What ‘Phonics & Early Reading’ looks like for our Priory families…
We deliver Read Write Inc Phonics and bring it to life with “Fred” Frog Mascot. Please read below to find out more information…
At Priory, our aim is that children will develop knowledge, reading skills and understanding that will last a lifetime, along with strong skills to prepare them for the next stage of their education and the wider world beyond that, enabling them to lead a successful life and make a positive contribution to their community.
Our children are provided with a well taught, sequenced phonics programme that is matched to their ability. The basis of this is full implementation of the Read Write Inc programme ensuring breadth, balance and clear progression. Our expectations are high for all pupils: we never narrow our phonics offer or deny any pupils the key knowledge taught, unless it is absolutely in their best interest due to a significant learning need. We put the teaching of reading at the heart of our school and ensure that teachers have the knowledge and determination to teach every child, regardless of age, background or need.
Children should leave Priory with a secure understanding of the basic skills and knowledge required within the EYFS, KS1 and KS2 reading curriculum. They should be fluent readers, that can use their skills to access the curriculum offer and within the community and wider world around them.
What is Read Write Inc?
Read Write Inc (RWI) is a phonics based english 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 some children will need to access this programme beyond the age of 7 to meet individual needs.
RWI was developed by Ruth Miskin and more information on this can be found at https://ruthmiskin.com/en/find-out-more/parents/.
Children will be taught to:
- Decode effortlessly
- Spell and handwrite with ease
- Read with fluency and expression
- Comprehend what they read
- Write confidently using oral rehearsal
- Work effectively with a partner to articulate their learning at every step.
All children are assessed regularly by our RWI lead teacher and the reading team.
The Read Write Inc journey…
In EYFS children will begin their reading journey. They will:
- 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
Year One & Year Two
Children follow the same format as Reception but will work on complex sounds and read books appropriate to their reading level. Daily sessions of RWI phonics last for one hour. Most children should complete the programme by the end of year 2 if not earlier. Enabling our children to become:
- Confident speakers,
- Fluent and enthusiastic readers,
- Keen writers
Children will then embark on their accelerated reader journey where they are given a ZPD and get to take ownership of choosing their own books.
How are your children taught to read?
Children will be taught how to read as follows:
Before you start to teach your child, practise saying the sounds below. These are the sounds we use to speak in English.
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=dEzfpod5w_Q
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.
| Set 1 | |
| 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 the hooves 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 |
Key vocabulary:
Green words
‘Green’ words are phonetically decodable words that the children learn to read. They allow children to become fluent readers because regular reading of these words mean that they become familiar and are able to recognise/read them on sight. They can then use their knowledge of these words to read similar words more quickly.
Spelling with Fred Fingers
Your child will learn to spell using their ‘Fred Fingers’. They will be encouraged to ‘push’ the sounds onto their fingers to help them hear the sounds in the word for spelling. Each finger represents one sound:
c-l-ay – 3 sounds for spelling f-r-igh-t – 4 sounds for spelling
Alien words
Alien words are ‘nonsense words’ that the children must carefully FRED talk and blend to read the word. This is to show that they can apply their phonic skills to unfamiliar words. ‘Nonsense words’ are an important part of the Year 1 Phonics Screening Check taken at the end of Year 1. For example: froyg (f-r-oy-g) zewpy (z-ew-p-y)
Red Words:
Red words are sometimes known as ‘common exception words’ or ‘tricky’ words. These are words that children will need to learn on sight because they contain parts that are not decodable. For example the word ‘the’ could be decoded as ‘theh’, but children must learn the correct pronunciation and spelling. Some of the red words are only tricky until a specific sound is learnt or because people pronounce them differently in different parts of the country.
Parental Support – Phonics and Early Reading
We are always keen for parents to get involved in their child’s learning and are happy to provide any assistance that could help with this. Whether it be ways to support your child, support with segmenting and blending (Fred Talk), or comprehension support, please ask your child’s teacher to supply what you require and they will do their best to help.