What is Read Write Inc. Phonics?

What to expect and when in RWI

What is Read Write Inc?

The RWI programme is a ‘learn to read' 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, at St Mary’s Primary School we begin the programme in Nursery and will continue teaching RWI to children beyond the age of 7 if they still need support in their reading.

All children are assessed regularly by Miss King who is our RWI Reading Leader.  Regular assessments ensure children are working at the correct level which allows complete participation in lessons.

RWI was developed by Ruth Miskin and more information on this can be found at http://www.ruthmiskin.com/en/parents-copy-2/

Children will be taught how to read as follows:

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, sh-o-p, b-l-a-ck.

The following video is an example of blending sounds with Fred. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNyFikwNQTg

The children are taught the sounds in 3 sets.

Reception

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.  Set 1 sounds are taught in Reception.

Please do not use letter names at this early stage.

Children will also use pictures for each sound to help recognise the sound and then form the shape of the sound.

We use magnetic white boards with magnetic sounds on to teach children how to make words from the letters they have been taught.  We teach children how to sound out a word and then blend it for reading.  Once your child is confident making and reading simple CVC words such as ‘pin’, ‘mat’ ‘pot’ etc. they are then ready to read books.

Once your child is reading…

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 which is a short sentence. Children will then be challenged to use their developing phonic knowledge to write short sentences.

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.

Once your child has been introduced and taught these words in school we will send them home for you to continue practising with your child.

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 or proof read a sentence’.

Hold a sentence is an activity that encourages children to remember a whole sentence while focusing on spelling and punctuation.

Proof read a sentence is an activity that encourages children to spot mistakes in a sentence and work with a partner to correct the errors.

To further support and encourage reading at home, we will send home an appropriate level book for your child to read to you.

By the end of Reception, your child will have been taught these skills

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
• work well with partners
• develop comprehension skills in stories by answering 'Fastest Finger' and 'Have a Think' 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

• They 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

End of Reception/beginning of Year 1

The children are then taught Set 2 Sounds - the long vowels. Set 2 sounds are taught towards the end of Reception and the beginning of Year One.

Each half term the children are assessed by Miss King and are placed in an appropriate group for their reading ability.

The book groupings/order of story books can be seen in the table below.

When they are very confident with all of set 1 and 2 they are taught Set 3 Sounds.  

Set 3 sounds are taught in Year 1 and are continued to be consolidated in year 2.

Nonsense words (Alien words)          

As well as learning to read and blend real words children in all year groups 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. 

Spelling: 

Each day the children are supported to develop their spelling skills (This will only start in Reception when children are ready to write and form their letters). 

Children will use first use ‘Fred fingers’ to first sound out a word before they write it down.  Children learn how to spell rather than just get tested. Furthermore, this way of teaching spellings allows children to use Fred fingers whenever they get stuck with spelling a word. Children pinch each sound on fingers before writing the word.

By the end of 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. Each RWI phonic session lasts for 1 hour.

Order of Story books: 

Children will hopefully follow the order listed below. The expectation is that all children will leave Year One as confident speedy readers, ready to take on the challenges of Year Two. However, some children may need extra support and your teacher will talk to you about this. The Read Write Inc. reading programme works on a ‘stage not age’ approach to reading.

Home reading books

Each week children will bring home book linked closely to the sounds that they have been learning at school.