Phonics
At Kellington 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 programme to help 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
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.
How is Read Write Inc taught?
All children are assessed on a half termly basis by trained RWI teachers. From these assessments the children are grouped into stages, where they work with peers on the same stage.
Reading
The children:
* Learn 44 sounds and the corresponding letters/letter groups using simple picture prompts – see below
* 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
* Work well with partners
* 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 sentences by practising sentences out loud before they write
Talking
The children will work in pairs so that they:
* Answer every question
* Practise every activity with their partner
* Take turns in talking and reading to each other
* Develop ambitious vocabulary
Children learn sounds in school which help them to read and write. They then practise these skills through reading daily and these books are shared with the children to take home to consolidate learning and provide challenge in an engaging and fun way!
Other phonetically decodable books will be available via 'Oxford Owl' and are accessible to read at home and in school. Each child will have a login on the front of their reading records to access this.
Oxford Owl
Progressing through the stages
Children follow the same format as Reception but will work on complex sounds and read books appropriate to their reading level. Daily 45 minute session of RWI phonics are timetabled.
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
Children will be taught how to read as follows:
Before you start to teach your children, practice saying the sounds below. These are the sounds we use to speak in English. Children initially begin using pictures for each sound, this will help children recognise the sound and then form the shape of the sound.
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 puppet called Fred, who is an expert on sounding out words! We call it, ‘Fred Talk’. E.g m-o-p, c-a-t, m-a-n.
The children are taught the sounds in 3 sets.
Step 1:
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. At this stage we do not use the letter names.
Step 2:
Set 2 Sounds are then taught - the long vowels. When they are very confident with all of set 1 and 2 they are taught Set 3 Sounds.
Nonsense words (Alien words)- What 'a load' or nonsense!
As well as learning to read and blend real words children will have plenty of opportunities to apply their sound recognition skills on reading ‘Nonsense words’. These words will also feature heavily in the Year One Phonics Screening check in the summer term. These words provide endless opportunities for children to apply and practice their thinking in a range of different contexts.
Step 3:
Within all the RWI sessions/books children will be exposed to 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.
Red and Green Word
The dots and dashes represent the sound each letter makes.
Reading
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. You may have heard your child talking about ‘hold, edit or build a sentence’.
Hold a sentence is an activity that encourages children to remember a whole sentence while focusing on spelling and punctuation.
Build a sentence is to give children the opportunity to create their own sentence to that shows the meaning of a word and edit a sentence allows the children to critique a sentence using their knowledge of spelling punctuation and grammar. Children complete a longer piece of independent writing, which gives them the opportunity to show off their creativity and to practice their spelling, grammar and punctuation.
To help at home:
Your child will start to bring books home when they are confident readers, relating to their reading stage. You will find they will bring home a phonics based book, this will aid application, speed and fluency- developing speedy reading! They will also bring home a reading for pleasure book, this is a text which they have personally picked from our school library to enjoy with an adult at home.
Useful videos to help:
What is Read Write Inc Phonics - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbWIujM1WGM
Understanding Phonics –https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_6Jb0-3qz8
How to say the sounds – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUbrJPAt65g
Sound-blending - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8vuje-wMQw
Why read to your child? - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UmwXQwx5gk
Listening to your child read – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07DruIKFsKw
