Phonics

Read, Write Inc

Read, Write, Inc is the phonics scheme we use to teach reading and spelling in Early Years and Key Stage One. We have chosen Read, Write, Inc because we want our children to learn to read as quickly as possible, and then read widely and become lifelong enthusiastic readers.

Teaching Phonics at St Elphege’s

We start teaching the programme in Reception and then continue until they have worked their way through the whole reading scheme. We assess all children on the scheme every 6-8 weeks, to ensure that they are placed in the correct group for their reading ability. This also allows us to quickly identify any children who need some support to access the learning. If this arises, we provide one-to-one tutoring for the child in accordance with the Read, Write, Inc scheme, to help them make rapid progress.

Children begin by learning the Set 1 sounds in a specific order. They also begin learning to blend sounds together to make words after learning the first 5 sounds, firstly through practising oral blending. Then, when they can blend independently, they progress on to reading green words.

As soon as children can read green words, they begin to read stories in their Read, Write, Inc sessions. Each storybook is matched to the sounds they can already read, which sets them up for success and helps to build their confidence with reading. It is through these storybooks that we teach children red words, which are irregular words that are not phonetically plausible and cannot be sounded out (Fred talked). Each storybook is taught in the same way, with children practising reading the green words in the story and also the red words, before they begin to read the book. Children will then read the book several times to help build their fluency and comprehension skills.

How to Help at Home

Read to Your Child

Even if your child is not yet reading words, it is so important to read stories to them.

Fred Talk

To expose your child to the idea of blending sounds together to make words, break down the words of the simple vocabulary you often use at home. For example, “please pass me that t-o-p”, “let’s eat some “j - a - m”. This will help your child to practise their oral blending as they can repeat the sounds back to you and then say the word.

Building Vocabulary

Children need a rich vocabulary in order to develop high levels of comprehension. The more words your child has in their vocabulary, the more they will understand when they read. You could try using alternative words for things at home, rather than saying you are sad that they have tidied their toys, you could say that you unhappy, miserable, gloomy.

Reading With Your Child

Your child will bring home reading books to share with you:

An assigned ebook on the Oxford Owl book this corresponds to the colour band they are on in Read, Write, Inc sessions.
An Oxford Reading Tree/Dandelion book with coloured stickers.
A story book (to be read by an adult).

When helping your child to decide words at home, it's really important to pronounce the sounds correctly.

Useful Resources

RWI Glossary

Fred	Fred is a frog puppet we use in sessions. He can only speak in sounds.
Fred Talk	Sounding out a word. Saying each of the sounds before blending.
Fred Fingers	'Pinching' each sound from a word on your fingers to help spell a word.
Green Words	Decodable words.
Red Words	Irregular words that cannot be sounded out.
Story Green Words	Decodable words that will be included in a story book.
Speedy Green Words	Decodable words in a story book that children should be able to read at speed rather than sounding out.
Fred in your Head	Sounding out a word but doing so in your head rather than out loud, this helps build fluency.
Special Friends	Two or three letters working together to make one sound e.g.sh, ch, igh, air, a-e, i-e