Phonics

Read Write Inc, developed by Ruth Miskin, provides a structured and systematic approach to teaching literacy. It is used by more than a quarter of the UK’s primary schools and is designed to create fluent readers, confident speakers and willing writers.

Each Read Write Inc. programme meets the higher expectations of the new curriculum and uses effective assessment to accelerate every child’s progress.

The Government strongly recommend the use of synthetic phonics when teaching early literacy skills to children. Synthetic phonics is simply the ability to convert a letter or letter group into sounds that are then blended together into a word.

Here at Carlton Mills Primary School, we are using the Read Write Inc (RWI) programme to get children off to a flying start with their English. RWI is a method of learning based upon letter sounds and phonics, and we use it to aid children in their reading and writing.

Children’s progress is assessed regularly and tracked using internal tracking procedures. Class teacher and the Reading Leader meet regularly to assess and review. At Carlton Mills Primary we vertically stream KS1 children to provide purposeful and impacting teaching and learning.

Our Read Write Inc ‘Reading Leader’ is Mr. Dunn (Assistant Headteacher and English Lead)

Understanding Phonics Video

What is Read & Write Inc Phonics? Video

Reading

When using RWI to read the children will:

  • Learn 44 sounds and the corresponding letter/letter groups using simple prompts.
  • Learn to read words using sound blending (Fred talk).
  • Read lively stories featuring words they have learnt to sound out.
  • Show that they comprehend the stories by answering ‘Find It’ and ‘Prove It’.
Writing

When using RWI to write the children will:

  • Learn to write the letter/letter groups which represent the 44 sounds.
  • Learn to write words by saying the sounds and graphemes (Fred fingers).
Talking

When using RWI the children will also work in pairs:

  • To answer questions.
  • To take turns talking and listening to each other.
  • To give positive praise to each other.
Progressing through the stages

Children follow the same format as Early Years but will work on complex sounds and read books appropriate to their reading level. Daily sessions of RWI phonics last 30 minutes? Once children become fluent speedy readers they will move on to the RWI Spelling programme.

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

  1. Purpose know the purpose of every activity and share it with the children, so they know the one thing they should be thinking about
  2. Participation ensure every child participates throughout the lesson. Partnership work is fundamental to learning.
  3. Praise ensure children are praised for effort and learning, not ability
  4. Pace teach at an effective pace and devote every moment to teaching and learning
  5. Passion be passionate about teaching so children can be engaged emotionally.
Blending

Help your child learn to read words by sounding-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 (shown further down the page).

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.

Reading Books Sent Home

Children in Reception who are learning the first 44 letter sounds and are not blending fluently will bring home sound sheets, picture books and a library book for you to read with them.

Once children can blend fluently and know the first 44 sounds they will bring home Ditty sheets or a red Ditty book.

Read Write Inc Books

Please encourage your child to read though the speed sounds page first, then the green and red words page and then check your child understands the meaning of words on the vocabulary check page, before they start reading the book. Your child will have read this book at least three times before they bring it home. They should be able to read this book with fluency and expression by the time they bring it home and they should have a good comprehension of what the book is about. At the back of the book are find it/prove it questions for you to do with your child.

Finally, don’t worry if your child is struggling at first with their sounds and words, they will get there in their own time. If you have time (we know it is very precious!), we would urge you to try and read stories to your child before they go to bed. This will help develop a wider vocabulary which makes a vast difference to their quality of writing but it will also encourage them to enjoy a good story.

Read Write Inc guide for parents

The following link provides lots of free Read Write Inc. Phonics resources to help your child, including eBooks, practice sheets and parent films.

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