Bradfield Dungworth Primary School
Early Reading and Phonics at Bradfield Dungworth
"To learn to read is to light a fire; every syllable that is spelled out is a spark." - Victor Hugo
Read Write Inc at Bradfield Dungworth
At Bradfield Dungworth 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 program to help your child learn how to 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
At Bradfield Dungworth, we use Read Write Inc Phonics (RWI) to give your child the best possible start with their Literacy development.
What is Read Write Inc?
Read Write Inc (RWI) is a synthetic 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. RWI was developed by Ruth Miskin.
How will RWI be taught?
All children are assessed half termly by Mrs Dawson, our Early Reading and Phonics Lead. From these assessments children are grouped into stages, where they work with peers on the same stage in small groups, each led by a RWI Trained member of staff.
In Reception all children will learn how to ‘read’ the sounds in words and how those sounds can be written down.
Reading
· Children learn 44 sounds and the corresponding letters/letter groups using simple picture prompts – see below
· Children learn to read words using Fred talk and sound blending
· Children read from a range of storybooks and non-fiction books matched to their phonic knowledge
· Children work well with partners
· Children develop comprehension skills in stories by answering 'Fastest Finger and ‘Have a Think’ discussion questions
Writing
· Children learn to write and form the letters/letter groups which represent the 44 sounds with the help of fun phrases
· Children learn to write words by using Fred Talk
Talking
· Children 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
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 45 minutes. Once children become fluent speedy readers they will move on to the RWI Spelling programme, which entails a 15 minutes daily session. They will also access Reciprocal Reading when it is age appropriate for their reading age and stage.
Children will be taught how to read as follows:
Before you start to teach your child the sounds, we focus on naming the pictures for each single sound. For example, mountain, apple and snake. We then introduce the sound. For example, ‘m’, ‘a’ and ‘s’. These are the sounds we use to speak in English. Children initially begin using pictures and letter formation phrases for each sound; this will help children recognise the sound and then form the shape of the sound. For example, ‘m’, ‘mmmmountain’, ‘Maisie Mountain Mountain’.
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. Use the link below to support your pronunciation of the sounds correctly.
Fred Talk
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 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.
Step 2
The children are then taught Set 2 Sounds - the long vowels. When they are very confident with all of set 1 and 2 they are taught Set 3 Sounds.
Nonsense/ alien words
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.
Step 3
Within all the RWI Speed Sound sessions and Core Storybook sessions, 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. Story green words are the main words within a specific text and are linked to the sounds that they have been learning. They aim to extend children’s vocabulary. On day one of introducing a new Core Story book, we make sure that children can read each of these Story Green words and ensure that they know what each of these words mean. Speedy Green words are also specific to a particular text, and these words are read using Fred in your Head. The aim is for children to read these words with fluency, at 1 word per second.
Dots and dashes represent the sound each letter makes. We teach children to read each of these words in a specific way; firstly they look for any Special Friends, e.g. sh, ch or oo, then they Fred Talk, (orally blend), and then they read the word. Eventually they will learn to read words using only ‘Fred in their Head’, (secret Fred Talk)!
Tutoring:
The Read Write Inc. One-to-one Phonics Tutoring offers individual tuition to children who are at risk of falling behind with their reading, or are behind their peers, or are new to a school and need to catch up. RWI has the approach, ‘Keep up not Catch up’. This extra 1:1 tutoring will ensure that these children are caught before they fall behind and that every child will learn to read. These sessions are called ‘speed minutes’ and ‘pinny time’.
Listening to your child read at home:
Every Friday, your child will bring home a Core Story Book that they have been focusing on in school over 5 days. By the time they bring this book home, they will have spent a week learning the sounds, the words and the vocabulary in the book. This means that they will be reading the book fluently and with a storyteller’s voice at home. When you read the book at home, this is time for your child to read with confidence and to experience success as a reader. They will also bring a complimentary book home which they will not have read in school, but will be able to decode with their sound knowledge.
Useful websites for parents
Please find a list of websites that you may find useful in helping you and your child learn about phonics. Games and fun activity websites are also included.
Click on the links to go to the website
Understanding how Phonics Works
How to help your child learn to read the RWInc way
What to expect from the phonics screening check
Useful resources for parents:
