or: shut the door	aw: yawn at dawn
air	air: that’s not fair	are: share and care
ir	ir: whirl and twirl	ur: nurse for a purse	er: a better letter
ou	ou: shout it out	ow: brown cow
oy	oy: toy for a boy	oi: spoil the boy
ire		ire: fire fire!
ear		ear: hear with your ear
ure		ure: sure it’s pure?

 

Nonsense words

As well as learning to read and blend real words children will have plenty of opportunities to apply their sound recognition skills when reading ‘Nonsense words’. These words will also feature heavily in the Year One Phonics Screening check in the summer term.

Ditty books and Storybooks

Children will be introduced to ‘Ditty books’ when they successfully begin to read single words. Children use sound-blending (Fred Talk) to read short ditties. Within all the books children will have red and green words to learn to help them to become speedy readers. Red words are words that are not easily decodable and challenge words to extend children’s vocabulary. Green words are linked to the sounds they have been learning and are easily decodable.

During the RWI session children will read the book three times and at each new reading they will have plenty of opportunities to practise using their developing comprehension skills.

Children will work their way through the coloured storybooks: Red, Green, Purple, Pink, Orange, Yellow, Blue and Grey.

 

Spelling

A spelling quiz will be held each week and children will use ‘Fred fingers’ to sound out a word before they write it down. Spellings tests are designed to celebrate the children’s spelling achievements whilst reviewing a sound they already know.

 

Phonics Screening Check Year One

What is the Year 1 phonics screening check?

The Year 1 phonics screening check is a short, assessment to confirm whether individual pupils have learnt phonic decoding to an appropriate standard. 

Reading Awards

At St Mary's C of E we aim for all of our children to become fluent, confident and passionate readers committed to becoming lifelong learners. Research suggests that to give our children the very best start in life we must instil a love of reading for pleasure. As an incentive, we have updated our reading rewards system so that children get rewarded for their reading achievements each term, rather than at the end of the school year as in previous years. From now on children achieving their Gold award will now receive a special treat at the end of Autumn term, Spring term and Summer term. There will be an additional reward for those prestigious readers achieving Head Teachers Award.

 

Please note changes to certificates

The rewards are:

•        Bronze 0-20
•        Silver 0-30
•        Gold 0-40
•        Head Teacher Award 0-50

These can be earned through:

•        Reading their school reading books
•        Fiction express books
•        Picture books
•        Non-Fiction books
•        Magazines
•        Parent/ carer reading to the child

Children can earn 2 reading points per day. Please ensure all reading achievements are recorded in the home reading record.

Children will continue to be rewarded for their efforts by being entered into a weekly book prize draw.